Simond Posted February 2, 2017 Author Share Posted February 2, 2017 Hi Martyn, Thanks for the comments. Your photo hadn't downloaded earlier, but I now see what you're saying. The texture of the sand is pretty much perfect (see the photo of Didcot that Daifly posted earlier in this thread), but it ain't going to work with spray black. It's interesting that watered down acrylics do seem to soak in really well. I tried a bit of paint on a brush earlier this evening, but that wasn't satisfactory at all - painted the sleepers, and disturbed the sand, which had set, but obviously without enough glue in the mix. What I played with earlier this evening has dried with a different tint, so maybe that is a route that will, eventually, give the texture and colour that I'm looking for. I'll persevere with the test plank, and keep you posted - please do likewise, particularly if you discover the alchemists secret and can transmute base sand into perfect ash ballast! I might also continue my dyed coffee grounds experiments in parallel. Cheers Simon 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano747 Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 Some very interesting ideas on ballasting, chaps. Keep them coming. Ballasting can make all the difference to a layout. I'm in the process of buying a new (old) house that has a 24'x12' workshop that I've nabbed from the 'boss' as my new den, so hopefully will end up with a 7mm layout, therefore following with interest. Regards, Deano. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 link Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Hi Guys, Try this link, Tom models in 2mm f/scale and he has certainly got an eye for colour for when it comes to all things railway related. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/105616-ropley-mid-hants-railway-in-n-gauge/?p=2264926 ATB, Martyn. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 Thanks Martyn, Will look at the Treemendous stuff, and Klear. Best Simon 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Focalplane Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Hi Simon I am coming to terms with the fact that I don't follow enough of what other people are doing because every time I find a thread like Dinllaen I realize I have been missing a lot. Ironically, we had dinner with neighbors in Borth y Gest a couple of weeks ago and talked about the Cambrian Railway and the amazing fact that it still mostly exists. There is also an ongoing disagreement among many in the Porthmadog area about its renaming in 1975 to reflect Madog instead of Madocks, the latter being the true origin of the town's name. Ironically both were born in Wales but Madog certainly didn't build the Cob! The truth is, until the Cob was built Portmadoc simply didn't exist. Many volunteers with the Ffestiniog Railway simply won't accept that. That aside, my friend delivered a paperback the next day - Packet to Ireland by M. Ellis-Willams. I have yet to read it (I have a railway journey to Paris at the end of the month which will be a good time to dip into it) so I cannot say how useful the early Victorian history would be to a 1930s era model. When I do read it I'll report back. I have toyed around with several layout ideas for the area but none would fit my preferred era and preference for locos that I remember and admired during the late 1950s. Your notion of running double headed Kings across Mid-Wales is stupendous! So, I shall now follow with interest! Paul 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 Paul, welcome on board... thanks for the kind comments, please feel free to chip in with comment, suggestion or criticism whenever you're so inspired. I look forward to you book review I guess Borth-y-Gest and Portmadog were tiny fishing hamlets before the Port was built. There will be no double headed Kings for a while at least, but maybe a King and a Castle! I'm looking forward to getting home from work this evening, I shall post more regarding ballast experiments. Fingers crossed, based on 2 minutes observation between breakfast and leaving the house, we might have a cheap, easy and efficient solution! best Simon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Focalplane Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Simon Borth y Gest barely existed, it was part of the Harlech Estate, at the time the Cob was built (1811) and the town layout in "Port" post-dated the Cob. The alignment of the main streets was designed to show Cnicht down Snowdon Street and another mountain at the northwestern end of the High Street. As an early "town planner" Madocks had that insight. Basically, the Cob created the channel that has existed ever since, scouring out the port and creating the present day channel past Borth y Gest. That channel does change from year to year, which is why the pilots lived there. It's a fascinating part of TLC (top left corner)! OK, back to the modelling! Paul 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano747 Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 (edited) Paul, I'm looking forward to getting home from work this evening, I shall post more regarding ballast experiments. Fingers crossed, based on 2 minutes observation between breakfast and leaving the house, we might have a cheap, easy and efficient solution! best Simon Toasted breadcrumbs?? Hat, coat, scarf......... Regards, Deano. Edited February 8, 2017 by Deano747 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 (edited) Paul It's an area I know well, and love, from many childhood holidays, my parents regularly rented one of the quirky buildings on South Snowdon wharf. I learned to row, sail & motor boat in that channel, rented a speedboat from a chap in Borth-y-Gest, rescued a family who tried to walk across from Portmerion, learned to fire with Warren Shepherd (of etched kit fame) on Linda & Blanche, happy days! Deano, You're closer than you guess. Dried, dyed, used coffee grounds! Unfortunately I got impatient and brushed it whilst still wet, which shows, but with the talc on top of wet glue, I think we have a potential solution! The glue is 50% water, 30% PVA, 20% black acrylic paint. The grounds were dyed with Indian ink. I guess the questions are around "will it go mouldy?". Don't know.... I suppose I could bake the dried grounds in the oven on hot for a while, before using them. Two other things going on at the moment: my 23mm 8ohm speakers arrived from the Bay of E, a massive improvement in sound in my 48xx, by using a standard speaker enclosure, milling the back out of it, and sticking it in the boiler, so it's effectively baffled - in fact, the chimney is hollow, so the speaker can be heard above, and below. Massive improvement in sound, not so massive £2 per speaker... And, I'm going to start a new thread, because Phil & Giles have inadvertently lured me into buying and building an 0-4-4-0 Garratt. It's an intriguing prototype, beautifully captured by a bloody awful kit... link will follow! Best Simon Edited to remove helpful smelling corrections Edited February 9, 2017 by Simond 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted February 10, 2017 Author Share Posted February 10, 2017 As promised... http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/119828-another-beyer-garratt-0-4-4-0/?p=2612294 Best Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted February 28, 2017 Author Share Posted February 28, 2017 Not much happening on PD at the moment, all the action is Garratt-based, where lots of model engineering is happening. If that floats your boat, do drop in. Linky-thingy above. The 48xx, having been much improved by the fitting of a speaker in the boiler, rather let the side down by making a sound reminiscent of a cartoon cat being flattened, and thereafter remaining silent. Curiously, the loco worked fine, albeit smelt of dead electronics. I eventually extracted the decoder, and discovered that one component, probably a transistor, has a crack in it. Probably how the smoke got out. My suspicions lay in a short circuit in the speaker wiring, or just a dodgy speaker (they were only a couple of quid each on eBay) but application of the multimeter can find no reason. Suggestions welcome. I believe that Zimo offer fixed price repairs. Will investigate. No ballasting going on at the moment. Kettering show on Saturday. Will invest! Best Simon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted February 28, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 28, 2017 Bad luck with the decoder Simon, things going pop on DCC does worry me. Not going to make Kettering this year. Probably a good thing as I've more than enough to get on with and need to save some pennies. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted February 28, 2017 Author Share Posted February 28, 2017 Thanks Chris, "One of those things", I guess, though I shall be a bit worried that if I replace it, the second one will go pop too. You know what they say, "do what you've always done, get what you always got..." Hope we'll catch up at Telford! As you say, there's lots going on on your workbench, so I'm sure you'll not be bored! All the best Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 Hi all, Looks like I've not posted on PD for over a month! Well, to be fair, there's been a bit of progress on the Garratt, and a bit of work done on 3265 (which is being posted, mainly, on WT). The Garratt is awaiting the bogies being profile milled. The Dukedog is progressing nicely. And just to avoid boredom, I've done a bit of ballasting: The first thing I did was to try to emulate the "pale on dark" effect in the photo a few posts back. I used Woodland Scenics fine and extra fine cinders, and fine grey over the top. I then made a total b0770cks of it by using some glue I'd premixed with paint. Hoping it would dry paler, I waited overnight, then dug it all up, reglued the sleepers down, and left it to dry under weights. Whilst that was drying, I laid 3mm ply sleepers for the front siding, which had been temporarily laid in Peco. I simply marked guidelines, and then stuck the sleepers direct to the boards, using a spacer jig that I made earlier. Once the sleepers were pretty firm, I used a mix of fine & extra fine cinders as above to ballast the siding. This was really easy, as there were no rails in the way! I glued this lot down with diluted PVA, and left it. This evening, I stuck the rails down, and reballasted the first, abortive attempt. Hopefully a bit of progress. The siding needs another panel of track with the buffers, and I'll cut the top of the rail & stick fishplates on where the joints should be, a job for another day. Waiting for the glue to set... Looking rather better than it did Best Simon 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted April 11, 2017 Author Share Posted April 11, 2017 My comment above about the "vision" for the ballasting sent me searching for the post... http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79052-porth-dinllaen-in-0/?p=2391914 It was last August. Things have moved. Still a way to go... Best Simon 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted April 18, 2017 Author Share Posted April 18, 2017 Things have also moved on the Dukedog. The boiler and wrapped smokebox went together yesterday with much less difficulty than I had anticipated. Full story in the workbench thread on WT. Ballasting also continues (solder loco whilst the glue's drying... glue ballast whilst iron is warming up...) and more photos will follow: Best Simon 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted April 23, 2017 Author Share Posted April 23, 2017 Plea to the tracklaying experts out there! I've hand built the points on PD, as anyone following this drivel will know. I used four Ambis tie bars, and a couple of the JLTRT ones. It seems that the extended copperclad strip, that is the tiebar in the Ambis ones, is not sufficiently below the sleeper height for me to put the planks and dummy point levers on without it catching the tiebar and making everything difficult/snicky/jam up solid. My intended solution is to abbreviate the Ambis copperclad just beyond the stockrail, and solder in a length of brass wire to connect the remaining tiebar to the actuating wire of the Tortoise. This can be within the thickness of the sleepers. Touch of rail grime and all will be well, fingers crossed. I don't want to break what's already working well, so ideally the tiebars will remain attached to the blades. Anybody got any thoughts or suggestions before I do it? Ta Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted April 24, 2017 Author Share Posted April 24, 2017 Ok, went for it... two done, two to do. Slightly difficult, but went ok. Ballasting progressing. Dukedog progressing. Had a bit of fun, did the planks on the extended sleepers of three of the points, need to make the dummy levers for them, and the remaining three points, and made a crossing, still got a bit to do on that, but it's looking ok. Best Simon 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted April 26, 2017 Author Share Posted April 26, 2017 (edited) A little further progress on the Dukedog Splashers were a pain! So is the iPad, I have no idea why the photo is upside down, sorry. Best Simon Edited April 26, 2017 by Simond 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Focalplane Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 (edited) Very nice! I know what you mean about brass etch splashers. Enough to turn people upside down, never mind images! Paul PS I dropped my iPad Mini on a tiled floor yesterday. The glass is shattered but otherwise it still works. As it has become my favourite computer it is going to have to be replaced' before I get glass splinters in my finger tips. Edited April 26, 2017 by Focalplane Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
daifly Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 Inverted/rotated for non-Antipodeans! Cheers Dave 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
daifly Posted April 26, 2017 Share Posted April 26, 2017 I believe that you can avoid this problem by always keeping an iPhone or iPad 'Home' button at the bottom when in portrait mode or on the right hand side in landscape mode. Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted April 27, 2017 Author Share Posted April 27, 2017 Thanks Dave, The front 3/4 view was taken with the iphone, with its lens near ground level, to get the "dramatic composition". Did you rotate the pictures on a Windows or Apple (or other) machine? The daft bit is that on my iPad, the pictures are correctly displayed, it's only when posted (here and WT), so presumably the forum software "knows which way is up" when inserting the image file. Thanks again, Simon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
daifly Posted April 27, 2017 Share Posted April 27, 2017 Simon If I understand things correctly, it's all down to 'EXIF' data in which is stored the file name, device used, resolution and, importantly for us, orientation. Sadly a lot of Windows software ignores this orientation flag and displays 'as is'. Apple devices DO respect the flag so will display correctly. In my case I copied your photos to my MacBook and used the Preview>Tools>Rotate Left/Right options to reorientate the images. These were then uploaded to the forum. I would suggest that your easiest option if you need to use your iDevice inverted is to import the file to a Mac or PC and manipulate them before uploading to the forum. I believe there may be apps for your iDevices that could do that for you to save the Mac/PC stage. BTW, I liked the pictures when I could see them right way up! Dave 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted May 8, 2017 Author Share Posted May 8, 2017 Dave, thinking about this a little further for no very good reason, it is the iDevice that's daft. It is equipped with a camera, and an electronic spririt level / artificial horizon / accelerometer so it could, rather than simply saving the file saying "when it was taken the button was in this location", say "this photo was taken at x degrees of pitch and y degrees of roll relative to local gravity". This could be coded appropriately in the EXIF data to give a sensible "up" direction. Windows would then do its thing, as would all other iDevices. Fundamentally, I don't want to have to manipulate stuff before posting it! Maybe edit out the cat, or whatever, but rotating images when the technology exists to provide a sensible default for me seems unnecessarily complex. I don't suppose Apple will pay me millions for this wondrous insight... best Simon 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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