Michael Edge's workbench

[21C123]

Sn3.5 ?

[t-b-g]

I do have a little bit of "insider information" but I am guessing that it 9mm:1ft, running on O gauge track to represent the 3ft 6ins.

 

I did build something for that scale once upon a time, arranged via Mike.

 

[cctransuk]

56 minutes ago, Michael Edge said:

colder this time....

 

Tasmania?

 

CJI.

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, t-b-g said:

I do have a little bit of "insider information" but I am guessing that it 9mm:1ft, running on O gauge track to represent the 3ft 6ins.

 

I did build something for that scale once upon a time, arranged via Mike.

 

I'll second that now, having been half-right earlier.

[Michael Edge]

All round the target but here's one I made earlier.

This one is indeed 9mm scale as Tony guessed, running on O gauge track bu the latest one is a reduction of the earlier etch in 1:48 scale. This runs on S gauge track (7/8 in or 22.22mm) but still with Slater's O gauge wheels. This scale is of course also the US O gauge and my main NZ customer is changing to it. The multiplicity of scales and gages used by Kiwi modellers is simply mind boggling, sometimes I think everyone uses their own. Most curious of all though is that the one and only commercial scale which gives an almost exact 3'6" gauge doesn't appear to be used at all in New Zealand - this is HOm, nominally metre gauge bu actually closer to 3'6". We have supplied NZ loco etches in this scale - but to a customer in Canada.

[Michael Edge]

Slightly better photo of the two Hudson tipplers.

It made a nice change building these, although the instructions took a bit of puzzling out the parts went together well. I'm not really sure what to do about painting these, generally they were just filth and rust but they must have started out with some paint on them. These are on the 00 track, the phosphor bronze rail nearest the camera is the extra one I had to add for the NZ 1:48 stuff, it will come in useful if I ever have to build anything in S scale.

[doilum]

Dirt cans can be addictive as you try to track down photos of prototype wagons and copy their little idiosyncrasies, such as mismatched wheelsets and brake gear. Before intensive weathering I finished mine in matt Railfrieght red from Precision Paints.

Edited February 5, 2023 by doilum

[Jack P]

14 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

The multiplicity of scales and gages used by Kiwi modellers is simply mind boggling, sometimes I think everyone uses their own. Most curious of all though is that the one and only commercial scale which gives an almost exact 3'6" gauge doesn't appear to be used at all in New Zealand - this is HOm, nominally metre gauge bu actually closer to 3'6". We have supplied NZ loco etches in this scale - but to a customer in Canada.

 

This accurately sums up the absolute madness that modelling the NZR seems to be. Lots of very skilled people amongst that mess of scale and gauge though. 

[John Besley]

Hello Mike,

 

Can I pick your brains, I am converting a Branchlines Dinorwic chassis for a 7/8ths Tinkerbell... the instructions call for folding and soldering the side and connecting rods  as one unit to increase the thickness, what solder would you use. (I can't get any answers from Branchlines)

 

As part of the footplate / running plate construction I have silver soldered some parts... 

 

Appreciate your thoughts

 

John

[Michael Edge]

Same solder I use for nearly everything - 62s, lead/tin with 2% silver.

Some kits have these parts arranged to fold over as you say but I would still put broaches through two of the holes to make sure they are in alignment before soldering, There's no need to pre-tin the parts, just run solder along the edges, it will go right through by capillary action.

I can't tell you anything about silver soldering, I've never needed to do it - right up to the largest scale model I've ever built, 1/12th scale Hunslet rack loco for the Channel Tunnel. This is it , now in the Hunslet museum at Statfold.

This is mostly steel sheet, soft soldered together but I think the corners of the cab have brass angle to reinforce them. I built it in 1987, this is the only digital photo I have of it.

[John Besley]

Thanks for the tip, where do you get your solder?

 

 

Edited February 7, 2023 by John Besley

[Michael Edge]

Hobby Holidays can supply it, also many electrical suppliers such as RS, Farnell etc.

It really is much better than any other lead/tin solder I've used.

[Rhys]

On 06/02/2023 at 17:09, Jack P said:

 

This accurately sums up the absolute madness that modelling the NZR seems to be. Lots of very skilled people amongst that mess of scale and gauge though. 

I'd disagree with that, theres only 3 main scales used locally: 9mm on 32mm gauge track, S scale on 16.5mm and TT on 9mm. 1:48 is muttered about but hasn't entered the mainstream as far as I can tell.

Back in the day (40-50 years ago) it seemed quite sensible to base a scale/gauge combination around the track that was comercially avaliable rather than all the other bits. Either that or everyone was too lazy to make their own track. It was also very difficult to order stuff from overseas untill the mid/late 80's.

Contrast that with the UK scene where I can think of 6 different scales off the top of my head with 2 having 3 different track guages which to me seems utterly beserk.

[Michael Edge]

I've done work in other scales as well, 1:48 seems like a good idea to me and there will be some loco kits available at least. I still don't know why nobody uses the well supported (in Europe) HOm. It's not really just about the track gauge, using a commercial scale means that all sorts of other stuff is available as well so HO or 1:48 (US O gauge) makes a lot more sense to me.

I have seen a lot of superb work in 1:64 and 9mm scale, I just think it makes building a layout harder, not easier.

[St Enodoc]

12 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

I've done work in other scales as well, 1:48 seems like a good idea to me and there will be some loco kits available at least. I still don't know why nobody uses the well supported (in Europe) HOm. It's not really just about the track gauge, using a commercial scale means that all sorts of other stuff is available as well so HO or 1:48 (US O gauge) makes a lot more sense to me.

I have seen a lot of superb work in 1:64 and 9mm scale, I just think it makes building a layout harder, not easier.

1:64 on 16.5mm track is very common in Australia.

[Rhys]

19 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

I've done work in other scales as well, 1:48 seems like a good idea to me and there will be some loco kits available at least. I still don't know why nobody uses the well supported (in Europe) HOm. It's not really just about the track gauge, using a commercial scale means that all sorts of other stuff is available as well so HO or 1:48 (US O gauge) makes a lot more sense to me.

I have seen a lot of superb work in 1:64 and 9mm scale, I just think it makes building a layout harder, not easier.

As an amusing aside modeling New Zealand railways in 1:48 first turn up as an April fools joke in the New Zealand Model Railway Guild Journal in April 1990.

And your arguments could also be used for British HO, but like in NZ we would need a time machine to solve it.

[sir douglas]

On 04/02/2023 at 21:31, t-b-g said:

I do have a little bit of "insider information" but I am guessing that it 9mm:1ft, running on O gauge track to represent the 3ft 6ins.

 

I did build something for that scale once upon a time, arranged via Mike.

 

 

lovely little Hudswell youve got there

[t-b-g]

1 minute ago, sir douglas said:

 

lovely little Hudswell youve got there

 

Thanks. It was one I built and painted for a customer, so I don't have it any longer but it was great fun to build.

[Michael Edge]

The Barton Wright 0-4-4T is now finished and ready to go for painting.

This is EM gauge, Gibson wheels and the High Level RR+ gearbox is visible under the ashpan - the motor is hidden in the firebox/boiler though. It will be No14, the longest lived of these in ordinary service, although some lasted into the 1960s as stationary (but moveable)  boilers for carriage heating.

A better photo of the RT dirt cans.

[Michael Edge]

Latest test track photo today.

Quite a lot has been going on recently. The Barry 0-8-2T is nearly finished above the frames, waiting for the leading sandboxes to be moulded, EM1s as before, new one still waiting to go to the paintshop. The SR 0-6-0DE may be moving on soon, I've got the third test etch for the radiator slats, this time it seems to have worked OK. L&Y 0-4-4T waiting collection and the NZ Tr should be finished soon. In the meantime at the front are a BR Hudswell 0-6-0DM, just moulding patterns to do for this and a Mitchell GWR 517 0-4-2T. This is due to be washed and grit blasted now and then it will be ready to go for painting - it's not the easiest kit to build and I did modify it a bit, generally I don't much like this " build a box and add overlays all over it" technique. It takes a long time and makes soldering from the inside very difficult - I've just got the 7mm version of this kit to build now as well....

Better photos of the last two when they have been cleaned up.

[AlfaZagato]

That Barry loco would be a beast at a smaller scale, much less what you have there.

[Captain Kernow]

On 23/03/2023 at 16:22, Michael Edge said:

Latest test track photo today.

BR Hudswell 0-6-0DM, just moulding patterns to do for this

Hi Mike - sorry if I've missed this on your thread, but is the Hudswell due for release in due course, please?

 

[Michael Edge]

In due course yes but this one is a commission. All necessary work gets done for a kit while I’m doing this of course. More photos when it’s finished.

[Michael Edge]

Some photos of the finished 517

It doesn't look as clean as most of my work, mainly because of the necessity of soldering from the outside with all the overlays but it will be fine when it's painted.

I modified the frame design to simple compensation, beams between the driving axles and a rocker over the trailing one, power is a small Chines motor on a High Level Roadrunner+, all hidden in the tanks and boiler.

The kit is a valiant effort to enable the production of all sorts of 517s and I'm not sure any two of them were exactly alike, this one will be 544.

 

[Michael Edge]

I've got the Sacré 4-4-0 back from Warren Haywood now.

DCC chip fitted, some weight in the boiler and a bar at the back of the tender for tension lock couplers, just got to put some coal in the tender and it's ready to go to the customer. The elaborate GC livery looks very good on ths pretty little loco.