Wright writes.....

[D-A-T]

A golden rivet perhaps?

Edited April 10, 2020 by D-A-T

[The Fatadder]

On 31/03/2020 at 10:33, Bulwell Hall said:

 

The problem is that I don't have the B set yet!  It may require the gradient of the siding to be exaggerated a little - we shall see and I will report back in due course but please don't hold your breath.  I am intending to build the B set from etched brass kits which should give sufficient weight and mass but these kits are still under development and then they will have to be built.

 

Gerry

Hi Gerry, 

Some fantastic modelling there, look forward to seeing more (you can never see enough post war GWR!)

 

You have caught my interest with the mention of a B Set kit, is this something that is going to be generally available (and if so which diagram?)

At some point I really want to replace the E140 sets used on the Kingsbridge branch with something a little more detailed than the Hornby pairs currently in use (getting those recessed door handles right!). 

 

[D.Platt]

Morning Tony,

 Thank you for posting the photos of the K3 I hope mine comes together as well as yours has,  a few ! pages back it was mention how cruel it can be on our models when we can zoom in by the touch of fingers, but it’s also a big plus when you can also zoom in on the photos of the real engines like I’ve been able to do with the photos you posted on page 1940 see I know the page off by heart.

 

Dennis 

[Derek Russan]

On 01/04/2020 at 11:00, cctransuk said:

Just mix it with twice as much water and you will have 1.5 litres of 10% phosphoric acid flux.

 

Life is not that simple. All fluxes need a wetting agent, This is what makes the Barrie Stevenson flux so good.

 

I have been contacted about this issue and replied, but not had my questions answered. This is the only occurrence of a problem that I am aware of, in hundreds of bottles sold. It sound much more likely to be the solder, iron temperature etc. If it is unleaded solder I would expect issues.

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, Barry O said:

Are you and Mo having a Grand Completion of the Point Roding ceremony? You should do as it really is a labour of love but looks really good.

 

Baz

That's a thought, Baz.

 

Later today......

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[gr.king]

9 minutes ago, Derek Russan said:

 

Life is not that simple. All fluxes need a wetting agent, This is what makes the Barrie Stevenson flux so good.

 

I have been contacted about this issue and replied, but not had my questions answered. This is the only occurrence of a problem that I am aware of, in hundreds of bottles sold. It sound much more likely to be the solder, iron temperature etc. If it is unleaded solder I would expect issues.

 

I was wondering whether there had been any further developments following Jamie's mention of his problem. I haven't had occasion to try my still unopened bottle of the same flux yet, but would automatically double check cleanliness of the work and the bit of the iron, as well as trying (cautiously) more heat if the solder was failing to flow.

[St Enodoc]

1 hour ago, Tony Wright said:

Almost there!

 

If ever a modelling subject matter needed a 'sketch-book' approach, then point rodding (when/where there's lots of it) is it (or at least as far as I'm concerned!).

Lights the blue touch paper...

 

Ever thought of making it work Tony?

 

...and retires.

[gordon s]

I hope you don't mind me putting up these two K3's from Graham Varley. They've sat in a cupboard for years and it's only now that I've managed to get some loops together, have I been able to run them properly. It's testament to Graham's build that a few drops of oil sparingly placed on the moving parts was all that was needed and off they went. I've had 61826 apart and fitted a Zimo decoder, but 61924 is still running on DC, so that's to do. Needless to say, they both run very smoothly and will pull anything that I will need to run on ET.

 

Looking at the pics, sadly the only bits I can take credit for are a bit of track work and some ballasting.....

 

 

Edited April 10, 2020 by gordon s
Pic changed for one with the loco in focus....:-)

[Michael Edge]

1 hour ago, Derek Russan said:

 

Life is not that simple. All fluxes need a wetting agent, This is what makes the Barrie Stevenson flux so good.

 

I have been contacted about this issue and replied, but not had my questions answered. This is the only occurrence of a problem that I am aware of, in hundreds of bottles sold. It sound much more likely to be the solder, iron temperature etc. If it is unleaded solder I would expect issues.

I find that a drop of washing up liquid works for this.

[JamieR4489]

1 hour ago, gr.king said:

 

I was wondering whether there had been any further developments following Jamie's mention of his problem. I haven't had occasion to try my still unopened bottle of the same flux yet, but would automatically double check cleanliness of the work and the bit of the iron, as well as trying (cautiously) more heat if the solder was failing to flow.

I sent an email to Eileen’s but never got a reply so I ordered some flux from hobby holidays instead. I don’t think it’s a problem with the iron or solder as everything worked fine before. All I did was change the flux. The solder is 145 from Eileen’s and the iron is a circuits specialist soldering station. I had the iron at 330 degrees and tried it at ~450 as well, to no avail. Like I said in my original post, I’d thoroughly  cleaned the brass with a fibre glass pencil and cleaned the tip of the iron on a wet sponge and in some brass wire wool.

 

Jamie

[cctransuk]

2 hours ago, Derek Russan said:

 

Life is not that simple. All fluxes need a wetting agent, This is what makes the Barrie Stevenson flux so good.

 

 

Works for me - and I've been using it for years; 15% for brass and nickel silver, and 7.5% for whitemetal.

 

John Isherwood.

[Barry O]

Chuck the fibre glass pencil away.  It does strange things to some materials.

Baz

[St Enodoc]

26 minutes ago, Barry O said:

It does strange things to some materials.

And your fingers.

[JamieR4489]

2 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

I find that a drop of washing up liquid works for this.

Michael you are a star!

I dripped some washing up liquid into the jar of flux and it behaves just as it should. The joints are a lot brighter now and the solder flows nicely. Now I just have to redo all the joints I made (without the washing up liquid) on my D2...

 

Regards,

Jamie

 

Edit: FWIW I didn’t change anything other than adding the washing up liquid, which backs up my view that it was the flux that was at fault.

Edited April 10, 2020 by JamieR4489

[Tony Wright]

5 hours ago, gordon s said:

I hope you don't mind me putting up these two K3's from Graham Varley. They've sat in a cupboard for years and it's only now that I've managed to get some loops together, have I been able to run them properly. It's testament to Graham's build that a few drops of oil sparingly placed on the moving parts was all that was needed and off they went. I've had 61826 apart and fitted a Zimo decoder, but 61924 is still running on DC, so that's to do. Needless to say, they both run very smoothly and will pull anything that I will need to run on ET.

 

Looking at the pics, sadly the only bits I can take credit for are a bit of track work and some ballasting.....

 

 

Good afternoon Gordon,

 

Why should I mind anyone posting pictures of such lovely work (which includes the trackwork and ballasting)?

 

Graham continues to produce some beautiful locos (despite losing an eye!), and I know his always run well from personal experience.

 

It's nice to see Gilbert's buildings (built by the late, great Allan Downes) put to good use.

 

Please keep on showing us what's happening on your layout.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Tony Wright]

3 hours ago, Barry O said:

Chuck the fibre glass pencil away.  It does strange things to some materials.

Baz

But a fibreglass propelling pencil is perfect for cleaning up the joints on soldered-together metal kits, Baz.

 

I couldn't do without mine (I have several).

 

Yes, the filaments can irritate fingers, and it's wise to wear specs, but I find them invaluable.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

[Barry O]

Glass fibre sems to screw up white metal joints if I solder them.  I tend to use the welding technique..no low melt just a clean pair of parts, final clean with some fine emery, add fluxite, run hot iron down joint..done. 

 

For etchings I use a similar technique. It would appear that me, glas fibre brushes and soldered joints doesn't work.

 Baz

[Tony Teague]

7 hours ago, Barry O said:

Are you and Mo having a Grand Completion of the Point Roding ceremony? You should do as it really is a labour of love but looks really good.

 

Baz

 

Would perhaps a golden stool be more appropriate (if I may use that word in polite company)?

[gr.king]

5 hours ago, JamieR4489 said:

I sent an email to Eileen’s but never got a reply so I ordered some flux from hobby holidays instead. I don’t think it’s a problem with the iron or solder as everything worked fine before. All I did was change the flux. The solder is 145 from Eileen’s and the iron is a circuits specialist soldering station. I had the iron at 330 degrees and tried it at ~450 as well, to no avail. Like I said in my original post, I’d thoroughly  cleaned the brass with a fibre glass pencil and cleaned the tip of the iron on a wet sponge and in some brass wire wool.

 

Jamie

 

5 hours ago, JamieR4489 said:

 

3 hours ago, JamieR4489 said:

Michael you are a star!

I dripped some washing up liquid into the jar of flux and it behaves just as it should. The joints are a lot brighter now and the solder flows nicely. Now I just have to redo all the joints I made (without the washing up liquid) on my D2...

 

Regards,

Jamie

 

Edit: FWIW I didn’t change anything other than adding the washing up liquid, which backs up my view that it was the flux that was at fault.

 

 

Note to self to try washing up liquid if I have similar bother. Thanks all for the info.

[dibateg]

When I assembled my fleet of ex LMS coaches in 4mm scale I built them with a mixture of with and without door ventilators. It seemed that although there was a policy to remove them, some coaches got through the net, and they must have swapped doors around as I found a non-corridor coach with just a couple of doors without vents...

 

Regards

Tony

[Tony Wright]

1 hour ago, dibateg said:

When I assembled my fleet of ex LMS coaches in 4mm scale I built them with a mixture of with and without door ventilators. It seemed that although there was a policy to remove them, some coaches got through the net, and they must have swapped doors around as I found a non-corridor coach with just a couple of doors without vents...

 

Regards

Tony

It was a lovely rake, Tony.

 

 

A typical Stoke Summit combination

 

Not much RTR here, modified or not.

 

I'm now wondering whether I should have bothered removing the ventilators on that carriage; having gone to the trouble of soldering them all on. Then, un-soldering them.

 

Anyway it's lined and lettered now - just glazing and finishing tomorrow. 

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[Tony Wright]

3 hours ago, Tony Teague said:

 

Would perhaps a golden stool be more appropriate (if I may use that word in polite company)?

Good evening Tony,

 

I trust you're keeping safe. Mo says I must phone you, so I'll be in touch.

 

A golden stool? An interesting idea.

 

Anyway, all the rodding is finished.

 

 

No gold I'm afraid, just lots of grey receding into the distance........

 

 

In cruel, tight perspective my work is a bit wobbly, but this is not a view seen by most.

 

The reason for the extra bend was a lack of planning on my part. Though it's difficult to see here, my groundwork adjacent to the ballast was too lumpy and the stools just wouldn't lie flat. Using a chisel to remove plaster browning and scatter, congealed in lumps seemed too risky, so close to that perfect trackwork, so I compromised. Real rodding runs wave about as well.  

 

The loco's probably a bit wobbly, too. My 42 year old scratch-built O1. 

 

 

And off into the further distance..........

 

Worth doing? Of course, despite the tedium at times, and the less-than-perfect appearance in very tight perspective. But, in a way, the latter point isn't all that important. It's the overall appearance which counts - that sketch-book approach, more clearly seen in the first picture.

 

I've measured up how much rodding I've actually installed, and, counting all the transverse pieces, it's over 33'! Making three feet of it I might achieve 'realism', but not with 11 times that much to do.

 

Regards,

 

Tony. 

 

 

[mullie]

Now it is there it would look wrong if it wasn't. It was well worth the effort, looks great.

 

Martyn

[robmcg]

I agree it looks good and adds greatly to Norman Solomon's beautiful work. Not to mention the passing trains!

[richard i]

Next up the wires on the signal runs?