What's on your 3mm workbench

[TT100 Diesels]

Just a little update, but some positive progress compared to my last / previous

post. Been getting on with making the flush glazing for the Peak, so far got 11 out of the 14 required pieces cut and test fitted.

 

That's the windscreens (which were challenging), the cab side drop lights and the first of the triangular cab side quarter lights. And that's just from today, so a good result as a lot more done than I first envisaged.

 

Regarding the chatter about "liquid lead", that is what I call it because that is exactly what I bought. It was roughly 2019 from a trader at Stafford Show (possibly Eileen's Emporium). I dispensed it into a plastic container so don't have the original packaging, but it looks like lead, feels like lead and tastes like lead (no, joking on that last one). And I always use it with super glue. 

 

Lead strip is also useful but I can get the tiny "lead shot" of my liquid lead into all sorts of awkward nooks and crannies, so find it very useful.

 

Cheers

 

D.

[natterjack]

39 minutes ago, TT100 Diesels said:

Regarding the chatter about "liquid lead",

I stand corrected; 'Liquid Lead' is still sold by DCC. And I thought actual lead shot was a thing of the past.

[bradfordbuffer]

1 hour ago, natterjack said:

I stand corrected; 'Liquid Lead' is still sold by DCC. And I thought actual lead shot was a thing of the past.

Dcc concepts show room worth  a visit just for the model of ribbilhead viaduct and of course small balls for adding gravity to our 3mm world

[TT100 Diesels]

I agree, the Ribblehead viaduct model is well worth seeing, I enjoyed it very much.

 

Also, just noticed we have cracked through 30 pages of 3mm workbench posts. Great stuff everyone, keep it coming.

 

Cheers

 

D.

[TT100 Diesels]

Final update for the Peak on the workbench thread, just finished the flush glazing off.

 

 

General side on view of the No. 1 end.

 

 

45127, almost ready to tie onto a rake of two f 's at Pancras.........

 

 

Side on study from the No.2 end.

 

I know I keep saying this, but it's an impressive beast. And thanks to Lenny, the base print has great detail resolution, so gave me a good starting point to add my mods and tweaks to create a specific model of a specific loco at a specific time frame.

 

One little snippet I can share following a conversation today with Lenny, is that all Peak classes had the rear sand boxes fitted as built and shown on the drawings. But sometime fairly early on in the green era, they were removed, I am guessing as a weight saving measure, but I don't actually know. All my blue era pix of all 3 classes show the rear sand boxes not fitted, hence my razor saw mods to the bogie side frames.

 

Lenny was querying my need to mod the side frames when he said they were on the drawings. Hence round the research loop. Just shows though, photos of the actual item being modelled are key.

 

And yet again, every day is school day.

 

Cheers

 

D.

[03060]

Great model Dave, you've certainly captured the essence of the prototype from Lenny's 'starting point.'

 

You've painted and weathered it just as I remember them. Marvellous.

 

Regards,

Ian.

[Phil Mason]

On 16/04/2024 at 10:49, TT100 Diesels said:

cracked through 30 pages of 3mm workbench posts

Well, that is (almost) all thanks to your good self helping 3mm crawl out of the dark ages, pushing the boat, raising the bar or whatever metaphors you care to use. 
 

The point is that 3mm is no longer a poor relation. Although still a bit of a Cinderella, the cat's out of the bag now (yet more metaphors). Some of us have known for years about the vast range of kits and bits from the society and the various retailers and manufacturers but we just haven't got the stuff 'out there'. Now with 3D printing and your beautiful finishing, we can no longer assume we can get away with "it's only 3mm" as I've certainly done in the past. 
 

I'd say that, with this model we've 'come of age'. And I say that with full knowledge of the beautiful steam era models people have done in the past and are still doing which stand comparison with any scale  (Peter's WD in mixed traffic being a prime example) but our scale has often been seen as an old or, perhaps, obscure one. 
 

Not any more! 
Thanks to TT100 for sharing his models and getting us all going.

You can all stand proud!  
 

Phil

[Phil Mason]

On 15/04/2024 at 12:41, Michael Edge said:

Never use PVA glue on lead, it will expand and can easily destroy a model.

Yes, Michael. I've heard that before but not in my experience. However, as I said, that's limited because it's just one of those things I just don't like. I've found that the tiny bit you can get in the 'books and crannies' is not worth the effort, it's 50% air and a large sheet is more effective. 
 

I just wrote 50% but I'm sure that's not quite true. Perhaps some clever mathematician out there can work out what the percentage is? One would have thought that a mixture of ball size would pack most effectively but the stuff I tried was all the same size. 
 

On another tangent, are there any clever chemists out there that can tell us what the reaction with PVA is? 
 

Phil

[Michael Edge]

I did this myself with a Kitmaster J94 and after some years it did an impression of a boiler explosion. More recently a loco I had built came back to me with its bunker sides and ends forced apart after being filled with lead shot an PVA, this after less than a year -  was very difficult to get it out to tepair it as well. I don’t know exactly what happens but there’s definitely a chemical reaction of some sort.

[TT100 Diesels]

1 hour ago, Phil Mason said:

Well, that is (almost) all thanks to your good self helping 3mm crawl out of the dark ages, pushing the boat, raising the bar or whatever metaphors you care to use. 
 

The point is that 3mm is no longer a poor relation. Although still a bit of a Cinderella, the cat's out of the bag now (yet more metaphors). Some of us have known for years about the vast range of kits and bits from the society and the various retailers and manufacturers but we just haven't got the stuff 'out there'. Now with 3D printing and your beautiful finishing, we can no longer assume we can get away with "it's only 3mm" as I've certainly done in the past. 
 

I'd say that, with this model we've 'come of age'. And I say that with full knowledge of the beautiful steam era models people have done in the past and are still doing which stand comparison with any scale  (Peter's WD in mixed traffic being a prime example) but our scale has often been seen as an old or, perhaps, obscure one. 
 

Not any more! 
Thanks to TT100 for sharing his models and getting us all going.

You can all stand proud!  
 

Phil

 

No pressure on me then Phil ! 

 

But just wow, that is very kind and gracious of you to say my Peak is the "coming of age" for the scale. Quite humbling really.

 

I suppose its true I have stirred the pot a bit and got other RMwebber 3mm peeps posting more, which to me has been great, I love to see what everyone else is up to, it is always enjoyable and inspiring.

 

But I do have to say, a massive thanks to Lenny Seeney of Lincoln Locos for facilitating a lot of my modelling. I am a kitbasher and finisher, there are many others who are builders, whose efforts should not be underestimated. You are only really seeing such a variety of diesel main liners from me because of Lenny.

 

That being said, its not come out of the box, as can be seen up thread, there was a modest modelling content getting it to what I wanted before the paint / finishing activities.

 

Thanks again for your kind words.

 

Cheers

 

D.

[TT100 Diesels]

Hi 3mm workbench type peeps!

 

Its a bit late in the day for this, but just to slide off topic if I may, tomorrow Sat 21 and also Sun 22 April, its the Macclesfield club railex. Mentioning it as there is a double header 3mm exhibition layouts attending.

 

Dave Wheelton & Jim Barry present Delyn - y - Coed, a 12mm gauge layout, while Mike Corp will have his sublime 14.2mm gauge, Heybridge Wharf. 

 

There is a certain symmetry to this as Mike actually built Delyn and ran it for a while called The Harp Tree. D-y-C is a  more or less Welsh translation from what I understand. 

 

I am going tomorrow (sat). May see some of you there?

 

Cheers

 

D.

[03060]

I saw Delyn-Y-Coed at Sheffield last week and am coming over for another look today at Macclesfield as it was always a favourite of mine in it's previous life, along with Heybridge Wharf of course.

 

I'm also using it as a reconnaissance trip as I've been provisionally asked if I will bring Masbury over next year if it all works when I join it back together !

 

I'll bob my maroon Society t-shirt on if anybody wants to say hello. (Crew cut and shorts will be another giveaway !)

 

Regards,

Ian.

[Robert Shrives]

Hi 

I saw ad for show and the 3mm layouts but work in the way! So have a good show. Hopefully a few pics might make their way on to the site. 

TIA

Robert  

[TT100 Diesels]

Went to the show today, very good, generally high quality across the scales spectrum, so well worth a visit, if anone can make the sunday.

 

Was great to have a half hour or so 'shift' operating Heybridge Wharf, as well as being sublime, it has a lot of play value, so makes for interesting operating, thanks to Mike Corp for trusting me with the reins!

 

Lots of three millers around to chat to, and good to meet 03060 of this parish in person for the first time.

 

And my Peak was allowed an out and back driver training light engine run on Delyn y Coed, but just the one due to the bridge weight restriction meaning the Peak RA was too high (so they said....... 🤔).

 

Also, a superb collection of diesel and electric locos on display at D y C, and the lovely diesel hydraulics running on the layout. 

 

Cheers

 

D.

[03060]

Fully agree with Dave's ( @TT100 Diesels ) comments regarding the Macclesfield show, a good exhibition all round and a great advert for our scale with the 2 layouts on show and the collection of diesels on display for which I overheard many favourable comments from non 3mm folk.

 

With our numbers being into double figures it was a great mini-convention and a good chance to have one-to-one conversations and for me personally to  'connect' with members who I knew previously only either by name or face.

 

A good day out and a great inspiration to get back to either my workbench or rejoining my Masbury layout back together tomorrow before starting a week of night shifts.

 

Regards,

Ian.

[TT100 Diesels]

Ok gang, back down to earth again, it was a fun day at Macc railex but the work bench beckons......

 

Was going to keep this one under wraps but since it was brought up at macc, I am figuring that it may as well feature here as another build.

 

 

Came away from last weekend's EMAG Bingham meet up with this beastie from Lenny. Ready to roll 37/4.

 

 

Pop the body off and the motorised chassis is revealed. Power wise, its an A1A - A1A, the centre wheelsets are flangeless dummies, same principle as seen on the Peak.

 

 

Engine room windows were blanked off, so a bit of chain drilling then needle file work.

 

 

With ref to the other pix above, the windscreen surrounds were heavily printed, I prefer to remove them, which I did, a lot of care and attention for that job. Looking at photos, I also needed to just open out the top of the inner corners of the windscreens to follow the roof profile curve. 

 

Also, adding filler to allow a less tight corner on the bottom outer corners of the windscreens. In all, it helps improve the overall look.

 

The headcode box corners were radiused a bit more as well.

 

Plasticard and micro rod used to knock up the nose end MU ops recept and ETH recept.

 

 

Decided on doing 37403 "Isle of Mull", which was an ex WR loco pre HGR into a /4. So in addition to the normal lamp irons at tail light level, had the funny WR "sticky outey" ones to the sides of the headcode box.

 

And, well, one can't have a 37/4 without miniature snow ploughs can one ? So, a bit of trial and error with the plasticard. Scaled off photos, and knocked up the side ploughs, temporary fixed with poly cement (not a strong bond onto 3d print so easy to remove again) to estimate it looking ok and judge how big to make the centre plough. In this pic, the centre plough was version 2, a bit bigger and spot on to my eye. 

 

So it was simply a case of replicating another set for the other end. I have kept the dimensions for making more for my yet to be done 26 & 27.

 

 

Running trials on the layout to test "proof of concept". Note the version 1 smaller centre plough which got the boot.

 

Need to work out how to do the rest of the buffer beam detailing around the ploughs, but super pleased anyway with the way the ploughs have turned out.

 

 

And this is what I am aiming for, large logo blue, 37403 "lsle of Mull", I just think LL was made for 37's, however, mine will be mid 80's incarnation, so no nose number or orange OLE warning line, and era specific OLE flashes. Railtec do Eastfield LL 37 specify your number transfer set, and 3d waterslide standard BR type nameplates specify your name, so its all achievable.

 

So, that's it, on with the next one, funny its last one in but jumped the works que !

 

Cheers

 

D.

Edited April 20 by TT100 Diesels
Spelling

[bradfordbuffer]

57 minutes ago, TT100 Diesels said:

Ok gang, back down to earth again, it was a fun day at Macc railex but the work bench beckons......

 

Was going to keep this one under wraps but since it was brought up at macc, I am figuring that it may as well feature here as another build.

 

 

Came away from last weekend's EMAG Bingham meet up with this beastie from Lenny. Ready to roll 37/4.

 

 

Pop the body off and the motorised chassis is revealed. Power wise, its an A1A - A1A, the centre wheelsets are flangeless dummies, same principle as seen on the Peak.

 

 

Engine room windows were blanked off, so a bit of chain drilling then needle file work.

 

 

With ref to the other pix above, the windscreen surrounds were heavily printed, I prefer to remove them, which I did, a lot of care and attention for that job. Looking at photos, I also needed to just open out the top of the inner corners of the windscreens to follow the roof profile curve. 

 

Also, adding filler to allow a less tight corner on the bottom outer corners of the windscreens. In all, it helps improve the overall look.

 

The headcode box corners were radiused a bit more as well.

 

Plasticard and micro rod used to knock up the nose end MU ops recept and ETH recept.

 

 

Decided on doing 37403 "Isle of Mull", which was an ex WR loco pre HGR into a /4. So in addition to the normal lamp irons at tail light level, had the funny WR "sticky outey" ones to the sides of the headcode box.

 

And, well, one can't have a 37/4 without miniature snow ploughs can one ? So, a bit of trial and error with the plasticard. Scaled off photos, and knocked up the side ploughs, temporary fixed with poly cement (not a strong bond onto 3d print so easy to remove again) to estimate it looking ok and judge how big to make the centre plough. In this pic, the centre plough was version 2, a bit bigger and spot on to my eye. 

 

So it was simply a case of replicating another set for the other end. I have kept the dimensions for making more for my yet to be done 26 & 27.

 

 

Running trials on the layout to test "proof of concept". Note the version 1 smaller centre plough which got the boot.

 

Need to work out how to do the rest of the buffer beam detailing around the ploughs, but super pleased anyway with the way the ploughs have turned out.

 

😆

 

And this is what I am aiming for, large logo blue, 37403 "lsle of Mull", I just think LL was made for 37's, however, mine will be mid 80's incarnation, so no nose number or orange OLE warning line, and era specific OLE flashes. Railtec do Eastfield LL 37 specify your number transfer set, and 3d waterslide standard BR type nameplates specify your name, so its all achievable.

 

So, that's it, on with the next one, funny its last one in but jumped the works que !

 

Cheers

 

D.

another epic build starts.....im being picky but its past april so centre section of plough needs to come off!😆

3 piece plough first ive seen on 3mm loco 

g

[TT100 Diesels]

8 hours ago, bradfordbuffer said:

another epic build starts.....im being picky but its past april so centre section of plough needs to come off!😆

3 piece plough first ive seen on 3mm loco 

g

 

That might be the standing instruction, but I have loads of pics of 3 piece ploughs fitted to ScR locos in summer ! 😁.

 

Thanks though BB, but I suppose 3mm is an easy scale to do unique items, especially in the blue diesel era, there can't be many more than 10 to 15 of us doing the era "seriously". Although Phil M has done mini ploughs out of thin tin plate or similar, he truly blazes the trail.

 

I mean, on display yesterday at Macc show, he had scratch build 81 x 2 and 86, immense.... And we have all seen the roster on Bluish. There is a scratch build HS4000 Kestrel scratch build in the stock box as well. 

 

But back to 37403, LL with mini ploughs fitted, to me, the pinnacle of liveries and 'look'. Sure, paint jobs are subject to personal opinions, but given the popularity of LL 37's in other scales, I think (well hope) my effort will 'pop' when its finished.

 

Cheers

D.

[railtec-models]

15 hours ago, TT100 Diesels said:

 

Railtec do Eastfield LL 37 specify your number transfer set, and 3d waterslide standard BR type nameplates specify your name, so its all achievable.

 

I also did the full scale hand painted numbers on the real thing in that photo! DRS wanted the original thing replicating, albeit they weren't going to try to replicate hand painting the numbers as they were in the 80s so approached me to see if I could do them as vinyls. They were sat on top of my wardrobe for a good while before they were needed at the RTC, and of course I very happily delivered them in person so as to get a "tour". Well, who wouldn't.

 

It's fascinating to watch the 3mm story evolve.

 

Edited April 21 by railtec-models

[TT100 Diesels]

Hi Steve,

 

That's a fascinating insight into the reborn real life 37403, thanks for sharing.

 

I'll be ordering up the 3mm scale decals pack and Isle of Mull plates off your web site in the near future.

 

Good to see your interested in our 3mm scale work bench goings on.

 

Cheers

 

D.

 

 

[chuffinghell]

“what’s on your 3mm workbench”
 

I admire anyone that can model with only a 3mm workbench my workbench is six foot long and still struggle for space 🤪

[bradfordbuffer]

1 hour ago, railtec-models said:

 

I also did the full scale hand painted numbers on the real thing in that photo! DRS wanted the original thing replicating, albeit they weren't going to try to replicate hand painting the numbers as they were in the 80s so approached me to see if I could do them as vinyls. They were sat on top of my wardrobe for a good while before they were needed at the RTC, and of course I very happily delivered them in person so as to get a "tour". Well, who wouldn't.

 

It's fascinating to watch the TT story evolve.

 

Errr 3mm please!....so we don't get confused for the euro trash tt120😁🙊

 

And whilst you on the line....tar for extensive 3mm range avaliable 

G

[railtec-models]

22 minutes ago, bradfordbuffer said:

Errr 3mm please!....so we don't get confused for the euro trash tt120😁🙊

 

And whilst you on the line....tar for extensive 3mm range avaliable 

G

 

Oops! Don't know why I had TT on the brain. Compounded brain fog developing more packs as well as prepping for the NEC next weekend. Edited accordingly.

3mm catalog currently at 2334 items. Hopefully something for (almost) everyone.

[bradfordbuffer]

2 hours ago, railtec-models said:

 

Oops! Don't know why I had TT on the brain. Compounded brain fog developing more packs as well as prepping for the NEC next weekend. Edited accordingly.

3mm catalog currently at 2334 items. Hopefully something for (almost) everyone.

Think nec show going to be bonkers...hope all goes well for keymodel team and first of many...

2334 brilliant who said modeling is dead

G

[TT100 Diesels]

Well that is it now, 37403 decals and name plates ordered off railtec. So the die is cast do to speak.

 

 

Been further fine tuning the cab windscreens following further photo analysis. Included a very subtle curve on the top of the centre screen and making the same screen corners a tighter radius. Ok it not Accurascale but it does look a lot more 37 than the raw print as supplied.

 

 

Working off a pic of "Mary". Think that the 3d print bonnet curve and thus windscreen angle is slightly shallow compared with the real loco, but I am not gonna try to change that on the model. Note, my photo.

 

 

These are dead useful for hand fettling windscreen corner radii (and loads of other jobs as well).

 

 

Also been fettling the scratch built mini ploughs set with filler along the joints.

 

They are currently tacked on to the front bogie transoms with a bit of poly cement. I intend to lock them on by carefully adding a bit of epoxy adhesive behind them. Well see how that goes.....

 

 

And in a change of scene, just to show my finished Peak, 45127 entering Delyn Y Coed at last weekends Macclesfield MRX. Could not post it till after the show had finished on Sunday due to special show copyright conditions. Thanks to Jim Barry and Dave Wheelton for permission to photo it and give it a run on their superb layout.

 

Cheers

 

Dave

 

Edited April 22 by TT100 Diesels
Photo note on 37401 pic