Jol Wilkinson

1 hour ago, Mad McCann said:

 

Clive absolutely nails it here.

This hobby is a broad church and people's interests are by definition of Human nature going to be entirely subjective.

 

True that interests are going to be subjective, but I think that this hobby, like some others, are about following different religions or faiths. Some are constrained by physical restraints (space, income), others by lack of imagination, learned skills, self confidence or motivation.

Some choose the RTR way fervently waiting the high priests' announcements of new idols, others choose to follow the way of the Maker of All Things to lead their activities. Some like it large, others small. So there are different places of worship, churches, chapels, mosques, synagogues, mandirs, temples, etc. The idea of a "broad church" doesn't really cover it, it's too loose.

In response to the OP, the answer is No. People that buy the latest RTR models get pleasure from buying/owning them. For some it has become Conspicuous Leisure. How long lasting that satisfaction lasts for I cannot guess as I only build from kits or scratchbuild. Whether owning the latest models motivates people to improve their "modelling" is the question. I suspect that it doesn't for the majority as they have already defined their own standard for what they want to achieve and so continue with that, the "new, improved" models simply adding some gloss.

Sainz given a 10 place grid drop for replacing PSU. Will the FIA fine Liberty Media for providing an unsafe circuit?

Liberty Media/Formula One Mismanagement should pay for Ferrari and Alpine's car damage. They provided an unfit venue in their continued quest to make an even bigger profit  Motor sport and F1 is dangerous enough without their help.

18 hours ago, The Johnster said:

 

Simon Dawson, Rue d'Etropal of this very parish, who markets through Shapeways, will provide you with 3D printed bodyshells for all vehicles of Class 126, and many other prototypes that have not (yet) made the RTR production cut.  They are not cheap if you compare them even with the top-of-the-range current production RTR (and Shapeways marketing methods don't help), and are of course incomplete scratch aids.  I haven't costed the idea, but completing a six-car 126 train with a buffet car using Bachmann 117 chassis, interiors, couplings, lighting, &c, then painting and obtaining transfers, is going to cost a lot more than a pair of Bachmann 116s.  How badly do you want a 126? 

 

3D has so far failed to live up to it's initial promise in general, and IMHO there are various reasons for this.  I clearly recall being told that 3D would enable me to design and produce my own items to my own specifications to a high standard on a domestic machine that would cost about twice what I was paying then for a printer/scanner/copier.  The way small items were to be produced and marketed was to change irrevocably; one would purchase the plan, or even make your own plan, and print it up in whatever material was suitable.  Never happened; why didn't it happen?

 

1) Domestic machines are still a good bit pricier than PSCs.

2) The quality is abysmal unless one is prepared to spend a lot more money than I would ever have to spare on a printer.  I an not interested in crude T-scale boats.

3) Obviously, people who buy such printers cannot possibly justify the outlay for thier own purposes and it is almost instinctive that they will recoup some of their outlay by making their prints available on a small business basis. 

4) They can't do this at competitive (with RTR/RTP) pricing levels, because the economies of (even small) scale production are not available to them.

5) And the time needed to produce a single item is excessive, and one-off production is inefficient in terms of distribution.  Setting the printer up, test printing, adjusting, final print, cleaning the machine ready for the next print, all take excessive amounts of time, and if the machine is in a domestic situation noise, hot plastic odours, and electricity bills have to be considered.  It's faffy.

 

Simon D makes some very useful stuff, so why don't we see more of it?  Where else are you gonna go for your Rye & Camber stuff, or Metropolitan, or Rhymney Railway saloon coaches?  Cost is the main barrier, but the Swindon Cross-Country Class 120 constantly scores high in the wishlist polls, and if I wanted one and could afford it I'd be buying Simon's 120 coaches if only to provoke a manufacturer into releasing them RTR, but they seem as rare as rocking horse doodoo on layouts!  There are plenty of folk around who can afford full Midland Pullman sets, or whole fleets of Accurascale Deltics, so it can't just be price!  Is it perhaps that those as can afford it would prefer a finished model?

 

Where 3D has been very successful and highly competitive is in the small-scale industrial production of smaller but finely detailed items, such as Modelu's lamps, accessories, and figures.  It is my contention that firms like this are benefitting from doing their own marketing and avoiding the morass of problems that seem to be part and parcel of post-Brexit Shapeways.  SW started off with what seemed noble, even hippie/socialist, ideals, a community of small-is-beautiful farmers' market-type creatives coming together to share costs and raise awareness (advertise and market) their designs and products to the benefit of all, local production on a global scale.  One gets the impression that it's all gone wrong and that the organisation is instrumental in preventing those ideals ever being realised, not that I'm saying this is or was ever their intention, but obviously things haven't gone quite according to plan!

My only, albeit limited, experience of Shapeway products is that they have been poorly designed/printed and excessively expensive compared with others using 3D printing are producing.

You overlook that consumers like to follow trends and show off their ability to buy the latest fashionable item, be it a smartphone, car, RTR model locomotive, or w.h.y.

Estate cars have largely fallen from favour in the small/mid size car range, despite their practicality. Three box saloons fell from favour when hatchbacks were introduced, other than for the larger "prestige" models. Saloons can be difficult to get into/out of for older people. SUVs are easier in that respect and have higher load platforms (two reasons I now prefer a SUV). Small hatchbacks are ideal local runabouts but not so much fun on longer journeys. 4X4s appeal to the the affluent trendy and overpaid as a display of their self perceived status.

So SUVs provide a compromise that suits many people.

Regarding vehicle names, many people won't know of the original models of the Capri, so won't see any connection (unless Ford promote that). The original was a striking design at the time when previous designs often had touches of US influence (both Ford and Vauxhall) and the industry was still recovering from the effects of WW2. Likewise the designers weren't influenced/hampered by safety legislation, mpg economy comparisons, cupholder requirement, etc.

21 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

Is there any evidence that railway modellers buy the majority of them, or just anyone who gets kicks out of owning such models? Of course the word 'model' could be taken in a different context!

Notable hat these model figures are produced by Noch, a  German company. Perhaps it is something of a cultural thing.

I haven't posted anything here for a while as, although I have been working on the layout wiring, it is almost as boring to read about as to do. However, another milestone has been reached as all the baseboards are now wired. 

The most complicated is the "north" storage sidings board. This has three crossovers between the four of the five siding lines and is also the connection point for the storage sidings control panel. The control panel will connect by the 37way d-sub socket at the top right. The six point servos are driven by two MERG Servo4 controllers while the vee switching is by the 4-relay units.

The plan was to control the Servo4s and relay units jointly by single pole on/off switches. However a bench test showed that, for some inexplicable reason this didn't work. I could have used two pole switches but as I had spare relay units I have wired these to switch both the vee polarity and the Servo4s.

The points on adjoining boards that also feed into the storage sidings are controlled by MERG Servo1R units that have integrated relays. With the benefit of hindsight it would probably been easier to use six of those on this baseboard.

Next job is to reinstall these baseboards - the baseboard above is the "foundation" baseboard  that the others on this side link onto. Then I can start on the storage sidings control panel and modify the original baseboard for the "scenic" section.

An excellent line up, promises to be a great show as usual and looking forward to it.

Will I be able to claim the furthest travelled visitor award (169 miles from Felixstowe)?

Pete,

I also have TCU (Antex) and don't bother to change the tip between normal (LRM 144) solder and low melt (either LRM 70  or Carrs 100). I continually use a Hobby Holidays tip cleaner (the curly brass type) and haven't had any problems.

Jol

Another three D&S kits that are still available having been absorbed into another supplier's rage, offered at twice the price of a new kit. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126168597274?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l1120&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=5b23d07b0b514bf6a804e8fd163cf6d9&bu=43007734306&ut=RU&osub=-1~1&crd=20231104012511&segname=11021

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126168599700?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11021.m43.l1120&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=5b23d07b0b514bf6a804e8fd163cf6d9&bu=43007734306&ut=RU&osub=-1~1&crd=20231104012511&segname=11021

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126168600195?hash=item1d603c0e83:g:AI4AAOSwCnxlQYGB

His other offerings are also optimistically priced. Either doesn't know the market adequately or is relying on equally poorly informed buyers.

2 hours ago, BachelorBoy said:

Sir Rod, 78

Pete Waterman, 76

Francis Rossi, 74

Jools Holland, 65

Eddie/Suzy Izzard, 61

 

I don't think this show does much to dispel the prejudice that model railways are only for old men.

 

Except for Eddie/Suzy Izzard, who's not quite so old, and is genderfluid.

The giveaway is in the Series Title, although in today's society you can apparently have a big name at a young age although you probably won't really have achieved much.

Perhaps PW's next series could be Little Trains and Young Bloggers/Influencers  Sam of Sam's Trains could be one featured guest, suggestions for others?. 

17 hours ago, PhilJ W said:

Holiday traffic 1968.

 

FYI this is Gallows Corner near Romford before they built the flyover.

The "temporary£ flyover that has been there for over fifty years and is a notorious accident blackspot. 

14 hours ago, Solo said:

I'd echo the cautionary notes on Copydex above. One of the advantages of PVA is that you get a bit of working time for fine adjustments as it dries. With the latex-based Copydex, if you need to reposition anything after even a few minutes, you'll end up with a horrible stringy mess. I've seen myself having to lift entire track sections for this reason. There's no sound-deadening advantage with Copydex (at least not if you're ballasting), so I'd stick to a high-tack PVA – which will also be cheaper.

Ply sleeper track laid with Copydex can be lifted or adjusted using white spirit to soften it. Care is needed but it is possible.

Regarding sound deadening. Run a piece of stock along a section of track glued down and along a section not yet glued and you will find a remarkable difference. Iain Rice showed a track building technique where the track was build on a paper template and the whole lot laid onto the foam. The template overlapped the underlay and was tapped to the baseboard at it's edge. I think that this would achieve the same level of low noise transmission, although ballasting with pva might soak through the paper and have the opposite effect.

With ply baseboard tops some noise with be from the ply "drumming". The cure for that is a layer of foam insulation glued on the underside, with holes cut out for point motors, wiring droppers, etc.

38 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

https://www.nielsmachines.com/en/emco-sold-emco-unimat-3-vertical-fine-feed-attachm.html

 

There is available a worm / pinion fine feed attachment for the vertical drill / mill of the Unimat 3.

 

It feeds 1.0mm. per revolution and, in my experience, works extremely well; absolutely essential if you wish to do any milling or controlled depth drilling.

 

John Isherwood.

John beat me to it.

I also have that fine feed attachment on my Unimat milling unit and have found it is ideal for controlling vertical feed..

"Our models will feature independent brakes and correct wheels as appropriate."

As in the correct tyre and flange profile, together with the correct distance apart across the axle? Just asking.

10 hours ago, Crantock said:

The yawning ready to run gap remains the LNWR brake van which is an enabler for LNWR freight.  That said LNWR coverage is patchy with no off the shelf coaches other than Genesis and the coal tank as the only real freight loco (Super D is not LNWR)

 

The price point is interesting as compared Bill Bedford's diagram 32/33 at about £23. Is about the same slowing for transfers etc.  For a simple livery wagon, 3D is competitive.

London Road Models produce kits for both the LNWR 10T four wheel and 20T six wheel brake vans, priced at £25:00 and £37.00. The former has  cast w/m body components, the latter a one piece resin cast body, both having etched n/s underframes. However, they have to be assembled and painted, something apparently increasingly difficult for many people.

3 hours ago, JustinDean said:

Thanks for flagging up. I’ve already commented on the FB post about its origins. 

DX boiler on a 4 wheeler McConnell tender chassis. 
 

Jay

Hi Justin,

I think it is a six wheel McConnell tender underframe with the centre axle, axle boxes and springs removed. The giveaway is the cutout above the centre axle guides where the spring was located.

Are your four wheel water cart underframes shortened six wheel ones (possibly cut down LWB type) or did McConnell design/build any four wheel versions? I can't find any photos of McConnell  four wheeled tenders.

Jol

Not a Webb tender, but probably a McConnell version as used on the Bloomers. There were two versions, the short wheelbase type used originally and the  Webb modified LWB version used with the Bloomers when the locos were rebuilt by Webb.

I believe some were adapted for use in later life as water carriers on the C&HPR.

20 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

 

They're supposed to be, but it's something of a grey area with unused parts and import charges seem to be almost random I find.

Quite a number of UK car breakers started charging VAT on parts over twenty years ago when they were being forced to change the way they operated.

Quote from GOV.UK

"Imported goods: accounting for import VAT

These are normally charged at the same rate as if they had been supplied in the UK. But if you import works of art, antiques and collectors’ items they’re entitled to a reduced rate of VAT."

In simple terms a VAT registered company pays the HMRC VAT on the difference in value (price) between their purchase cost and selling price. Or at least that is how it when I ran a retail model business some decades ago.

Etched kits. Well, with a caveat.

If still in the box and "untouched" then it is a reasonable risk. But those that have been "started"may be missing bits and pieces, while some parts may be difficult to identify if removed from the fret. Of course, if you are unscrupulous you can contact the kit producer and claim that they were missing from your kit, which you had bought some years ago and just got around to starting.

54 minutes ago, jwealleans said:

Evening Tony,

 

By coincidence I have also just finished a wagon from Bygone Wagons.  It's an LNER Refrigerated van and will be on Grantham at Newcastle.   My build is illustrated here.

 

The 247 products were much simpler to build and I'd have to say the standard of printing was better (which I think is as much due to the equipment used as the design).  

 

The Bygone Wagons design was ingenious and I can see how it can be adapted for a number of prototypes.  Amanda was also very helpful with the ordering process and happy to supply either as kits or assembled.    Printed to a better standard I think they'd make excellent wagons.

 

Neither has quite the definition or finesse of brass, in my opinion, but you pay your money and make your choice  - if there is one.  I'm not sure any of these wagons are currently available in 4mm and some of them never have been to my knowledge.

 

 

 

 

 

Jonathan,

the Coral was available as a w/m kit from K's (I think).

I was given some castings - but not the whole kit, there were no buffer beams  - late last year. As things GWR are rather a closed book to me, I passed them on to a fellow S4Society member who understood what to do, productively, with them.

Jol

1 hour ago, 30801 said:

 

Seems to be a Stellantis thing. I posted a picture of one in a Peugeot recently. 

Our Peugeot 2008 has such a steering wheel, when driving we don't notice that it is not a conventional round one. Our previous 3008 was the same.  It makes it easier for me to get in when my better half has been driving and left the seat forward and wheel/ column in a low position.

9 hours ago, Northmoor said:

Thirty years ago, 500cc two-stroke GP motorbikes were putting out 180bhp.  The litre four-strokes now in MotoGP are around the 300bhp mark.  Even the manufacturers' road-legal versions are around 200bhp (utterly unusable on public roads).

The motor bike riders around here seem to be more interested in the decibels their machinery can produce, especially those who suffer from that seemingly involuntary regular twitching of their right wrist when stopped at a junction.