The Nth Degree

Thanks. That must be very time consuming! Are they kid gloves you're wearing?

Pete, how do you go about cleaning up something like this before undercoating? It looks very delicate for sand blasting.

I know it's been a while since you posted this, so apologies for dragging it up. I'm guessing you have used the AG J15 boiler backplate for your model? Looks great, but how different would this be to one of the Dia. 37 or 39 layouts? Not a major problem, but I'm building 3 J-tanks at the moment and wanted to replace some of the supplied castings with something better and I'll be getting to that stage in a couple weeks. Thanks in advance, Steve PS, I sent you an email from your blog about some replacement tender frame etches for one of my J15s. You possibly didn't receive it.

The bonnet is different too, the early version having a 4-section bonnet top and the later variants having a 3-section bonnet. If you're modelling 7mm scale all three variations will be produced as a kit by the end of the year, cue blatant plug: http://www.littleloco.co.uk/index.html

Fantastic. The wax prototyper looks to have done a very good job of the masters.

Any further developments on this? I'm sure it couldn't have stood still for two years! Whose house is this, by the way?

I was looking at this possibility in 7mm scale just yesterday. Very nice location.

Coming along really nicely!

Great line-up Rob. You've bought a few Connoisseur kits off me so looking forward to seeing the builds! Steve

I wanted to separate this comment from my last. I find the comments about weathering and natural looks REALLY tedious. At best they are rude and insulting, and I can only assume some sort of envy or jealousy. Leave it out, for goodness sake.

This is stunning. Someone at the Guild told me about this thread a few months ago but this is the first time I've been able to take a proper look. I'm looking forward to when you get to the wagons and the building structures, so don't stop now!

That's true. In this case I know of at least three very interested parties that will pick this up and run with it.

That nest egg will only last until a new buyer is announced and the products come back on the market. A canny person may want to sell now to get the maximum value?

The 7mm list is equally as barren. I know that another prominent kit producer will also have an announcement to make soon, too.

Steve, do you work for JLTRT?

What's the name of the group. When I link from here it asks me to log in - but I'm already logged in so that makes me suspicious. If you give me the name I can find it. Cheers

I've no experience of this or the Scotsman, but how are the con rods, etc supplied? I'm pretty sure on the DJH kit they are solder-laminated together, but I can't see this happening very successfully with glue. If they are supplied as milled components then that is both a time saver and a valuable added bonus.

How does it do 'engraving' rather than cutting – do you just reduce the power of the laser? Also, how thick can you cut metal?

Five exclamation marks in one paragraph! Sorry. Good luck - you seem very excited.

Paul, the compensation unit is an entirely separate subframe that fits inside the loco frames. The only contact it makes with the loco frames is via the pivot rod/mechanism. The bearings must be soldered to the compensation unit and, ideally, not touch the loco frames at all – simply slide up and down the slot in the frames.

I understand we are talking of small movements of the axles, but does relying on the flexibility of the beams look like it's relying on a mechanical error, rather than something that's been designed? The reason I'm interested in this topic (having read all of the CLAG content!) is that I'm designing something for myself, and what I have seen so far relies too much on minimal bearing clearances and the springiness of metals (that aren't actually very springy) to function.

Just to clarify my question earlier, and to some extent yours. The front two axles are connected to each other by the beam. If you look at them from the side, when one axle moves up (through a bump or drop) the other will go down due to a pivot between the axles. My question was, would the same system work where if you look at the loco from the front, when one side goes up the other side goes down, but in this case the axles are not connected to each other. Maybe I need to do a drawing?...

I noted the 'rocking' compensation unit in the instructions you've posted and had a thought. Firstly, I DON'T want to hijack this thread for another heated and often pointless discussion on compensation pros and cons, but I wondered if there was any merit in devising a bi-lateral compensation unit on those two axles: i.e. It rocks along the length and width. A brief answer and explanation would be great, thanks.

Hello Ian, I think you've made another purchase recently, which you haven't yet left feedback for...

Chaz, I thought that you had sold this layout?