West Kirby Town: narrow gauge is coming to town.

[Tove]

Hi all.

 

Further to my last message, I've found this WWS video:  https://www.youtube.com/embed/v-E_ElExUts?feature=player_embedded

 

It shows grass being layered whilst each layer is still wet.  Is it the right way, or the wrong way?  I'm beginning to suspect there's a few ways of doing static grass.  So, until I get really good at it, this is how I'll do it for now.

 

Now on with the reprogramming!!

 

Rod​

 

Hi Rod,

 

He was only able to do that, because of the WWS spray (which he was promoting) which allows layering on an already wet base layer.

 

 

I did note that he did say "you don`t have to wait for it to dry" ie; the base layer.

 

So on that basis, i`d guess, that unless your going to use the WWS spray in the video, then you let the base layer dry first before the next layer is applied.

 

But, what works for one person,might not work for another.........

 

Brian.

Edited October 1, 2015 by Tove

[pwr]

This is getting complicated! Why does some grass seem to fall over in the middle of a bigger area?

 

I guess it all comes down to practice and experience. I have seen some better than others and only having covered a very small area in an initial test I can see I have a lot to learn

 

Paul R

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

Well, Wigan show and the derby match have been and gone - very good show and Everton could only draw with Liverpool, but hey ho, you can't have everything!!

 

I borrowed the Flockit applicator from my pal and did a couple of test pieces on Saturday night.  I was well impressed with it: the fibres stand up much better than with the electrified sieves I originally bought and, with the mesh being flat, it's not easy to get glue on it, like it is with the sieves.    I used the WWS glue and spray and so added 2nd and third layers while the glue was still wet.  It looked fine except where I flattened it getting the screw out and then when the vacuum cleaner sucked up the foamboard on which I'd done the test when I was trying to hoover up loose pieces!!   MEMO to self 1: let everything dry properly before touching it and MEMO to self 2: get a less powerful, hand held vacuum - the domestic version is a bit of overkill!!  Possible MEMO to self 3: put the screw near the edge of the work, rather than in the middle - with the powerful applicator I think you can afford to be further away from it without losing the effect.

 

Greenscenes were at Wigan and so, being pleased with the test, I bought a Flockit applicator, together with a funnel as well, for the narrower sections of grass.  So, watch this space!!  However, the first job, when I get time, will be to reset the chips on my DMUs and locos.  When preparing for Wigan, I realised the Heljan 37 has fallen foul of the split gear problem and the 33 has lost a step and some buffer beam pipework, so a call to Howes' is on the agenda for the morning.  Neither of these ran on Apethorne Junction but the Thumper, 131 and 3-car 108 , did, and behaved themselves.  That was on the Saturday: they didn't run on Sunday as I left late morning to go to the match so took them home with me on Saturday night.

 

More soon.

 

Rod

[leopardml2341]

I saw them on the layout, but they never ran when I was there on Saturday

 

131 was esp nice.

[CourthsVeil]

There seems to be a lot of misconceptions about these static grass applicators. Some of my thoughts:

 

Do we need conducting materials (or even a circuit) when investigating or using electrostatic charge? WP says: Amber, for ex­ample, can acquire an electric charge by friction with a material like wool. Also an image there shows: Paper strips attracted by a charged CD. Are these materials conducting?

Then there is the issue of a balloon rubbed on your cardy – mocked up by people who haven’t tried it, but praised by others. Nothing conductive involved there.

Draw your own conclusions…
 

If one thinks he needs conduction over all, why not mist the area in question with a flower spray?

Salt is good for cooking and to make rust; the ions in tap water are sufficient.
 

The repulsive force vanishes depending on charge and distance -> the fibres will stand nicely with more volts and with less room between the sieve and the base. No wonder that the results with the Flock-It (~15kV) are better than with a flyswat providing some 5kV…

The electrostatic charge dissipates much quicker than the glue sets; the drier the air the longer it takes.
 

Giles’ various tips in this thread are sound and very valuable – esp. the “bedding in” with finest (!) gravel. Which I did! May then be fixed with hairspray. Also 2ManySpams’ (#19 l.c.) recommendation re. a light (!) mist with some light (!) grey spray paint works very well.
 

As Paul R said above: I guess it all comes down to practice and experience. Right !!
At least I am not afraid of spending some bucks on stuff in order to do various experiments. Pays later!
 

At the end a warning:

Electric charge (more precise: discharge) is dangerous to electronic devices -> better you disconnect/shut down all such devices (decoders/ frog juicers etc.) or take them away (chipped locos) – if possible. Saves you a lot of trouble!

 

HTH

  Armin

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

I'm back - it's been a month since I've posted on here!!  Partly because I've been on holiday (Switzerland again - 3rd time this year!!), partly because of normal life getting in the way and partly because I've "hit the wall"  I think the latter is because I've realised there's so much to do.  Yes, the layout is operational (play-with-able!!) but there's the continual maintenance of stock to keep up with and then there's the scenery.

 

However, I've decided the answer is little-by-little, so I've started on the 37.  I got new gears from Howes and have fitted them.  The reason I thought I needed them was that there a continual clicking when the loco was running.  However, when I took the body off and ran it on my rolling road, no clicking could be heard!!  I assumed then that it was due to wires or something catching inside the loco.  However, on closer examination, I did find cracks in 2 gears - but not in the teeth, so those were not the reason for the clicking.  There's a pic below.  I did think to leave them but decided it's best to change them as the crack will eventually spread.

 

 

I've also refitted a snowplough that fell off while I was working on the loco.  I've had it on the layout and it seems to work fine now - I just have to make sure the wires are not near moving parts like flywheels when the body is put back properly!!  I've checked all the lights, too, and the reds are now nicely lined up with the lenses and held in place with Blutack (over time all the tops that protruded through the holes in the body have broken off).

 

I'm getting the stock back on the layout and returning the CVs to their original settings: however, they'll have to be redone later as "Apethorne Junction" is going to Newcastle in December (Railex NE).  There's plenty of playing time between now and then though!!

 

Hopefully, I'll have pics of some more progress soon but, in the meantime, it's onwards and upwards.

 

Rod

 

 

 

 

[railwayrod]

Hi Rod.

 

I was interested in your comment about "clicking" in the gears of your Heljan loco. I have the same problem with my 47 but only in one direction. Howard has taken the body off and has looked at the gears but he cannot find any cracks at all. I have a new set of gears to put into the loco sometime in the future but like you have hit a bit of a wall (also it seems has Jinty) but I am sure this will soon pass and we will all get back to some modelling - I hope!

 

Rod

[Simond]

It'll pass. I had a bad attack last year. I got over it by "modelling by proxy", basically watching you lot. Seemed to work!

 

Hang in there guys!!!

Simon

[two tone green]

Sometimes the motor and flywheel assembly can move ever so slightly up and down in its mount. The up and down depending which way the motor is running.

 

The flywheel can catch the fan motor housing above it when the motor turns in one direction and it moves up in the mount.

 

Same situation down in the bogie. The worm end can catch on the bogie base plate. If you take it off you will see that a circle has been milled into it to give the worm drive end some clearance. But if the motor moves up and down in one direction the worm will catch or rub on the base plate.

 

The clamp that holds the motor is adequate but the motor is ever so slightly undersized so I put one turn of insulating tape around the motor to increase its diameter enough to allow the clamp to hold the motor tightly but not distort it.

[muddys-blues]

Good morning Rod, good to see you back in the saddle, I think there a few of us suffering the SAD modellers syndrome at the moment, as Simon said, keep working through it it will be back soon.

 

Craig,

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

It's comforting to know I'm not the only one to suffer hitting the wall. So, I bounce back off it and get the 37 back on the layout and ....... it doesn't sound loud enough!! I check CV63 and it's at its max. It's fine for my shed but in an exhibition hall it should be a bit louder - plus I noticed one of the red lights was out of alignment again. So, off with body again - to find a broken wire from one of the 2 speakers to the chip. That should be easily sortable but the misaligned light not so easy: what has happened is that the plastic cover that goes over the red Heljan LED and fits in a hole in the body has broken (as it has on the others but this one has nothing left to even line up with the hole). So the plan is to replace the 2 at that end with red "lighthouse" LEDs.

 

Frustrating but with my new-found enthusiasm, I'm raring to go to sort it.

 

Just to add to the frustration, my computer's been going rather slow so, after an hour on the phone to the customer care centre, the lad decides it needs a technician to sit in front of it and check it, so it's now back in the store!!! At least I've got my Hudl and my mobile phone but I can't put pix on here with them - well, certainly not with the Hudl.

 

Watch this space!!

 

Rod

[Simond]

Hang in there, buddy!

 

Simon

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

Thanks for your support. However, I hope I didn't come over as too under the weather. I wasn't feeling it - more laughing at the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" ("Hamlet" if remember my A level Shakespeare correctly!!)

 

Anyway, all's well that ends well (!!). B The sound is now much better and now on half the maximum available. The lights,too, look good: so good in fact that I will eventually replace the other 2 Heljan LEDs with lighthouse LEDs.

 

It all went back together like a Midsummer Night's dream and the 37 now runs, sounds and looks just as I like it (ooooh!!) so I've no need to sit and Lear at it any more nor will this become a Winter's Tale - I'll finish it now in November.

 

Not quite a Comedy of Errors and I suppose you might even say it's been Much Ado about Nothing!!

 

More soon - progress on the layout/stock, that is - no more Shakespeare!!!

 

Rod

 

PS. I tried, but couldn't fit Henry IV, Part Two in!!

[Simond]

There'll be a winter of discontent if this goes on much longer...

[leopardml2341]

Or even a winter of discount tents after this summer's weather.

[Simond]

Where's the "groan" icon...?

[leopardml2341]

It's normally me asking for that, so I thought I'd show I could be just as bad

[railwayrod]

Hi Rod

 

Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more, or close the layout up with our models dead! (Henry V - I think)

 

Have broken through my "hitting the wall" barrier and have managed to start doing a bit of modelling Thank goodness!

 

Rod

[Simond]

I initially "liked" that, and then decided that, if it's an end to all this cod Shakespear, I'd agree to "thank goodness you've got your mojo back"!

 

best

Simon

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

Just an update. Had a couple of friends round today for a play operating (!!) session. A couple of tiny little glitches but the layout worked fine, as did all the stock. We did a "weekday" session (with loco-hauled parcels train and Mark 1s both needing to be shunted) but when the rain started and we couldn't shunt the fiddle yard we reverted to a Sunday timetable (no loco haulage but the push-pull set added to the DMUs)- using the camera and TV screen in the shed. Both really interesting. It worked well, too, with one driving, one signalling and me calling the tune!!

 

Having got my mojo back, I've started building little things like electrical cabinets, furniture for the portacabin, ticket collectors' booths, etc. Photos when I get them all together. What is frustrating, though, is that I've bought a fuelling point kit and I can't find it!!! No doubt I've put it somewhere safe. It'll turn up if I buy a new one, no doubt!! - but I'm not going to do that yet. There is just one disconcerting thought - that it might have fallen between my modelling desk and the wall: there's just the width of the skirting board separating them and it was a flat pack. If it doesn't turn up in the next couple of days, I'll look there. I've also got a couple of Peco phone boxes to do and a set of their bicycles, too - 2 of which will end up on the shunter's match truck, along with some spare couplings.

 

Any suggestions as to what else could end up on it?

 

No more Shakespeare but more news when I've made some more progress.

 

Rod

 

EDIT

 

PS. Have found the fuelling point - in a folder containing an MMP brass portacabin kit which I've put aside as it's too complicated. Why I put it there, I haven't a clue, but at least I've got it!

Edited November 12, 2015 by Dmudriver

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

Just a progress report, following on from the last post.

 

Now it's had the new gears fitted, the 37 is running perfectly.  I've sorted out the speakers, too, so it sounds much better on pretty low volume level.  It'll be fine now for its next appearance - at Railex North East in a couple of weeks.

 

I've been gradually building up little bits for the layout.  They've been primed, but not painted yet - mainly because I had a clear-out of old paints and I've not bought any new ones yet!!  Here are some pics:

 

Unfortunately, the system doesn't seem to want to add the pics to the text, so I'll refer to the Attached Thumbnails:

 

Top left, the complete set (I've not started the fuelling point yet - that's next):

 

Top right, the 2 Peco bikes.  There's 8 in the pack but I just need the 2 for now.  As I've said, they'll go on the 03's match truck - they belong to the driver and the shunter.

 

Middle left, the office furniture for the portacabin.  These will go in the boss's office: the other room will be the rest room and I'll put spare coach seats in there.  I'll have to make a table but that should be OK for there.  I'll have to fashion a kettle out of something!!

 

Middle right are the ticket collectors' booths and the phone boxes.  I'm not sure the booths are LM region but once painted in cream and maroon they'll look OK, I think, and they'll be under the canopy, anyway.

 

Bottom left is the trackside stuff.  An electrical equipment cabinet - that will go next to the fuel unloading point - and 2 hand point levers for the DMU stabling point.

 

Maunfacturers?  Bikes and phone boxes  by Peco; office furniture by Skytrex; booths by Highland Castings; cabinet and point levers by Peter Clark.

 

That's progress so far - not much but I try and do a little each day.  I do get distracted, though, when I go in the shed:  I just have to have a bit of a shunt around and before you know it - where's the time gone??!!

 

More soon.

 

Rod

 

 

 

 

[railwayrod]

Hi Rod

 

I did not know that Peco did bikes and phone boxes. I really must keep myself up to date with these things. I think Ramchester would benefit from both.

 

Rod

[Dmudriver]

Hi Rod.

 

As you can see, they make nice models but can be a bit fiddly to build.  The bikes come in 2 pieces - the main frame and the handlebars.  The latter are very thin and glue onto a very thin tube on the frame.  They need holding in position until the glue is dry and, even then, need very careful handling.  Mine have already come off 2 or 3 times!!  For that reason, they'll be standing upright on the match truck, leaning against some oildrums.

 

The phone boxes are fine to assemble, but getting solvent inside to glue the roof on is a bit of a delicate affair.  If you look carefully at the lefthand one in my pics, you'll see a smear right down the front window where the solvent brush touched it.  I'll put it down to vandalism!!  With hindsight it may have been better to put the roof on after the first 2, maybe 3, sides had been glued together.  Even then, though, you'd need the brush inside to glue the corners together.  But with a steady (or supported) hand it's no real problem.

 

HTH.

 

Rod

[Dmudriver]

Hi all.

 

A friend asked me tonight whether I'd lost my mojo again.  The answer was No, but life gets in the way of modelling, particularly at this time of year!!  I've not been idle, though:  I was at Railex NE last weekend, operating on Apethorne Junction.  Whilst there I took delivery of another 8 sugar cube speakers like those I fitted a couple of months ago.

 

The plan is to fit 2 in the Coal Tank, 2 in the 2-car 108 and 4 in the 115 (2 in each power car).  I want them in the Coal Tank because I think it needs more weight to get good contact with the track and replacing the larger speaker with the cubes would give me more space for weight.  So I took the chassis out and unsoldered the speaker wires, to make it easier to handle.  I've worked out how to fit the speakers between the chassis frames but at the same time I noticed a plunger pickup wasn't making proper contact with the wheel back.  I adjusted it and put it on my rolling road to check if there was an improvement.  Cue, after maybe a minute, flame and smoke!!!  (with a few unrepeatable - on here - expletives!!)  And a ruined chip because I forgot not to run a sound chip without a speaker attached.  Here's the result:

 

 

You can see the damage just above the bottom righthand corner.  So, for now, it will be replaced by a spare Lokpilot v3.5, once I've soldered the wires to the plug - see pic below:

 

 

I've also been working on the fuelling point and this is where I'm up to:

 

 

Still some cleaning up to do, but the interesting part will be the canopy: those long pieces fit along the edges of the underside and the ribs in between them. Getting them all in straight lines will be challenging - even though there are etched lines to fit them into!!   I have already formed the canopy to shape for the cross ribs.  I'll keep posting as I progress. 

 

More soon.

 

Rod

[Simond]

Rod

 

Sorry to hear about your "chip pan fire". I was unaware of the risk of running a decoder without a speaker.

 

I gather from your photo, it's an ESU decoder, in which case you might want to speak to Howes - I understand that ESU (or Howes themselves perhaps) offer a fixed price repair service. This can take some time due to the shipping to ESU & back, but I would not hesitate to recommend them, they have been very helpful in the past. Usual disclaimers of course.

 

HTH

Simon

Edited December 18, 2015 by Simond