Nig H

Here is a pic of an etch for a L&Y 2-4-2 T. I hope to start work on it next week. Nig H

Hi Andy, I built one of the chemical pan wagons about twenty years ago. Here are some photos - sorry about quality. Looks like I used the old Romford 13mm axle 3 hole wheels. Not sure if that's correct. I can bring it to the meeting if you want a look. The prototype is covered in "British Goods Wagons", I think. Regards, Nigel

I've now finished my Jinty chassis, as shown below. Electrical pick-up is good, although the running is not spot on at slow speeds. Maybe this is down to opening out the sprung wheel bearings more than the recommended 1.6mm without also opening out the coupling rod crankpin holes 'a bit more'. I'll try opening out the coupling rod holes when I have some time, and see what the result is. Nigel H

Hi Steve, Filing the bearing flush gives you that little bit extra side play for the wheels - always useful and especially so if the frames are near scale distance apart. I always file the bearings flush. I don't know if he originated the idea, but David Eveleigh files the top half of the inside of the bearing away to give more room for the spring. David certainly thinks its a good idea. Nigel Hunt

Thanks Julia. I bought the etch many years ago - it hasn't been listed for ages. The frames started as a single fold-up unit but the spacing was only 5.5mm so I separated them and used my normal spacer method of pcb pads and my own etched spacers. You can see from the number of holes in them that I was unsure where the holes for the body fixing screws needed to go. The etch doesn't appear to have been designed specifically for 2mm and this created one or two problems as mentioned in my first post. Also the guard irons are soldered inside the frames, on top of or very close to the pcb pads, so I had to be careful I didn't get a short between the spacers and the frames. The Nigel Lawton motor is working out OK so far. The top speed, what with the 30:1 gearing is high, but you can use the contoller to deal with that. Slow running is good, and I think fine for actual operating conditions. It will be interesting to see how the loco performs with a decoder fitted. Nigel H

Almost there with my Jinty chassis. Pics below show the chassis complete apart from balance weights (now done) and front DG, and painting (should be fun). I expected to find a short after I cut the wires connecting the brake hangers on each side of the chassis, but I was lucky - no shorts at all. Running and pickup seem good, might need a tweak but I am pleased with the result so far.

I have had a Bill Bedford etch for a Jinty chassis for many years, and having just acquired a GF Jinty body, decided to have a go at building the chassis. The frames do not cater for any particular gear set up so I was on my own there. I decided that a straight 30:1 worm wheel on the centre axle was the most straight-forward arrangement, as can be seen in the photos. Arranging the spacers to take the motor was a real bodge job, but I got something sorted in the end. Simpson springing is used on the outer axles but I decided to experiment with larger than 1.6mm diameter axle holes, so they are a 'bit bigger'than for for the usual method. The chassis performed well in a trial run, pick up seeming to be very good, apart from a slight sideways waddle. The photos show the chassis after adding the brake gear. This was a fiddly operation, the pull rods being mainly half etched, so very flimsy. The holes for the brake hangers are too close to the wheel rim, so I had to enlarge them to about 0.7mm diameter and solder the 0.3mm n/s rod to the side of the hole away from the rims - just about cleared them. The motor used is a Nigel Lawton 8mm diameter 10V can, glued to a motor cradle I had spare. It will be interesting to me to see how the loco performs when complete. Under test with the body attached, performance seemed to improve, compared with the chassis on its own. Nigel H

Yes that's right, so I end up having to do more filing to get the height down to c. 0.01". Maybe I will check my packets of microrod to see if I have any square 0.01" for the next coaches (3 BR Mk1 SKs). Nigel

I'm impressed by the very neat work you've produced with these coaches. In the past I have used an airbrush and Railmatch/ Phoenix paint over Comet 2-part primer, but I was never entirely happy with the resulting finish. The GSWR diner you mentioned above was a case in point, although one of the better ones. The other problem area is lining, and I was not happy with the results I got from transfers. I tried with bow pens but again the results weren't great. Now I get Ian Rathbone to paint and line my coaches, and he does a great job. For the ribs on Stanier coaches, I cut thin strips of 5 thou plasticard and glue them in place. You should be able to get nearer 0.5mm or less- just cut a few and use the best ones. You need to be careful to get them square but its possible to move them around before the Mek pak dries. I start each rib against one side of the roof and get the strip square, then work over to the other side, and cut the strip to length with a good sharp knife. Leave the Mek pak to dry overnight then clean up with needle files or wet and dry paper. I'll put a picture of one of my coaches in my gallery to show the result, although having just looked at it, I'm not sure its that different to your BG roof. For curved or straight rainstrips, I use 10 by 20 thou plastic strip, attached along the thin side. For LMS period 1 and 2 type coaches, I work out and mark the position of the strip in the middle of the roof and at the ends. Then hold the strip (cut over long)in position in the middle of the coach, and glue with a small amount of Mek pak, just at the centre. Allow the glue to dry a bit, then force one free end of the rainstrip down in position at the end of the roof and glue in place, then do the same for the other. Then carefully add Mek pak from the centre to the end, being careful not to move the trip. You may need to remove one or two slight kinks but should be easy enough as long as you add Mek pak sparingly. Once tack glued in position you can add more glue, the leave to dry overnight before thinning down the height and possibly thickness, with files and wet and dry. You may want to consider this technique for you GWR coaches. One final point - you don't seem to gave added door knobs and grab handles in all cases, or have I missed them? Maybe you will consider doing this, but get the holes drilled before you attach the sides to the body, and allow for glazing too. Hope this helps, Nigel Hunt

I have been reading this topic with interest and 46200 looks fantastic. I have built two Princesses in 2mm finescale, using the LMS loco profile book to draw the parts in Autocad LT and then get them etched. A photo of Princess Arthur of Connaught is in my gallery, and its interesting to compare it with the one of 46200. I notice my topfeed is not right, and maybe the dome also. I shall fit covers to the firebox access holes soon. My model was painted by Ian Rathbone, and I have lightly weathered it since. The other one I built is Princess Beatrice, which I painted and lined myself. If anyone fancies a 2mm version, I still have some etches for sale. Regards, Nigel Hunt

Or you could use the method described in my post of 11th June, which is even cheaper, and has always worked well for me. Regards, Nigel H

As Jerry says, I file flats across the muffs, and this makes it easier to drill holes (c. 1mm diameter) through the muffs, say 2mm either side of centre. The holes are to drop superglue into when the wheels are quartered and set at the correct back to back. I have also started filing a flat on the last 2mm or so of the axle, or sawing a little nick about 2mm from the end, to give the glue something to key onto. I use a tapered reamer to open out the holes in the muffs, until they are a 'tightish' fit on the axles. As Andy said previously, this can be quite difficult because of the material the muffs are made from, but sharp reamers do help. Nigel

Can the quartering be achieved without using the quartering tool? Yes, you don't need a quartering tool. The accepted practice is to quarter two adjacent axles first, then quarter the third axle with the first pair. You can do all three axles in one go. It usually takes me say 5 - 10 minutes. With the wheels in place in the frames, line up the crankpins at 12 o'clock on one side (left) and on the other side at 3 o'clock. Check both sets of pins are exactly in line. Attach the coupling rods and observe how the crankpins rotate in the holes in the coupling rods as you turn the wheels. Look for situations where one pin is hard against the left hand side of its coupling rod hole and one or more of the others is hard against the right hand side of its coupling rod hole at some point in its orbit. Then open out both holes slightly with a reamer and re-test/ correct. Do this inspection etc for both coupling rods. Its worth checking the crankpins are at 90 degrees to the wheel surface first, as well. Regards, Nigel Hunt

Hi, Some pics now in my gallery Duchess construction shots. Are there any particular aspects you are interested in as I'll see if I can find something relevant. Regards, Nigel

Thanks for the positive comments,folks. You could get a nice 2mm layout in 25' by 10'! I'll try to add more pics soon, not sure how to at the moment. Regards, Nigel

Hi Phil, Thanks for your comments. This is 2mm finescale model. Its built from an etched kit, the artwork for which I prepared. Various boiler fittings etc are cast brass from my masters, and the boiler/ firbox is a whitemetal casting. Its necessary to leave the tender axleboxes off until they are painted as otherwise its difficult to spray the tops. Also, its easier to apply lining round the frame cutouts without the axleboxes in situ. I'll try to dig out a few more photos. Regards, Nigel

Hi Jerry, I have now! I'll get back to you soon. Regards, Nigel

This is my first blog entry. Hope I've got the hang of it! After what seems like an eternity, 46245 City of London is ready for the paintshop. The last few snags were sorted today. The first problem was rough running and I sorted this out with a drop of oil on the gears and driving wheel axles. The other issue was that the loco was getting jammed on curves. I finally found that the front wheels of the bogie were catching against the front footstep. This was mainly because the bogie was mounted fractionally too far forward. I 'moved' the slot in the bogie spacer for the securing screw forward by about a half mil and this solved the problem. Relieved!

Hello, Here are some I took at Nottingham. Regards, Nigel

Hi, I have fitted DGs to the bogies of about 40 coaches. Araldited to plastic bogies, and soldered to metal frame bogies. As I am starting to think of fixed rake formations, I am now making my own non-uncoupleable couplings bent up from 10 thou steel wire, with a loop on one bogie connecting to a hook on the bogie of the adjacent coach. Regards, Nigel