RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted February 19, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) For the many that scratch build the following is probably of little interest... it's just me building a Ratio cattle dock kit, with just a few modifications. But as always, I'll document for myself and for anyone else that has an interest. The space I have for my cattle dock is fairly narrow, so I am not able to build the kit as designed with a ramp and standing area behind the stalls. So I've come up with a layout that allows me a ramp to the end of the stalls. It does mean that the inner stall can only be filled through the outer one, so not ideal, but it means it fits. And I bet there was a prototype one out there like that! It does require some bashing of the kit. Besides the movement of a number of fence posts I've also needed to butcher the rear half (with the ramp) of the kit, to make a shorter one with walls on both sides (cut from the longer back wall of the original), Means I have a section of cobbles left over as well... I'll have to find somewhere to use that. So the basic structure is long and thin... I then changed my mind a little and put the ramp more central to the end of the stalls instead of at the back. Committed to butanone and added on the down pipe and drain cover. I'd forgotten to clean off all of the moulding artefacts on the down pipe until after I stuck it on, so had to clean up with it in place. Having remembered for the second one I discovered it was actually much easier to do after it was stuck on as it's so fiddly! The hole in the ramp needs to be filled. It's a design feature of the kit to enable the surface to be bent down. The green colour is from my cutting mat! Butanone dissolves that too! I've added in some of the fence posts where the holes are in the right place, but none of the corner ones yet. They are all vertical, the camera makes them look all over the place. Both the extra posts and corner posts need me to work out where I've put my micro drills! So for now, I thought I'd put it in place on the board, together with the concrete sections over the track work that I've also glued together. Just to check clearances etc of course! Quite like the look of that. Still some way to go when I get the chance (and find my drills) and then I'll have two models that will need painting and weathering etc! Edited June 14, 2022 by Anotheran Adding back images lost by site change 11 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ChrisN Posted February 19, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 19, 2015 For the many that scratch build the following is probably of little interest... it's just me building a Ratio cattle dock kit, with just a few modifications. But as always, I'll document for myself and for anyone else that has an interest. The space I have for my cattle dock is fairly narrow, so I am not able to build the kit as designed with a ramp and standing area behind the stalls. So I've come up with a layout that allows me a ramp to the end of the stalls. It does mean that the inner stall can only be filled through the outer one, so not ideal, but it means it fits. And I bet there was a prototype one out there like that! It does require some bashing of the kit. Besides the movement of a number of fence posts I've also needed to butcher the rear half (with the ramp) of the kit, to make a shorter one with walls on both sides (cut from the longer back wall of the original), Means I have a section of cobbles left over as well... I'll have to find somewhere to use that. IMG_3706.JPG So the basic structure is long and thin... IMG_3707.JPG I then changed my mind a little and put the ramp more central to the end of the stalls instead of at the back. Committed to butanone and added on the down pipe and drain cover. I'd forgotten to clean off all of the moulding artefacts on the down pipe until after I stuck it on, so had to clean up with it in place. Having remembered for the second one I discovered it was actually much easier to do after it was stuck on as it's so fiddly! IMG_3710.JPG The hole in the ramp needs to be filled. It's a design feature of the kit to enable the surface to be bent down. The green colour is from my cutting mat! Butanone dissolves that too! I've added in some of the fence posts where the holes are in the right place, but none of the corner ones yet. They are all vertical, the camera makes them look all over the place. Both the extra posts and corner posts need me to work out where I've put my micro drills! So for now, I thought I'd put it in place on the board, together with the concrete sections over the track work that I've also glued together. Just to check clearances etc of course! IMG_3711.JPG IMG_3712.JPG IMG_3713.JPG Quite like the look of that. Still some way to go when I get the chance (and find my drills) and then I'll have two models that will need painting and weathering etc! Neil, Nothing wrong with kit building. It still takes skill to get it right. Now I am sure I have seen a prototype for end fill cattle docks but do not ask me where. I will look though but do not hold your breath. It may take longer than the cows arriving. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted February 23, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) I was able to put in quite a few hours over the weekend, mainly on the cattle dock. Significant amounts of time were expended on the fencing. A total of three hours in fact. I'm sure I could have put up full size fencing just as quickly! Lots of posts to sink and then rails to insert. Starting with the relatively easy straight bits with no junctions. Then we went on to some where there were corners or junctions. The kit has all of the posts drilled through in one direction, for straight fences. But you need to drill the blind holes where you want them at right angles to the pre-drilled ones. So I needed a 0.5 mm bit... ah, where did I put that? After a quick trip to Topp Trains I come back with two 0.7 mm bits. Unfortunately they didn't have 0.5 mm, but in hindsight I think 0.7 mm is right for this job. I got two because I break or lose them at an alarming rate! I was then able to do the corner and junction work. The first picture shows the back corner, you can see the holes on the left face of the post aren't quite as neatly lined up as the pre-drilled ones. The second and third pictures show a junction, first with the holes obvious, and then after the right angle rails had been put in. I was quite pleased with how that has ended up; you can see that I was getting better with my drill with each post I had to do. Then, of course, there's the obligatory shots of what it now looks like against the track. We're getting there. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by how long it took. I'm sure next time I do one it will be much quicker as I've been speeding up as I go. But there's quite a few posts and a lot of rails in it! Edited June 14, 2022 by Anotheran Adding back images lost by site change 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted February 23, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) They say a change is as good as a rest and I wanted a small break from tiny fences. So I thought I'd take a shot at one of the MERG servo mounts for my point driving servos. I've never assembled one of these before. I have six (I think) that I purchased from MERG a while ago. Since then they've produced a new version that is 3D printed, and much easier to assemble. However, I'll use the ones I have up first... no point in wasting them, even though they were a little fiddly to put together. The final picture isn't quite finished as I've left one of the micro-switches loose in order to attach the actuator arm to the servo. I need to drill out one of the holes in this slightly first. Then I need to connect it up to some electronics and set the centre and limits of the servo. That's for another day though, but it's nice to see that they go together well. Edited June 14, 2022 by Anotheran Adding back images lost by site change 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcredfer Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Nice one Neil, .................................. looking very neat and accurate posts lined up ............... all that beautiful drilling too ..................... ............ Are you going to have to get a Priest to Christen it? ..... Ok, hat and coat on and going for the door ..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted February 23, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 (edited) So up to now any cattle driven into that dock would simply disappear over the edge onto the rails, or back down the ramp as I'd not yet done any gates. So back to the Ratio kit. The most fiddly bit of the model so far was attaching the hinges to the gates. OK, so it's sort of nice to have done it myself, but I'm sure that they could have been done as part of the moulding! In the picture they look fairly large, but each hinge is only 8 mm long, less than 1 mm wide and about 0,5 mm deep. Gate 1 went up easily enough, but I decided that gate 2 would be open so that was slightly more difficult to hang. Made a bit of a mess of the hinge on that one, so I'll need to see what I can do to clean it up a bit. Gates 3 and 4 are at right angles to each other in the middle of the dock. I decided both would be modelled closed. I've added on a prototype catch made from the 0.5 mm wire. It's too big though so will be reworked in 0.2 mm. But I think it quite looks the part. Two photos of this bit at slightly different angle and focus because I like the way it looks! So that's it for now. No more modelling this week as work intervenes yet again! But I may do more in the way of planning while I'm in London... sort of missing that. Edited June 14, 2022 by Anotheran Adding back images lost by site change 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold westerhamstation Posted February 23, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 23, 2015 I was able to put in quite a few hours over the weekend, mainly on the cattle dock. Significant amounts of time were expended on the fencing. A total of three hours in fact. I'm sure I could have put up full size fencing just as quickly! Lots of posts to sink and then rails to insert. Starting with the relatively easy straight bits with no junctions. IMG_3717.JPG IMG_3718.JPG Then we went on to some where there were corners or junctions. The kit has all of the posts drilled through in one direction, for straight fences. But you need to drill the blind holes where you want them at right angles to the pre-drilled ones. So I needed a 0.5 mm bit... ah, where did I put that? After a quick trip to Topp Trains I come back with two 0.7 mm bits. Unfortunately they didn't have 0.5 mm, but in hindsight I think 0.7 mm is right for this job. I got two because I break or lose them at an alarming rate! I was then able to do the corner and junction work. The first picture shows the back corner, you can see the holes on the left face of the post aren't quite as neatly lined up as the pre-drilled ones. The second and third pictures show a junction, first with the holes obvious, and then after the right angle rails had been put in. I was quite pleased with how that has ended up; you can see that I was getting better with my drill with each post I had to do. IMG_3720.JPG IMG_3722.JPG IMG_3724.JPG Then, of course, there's the obligatory shots of what it now looks like against the track. IMG_3726.JPG IMG_3728.JPG We're getting there. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by how long it took. I'm sure next time I do one it will be much quicker as I've been speeding up as I go. But there's quite a few posts and a lot of rails in it! Hi Neil, great job on the loading dock, how boring is drilling holes Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcredfer Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Not quite sure.............. Hi Neil, great job on the loading dock, how boring is drilling holes how the Drill Sergeant would run that one ............. .............. ....... "GET OOOONNN - PARADE ......... FROM THE RIGHT ...... DRILL! ... .......... "YOU THERE ... THIRD FROM THE LEFT .......... GET IN LINE YOU 'ORRIBLE PIECE OF SWARF!!" ..... Definitely away out now ... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted February 26, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 26, 2015 (edited) Not a lot today. Work gets in the way so much sometimes. Stuck the drain covers between the tracks (though not while between the tracks!) and took two more gratuitous shots as I found a cattle wagon in the cupboard! Edited June 14, 2022 by Anotheran Adding back images lost by site change 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted February 26, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 26, 2015 (edited) However, while I was away yesterday a package arrived from the MERG kit locker... Another six servo mounts, the new design this time. So I thought I should assemble one of them just to see the difference. The most obvious difference is that there are only three main parts (not counting the servo and piano wire!) Compare that to the parts in post 205! The parts of this one are 3D printed. They needed just a little bit of tidying up in the hole that takes the wire with a small drill, but they went together very quickly. Just seven screws or bolts (including those to hold the micro switches and servo in place) and no glue needed at all. The end result, alongside the earlier model... Well the earlier model does look more polished, it is shiny, and it does have MERG printed on it... but it was a lot more fiddly to put together and is also chunkier under the board when complete. So well done MERG in making use of 3D printing in a fairly simple way to such good effect! Of course, I'll still be using up the older versions from my box, as they do look nice (and I've already paid for them!) Edited June 14, 2022 by Anotheran Adding back images lost by site change 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Evening Neil, just catching up, well better late, (very LATE I hear you say) than never ad I'm more than impressed with the Cattle Dock, so very neat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted February 26, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted February 26, 2015 Evening Neil, just catching up, well better late, (very LATE I hear you say) than never ad I'm more than impressed with the Cattle Dock, so very neat. Thanks Andy. I've really enjoyed building it. After seemingly months of planning and months more of track laying (and I've got a lot less layout to cover than you) I've enjoyed finally doing a little bit of scenic work with the two Ratio kits. I thought I'd better get to work on the control side as well though, hence the servo mounts. I want to get a couple of them down and working so that I can at least prove the theory! But that does mean I need to do some more electronic bits and pieces... so more soldering over the next week 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted March 5, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 5, 2015 A whole week since the last update, and not a lot done. However, I have managed to get the sleepers in around the screws that the rails are soldered to at the ends of the boards, so the track is now complete. That means that I can spray it on either Friday or Saturday. That will finally complete the list of things I set myself to do in Christmas week! But at least I've also created a cassette and done the coal stage and cattle dock... so I'm not that far behind... 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted March 6, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 6, 2015 Sleepers all sprayed with sleeper grime and the tops of the rails cleaned off. I had to use enamel as my usually reliable supplier had sold out of acrylic of the right colour! But it was thinned a fair bit, so it will be dry fairly quickly. Probably a good thing that it will take longer than acrylic actually as I need to get on with some work this afternoon! I'll connect it up and make sure everything still runs this evening before trying a small section of ballast. That should be fun, something else I've never done before! Though I know from reading lots of people's threads that it may not remain fun for long. Photos this evening, I did take some during the spray process, but need to get back to my day job now! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted March 7, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 7, 2015 Sorry, no pictures as I've decided I should really go to bed instead of taking more time to crop and resize pictures for posting. So they'll have to wait until tomorrow. However, I thought a quick update was called for to say that half of the crane siding (bottom left on the plan) was ballasted this afternoon before I went to the club. Then the stub siding from the loco release was done after I returned. The ballast has gone a little greener than desired with the PVA (though somewhat expected from other people's comments) but the one that has dried looks acceptable. However, I need to improve as I go along as it's not the neatest bit of ballasting in the world... but I will post pictures of it anyway tomorrow! Goodnight all! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted March 7, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 7, 2015 Clearly I should have done the pictures last night as the first thing I did this morning was drag them from the camera folder to the Recycle Bin instead of the Temporary no Sync folder I have on my Desktop... right next to the Recycle Bin! Camera cards don't recycle, they just delete! So I've had to take a few photos of the completed stuff I've done, but don't have any of the ones showing the intermediate steps That's probably a good thing as I'm sure half a dozen shots of ballast drying isn't the most interesting post It could have been worse, I could have done that to the whole camera card instead of just the folder for this month. Then again, everything except this month is already stored elsewhere! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 And here I was sitting just waiting for the pics,,,, TYPICAL, hahhahahhah Never mind mate, we've all done it in one way or another. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted March 7, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 7, 2015 (edited) First I did the remaining cosmetic sleepers on the ends of the boards. These had to fit around the brass screws to which the rails are soldered. They're fiddly but effective when in place. The photo is after the sleepers have all been sprayed with sleeper grime. It all blends in reasonably well I think, particularly when seen from normal viewing distance. They may become slightly more visible again once there is ballast between the sleepers. I may file them down a bit on NE as a result, but we'll see what the final product looks like on here first! Edited June 14, 2022 by Anotheran Adding back images lost by site change 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted March 7, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 7, 2015 (edited) Next was ballasting. As I said above I've never done this before. So although I've watched others do it and read lots and even watched video it was an experiment. I've used Mr Ballast 1mm granite 'N' gauge, 'OO' gauge 'fine' from Topp Trains is Stafford. Using what seems to be the normal/traditional method I spooned it into place, brushed into shape and off the sleepers, sprayed with wet water and then dropped in a dilute PVA mix. The first one was the end of the crane siding. I couldn't do the whole length of this siding as there will be uncoupling magnets (neodymium) in it near to the point. It was also my first attempt, so I didn't want to go too far along before leaving it to set to see how it looked. The edge is rather untidy and I've not gone wide enough with the ballast, though I guess on a siding it will end up being pretty thin ballast with a fair amount of ash and mud. So it may turn out fine here. The way it all stick and looks between the sleepers I am happy with though. So it was on to the next bit... The second one was the stub siding from the loco release and I went right up to the point as there's no uncoupling magnets to be put in on the siding side of the points (I'll be using Kadee, so will make use of the delayed uncoupling with the magnets just outside the point. The second looks much better, but I've managed to get the PVA mix on top of almost all the sleepers leaving an obvious stain. That's a pain having painted them previously. So a lesson learned: Take more time with the PVA mix as it will be quicker in the long run. There's also another lesson here: I'm sure a lot of you are thinking... why didn't you paint the cork first. So am I now. Before more ballast goes down I'll be painting the cork surface a brown colour. Not to be the final colour, but just so it's not cork that needs painting into a ragged ballast edge. Edited June 14, 2022 by Anotheran Adding back images lost by site change 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted March 7, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 7, 2015 (edited) The final thing I've done over the week was to paint concrete colour plastic with concrete colour paint and stick it into position on the tracks. The plastic in question is the drainage alongside the cattle dock. Just a touch of black for the drain covers as well. It will need weathering in, but it means that I will be able to ballast around it now. That's all for now folks... so thanks for looking in! Edited June 14, 2022 by Anotheran Adding back images lost by site change 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted March 7, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 7, 2015 And here I was sitting just waiting for the pics,,,, TYPICAL, hahhahahhah Never mind mate, we've all done it in one way or another. Hi Andy... well you've got pics... just only of the end results instead of me putting granite on with a spoon, me dropping PVA into it, me watching it dry... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Anotheran Posted March 10, 2015 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted March 10, 2015 (edited) I was about to put some more ballast down, when I remembered the lesson I said I'd learned before!! So instead of ballast I mixed up a dirty greyish colour and painted the cork that won't be covered by ballast. In hindsight it's actually a good thing that I didn't make the ballast shoulders wide enough on my first attempt and will have to go back to extend them, as cutting in with a paintbrush around laid ballast is a pain in the ballast! The bit unpainted in the middle of the left picture is where the coaling stage sits, the one on the right is outside the fiddle yard end of the scenic breaking bridge. Not the most fascinating pictures I admit. And the colour I've used means you can't now see the ballast work that I have done! But some people on here seem to enjoy watching paint dry, so thanks for looking! Edited June 14, 2022 by Anotheran Adding back images lost by site change 14 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Sasquatch Posted March 11, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 11, 2015 Couldn't sleep so have been reading up on Doxey End. Very tidy work Neil and well documented. It's a very wide radius learning curve isn't it?..!...Several curves all at once in fact. Regards Shaun 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitbull1845 Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Just found this thread and only read this page so far, not my era of modelling but neat work and ill have a read through the rest. The cattle dock looks really good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ChrisN Posted March 11, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 11, 2015 Neil, Good to see progress, and hopefully if today goes well I shall again be in a position to lay cork so it is good to see how you have done it. What paint have you used? A 15ml tinlet would not go that far! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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