Whats on your 2mm Work bench

[tom s]

6 hours ago, Jan W said:

Tom, those look wonderful and it’s almost unbelievable that one can produce such trackwork on a small printer at home!

One observation though: it seems the webbing between the sleepers is quite high, is there enough space to cover it in ballast?

 

Jan

Cheers Jan, I am also continually impressed that printers are so accessible for what they can produce from a bottle of slightly odoriferous goo.

Agreed on the webbing, the 3d file wasn't that tall, i suspect it might be to do with my setup, (I dropped the metal build plate on the screen which left a dent in the corner which needs to be covered with some tin foil, so the build plate needs to be levelled a paper width higher, and maybe that paper width is adding up in places where the resin is trapped in the space between the sleepers and the webbing and cannot be displaced easily when it descends to print the next layer.)
On that print the main turnout section was a fail, the chairs were too tight and fragile to survive past the first inch or so of rail threading, so they were binned. However the small 4 sleeper sections at the end were still usable and I trimmed down the webbing with a scalpel and file!

The following prints fixed the webbing and the chairs.

[Chris Higgs]

On 16/02/2024 at 10:27, Nig H said:

Maybe not so soon, but the last two coaches are now finished apart from weathering. I thought I'd mention one or two aspects of the construction in case its useful to others. Firstly, the bogies are secured with a 12 BA screw, with a washer soldered on the top. The hole in the bogie is slightly greater than the head of the screw, and the screw is held tight against the underside of the bolster.

 

 

I use a former as shown below to make the handrails that are attached to the ends of the coach. The various holes in the former are to cater for the different positions of the holes in the ends.

 

 

 

I use 5 amp fuse wire usually as its easy to bend round the edge of the profile. The wire is quite fragile and can get bent after being fitted, but its easily corrected back to the right shape.

 

For plastic roofs, I use 5 thou plasticard cut into thin strips (not more than 0.5mm wide) for the ribbing on the roof. Applying this reasonably accurately is a tedious exercise. The pic below shows two roofs ready for cleaning up, and the tools I use.

 

The wet and dry I use to sand the roof where my fingers have pressed down on pools of Mekpak, and to smooth the ribbing where it has split during application, causing the join to stick up slightly. Its also useful to try to reduce the thickness of the ribbing a bit, I think even 5 thou is probably over scale.

 

One of the coaches I'm doing is a Chris Higgs model. This includes a resin roof and I couldn't use the plasticard for the ribbing on this as it wouldn't adhere permanently. I used some Tamiya masking tape instead, cut into thin strips, again c. 0.5mm or less. The Tamiya tape was much easier to apply than the plasticard, and no cleaning up afterwards is necessary. Here is the result.

 

 

I'll post some pics of the finished coaches in the next post.

 

Nigel Hunt

 

I prefer the masking tape approach for the simple reason that I seldom get all the ribs straight and even first time, and it's a whole lot easier to remove the tape and try again.

 

Chris 

[Chris Higgs]

On 16/02/2024 at 11:04, Nig H said:

Here are some pics of the final two coaches. These are a Stanier composite from a Worsley works kit, and a Masterclass Stanier brake third. The composite is the last in a rake of four Stanier crimson-liveried coaches, and the brake third is to add to a rake of three maroon period 1 coaches built some time ago. One of the roofs in my previous post was a replacement for one I decided I didn't like on a coach built decades ago.

 

The crimson coach blended in well with the three already built.

 

 

The brake third should be the same colour as the original three period 1 coaches. These were painted and lined by Ian Rathbone, and I thought I used the same colour (LMS Crimson Lake) on the brake third. 

This pic was taken with flash and makes the main colour look very bright, almost like crimson rather than the intended maroon.

 

This is the rake of four. Sorry about the lack of focus but you can see that the liveries don't quite match.

 

 

One other point I noticed with the Masterclass coaches was that the door grab handle holes are spaced further apart ( c. 0.25mm - 0.5mm) than on the Worsley Works coaches. The Masterclass kit includes etched grab handles, which I used, but seem a bit chunky, though I tried filing them down a bit after soldering in place. I realise that parts like these probably need to be etched a bit over or not at all.

 

I think both kits can be made into reasonable models, depending on the skills of the builder, but a lot more thought has gone into the design of the Masterclass kit to make it easier to build, and I'd prefer it if I had a to choose between the two.

 

 Nigel Hunt

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your kind words Nigel. I'd like to say that I took the spacing of the grab handles off a works drawing, but it really is so long ago now since I designed them, so I don't remember!

 

EDIT: I remember now. The works drawing I had was of a Period 1 panelled coach (LMS Journal preview issue), and the grab handle bolt holes are in the middle of the panelling, as are the door stops. I made the assumption they were in the same position for the P2 and P3 coaches with no panelling. Photos seem to bear this out. Those with an intimate knowledge of LMS grab handles will know it's not as simple as that, as the bolts sit above and below the actual grab handle part, so the handle is shorter than the bolt spacing. 

 

Chris

Edited February 17 by Chris Higgs

[yaxxbarl]

Now pretty much as finished as I want it to be in time for this weekend's Chapel En Le Frith show where I'm demonstrating my finescale wares, is J94 68012 -

 

 

 

It will be getting weatherboards next and a weathering, however for now it's been round the test circuit a few times and ready to go.

 

Cheers,

 

John

 

 

[richbrummitt]

Just off my workbench when it was warm enough to paint recently!

 

 

One of these already found a home at Modbury as a thank you to Ian for allowing my use (and subsequent abuse) of his cattle wagon files for printing. Those for myself will be grey rather than red. 

[queensquare]

7 hours ago, richbrummitt said:

Just off my workbench when it was warm enough to paint recently!

 

 

One of these already found a home at Modbury as a thank you to Ian for allowing my use (and subsequent abuse) of his cattle wagon files for printing. Those for myself will be grey rather than red. 

Mmmmm…. nice!

 

Jerry

[richbrummitt]

After too many years I’ve finally got around to fitting sandboxes in the verandah of some toads. Along with sanding lever the sand boxes are quite visible even with the roof in place. 
 

 

When I started these models I would have thought to whittle them from brass stock and a turned lid/handle but more than 10 years on I’ve drawn and printed plenty in the same time it would have taken to fabricate them. 
 

 

I haven’t bothered with all the operating linkages because they are far less conspicuous. I do need to decide whether to fit straight (wet) or dry (curved) delivery tubes below. 
I only recently discovered exactly how the lamp irons for the sides were meant to be folded up and unfortunately these few remaining pieces have gone missing during the last 10+ years. Does anyone have enough spares for 2 AA3s? 
 

Edited February 22 by richbrummitt
Some missing

[Donw]

I like the instanter coupling very nice. The sandboxes do add to the van.  As an aside many Toads had instanter couplings but some had screw link is there any particular reason for the screw links?

 

Don

[t-b-g]

I can report some steady but slow progress on the U Class for Yeovil Town.

 

I decided to have a go at scratchbuilding the valve gear. The coupling rods and connecting rods are from etches and we do have some etches for the other motion parts but I decided that my chances of a soldered crosshead made up of several parts was likely to test me, so this is just three bits, a small length of square tube, a filed up block soldered underneath and a piston rod soldered into a hole in the front of the block. Much remains to be done but I am fairly pleased with what I have managed so far.

 

[richbrummitt]

57 minutes ago, Donw said:

I like the instanter coupling very nice. The sandboxes do add to the van.  As an aside many Toads had instanter couplings but some had screw link is there any particular reason for the screw links?

 

Don

A few were vacuum fitted for specific purposes and those had screw couplings before instanter couplings came to be.
Atkins et al. says one lot was built with screw and instanter couplings and it seems as a mixed bag. Looking again I think these two could possibly have had three links still in my early 1920s period. 

[VRBroadgauge]

3 hours ago, t-b-g said:

I can report some steady but slow progress on the U Class for Yeovil Town.

 

I decided to have a go at scratchbuilding the valve gear. The coupling rods and connecting rods are from etches and we do have some etches for the other motion parts but I decided that my chances of a soldered crosshead made up of several parts was likely to test me, so this is just three bits, a small length of square tube, a filed up block soldered underneath and a piston rod soldered into a hole in the front of the block. Much remains to be done but I am fairly pleased with what I have managed so far.

 

 

Would those be the rods that I did for Laurie? I'm glad they worked out OK. @Sithlord75

Edited February 23 by VRBroadgauge
Old age...

[Ian Morgan]

2mm/ft scale, but destined for an N gauge layout. A representation of the Royal Albert Bridge Inn, and adjacent buildings. Pete Thorpe created 2D plans, I then created a 3D computer model using Blender, and another club member printed it. It is somewhat larger than I expected, and is split into three parts for printing, which will also make painting it easier. Supports removed, but still a bit of tidying up to do before spraying with primer.

 

 

 

 

[t-b-g]

14 hours ago, VRBroadgauge said:

 

Would those be the rods that I did for Laurie? I'm glad they worked out OK. @Sithlord75

 

I believe they are. I struggled to drill the holes in some of the smaller components without mangling them. I tried various drills, with both electric drills and pin chucks but the rods are so slender that the slightest catch or snatch damaged them. Probably just me being clumsy as a 2mm novice. So I have used them as a guide for rod lengths and cut replacements from nickel silver sheet. So even if I am not using them all directly, they have proved very useful.

[5944]

3 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

I believe they are. I struggled to drill the holes in some of the smaller components without mangling them. I tried various drills, with both electric drills and pin chucks but the rods are so slender that the slightest catch or snatch damaged them. Probably just me being clumsy as a 2mm novice. So I have used them as a guide for rod lengths and cut replacements from nickel silver sheet. So even if I am not using them all directly, they have proved very useful.

Could you solder them to a piece of scrap etch and then drill through them, before unsoldering them again?

[t-b-g]

11 minutes ago, 5944 said:

Could you solder them to a piece of scrap etch and then drill through them, before unsoldering them again?

 

That would be a possibility but I have made most of the parts for both sides now (sounds like a song!). It is a technique I often use for working on small bits in 4mm and 7mm scales, so why I didn't think of it for 2mm is a mystery.

[PaulCheffus]

5 hours ago, t-b-g said:

 

I believe they are. I struggled to drill the holes in some of the smaller components without mangling them. I tried various drills, with both electric drills and pin chucks but the rods are so slender that the slightest catch or snatch damaged them. Probably just me being clumsy as a 2mm novice. So I have used them as a guide for rod lengths and cut replacements from nickel silver sheet. So even if I am not using them all directly, they have proved very useful.

Hi

 

What you need is a set of cutting broaches because as you’ve found drills just tend to catch.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Modelcraft-0-6-2-0-Cutting-Broach-Grey/dp/B001JJZ76I/ref=asc_df_B001JJZ76I/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=256184816614&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17097761376248027292&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006892&hvtargid=pla-422910410143&psc=1&mcid=da44b11cfcec33daaf5693d899e2614d&th=1&psc=1
 

Other suppliers are available 

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[t-b-g]

33 minutes ago, PaulCheffus said:

Hi

 

What you need is a set of cutting broaches because as you’ve found drills just tend to catch.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Modelcraft-0-6-2-0-Cutting-Broach-Grey/dp/B001JJZ76I/ref=asc_df_B001JJZ76I/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=256184816614&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17097761376248027292&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006892&hvtargid=pla-422910410143&psc=1&mcid=da44b11cfcec33daaf5693d899e2614d&th=1&psc=1
 

Other suppliers are available 

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

Thanks for the tip but I have them and use them often. In this case, the holes are blind, in that they are not etched all the way through. So it has to be a drill first. The tiny etched dimple means that any size of drill is cutting on the edges of the metal rather than at the point of the drill. It may have worked with a tiny drill first but my record at keeping tiny drills intact isn't good. So I decided to try making my own bits, drilling holes in a sheet of nickel silver then cutting them out, using the etched parts as a guide for hole spacing.

 

I enjoyed doing it and found it fairly straightforward, so there wasn't really a problem as such. I was able to make the rods pretty much to scale size and the bosses on mine are smaller than the ones on the etch, so I like to think that mine look a little bit better too.

 

I really just wanted to explain why I didn't use all the bits from the etch.

[MarshLane]

You’re doing well Tony, looks nice! I look forward to seeing it running!

[Hendreladis]

 

I thought my soldering was bad but the photography is apparently even worse. 

[Caley Jim]

52 minutes ago, Hendreladis said:

I thought my soldering was bad but the photography is apparently even worse. 

Take the photos from further back and then crop them.  Gives you a greater depth of field.

 

Jim

[Izzy]

The NGS Hunslet is now 2FS and in a different guise after a bit of painting and a few home brew transfers. 

 

 

It could probably benefit looks wise from association wheels and different coupling rods but in normal use they don't show too much. I'll post a bit more on my RTR conversion thread for anybody interested.

 

Bob

[yaxxbarl]

2 hours ago, Izzy said:

The NGS Hunslet is now 2FS and in a different guise after a bit of painting and a few home brew transfers. 

 

 

It could probably benefit looks wise from association wheels and different coupling rods but in normal use they don't show too much. I'll post a bit more on my RTR conversion thread for anybody interested.

 

Bob

 

That looks excellent that - I'm going to be returning to my one shortly, using some association wheels based on some tips I've had from @Nigelcliffe especially around the axle at the short bonnet end.

 

Ta,

 

John

[t-b-g]

A bit more work this evening on the U Class. The motion this side is substantially complete and just needs a motion bracket, a valve guide and the return crank fixing, plus a dummy top slide bar.

 

[tapdieuk]

Plodding away at the L&Y 0-8-0. I have tried to do a bit each evening, even if it's not completing that small task 

Balance weights on wheels, they have been painted since, so ready for wheeling. 

 

Pads on frames, I have been caught out before so each one was checked for isolation after soldering. One of the pads in the middle proved tricky, but I knew it was that one. 

 

 

Stretchers fitted and checked for isolation on one frame. I find it takes more time but helps pin point where a possible short could be

 

Tacked and checking alignment. It took 2 attempts in the end. 

 

 

Full soldered joints and cleaned up. 

 

 

Foot plate and wheels loosely assembled. 

 

 

Edited March 3 by tapdieuk
Spelling

[queensquare]

1 hour ago, tapdieuk said:

Plodding away at the L&Y 0-8-0. I have tried to do a bit each evening, even if it's not completing that small task 

Balance weights on wheels, they have been painted since, so ready for wheeling. 

 

Pads on frames, I have been caught out before so each one was checked for isolation after soldering. One of the pads in the middle proved tricky, but I knew it was that one. 

 

 

Stretchers fitted and checked for isolation on one frame. I find it takes more time but helps pin point where a possible short could be

 

Tacked and checking alignment. It took 2 attempts in the end. 

 

 

Full soldered joints and cleaned up. 

 

 

Foot plate and wheels loosely assembled. 

 

 

Great progress Will, we can double head them when it’s finished!

 

Jerry