dibateg Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 I wondered where you had got to Simon. Micro surgery! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 Hi Tony: I'm working through my not-done-yet list. You need fractal fingertips for holding things in 2mm. Soldering's nice and easy though; the biggest heat-sink is me. Cheers Simon 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted May 25, 2015 Author Share Posted May 25, 2015 More Tilbury progress. I make the tank fronts as a single piece first, to hold the boiler in the correct position, while the tank tops are soldered in place. The fronts are then separated by sawing the central piece away. Cheers Simon 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Then I tried for a test fit on the Farish chassis: Not completely unexpected...I had a secret weapon to hand in the shape of a tiny can motor and with the timely discovery of Gareth's thread on ngauge forum, after some dismantling and modification, eventually came up with this. A wee bit more grinding and filing of the inside space. And we're nearly there! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 I thought I'd add the beading from some 0.25mm round soft brass wire from Eileen's wonderful Emporium. I use masking tape a lot when soldering these days, especially in 2mm and by the looks of things possibly for temporary stitches in minor injuries... Cocktail sticks for going round the bend. And that's one cab side done. The trick for me seems to be quick dabs with the soldering iron, very little solder, a good splash of flux and a lot of luck. Once you've got one tiny joint in the right place things become easier. Cheers Simon 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted June 12, 2015 Author Share Posted June 12, 2015 Had a bit of a break for line learning, I'm Stephano the drunken butler in The Tempest. It's not too difficult, just the research that takes the time... Moving swiftly on to the 2mm Tilbury, I found the superb casting by NBrass for an LMS smokebox door to be just a little too big so decided to build one up myself. Out came the trusty lathe (a venerable Heath Robinson) and I turned the door front from a piece of nickel silver soldered to a length of brass tube. (I did do a risk assessment for this but it was too scary to read.) Various bits and pieces were soldered on, NBrass do some lovely little hand-rail knobs and very useful D-shaped wire. And the door temporarily Blu-tacked to the smoke box. I'm rather chuffed with that. Cheers Simon 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 I have done many turnings in an electric drill. You used to be able to rigs for drills at one time to make them into lathes. Think h&s has made everyone scared of improvising. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 Had a bit of a break for line learning, I'm Stephano the drunken butler in The Tempest..... You have my sympathy. However, there is a lot to be said for method acting..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 Thanks for your comments folks. I decided to shape the delicate front frame extensions in situ. Firstly soldering on some over-long fret waste strips and cutting to length. The smokebox acted as a jig to position things properly and was protected from soldering up solid with Rizla paper. Then the strips were shaped with tiny fine files. And the smoke-box replaced. I really should have done this before soldering the front pillar handrails in place as I kept knocking them. The large sand-boxes, which I'll put on next, should protect them from further damage... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Each time I look at this I have trouble remembering it is only 2mm. Great work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 Thanks Pete: While I've been busy in the Tempest and not having much time to model I notice that a short discussion of my scratch-building book (among others) has appeared on Pete's (N15class) excellent scratch-building thread. Having just received a very fair review of the book in the Scalefour News I thought I'd get a bit of a plug in for it. Anyone who hasn't quite taken up scratch-building or just begun to start might want to have a leaf through it in the bookstalls at Exhibitions. I've also had a little time to make a very little sandbox for the 2mm Tilbury. Being very tiny, I thought I'd have a go at casting it in resin along with my smoke-box door. I haven't made any castings of such small pieces before, so I'll let you know how it goes... Cheers Simon 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKR Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 Perhaps for a little light relief you might consider making an LSWR Steamroller as the basis of your next book....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 Hi EKR: when the kit arrives I'll put it up on this thread! On with some 2mm resin casting. The only problem here was to make sure that the resin went into the detail areas and that's pretty much the same whatever scale you're casting in. Any "undercut" on the items to be moulded is filled with plasticene (and smoothed off a little better than this picture shows). I use plasticene as it's easy to remove later. I use a plasticene moulding "box" with the items to be cast pressed gently and firmly into the inside base. Tea-spoons and mustard spoons are great for mixing and measuring the rubber and setting compounds. The setting solution is a bright blue colour to help you see how well everything has been mixed and is an excellent indicator of where you've spilt any on the carpet... The mould usually takes about a day to cure. The resin compounds are measured using spoons again. You can use pipettes or such-like, just be careful you don't dip any of the fluids into the wrong container...And also spoons help you make up very small amounts of resin, handy for small components. You have about 30 seconds to mix the fluids gently as the resin begins to set almost immediately. It stays reasonabky liquid for about 3 minutes and after that isn't really workable. (If you mix it too roughly and for too long you get a lot of air-bubbles that set in it and the result is as fragile as Aero chocolate.) I use a cocktail stick to gently work the resin first into the smaller detail areas and poke out any bubbles before filling the remainder of the mould. The more carefully you drip the resin into the mould, the less flash you'll have to file off later. After about 30 minutes the resin is strong enough to gently remove from the rubber. It may still be a little flexible so it needs to be handled withcare until it fully hardens. And: Ta Da! Magically created duplicates of your scratch-build skills. It does take some practice, with air bubbles and poor mixing and measuring being the greatest contributers to disappointing mouldings and is very satisfying indeed when it works. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
N15class Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 I understand making moulds and casting when more than one item is required. But why the smoke box door. You made an exquisite brass one. Why not use it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 Thanks for your kind words Peter, I'm going to use the original on the model. I was interested in whether I could mould it, as it was so small, and as I'm inherantly lazy I thought it would be a short-cut if I had to make any more! Cheers Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richbrummitt Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 Is this process covered in more detail in your book. I've considered casting but every time I look into it it seems there is too much choice of mould/casting materials and everyone's preferences for me to make sense of what I should try. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted July 3, 2015 Author Share Posted July 3, 2015 Hi Rich: I was going to get around to resin casting in my next book but I ran out of space! The stuff I use is from Sylmasta.com and I find it to be a very simple system. The rubber is strong and flexible and the resin seems very durable though it does become stiff quite quickly so you have to work fast to introduce it into the mould. (I've not tried anything big yet, though I plan to try casting some early Great Western 4-wheel coach sides.) As you can see from the photos you can get nice fine detail. I met the guy who sells it at Warley Exhibition last year. He's very personable and will show you how to do everything with great enthusiasm. The perfect salesman! He may be there this year or try this address: http://www.sylmasta.com/acatalog/Casting_Kits-1.html Cheers Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
richbrummitt Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 I shalln't be going to Warley but will have a look through the website. Thanks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 A few photos of progress on the 2mm Tilbury tank. The other loco is an LSWR X6 which is somewhere on the "to finish list" but a bit of a way down... Cheers Simon 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted July 14, 2015 Author Share Posted July 14, 2015 Made a start on the details. The steam pipes for the cylinders are a pleasant curved shape and I made the pair by soldering a small block to a larger piece to use as a handle before shaping, separating and aralditing them in place. The coal rails were a bu66er (I've learnt how to swear on RMWeb thanks to OzzyO I think...). These were from 0.5mm wire held down with masking tape, filed flat in places and soldered. Goodness does solder get to places you don't want it to. Tank fillers are 10BA bolts filed thinner with 0.5mm brass wire soldered on and shaped. The beautiful turned buffers from the 2mm society (thanks Steve) were given circular bases by adding 16BA washers. The holes were (naturally) slightly too small, so the washers were soldered to thin sheet scrap and drilled a bit larger... And there she is, with blu-tacked chimney and dome. (Blimey, Blu-tack is so much bigger in 2mm!) Cheers Simon 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted July 15, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 15, 2015 Beautiful work, shame she is going to be lumbered with those 'orrible N gauge wheels:-) Look forward to seeing progress on the X6, I do like pre-group 4-4-0s. If interested you can see progress on my 2mm MR 3P 4-4-0 on my Bath Queensquare thread. Thoroughly enjoyed your book by the way. Lots of really useful, practical tips and techniques, I can thoroughly recommend it to anyone contemplating having a go at scratch building. Jerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian@stenochs Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 A few photos of progress on the 2mm Tilbury tank. The other loco is an LSWR X6 which is somewhere on the "to finish list" but a bit of a way down... 2015-07-12 19.42.32 (1024x769).jpg Your photo illustrates a common problem with builders! The easy bit is getting to the X6 stage which in my case is usually quite a short time from starting to cut metal. The hard bit is making and fitting all the detailing bits which in my experience take an awful lot of time compared to the basic structure. I have more part built models sitting than I know I should have. I am trying to finish one before starting on another but old habits die hard. The way forward might be to make the details before the basic structure but that is not always easy. However nice to see your progress, I work in 7mm and am really in awe at the detail you are incorporating in a 2mm model. More power to your elbow. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzyo Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Hello Simon, you have misspelt bu66er I always spell it bu99er. Nice looking build more so when you remember it's in 2mm. OzzyO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted July 15, 2015 Author Share Posted July 15, 2015 Thanks very much folks. Glad you liked the book Jerry. It's one of the reasons that I have so many unfinished modelling projects. Your work is superb and I intend to (eventually) finish the X6 in 2mm finescale. As for N Gauge, I'm suprised at the unavailability of really good N gauge driving wheels, in fact the only source seems to be from butchered ready-to-run locos. I'm going to look into that. Ian, thanks very much for your kind comments, I must say that I do enjoy the detail adding but it does seem to take forever sometimes and while I am very patient I do also seem to have a low boredom threshold...deadlines and/or offers of money generally spur me on to finish stuff. I fully intend to work through my present projects, starting with those that come into the deadline catagory. I occasionally find that I lose confidence too and have to take a step back and do some hard thinking or drinking...I spent all day managing to not work out a good way of attaching the Tilbury chassis to the body so will attempt the problem from a different angle tomorrow. And OzzyO, my apologies for the mistake. I learn from the master! (Both the spelling and the modelling.) Ch33rs Simon 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sej Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 Ian, I've found your comments about unfinished projects really intriguing. If I look at my stalled builds many have something in common; I've hit a problem and stopped. While this is not neccessarily a bad thing, it gives you time to think and hopefully aquire the skills and experience to go back and tackle them successfully, they all show a sudden lack of confidence. Interesting! So, applying this to the Tilbury chassis, it struck me that I haven't modified an N Gauge chassis before and was lacking confidence to do something a bit more drastic to it, (and it's not my chassis!). The real difficulty is that I would have normally scratch-built the chassis to fit to the loco body, so the solution, after some thought was to be courageous and adapt the chassis to fit the body in a similar manner to how I would have built my own. So, out came the files and piercing saw once more and I had a good old go at it! Hah! (Horrible cloggy metal it's made of...) Anyway, it's beginning to look like something much more familiar to me. It bolts nicely to the loco body and it's going to have top wipers which I prefer to the originals. All very satisfying, thanks Ian. Back to the body and I've cleaned up and balanced on top, these beautiful boiler fittings from NBrass. Sigh, all happy now. Fine wines beckon. Cheers Simon 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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