Wright writes.....

[Jol Wilkinson]

3 hours ago, Chamby said:

 

I used pre-cut ply boards from White Rose, and have found them excellent.  Their website is very informative, just check on the delivery lead times.

 

Laser cut ply boards are robust enough to cut away or build up, see the first page of my layout blog (link below).

The usual downside of laser cut baseboards is that you are restricted to the sizes and formats they produce, although some may produce custom sizes.

 

For example, several friends are jointly considering building a small display layout. They have identified a track plan and scenic layout, measuring 6' 6" by 1' 9" and incorporating a sector plate in one corner behind a scenic break. One requirement is that it comprises two baseboard units that can be fitted in the smallest car owned by one of them. That isn't possible using "standard" laser cut baseboard sizes. 

 

So, unless you opt to make your own baseboards, or commission custom made ones, your modelling will be constrained by what someone else produces. 

[Chuffer Davies]

18 hours ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

The usual downside of laser cut baseboards is that you are restricted to the sizes and formats they produce, although some may produce custom sizes.

 

For example, several friends are jointly considering building a small display layout. They have identified a track plan and scenic layout, measuring 6' 6" by 1' 9" and incorporating a sector plate in one corner behind a scenic break. One requirement is that it comprises two baseboard units that can be fitted in the smallest car owned by one of them. That isn't possible using "standard" laser cut baseboard sizes. 

 

So, unless you opt to make your own baseboards, or commission custom made ones, your modelling will be constrained by what someone else produces. 

Rather than accept the extra cost of custom cut boards, as long as they come flat packed, you can purchase a standard size and just trim the width or length to suit your specific needs.  Still a lot less work than cutting your own.

For Clayton we chose to go to a timber merchants and got them to cut sheets of ply into standard strips of 100mm.  We then just needed to (carefully) cut these to length before assembling.  A bit like making our own flat pack board kits and much cheaper given there are 27  boards all in. 
Frank

Edited March 18, 2023 by Chuffer Davies
Auto correct substituted wrong word

[Tony Wright]

The C9 is now a runner!

 

 

There are several issues to attend to; the front frames above the footplate are too close together, and ride heights need to be addressed, but it's getting there. 

 

 

One change has been to replace the bogie wheels (the originals were very fine and did not like the Peco points in the fiddle yard) with standard Romford 14mm ones (with the correct number of spokes!). 

 

It really is a very sweet runner, and will make an unusual addition to Jesse's Woolmer Green layout down under. 

 

More of Jesse's work..............

 

 

 

 

 

In the form of a much-modified Hornby A1.

 

I'll let him explain what he's done...................

 

 

[MJI]

43 minutes ago, Chuffer Davies said:

Rather than accept the extra cost of custom cut boards, as long as they come flat packed, you can prefer a standard size and just trim the width or length to suit your specific needs.  Still a lot less work than cutting your own.

For Clayton we chose to go to a timber merchants and got them to cut sheets of ply into standard strips of 100mm.  We then just needed to (carefully) cut these to length before assembling.  A bit like making our own flat pack board kits and much cheaper given there are 27  boards all in. 
Frank

 

If I buy them they will be flatpack.

[Jol Wilkinson]

1 hour ago, Chuffer Davies said:

Rather than accept the extra cost of custom cut boards, as long as they come flat packed, you can prefer a standard size and just trim the width or length to suit your specific needs.  Still a lot less work than cutting your own.

For Clayton we chose to go to a timber merchants and got them to cut sheets of ply into standard strips of 100mm.  We then just needed to (carefully) cut these to length before assembling.  A bit like making our own flat pack board kits and much cheaper given there are 27  boards all in. 
Frank

I did the same, but had the strips cut to different heights to create side girders where the outer sections rose above baseboard level. That provided the backing for the various retaining walls, etc. that flank the layout.

 

With 14 baseboards of varying footprints and sizes it was undoubtedly the  best price/ease of construction option.

 

[Hollar]

On 16/03/2023 at 18:52, sjp23480 said:

I use brass lace making pins - squared off using a carbon disk or squashed using a pair of pliers for the lower hinges - which protrude more than the top hinges.  

I stuck tiny lengths of styrene rod into the door groove.  The "hinges" look fine when the coach has been painted, and don't seem to fall off.

 

Tony

[cctransuk]

1 hour ago, Hollar said:

I stuck tiny lengths of styrene rod into the door groove.  The "hinges" look fine when the coach has been painted, and don't seem to fall off.

 

Tony

 

Very similar to my soldered short lengths of wire.

 

CJI.

[LNER4479]

For what it's worth, here's the soldered scrap etch method.

 

Obviously needs the slots to be there in the first place. In this example, they weren't(!) so, much has already been described, I drilled then elongated a hole. The advantage here is that you can position the piece of etch so that all is square and true, before soldering from the inside. Snip off over length then tidy up and file to final size.

 

The advantage of this method is that it takes into account the effect of the tumble-home, in that the bottom hinge sticks out further (in order to keep the line of action of the hinges aligned).

Edited March 18, 2023 by LNER4479

[Tony Wright]

Jesse Sim asked if I'd take a couple of studio shots of his models; which I've done............

 

 

 

I have little idea of the diagram numbers of these lengthy vehicles, but they look mighty impressive.

 

Right now he's on his way to Ally Pally, going with our elder son, Tom. I bottled out; when there's a 50 year difference in our ages, capabilities tend to differ!

 

No doubt they'll report on their return. Say hello if you see them there (both have long hair!). 

[Tony Wright]

I employ the same technique of using scrap etch to form door hinges on brass carriages................

 

 

 

 

Once secured, the 'hinges' are trimmed to length, the lowest one being the longest.

 

MJT kits have the slots already provided. 

 

 

[Compound2632]

21 minutes ago, Tony Wright said:

MJT kits have the slots already provided. 

 

That's the case with all the etched carriage kits I've encountered* - D&S, Branchlines, 51L/Wizard (ex-PC?). Fold-up pieces are povided, so that one gets the hinge projecting by the right amount - especially important for the bottom hinge. If you just use bits of wire or plastic rod, you'll end up with a door you couldn't open because its hinges don't have a common axis of rotation.

 

*I won't say "built" - "am in the course of building" might be truer, especially if that's read as including "have not yet started"...

[rodent279]

Does anyone ever model opening doors on kits? Maybe not practical für passenger stock, but for vans,a couple of double doors open in a platform would look good. I'm sure with DCC it would be possible to add a small mechanism to open & close.

[coronach]

1 hour ago, LNER4479 said:

For what it's worth, here's the soldered scrap etch method.

 

Obviously needs the slots to be there in the first place. In this example, they weren't(!) so, much has already been described, I drilled then elongated a hole. The advantage here is that you can position the piece of etch so that all is square and true, before soldering from the inside. Snip off over length then tidy up and file to final size.

 

The advantage of this method is that it takes into account the effect of the tumble-home, in that the bottom hinge sticks out further (in order to keep the line of action of the hinges aligned).

Hi Graham - I have sent you a PM 

[MJI]

On 16/03/2023 at 22:07, Jol Wilkinson said:

 

I make my own baseboard kits, using good quality 4mm and 6mm birch ply, cut into rectangles and  strips by a local timber supplier to my cutting plan. The strips are cut to length as required using an electric mitre saw. I can make boards of irregular shapes as required. The photo shows the underside of one baseboard, based on the "concept" advocated by Iain Rice and Barry Norman with side "girders". The end plates for baseboard joints are two or three layers laminated. This board is part of a permanent installation but the same idea has proved very reliable and robust in a transportable exhibition layout and is light enough for easy handling.

 

Laser cut baseboard kits, if well designed such as those produced by Tim Horn, are good. However I have seen others which are too "lightweight" and poorly conceived. Possibly okay for a small, permanently fived layout but not robust for a portable layout. I would also avoid DIY plywood, because I simple don't think it is good enough for a decent job.

 

 

 

Bought baseboards looking at over £1000.

 

So onto that website.

 

What thicknesses do you use?

[Chuffer Davies]

1 minute ago, MJI said:

 

 

Bought baseboards looking at over £1000.

 

So onto that website.

 

What thicknesses do you use?

We used 10mm on the sides and double thickness at the ends to avoid distortion when doing up the bolts to pull the boards together.  Alignment pins are to my mind essential to ensure reliable track alignment across board joints.  We also cross braced every 1ft approx but best to plan out where your point motors etc.  are going to be so that you don’t put a brace where a point/signal motor or uncoupling magnet needs to be sited. 

Frank

[MJI]

12 minutes ago, MJI said:

 

 

Bought baseboards looking at over £1000.

 

So onto that website.

 

What thicknesses do you use?

Just seen 4mm and 6mm in wuote ooops

[Iain.d]

I have just completed the rebuild on this pair of long-ago purchased Parkside Dundas box vans.

 

 

The left hand van is a BR 12T Van with corrugated ends, based on a GW diagram. The one on the right is an LNER 12T Fruit Van. The main builds and painting were completed a while ago, I was waiting on the buffer shanks coming from Lanarkshire Model Supplies.  LMS Dave posted them on 11 January, which must have been very early on in the Royal Mail ransom aware attack; they arrived yesterday!

 

 

They were originally built in about 1992 or 1993, not particularly well, and over the passage of time (almost all of that in store) much of the glue had gone brittle and they came apart easily. I’ve taken off all the flash and cleaned up all the burrs and so on and re-assembled them reasonably square and true.  I’ve improved them with the LMS pre-drilled buffer housings, Gibson buffer heads, screw/instanter couplings, brake pipes, better brake detail, vents on the fruit van and transfers by CCT. They weigh about 50g each.  Next up will be a couple of NE region brake vans.

 

Kind regards,

 

Iain

[MJI]

There is so much variety in 12t box vans.

 

Trying to get a boy to do the ply version of the ex GWR van, as a body stl suitable for resin.

[Jol Wilkinson]

1 hour ago, MJI said:

 

 

Bought baseboards looking at over £1000.

 

So onto that website.

 

What thicknesses do you use?

I use 4mm for the side girders, spaced with some 18mm x 34 IIRC. I also use the strip timber for the legs, two pieces laminated together with one sticking up to fit into a slot in the side girders. I get this from a local builders merchant, who stores it flat so it remains much straighter than that from the DIY warehouses. The end faces are laminated from two or three pieces of 6mm, which is also used for the tops.

 

I get mine from a company called Ipswich Plastics, who supply sheet products of a wide range of materials, particularly to local kitchen and bathroom installers.

[Jol Wilkinson]

1 hour ago, Chuffer Davies said:

We used 10mm on the sides and double thickness at the ends to avoid distortion when doing up the bolts to pull the boards together.  Alignment pins are to my mind essential to ensure reliable track alignment across board joints.  We also cross braced every 1ft approx but best to plan out where your point motors etc.  are going to be so that you don’t put a brace where a point/signal motor or uncoupling magnet needs to be sited. 

Frank

Frank, 

 

this is in contravention of the accepted procedure for designing layouts. Find out how much space you have, make/buy  the baseboards to fill the space and only then work out a track plan.

 

Jol

 

[MJI]

I am currently working out how to make two in the space, possibly three.

 

Can't  have a 47 or 50 on aircons, along a closed in 60s cornish branch, nor crimson and cream stock behind an 87.

 

Ok i only want enough OHLE stuff for 2 trains. Don't want station. Possibly small halt for 1980s, steam era has the station.

 

Thinking of 1 side 1 era

[woodenhead]

@Jol Wilkinson

 

The proper procedure is to buy lots of models based on your many fairytale ideas for model railways.

 

Locomotives must be completely out of proportion to hauled stock and you cannot begin building until the locomotives have gone through one manufacturer upgrade so you have to sell what you have to buy the latest versions.

 

Then you set up your baseboard in an alcove and ask Rmweb for suggestions to fill a 6x1 space.

[Jeepy]

25 minutes ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

Frank, 

 

this is in contravention of the accepted procedure for designing layouts. Find out how much space you have, make/buy  the baseboards to fill the space and only then work out a track plan.

 

Jol

 

Totally agree! That's what I've done in my shed 👍😆

 

Best wishes, 

 

Jim. 

[MJI]

OK first order in for wood to make 2 x 1300 x 600 boards.

 

12mm ends, 4mm sides, 6mm top.

 

Found a pack of 18mm x something bigger in the garage, this will be legs AND the girder spacers

 

Each board

4 x 1276x100

3 x 548x100

1 x 1300x600

 

Slightly more than kits BUT no postage, and possibly stronger sides.

 

This will be across the end of the room under the window.

 

When in position will do the 2x1100x600 boards on the left.

[MJI]

45 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

@Jol Wilkinson

 

The proper procedure is to buy lots of models based on your many fairytale ideas for model railways.

 

Locomotives must be completely out of proportion to hauled stock and you cannot begin building until the locomotives have gone through one manufacturer upgrade so you have to sell what you have to buy the latest versions.

 

Then you set up your baseboard in an alcove and ask Rmweb for suggestions to fill a 6x1 space.

 

I keep doing full length trains!

 

I actually have 7 mark 3s between the power cars.

 

Got 2 complete or nearly complete aircon sets, 8 carriage, a 12 carriage under way.

 

For branch got 3 locos, 9 carriages, 20 or so wagons.