Whats on your 2mm Work bench

[queensquare]

Rabs,

 

Indian Red is a Precision Paints version.  A coat of Humbrol Satin Varnish (which annoyingly has dried very matt) has probably toned it down bit (it has the Pre 1928 green).  The chimney was turned from phosphor bronze rod (I'd copper plated the chimney on my saddle tank with copper sulphate solution and a PP3 battery), the whistles are also pretty rough turnings in brass but are good enough from normal viewing distances.

 

 

Jerry,

 

She will get a back head and a crew (probably not in time for Warley), and the Humbrol Satin Varnish that I'd used was supposed to give a bit of a sheen (it did on my saddle tank!!).  So I do need to re-do the varnishing (but that will require some careful masking or a re-paint of the black afterwards).

 

Thank you all for the kind comments and "ratings of 'Craftsmanship/Clever' and 'Like'"

 

Regards,

Ian

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has trouble with varnish not doing what its supposed to. I find varnishing one of the most nerve racking parts of a build - probably because if it goes belly up (been there more than once!) it means stripping and starting again.

 

Jerry 

[richbrummitt]

Just about to come off my workbench is my GWR Small Metro Tank...

 

 

 I will be able to convince Jerry that he really needs an interlude of Edwardian elegance on his 1970's operation of Highbury

 

Of that I am sure.   Sadly I will have to wait for another occasion to see it in the flesh.

[Donw]

Ian a real beauty I think you should be proud of the result. I presume this will take over the rake of coaches leaving the saddle tank for the goods.

 

Don

[D869]

Just departing for the paint shop (actually they are already there), hopefully to emerge in time to be installed on St Ruth at our next meeting... two signals to cover the carriage siding points for St Ruth's departure platform.

 

 

Both should be fairly faithful reproductions of the pre-1938 Penzance originals - it seemed like the right thing to do for a pre-1938 track plan and we really need some wooden posts in our mix of signals.

 

Hopefully the signals will be topped off with some of these...

 

 

The ones on the right are for wooden posts. Annoyingly the 'play it safer' ones that I made shorter were the ones that got broken. The spheres were more... err... spherical when I drew them so I think we have some 3d printing artefacts happening here. Not dissimilar to the finial shape of some other railways, but not quite what I wanted. Still, it's better than turning them up in the mini drill.

 

... although it remains to be seem whether I can get them off the sprue without destroying them.

 

 

 

 

[Rabs]

I've wondered for a while - why did the railways put pointy bits on the top of signals?  Where did the practice come from and did it serve any purpose other than aesthetics?

Edited November 13, 2014 by Rabs

[Graham Hughes]

I've wondered for a while - why did the railways put pointy bits on the top of signals?  Where did the practice come from and did it serve any purpose other than aesthetics?

Presumably the original purpose was to protect the end grain at the top of wooden posts from the elements, but in line with the fashion of the Victorian era for ornamentation a simple cap was not good enough (although some examples of these existed) so decorative finials became the norm and were carried over to metal posts too.

[richbrummitt]

I've wondered for a while - why did the railways put pointy bits on the top of signals?  Where did the practice come from and did it serve any purpose other than aesthetics?

 

I agree with Graham on the protection point of view. A point would prevent birds from sitting atop the posts and making deposits in to the mechanism, although I can imagine that they were just decorative. Perhaps we were not aware how the dust from bird droppings was hazardous when inhaled, or were not worried, back then?

[richbrummitt]

Just departing for the paint shop (actually they are already there), hopefully to emerge in time to be installed on St Ruth at our next meeting... two signals to cover the carriage siding points for St Ruth's departure platform.

 

P1040559.JPG P1040563.JPG

 

Both should be fairly faithful reproductions of the pre-1938 Penzance originals - it seemed like the right thing to do for a pre-1938 track plan and we really need some wooden posts in our mix of signals.

 

Hopefully the signals will be topped off with some of these...

 

P1040564.JPG

 

The ones on the right are for wooden posts. Annoyingly the 'play it safer' ones that I made shorter were the ones that got broken. The spheres were more... err... spherical when I drew them so I think we have some 3d printing artefacts happening here. Not dissimilar to the finial shape of some other railways, but not quite what I wanted. Still, it's better than turning them up in the mini drill.

 

... although it remains to be seem whether I can get them off the sprue without destroying them.

 

They are not quite as detailed but I made robust finials from dress makers pins (selecting the most pointy ones) and fitting a small brass bead over. The tops of the posts are centre drilled 0.6 and the finials soldered in.

[D869]

They are not quite as detailed but I made robust finials from dress makers pins (selecting the most pointy ones) and fitting a small brass bead over. The tops of the posts are centre drilled 0.6 and the finials soldered in.

 

Hi Rich,

 

I must admit that I subscribe to the view published in MRJ many moons ago that it's a good idea to have a fragile finial and a supply of spares. That way if it gets clouted you stand a chance of getting away with just losing the finial rather than damaging the whole signal or finding oneself impaled on it .

 

Wish I could find a way to stop the ladders getting bent while peeps are cleaning the track though.

 

Regards, Andy

[StuartM]

Re the Finial question,

As some of you may know I work (well I'm employed) by BT and I asked the same question when I was young'un and was told that the Victorians didn't like the ugly telegraph poles, so the GPO pretty'ed them up with some ornamentation, so I assume the same apply's the railways, then I thought I'd ask Google and what'da know, there are people out there with an even sadder interest than us, "The Telegraph Appreciation society", I kid you not

http://www.telegraphpoleappreciationsociety.org/index.php/43-telegraph-poles/vintage/123-finally-finials

 

[sp1]

I agree with Graham on the protection point of view. A point would prevent birds from sitting atop the posts and making deposits in to the mechanism, although I can imagine that they were just decorative. Perhaps we were not aware how the dust from bird droppings was hazardous when inhaled, or were not worried, back then?

Who would climb up a signal to inhale bird droppings?

[cornish trains jez]

Just departing for the paint shop (actually they are already there), hopefully to emerge in time to be installed on St Ruth at our next meeting... two signals to cover the carriage siding points for St Ruth's departure platform.

 

P1040559.JPG P1040563.JPG

 

Both should be fairly faithful reproductions of the pre-1938 Penzance originals - it seemed like the right thing to do for a pre-1938 track plan and we really need some wooden posts in our mix of signals.

 

Hopefully the signals will be topped off with some of these...

 

P1040564.JPG

 

The ones on the right are for wooden posts. Annoyingly the 'play it safer' ones that I made shorter were the ones that got broken. The spheres were more... err... spherical when I drew them so I think we have some 3d printing artefacts happening here. Not dissimilar to the finial shape of some other railways, but not quite what I wanted. Still, it's better than turning them up in the mini drill.

 

... although it remains to be seem whether I can get them off the sprue without destroying them.

 

Very nice Andy! I like the 3D printed parts. Could do with some of those for the signals on Par....hint hint nudge nudge!!

[D869]

Very nice Andy! I like the 3D printed parts. Could do with some of those for the signals on Par....hint hint nudge nudge!!

 

I'll get some extras done next time I'm ordering from Shapeways. I don't think these will be orderable by anyone except me because they break their tolerances and can only be done using 'print it anyway'.

 

It will be a while yet though because I like to batch things up to save on postage.

 

... always assuming that they don't self destruct when I cut the sprue of course.

 

Regards, Andy

[Graham Hughes]

Who would climb up a signal to inhale bird droppings?

You just haven't lived.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Graham Hughes

[richbrummitt]

Who would climb up a signal to inhale bird droppings?

 

No-one with this specific intent (I hope). But someone was up there every day to attend the lamps

[D869]

Fresh from the paint shop, after a liberal sprinkling of choice words while getting all of the knitting hooked up to the arms and servos again.

 

 

 

Please ignore the chaos in the background.

 

Hopefully this and its little friend will be planted on St Ruth tomorrow.

[Donw]

No-one with this specific intent (I hope). But someone was up there every day to attend the lamps

 

I am sure I read that the GWR signal lamps lasted seven days or more so the Lamp man had a rota to go round and get back to the start by the seventh day when the lamp would be filled the wick checked and relit.

 

Don

[queensquare]

Fresh from the paint shop, after a liberal sprinkling of choice words while getting all of the knitting hooked up to the arms and servos again.

 

 

 

Please ignore the chaos in the background.

 

Hopefully this and its little friend will be planted on St Ruth tomorrow.

 

They look lovely Andy. I shall look forward to seeing them at the weekend.

 

Jerry

[MarkAustin]

I could in the middle future (if you know what I mean) with some finials. Will you let us know when you're reordering, so we can work out how many we'd need. I presume you would allow about 50% ec=xtra for wastage.

 

Mark A

[2mmMark]

Fresh from the paint shop, after a liberal sprinkling of choice words while getting all of the knitting hooked up to the arms and servos again.

 

Please ignore the chaos in the background.

 

Hopefully this and its little friend will be planted on St Ruth tomorrow.

 

Excellent!  Gets my vote for the 2015 Malcolm Stone Award.

 

I made some non-working signals for Copenhagen Fields and knowing how fiddly those were, I'm doubly impressed with these working examples.

 

Mark.

[MarkAustin]

Fresh from the paint shop, after a liberal sprinkling of choice words while getting all of the knitting hooked up to the arms and servos again.

 

 

P1040567.JPG P1040568.JPG

 

Please ignore the chaos in the background.

 

Hopefully this and its little friend will be planted on St Ruth tomorrow.

What did you use for the spectacle glass?

 

Mark A

[D869]

Excellent!  Gets my vote for the 2015 Malcolm Stone Award.

 

I made some non-working signals for Copenhagen Fields and knowing how fiddly those were, I'm doubly impressed with these working examples.

 

Mark.

 

Thanks Mark, but if the little swine still works after it's planted on the baseboard then there is no way that I'm taking it off again!

 

 

What did you use for the spectacle glass?

 

Mark A

 

The spectacles on this signal are Microscale Kristal Klear. It's the first time I've ever used this stuff (for signals or otherwise) and it seems to work very well.

 

Previous (pressed steel arm) signals have been done using thin glazing material cut to shape. It's rather a faff to cut them to shape and it makes threading the wire even trickier but it does have the advantage of creating a smooth rear surface to the spectacle plate which can help if the little blighter is prone to catching on the lamp.

 

The spectacles (both kinds) are coloured once in place using a fine tipped permanent marker (CD marker pen). I must remember to try to track down an orangey yellow pen some time though because there is a slotted distant arm planned for one of the signals at the 'up' end.

 

Regards, Andy

[D869]

I could in the middle future (if you know what I mean) with some finials. Will you let us know when you're reordering, so we can work out how many we'd need. I presume you would allow about 50% ec=xtra for wastage.

 

Mark A

 

I'll make a note of that Mark. I think that allowing for wastage will definitely be needed though.

[MinerChris]

Carrying on the current theme of Midlands Area Group trying to get things ready for Warley...

 

 

Unfortunately the three in the background away from the ensemble probably won't make it due to some disastrous painting, something that I suspect can't be remedied without stripping back and starting again.

 

Chris.

[2mmMark]

Carrying on the current theme of Midlands Area Group trying to get things ready for Warley...

 

 

Unfortunately the three in the background away from the ensemble probably won't make it due to some disastrous painting, something that I suspect can't be remedied without stripping back and starting again.

 

Chris.

 

Another day older & deeper in debt...