Ron Heggs

Best days to phone are Tuesdays & Wednesdays. The main problem is any calls to his mobile, etc. may be lost as he is in a poor reception area

Ron

I found the biggest problems with C+L chairs is the amount of flash under the chair base, and the inconsistency in the opening for the rail causing problems with 'threading' on non-switch rails

Thickness of the C+L chair base under the rail is also a lot thinner than is the case with Exactoscale chairs which can cause vertical misalgnment if both brands of chair are used on adjacent sleepers/timbers either side of enjoined rails

Thanks for the post Duke7100

There small pockets of craftsmanship everywhere - it would be great to see this extend to create a larger railway modelling fraternity, and not just be looked on as a niche endeavor by a dedicated few

Your training workshops are good step in this direction

What I would say to all those still with doubt in their abilities - Don't let this expression of talent pass you by, anyone can achieve this level of creativity, just get stuck in, try and don't give up

Ron

Ron,

Indeed I'm extremely impressed with what I have seen on your pages. And I just wish you lived a bit closer. However I do know of another good British Railway modeller who lives in Denia. Indeed he was a professional Master model maker before retiring, working for a specialist company that is/was based on an old RAF Airfield in the West Country. Producing large scale model cars to extremely high standards for Boardroom tables. 99% of which were exported direct to the USA. When I last saw him ten years ago, he was well under way with an "OO" scale layout, built in his modern houses cellar. He was located high up above the town. Very pretty spot on a small estate of individually Spanish styled houses, which were surprisingly well built !

 

 

The Duke 71000 

That gentleman wouldn't be Gerald Wingrove by any chance?

Ron

From my location and perspective your observations are almost spot-on. It is a good job I scratchbuild almost everything, and virtually all my materials are imported from the UK, with notable exceptions such as Evergreen plastics which are cheaper in Spain than the UK, and there are very good discounts available on Redutex resin coverings. I have favourite model shop located in Torrelavega, Cantabria and who also have a good website

One has to work with what is available wherever you are, and wherever you can find models and modelling materials to meet your own requirements. Sometimes it works out fine, at other times it can be a bit of a pain, but we all push on with our projects regardless, because we are who we are

Happy modelling here in Spain in spite of the problems

Cheers

Ron

Just been having thoughts about the number of chairs needed to complete the main trackwork on the layout. With approximately 85 metres of track at 200 chairs per metre, that is 17,000 chairs. At a nominal £27.50 per 500 C+L chairs that is almost £1000. As almost everything on the layout is being scratchbuilt, that is a lot of money which could be better spent on electrics and rolling stock

The sleepers/timbers will number about about 8,500, at 750 per sheet of 310mm x 310mm ply, that works out at approx 12 sheets. I still have 8 in stock, so the extra cost is minimal

I was wondering if there is a more cost effective way of making the chairs  , still sticking with ply sleepers. Will be back with some possible solutions

The way our cat behaves, he has the whole bloomin' house. We are merely his servants...

That's typical cat behaviour - early curiousity soon turns into ownership of the house

They're posh up in Jalon Valley doncha know!

 

Mike.

Yes indeed, very exciting.

Being out of the country you 'May' have missed all the political drama unfolding in your trainshed last week (given your own confrontations in Spain).

Best Wishes

dh

Was in Barcelona last week delivering the latest package for Sri Lanka to the freight shippers. It was a little crowded in the city centre with a lot of the main streets closed to traffic

Always interested in the political scene in both countries, how democracy is practiced and how it may affect us

Cut and stained another 1500+ sleepers, but run out of chairs. Await a further delivery of 1000+ chairs from C+L, at least I can still stick the sleepers and timbers to the printouts

The cat has his own room? Really

It is now, since our siamese female cat died in July aged 17. It is where he has his meals, instead of causing problems in the kitchen. The room is approx. 3m x 2.6m, and was originally a third smaller bedroom

Hi Ron, That is go to be a lot of hand made trackwork which is looking good!!!

 

Yours Duncan

Will be over 85 metres of track without the carriage sidings, loco servicing area and return loops around the garden. Couldn't really produce hand built turnouts and use flex track inbetween, not after scratch building everything else

Ron

Ron

 

Good to hear that you are back on track and the Sri Lankan project is now complete.

 

Already looking forward to further updates.

 

SS

The Sri Lankan Project is still ongoing, just a little quiet time at the moment whilst Christo is busy with his business expansion

Cheers

Ron

Have you finished yet?!!

Glad to see a re start Ron, I'd better get the satnav dusted off.

 

Mike.

Even I'm not that quick - I reckon on at least the end of this year

I think the layout needs a good dusting off as well, as it is well over 12 months since any work was done on it

Cheers

Ron

Now have 1500+ sleepers and 76 x 4mm x 310mm long timbers cut, and in a container soaking in Wengue wood stain for 15 minutes. Then dry in the Sun. Will print off a few sheets of trackwork from the Templot track layout, and start the trackwork build this evening. Will work away from the Train Shed towards the Great Northern Junction and Castlefield Viaducts

Checked out the layout build against a number of enlarged OS maps of the area, and found the overall change in direction from the Train Shed to the Viaducts was 2.6 degrees out. So have had a couple of nights revising the Templot trackwork, and glad to say that all is ok now, and shouldn't end up with trackwork clashing with the approach brickwork viaduct walls

Will post pictures of the track builds when sufficient progress is made

Ron

Package arrived this morning with 10 sheets of 1mm ply approx 300mm x 300mm. Each sheet should be good for at least 750 sleepers or circa 500-600 timbers. So that will keep me busy cutting tonight

Also now have a stock 200+ x 450mm lengths of bullhead NS rail, a few!! chairs and a couple cans of MEK. So making tracks is not far off

Ron

I bought the Portrait primarily to provide assistance when making buildings for my 4mm layout - any other uses are a bonus! To this end I've started drawing out a pair of semi-detached shops.

 

Previous exploratory work with the cutter has led me to look at laminating plasticard, probably with an outer layer of 0.020" and a supplementary inner layer of the same thickness that will also incorporate the frames for doors and windows. The shops will only be in low relief and there are no openings in the end walls.

 

I'm planning to butt joint the ends to the inside edge of the front.

 

I can see that I need to produce a separate drawing for the front wall layer as the windows and doors will need smaller apertures on the inner wall layer. However, I'm wondering how people would deal with the inner end wall layer.

 

My gut feeling is that I need to take 0.020" off each end of the outer front wall width for the inner front wall layer. Presumably I need separate drawings for the inside end layers as they will also need to be 0.020" narrower (at the front edge - the back of the model will be open).

 

The building will be located next to the Bachmann R-T-P low relief school. This has a degree of relief that provides detectable mortar courses. Consequently my initial thoughts of using Scalescenes printed brick papers are giving way to using Slater's embossed plasticard and this is where I'm really seeking advice - the embossed plasticard appears to be about 0.6mm thick - i.e. approx. 0.025" thick

 

It would be good to be able to use the Portrait to cut the embossed sheets out as well rather than simply stick it on to the outside of the outer (plain plasticard) layer and manually cut the door and window openings using the outer (plain plasticard) layer apertures as guides. Am I being too hopeful?

 

Presumably I would need to make a third drawing of the front and ends with each 0.025" (0.6mm) wider at the ends where they butt join an adjacent side/end. The doors and window openings needn't be any larger than those on the outer (plain plasticard) layer.

 

To complicate matters further, the shops are located on a slope but I know the angle and can incorporate that in the drawings.

Yes you are correct - The inner layers will need to be 20thou shorter at each end, and the end pieces just 20 thou shorter at the front edge

You may have a problem cutting the embossed sheets. First, there may be a issue with holding the sheet to the cutting mat due to the smaller area being in contact with the mat, and the increased movement potential involving the blade repeatedly hitting the raised parts of the embossing. If you wish to do a trial, it may be better to cut the sheet from the reverse side

Ron 

Hi Ron

 

Any updates?

I think Ron is still doing the Sri Lankan stuff. Be nice when he gets that out of the way and get back on track as he's not able too give regular updates on the Sri Lankan stuff.

Yes, I am still tied up with the Sri Lankan project. I was hoping to get started on the Manchester Central approach trackwork which has already been drawn in Templot, but C+L Finescale has been off-line for a few weeks whilst the business is being re-organised. I understand that the on-line shop is now open, so I can make a few purchases of rail and chairs for the track build. This should not cause any problem with the continuing Sri Lankan project, as all those builds are for structures which happily can be kept separate from MC trackwork builds. Just need to engineer a 48 hour day 

Cheers

Ron

The transformers need to have an output of at least 9v, as the motors need that voltage as a minimum. The SPDT switches use the full +-9v to switch the polarities to the motors

Definitely a Simca. Meccano used to make Dinky Toy models for the French Toy market back in the 1950-60's, and this was one of the models they produced

or try these http://www.microfastenings.com/tri-plas.aspx

Can I use it on 40 thou to score an outline which I will finish cutting with a knife?

 

Tried 40 thou awhile ago, even though it is just beyond the limits of the machine even without a mat. The two rollers don't grip equally, so the sheet moves about as soon as the blade applies any pressure

Now use 20 thou laminated when 40 thou is required to be cut, and hand cutting is not really the better option

Cheers

Ron

PS. It's definitely hot today here in Spain

I have over 100 Seep PM1, and none of the rods rotate or bend. Looking at the video it appears the manufacture has changed as the rod has been crimped either side of the shaft instead of it being an interference fit in the shaft. The rods on my Seeps are hardened steel and cannot be crimped or cut easily

Definitely return them as 'not for purpose'

I hope this helps with your good photos, a spin of 90°  .

 

Duncan

Thanks. I must admit that this sometimes happens to my photos. They look alright in the folder, then when they are uploaded some of them spin 90^o

Have to then reload them into my photo app and just resave them, then all is well. Strange !!

Cheers

Ron