Nig H

Here are some pics of some of the almost finished coaches. I still need to add footboards and weathering. I may try to re-fit the roof of the rear brake second. The pics below were taken without flash, then adjusted for brightness and contrast with the camera software. Here are some of the period 1 coaches. Nig H

I've just started making up a Midland Railway Johnson 3,250 gal tender from a second test etch. When I looked at inserting 0.3mm rod for the brake hangers I realised the middle ones would get in the way of the tender body pivot assembly. Luckily I'd not glued the muff to the stub axles so I was able to remove the pivot and file away some of the pcb spacer as can be seen in this pic. Eventually I made the left side the same as the right. The rods for the rear brake hangers go right through the rear spacer pcb pads and although I managed to clear the copper on the pcb round where the rod stuck out inside the frames, I was concerned that the rod might easily move when the brake hangers were soldered in place (the other rods are 'L' shaped, the long side soldered to the inside of the frames). It dawned on me that soldering the rear rods to pcb pads soldered to the inside of the rear spacer might solve the problem. The pic below shows the result, with the single rod now cut in two. I must remember to check the frames are electrically isolated from each other. Nig H

Here are pics of some LMS suburban coaches I've been building. Its surprising how much work is involved in coach building, but the end is in sight for this batch. Remaining jobs are finish off coach end handrails, fix underframes to bodies, paint ends, add transfers (running nos, first class door 'ones' etc), attach footsteps to bogies and screw these to the underframes. Finally, light weathering. Nig H

Hi Nick, Amazing work, and one of my kits too. Will you be doing a video to show how beautifully it runs? Nig H

Hi Simon, Your loco looks great so far and I look forward to seeing more progress soon. Maybe you could tell as more e.g. motor/gears scratchbuilt element. Nig H

I have etched U/Js similar to the ones Bob Jones supplies with the 9F/ Black 5 etch. Here's a pic of one. The ends are inserted in some slotted 1.5mm I/D brass tube: The wire in the middle is 0.3mm sprung steel, although 0.25mm would be better. The overall length is dependent on the length of the sprung steel used. I do find it necessary to tweak the etched parts slightly as can be seen in the first pic. I probably have a few spare if anyone wants some, or I could offer them to the Shop. Nig H

Hi, Does anyone know why the City of Birmingham crest is missing from above the nameplate? It was on the pre-production pics as in this Thinktank shot.

The Two Millimetre Scale Association sell (to members) BR Mk1 and LMS profile roofs. BH Enterprises list a roof moulding (ref A7) which is I think a BR profile. You could ask them to confirm that. Nig H

Nice one Jerry. Have you got a shot of the chassis, and what motor did you use? Nigel

Simon, I used these paints to try some coach lining - straw on maroon coaches. For this I used lunar white and opaque yellow (not listed in Tim's link, process yellow looks close), mixed 5 parts to one, if I remember. I have a set of Mecanorma from 0.1mm to 0.5mm to do the lines with. I got all this from Freestone Model Accessories at various exhibitions. I can't say I was 100% successful, but that was down to me not the pens and paint. I used Indian ink for the black lines too. If you are not in a hurry, I'll lend you my pens and paint if you want to try them. Maybe you can contact me off topic to arrange things. Nigel

I have used 2-333 and 2-337 to create LMS style 8 shoe style underframes. You can break off the LNER fittings (V hangers etc) and use the v hangers of 2-337. I've never used 2-336 and I don't know what the difference is compared with 2-336 (1? !). Nig H

Hello Simon, Thanks for your reply. I suspect a few people will be interested in the tender if available separately to go behind other MR locos e.g. the Mike Raithby 4F. I have been working on a Johnson 3,250 gal tender for my MR 2P. My variant includes the first of the 1920s mods with the higher coal plate and cut-off coal rails. Test etch #2 should be appearing this month hopefully. Nig H

Hello Simon, Nice work. Is the tender a standard Johnson one? If so, what size? Nig H

I'm sorry, we haven't got time. Nig H

Amazing work Jerry and I hope you enjoy your trip. My condolences too. Nig H

Hi Steve, Association member Steve Dunkeyson and his clubmates have been involved in two sizeable such layouts. The latest is I called Millsbridge and succeeded Honley(?). This is the link https://huddersfieldrailwaymodellers.weebly.com/2mm--1-foot-n-gauge.html Concerning your later posting, the Association now provides a number of replacement chassis for more recent N gauge RTR models, most of the releases being of very high quality. A number of the conversion kits are quite quick to do, although a little experience or a guiding hand is always useful. Some Association members, me included, also market conversion or replacement chassis kits (see the Members Products pages), though I suspect that you are inclined to the GWR so may not be interested in these other products. Nig H

Here's a pic of a porthole BSK I made some years ago. I can't remember if the sides are Ultima or Bill Bedford. And a porthole BFK, made more recently. This has sides painted and lined by Ian Rathbone, a vast improvement on my attempts with airbrush and lining transfers. Nig H

Here are a few shots of the roof of my RT. The wire for the piping is loose along the roof and gets knocked now and the when stored. I remember it was hard for me to get it looking OK. Nig H

As they are in unfitted grey livery, they shouldn't have a vacuum cylinder. Most 16T mineral wagons had two shoe morton brakes, although a lot had double sided independent brakes, mainly I think for those wagons with bottom doors. I can't see for certain from your pics, but it looks like you've got a combination of the two types of brake on your wagons. If you want more information on 16T minerals, there was a 3 part series in Modellers Backtrack, and 'An illustrated History or BR wagons, vol 1' by Bartlett et al has a lot of information on these wagons and wagon brake systems in general. You could also try the product instructions for these kits and chassis. Hope this helps. Nig H

Hello Chris, I'll dig out the Ultima information and send you a copy. I used Ultima etched or cast parts for most of the detail, some bits from scrap plasticard per the Ultima guidance. Nig H

Hi Chris, When you get something can you share it with me please? I'm especially interested in the LNWR- style RC and subsequent conversion. For my RKs, I used the information sheets produced by Colin Albright for his Ultima range. I don't know where Colin got the info from mind. Can you disclose what you need this info for? Regards, Nig H

Here are a few more pics showing further progress but first a couple of shots of the chassis. The first one show where the front middle of the frames have been ground away to clear the underside of the boiler. I missed this when I drew the artwork for the etch. Some shots showing the smokebox overlays being held in place prior to being soldered to the boiler tube. First you can see on the left two bits of tube used for rolling the overlays, then the three overlays and the boiler tube. # And two shots showing my attempts to keep the overlays tight against each other and the boiler tube. The bits of wood are from recovered bonfire night rocket sticks. I sometimes go out on Nov 6th to scour the local roads for useful bits of rocket sticks. Nig H

Hi Pete, Thanks for your comments. Here are a few more pics. Little pegs used to hold the side overlays in place. I think I got the pegs from Poundland recently. The rod is used in the firebox to locate and hold a crescent shaped batton to the front face of the firebox. The rear of the boiler will rest on this batton. The rod through the middle of the firebox locates into the cab front. Nig H

Hi, Favs of mine too. These are the last locos I really really wanted to do 2mm models of. The 'limo cab' version is going together quite well so and I am hopeful that I will be able to produce a worthwhile model from this first test etch, plus some extras from the second test etch. Nig H

Currently I'm building Fowler 2-6-4T test etches. I've created a topic showing progress in the 'kitbuilding and scratchbuilding' section, tags 2mm 2FS Fowler, if anyone is interested. Nig H