What's on your 3mm workbench

[TT100 Diesels]

Well, since I seem to have totally hijacked this thread with my 08 build, with all the above taken into account, it is now at a hold point.

 

Jobs to still do are

Weather the newly fitted rad filler pipes, but waiting for gloss varnish "glue" to harden.

Add liquid lead to the bodyshell

Spray 2 coats of rattle can matt varnish 

Make and fit flush glazing

Add a toy coupler, use chassis fixing screw and build a girder off that (no need to butcher a buffer beam)

 

And as now at a good progress milestone, took a few proper camera shots, so gratuitously added here with no apologies !

Enjoy.....

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for all the interest, likes, support, technical comment etc, even if I did have a wobble over pesky details.......

 

Cheers

 

Dave

TT100 Diesels

[03060]

6 hours ago, TT100 Diesels said:

Well, since I seem to have totally hijacked this thread with my 08 build, with all the above taken into account, it is now at a hold point.

 

Jobs to still do are

Weather the newly fitted rad filler pipes, but waiting for gloss varnish "glue" to harden.

Add liquid lead to the bodyshell

Spray 2 coats of rattle can matt varnish 

Make and fit flush glazing

Add a toy coupler, use chassis fixing screw and build a girder off that (no need to butcher a buffer beam)

 

And as now at a good progress milestone, took a few proper camera shots, so gratuitously added here with no apologies !

Enjoy.....

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for all the interest, likes, support, technical comment etc, even if I did have a wobble over pesky details.......

 

Cheers

 

Dave

TT100 Diesels

 

Not a word that I use very often, Dave, but that looks 'awesome' !

 

I love that last photo, reminds me of locos long departed going around St. Dunstan's curve between Hammerton St. depot and Bradford Exchange / Interchange. Marvellous, thanks for sharing.

 

Regards,

Ian.

[TT-Pete]

Seeing as how this thread seems to be rapidly turning into "What's on Dave's 3mm workbench", I thought I'd better provide an update. :^)

 

Well it has been a productive week, finishing up a few last tasks at work and more importantly, lots of modelling!

 

 

The Sulzers are waiting for some custom @railtec-models transfers to arrive before varnish, glazing and weathering, so I thought I'd pick up my next moribund project, a Branchlines 9F with Tri-ang tender.

 

This got put to one side as I didn't have a layout to test it on at the time so it didn't seem sensible spending a whole bunch of time on the body if it later turned out to not be able to go around curves or through pointwork. There was a bit of final fettling to do on the chassis and happily after testing it runs very well indeed, so now I'm just waiting for some bits to arrive from the 3mm Society shop to complete the body.

 

 

Which brings me to Presflos.

 

 

Tri-ang produced a nicely-moulded Presflo body but mounted it on their standard wagon chassis which always looked crap to me. When Margate ceased TT production there was a large quantity of raw Presflo bodies that had not yet been mounted on a chassis and a sizeable quantity of these passed to the 3mm Society. Something like 2 decades ago I bought about 20 of these and was planning to mount them on the whitemetal chassis that was also available from the Society, but I found this an absolute pig to build and most of them ran like 3-legged dogs, lurching and wobbling all over the shop. I ended up with 4 that run ok-ish, but the rest got binned.

 

So I was particularly excited when the Andrew Thomas chassis was announced a few years back and I pre-ordered a whole stack of them -

 

 

- only to get a sinking sensation when they arrived and I looked at what you actually get. OMG that's a lot of little fiddly bits! And the instruction booklet that comes with it consists of 10 pages of instructions. Yes, TEN! I felt so overwhelmed that they all went into the box with the bodies and stayed there.

 

But ok (deep breath) let's try this, we have nothing to fear but fear itself (and burning our fingers on hot soldering irons).

So usually I build wagons in sets of 4, first one to make mistakes and figure out how stuff goes together, two and three to get into a rythmn and then four to make even more mistakes as I now think I know what I'm doing and get complacent. Plus if a particular task is particularly difficult, onerous or unpleasant I can persuade myself to just get on with it as it's *only* for four.

 

 

The first job being a case in point; the "ribs" on the Tri-ang body do not extend all the way to the roofline like they do on the prototype. Why? No idea, but as the roof is a separate moulding, maybe they "forgot"?

 

Anyway, extending them is a horrid job, cutting teensy little bits of plastikard strip and placing them with tweezers. They stick to everything they shouldn't, they ping out of the tweezers never to be seen again, fall off or fall over before the glue has set etc etc. Honestly? I wouldn't have bothered as I knew all this from the last time that I did it, but even if no-one else notices, I know they are incorrect and it would bug me. So 28 per wagon, 112 in total = several happy evenings of frustrated swearing.

 

And the chassis? Well, actually these have gone far better than expected. Rather than being overwhelming, the instructions are actually bloody good. I've done kits in the past that had fatuous instructions like "now assemble in the usual fashion" (which presumes that you know what the "usual fashion" actually is) but these are 10 pages long because they are so detailed and the only thing that has had me puzzling so far was "Push out the rivets in each of the solebars" Eh, wot?

 

With a bit of thought and experimentation it turns out that if you hold a pin in a vice and press down on the indentations etched into the reverse it gives the impression of a rivet head standing proud on the other side. Ohhhhh. Well well. You learn something new every day. :^)

 

 

Thus far I have got to the bottom of page 3 of the instruction booklet and there's a lot of talk of "linkages" and "mechanisms" ahead - don't know how far my patience will stretch with all that malarkey so some corners may well end up being cut. At least I won't be having to solder the individual access ladder rungs (which would drive me crazy) as I already have 3mm scale signal ladder to hand and will use that instead.

 

And in the meantime a package has just arrived from the 3mm Society shop, so it's back to the 9F...

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

[TT100 Diesels]

Well, what can I say, apart from what a fantastic array of projects you have on the go there Pete. Now you have introduced the presflos and the 9F, and updated the sulzers to basic livery elements completed, I hope you will carry on with regular individual posts updating these varied projects.

 

Kudos on the presflo ribs, 4 down how many more in the rake? That must be total dedication / painstaking work, but it does look the biz.

 

And, yes, it is nice to be edged out of the way, I would love to see more folk posting 3mm wip projects here as well, because it can at times be a little tumble weed esque.......😉. (But not lately though).

 

Cheers

D

[bradfordbuffer]

4 minutes ago, TT100 Diesels said:

Well, what can I say, apart from what a fantastic array of projects you have on the go there Pete. Now you have introduced the presflos and the 9F, and updated the sulzers to basic livery elements completed, I hope you will carry on with regular individual posts updating these varied projects.

 

Kudos on the presflo ribs, 4 down how many more in the rake? That must be total dedication / painstaking work, but it does look the biz.

 

And, yes, it is nice to be edged out of the way, I would love to see more folk posting 3mm wip projects here as well, because it can at times be a little tumble weed esque.......😉. (But not lately though).

 

Cheers

D

Yep I'm with Mr 3mm workbench sorry tt100! Good to see stuff hear and over on dark web...3mm e group!

Love the presflows

[TT-Pete]

@TT100 Diesels @bradfordbuffer Many thanks for the kinds words and encouragement 🙂

 

On 08/12/2023 at 18:11, TT100 Diesels said:

Kudos on the presflo ribs, 4 down how many more in the rake? That must be total dedication / painstaking work, but it does look the biz.

 

Only another 14 to go (shudder):

 

(Although I shan't be doing any more of these for a while once the current 4 are done.)

 

In other news, the 9F has now moved to the paintshop,

 

 

Cheers,

Peter.

 

[Robert Shrives]

Great to see a 9F - I have all the bits and a bag of round tuits in the way  but it is good to see what it should look like!  The presflows are a real dedication job.  I have in N around 20 N soc hopper kits and detail etches - a lot mounted on Dapol chassis as the parkside hopper chassis parts are not the easiset affair.  Recently finished 15 N rover KSA cube wagons that was a labour of love! 3mm I have been working on 12 MGR wagons and waiting on Steve for transfers - but no rush as he has a lot on at mo .

The class 25s- "rats"  to me look really good.  I have some not so well done also waiting time to put numbers on. 

Robert 

  

[TT100 Diesels]

Last workbench post for the 08. It's finished. 

 

So, work done since last time,

Two coats of rattle can matt varnish.

Made a toy coupler for the front end, a chopped up Peco tension lock D loop, some bits of plasticard and using the vac tanks / front chassis to body fixing screw. So it is removable and I did not need to butcher the front buffer beam either.

Cab is 100 % hand cut flush glazing, the front bonnet windscreens were a bit trickey, but got there in the end.

 

 

Front toy coupler mounting arrangement.

 

 

Keeping it matt black and not weathering it means the toy coupler does not look too bad....... Sort of.

 

 

And the cab flush glazing.

 

That's it folks, thanks for the comments and interest in the build up thread.

 

Cheers,

D

[Lacathedrale]

11 hours ago, TT100 Diesels said:

Last workbench post for the 08. It's finished. 

 

So, work done since last time,

Two coats of rattle can matt varnish.

Made a toy coupler for the front end, a chopped up Peco tension lock D loop, some bits of plasticard and using the vac tanks / front chassis to body fixing screw. So it is removable and I did not need to butcher the front buffer beam either.

Cab is 100 % hand cut flush glazing, the front bonnet windscreens were a bit trickey, but got there in the end.

 

 

Front toy coupler mounting arrangement.

 

 

Keeping it matt black and not weathering it means the toy coupler does not look too bad....... Sort of.

 

 

And the cab flush glazing.

 

That's it folks, thanks for the comments and interest in the build up thread.

 

Cheers,

D

The glazing was trial and error I take it?

[Lacathedrale]

A WIP of my first 3mm rolling stock, a Parkside-origin kit on an AT etched chassis with FM wheels. I wanted to use more modern markings but this’ll have to do for now.

 

It needs weathering and much

more tonal variation, but I’m pleased in the direction it’s headed.

 

My usual paints, all Vallejo acrylic:

- Red Leather for bauxite

- 2:1 mixture of German camo dark grey and black for the under frame

- Pale sand for “white”

- black brown for any dirt and grime.

 

i have given it a thin oil wash just to pick out some detail but will go back with AK streaking grime and an airbrush for the actual weathering!

 

Markings are from sheet s1 from Cambridge custom transfers, but I have some chalked destinations coming from railrec too. 

[TT100 Diesels]

1 hour ago, Lacathedrale said:

The glazing was trial and error I take it?

 

Hi William,

 

The glazing is my usual method, 0.6mm thick clear styrene sheet. I measure the window apertures and cut out the glazing piece a fraction larger. Then using a sanding stick, whittle it down and radius the corners, until it is a nice push fit with just a tad of interference. So yes, quite a bit if trial and error I suppose, in sand down, offer up, repeat till required fit is achieved.

 

Your van kit above looks to be very crisply built, painted and finished, nice work.

 

Cheers

D

[maridunian]

On 03/12/2023 at 15:41, TT-Pete said:

Handpainted wasp stripes? Never again!

 

Just catching up with this thread - Railtec do wasp-stripes for various scales including 3mm - https://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=4870

 

Mike

[TT-Pete]

Well it's been a bit of a "good news/bad news" story of late.

 

Good news Sulzers going well with decals and varnish applied.

The 24 is numbered as 5150 - post-1967 as the "D" has been dropped but prior to TOPS class 24 designation being applied in 1971. 25 235 is mid-70's banger blue.

 

Glazing next job.

 

The 9F has also come on and is now numbered 92233.

I chose this loco as it was allocated to Bath MPD in the early 60's and so could have been a candidate for hauling the Pines Express over the S&D, so my rendition of a Summer Saturday Bournemouth working crossing Tucking Mill viaduct goes like this:

 

 

And before you all have a go at me I must stress that I gave it my best, but half-way down page 4 of the instruction booklet it became clear that the accuracy of my soldering technique (and patience levels) are way below the threshold required for assembling the tiny and fiddly Presflo brake gear and hopper release mechanism. And perhaps more importantly as the adverts say, when the fun stops, stop.

 

So, give up and return all the bits to the cupboard of abortive modelling shame? Or is there another way? I've had a rummage in the bits box and come up with some Society 10ft wagon frames, the brake gubbins doesn't look anything like the Presflo gear, but might be worth a try.

 

Now I'm a "close enough is good enough" kind of guy so I am prepared have a bodge, I'll have a go at one to see what it looks like and report back.

 

Merry 3mm Christmas Everyone!

Peter.

[TT100 Diesels]

Fantastic work Pete, great to see a comprehensive update. Love the Sulzers, they have turned out real nice, and etched brass as well, no mean feat getting them together as crisply as those two, and banger blue as well, you spoil us....... 

 

Of course the 9f is also a lovely model, love the viaduct shot. These loco projects really should be gracing the pages of Mixed Traffic in my humble opinion. I hope you might consider sending something in ?

 

Sorry to learn about the Presflo chassis issues, but I agree with your philosophy.

 

Cheers

D.

[EJI]

Hello Pete, 

Some lovely work on the locos there, sorry to hear of the frustrations with the presflo wagons, it was something I was following with interest as I have been looking at these on the society pages with a view to having a go. 

Yes I agree, your locos should be in Mixed Traffic. 

Best wishes 

Eric 

[tom s]

On 22/11/2023 at 21:33, TT100 Diesels said:

 

 

 

 

How has your experience with this motor been? I had a 4000rpm 12v version arrive the other week and I have been a bit disappointed in how high the cut-in speed is, compared to the top speed. It feels like it has no capacity to crawl on my gaugemaster combi. 
I do have a coreless planetary reduction 6500rpm motor coming which I am somewhat hopeful for as an alternative, the coreless motors I have collected seem to be better at crawl rotational speeds compared to the cheap can motors.

[TT100 Diesels]

17 hours ago, tom s said:

How has your experience with this motor been? I had a 4000rpm 12v version arrive the other week and I have been a bit disappointed in how high the cut-in speed is, compared to the top speed. It feels like it has no capacity to crawl on my gaugemaster combi. 
I do have a coreless planetary reduction 6500rpm motor coming which I am somewhat hopeful for as an alternative, the coreless motors I have collected seem to be better at crawl rotational speeds compared to the cheap can motors.

 

Hi Tom,

 

Interestingly, I have a Gaugemaster Combi, and the 08 does not run all that well on it. Same as you, the low sped is not so good plus sometimes when moving away from 'off' the motor stalls and 'buzzes'. 

 

A while back, I experimented with various controllers borrowed etc, and found that the performance improved the best with an H&M Clipper. In fact all my motors ran better on it overall, that is Triang, various Lincoln Locos types and Bull Ants. Just need to make a shelf to mount the controller so I can swap permanently from the Combi to the Clipper.

 

I am sure there are also other controllers out there which also do a better job, but I can only report on what was available to me. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

[tom s]

1 hour ago, TT100 Diesels said:

 

Hi Tom,

 

Interestingly, I have a Gaugemaster Combi, and the 08 does not run all that well on it. Same as you, the low sped is not so good plus sometimes when moving away from 'off' the motor stalls and 'buzzes'. 

 

A while back, I experimented with various controllers borrowed etc, and found that the performance improved the best with an H&M Clipper. In fact all my motors ran better on it overall, that is Triang, various Lincoln Locos types and Bull Ants. Just need to make a shelf to mount the controller so I can swap permanently from the Combi to the Clipper.

 

I am sure there are also other controllers out there which also do a better job, but I can only report on what was available to me. 

 

Hope this helps.

 

Howdy, yes lots of buzzing!
After it begins turning the motor can go at a lower speed before cutting out, and with a resistor over it the cut-in speed lowers proportionally with the speed range. I can only assume the pulse width of the PWM needs to be wide enough for the motor to start turning, regardless of the actual voltage, but my understanding of PWM and feedback is far too low to know how to remedy it.

Thanks for the info, I will definitely look into getting a clipper if the coreless motors are also a non-start!

Edited December 27, 2023 by tom s

[Robert Shrives]

It would be best to have both controllers really.  An old H&M clipper will be a bit of a sledgehammer on a coreless motor.  Albeit in N I have  used a Vesta controller from Moreton  and it does the job on old chunkey Farish motors and the latest Farish coreless motors.  However for a while another Vesta happily ran the 4mm Can motors and lima pankcakes on the office "training layout"  and on the replacement Gould street N gauge roundy.   

As motors vary I guess there is not a one size fits all all in DC  conrol, DCC  CVs allow for much micro adjustment to get the best from motors.

Robert 

[TT100 Diesels]

Tom, Robert,

 

I am not really "up" with controllers other than I think the old Clipper is possibly a pure old school resistance mat whereas the Gaugemaster modern stuff all have to a lessor or greater degree, some electronic processing of the output.

 

I can say though that the Clipper definitely out performs the Combi across all my various old and new motors. Especially the 08 which becomes far more useable running on the old Clipper. As does my LL class 20 power bogies under the 20 and 23, they relatively speaking speed away from off on the Combi and far slower and controlled on the Clipper. The Clipper also has hi / lo resistance setting, lo is best, and full / half wave switches, but I leave it set to full wave, everything is much smoother.

 

D.

[Phil Mason]

I've always been convinced that the normal Gaugemaster controllers are significantly better than Duette/Clipper on N gauge. I've no idea why that shouldn't be the case on 3mm but to be honest, I've never tried because the Duette works  reasonably well on most 3mm (Roco, Piko Tillig etc). So whether the 'Combi' is different from the other Gaugemasters, I don't know. 
 

Meanwhile, I had meant to post a pic of my completed 08 as a (inferior) comparison but I can't find one and it wouldn't be on my bench anyway. But I did find these which were on my bench at the time of the phot. 

 

Afraid I'm distracted with N gauge (boo hiss!) at present but I really must get back to the best scale ever for toy trains, 1:100! 
 

I was reminded to make the 'scale wars' comment because I've just received some alphabet decals from the States in 0.06", 0.08" and 0.10". It truck me that, of course, these are 6in, 8in and 10in in 3mm. Pity I don't rate the transfers. 

 

Phil

Edited December 28, 2023 by Phil Mason
Missing sentence.

[Phil Mason]

This is what I should be doing but all I've done so far is stretch the chassis

 

Oh dear, I've done it now. Maybe 'going public' will give me the incentive to crack on with TT 'growlage'?

 

Phil

[TT-Pete]

Hi Phil, that's a clever re-use of the old BTTB E194 chassis, not seen that for a 37 before! Please do tell more...

 

[Robert Shrives]

Can you now fit a decent can motor over the small affair fitted ?  The slightly non equal with a stretch would do a 56 as well.. 

 

5342 was an early "cab" for me in 1973 at Kyle whilst on tour with dad, defo back in the day times! 

 

Like you Phil ought to get on with the 3mm, but  N , Irish 4 mill and G1 itches get tickled as well depending on mojo.

Robert    

[bradfordbuffer]

11 minutes ago, Robert Shrives said:

Can you now fit a decent can motor over the small affair fitted ?  The slightly non equal with a stretch would do a 56 as well.. 

 

5342 was an early "cab" for me in 1973 at Kyle whilst on tour with dad, defo back in the day times! 

 

Like you Phil ought to get on with the 3mm, but  N , Irish 4 mill and G1 itches get tickled as well depending on mojo.

Robert    

You never forget your first cab ride....mine was about 77 /78 rockferry to liverpool on a 503 on either a boxing day or 27th been to visit uncle in Ellesmere port...spent Christmas money on legs in woolworths. changed off a dmu onto 503 sat in front seats with mum dad and brothers...door slid open and we where talking to driver when he got ding ding! Don't sit there come on in....whoooo!

Nearly pooped pants through mersey tunnel as driver told us it was leaking badly and half way through there was a wall of water and a big puddle...😳

I was hooked! Told my dad I was going to be a driver that night!

 

I always thought back to that night and the road my life took so when on station layover/long stops always allowed families into cab for a sit in the big seat for a photo....hope it inspired for future drivers