Nig H

It's the one in the paragraph above the list. The reference to Nigel Ashton in the contacts section needs changing to Nigel Hunt, but the emails end up with me. Thanks to Nigel Cliffe for sparing his time to set this up and show me how to transfer the data to him. I hope other members will soon starting listing some products. Please send comments about this facility to me and I'll consider whether any changes might be made. Nigel Hunt

Thanks for your help. I think the plates can be left unsecured but packed out with bits of timber etc to prevent them moving around. Regards, Nigel Hunt

Hello Julia, Thanks. I thought it best to list only a bare minimum of information to make it easier to update and to avoid cluttering up the web page. The additional information you mention should be available from the author. Concerning NinOz's query, access to the information will be freely available to member and non-members, and I don't see why authors should object to sending files to non-members. Regards, Nigel Hunt

Hello, I'm ready to take details of files you are willing to share now. This is something like how it will appear on the Association website except that the five fields listed at the bottom will appear in a table. Members 3D print register Listed below are details of 3D prints that various members have offered to share with other members. If you are interested in something, then contact the member to discuss the item further and arrange for the file to be sent to you. The author of the design should be able to provide all the technical detail you need to know to print the item on you 3D printer. Most members' offerings are likely to be free but authors will be have the right to charge should they so wish. Please note that in providing this information, the Association does not give any guarantee as to the quality or suitability of any of the products, and the arrangement is purely between the author and the acquiring member. Members wishing to use this service to list items should send the details listed below to me at products@2mm.org.uk and I will arrange for the information to be listed on the Association website in the Products, small suppliers section. Name of author Description of product Contact details Website link/ irl (if any) Comments So, you can start sending the information to me and it should appear on our website in the next few days. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this. Nigel Hunt

Hi, I have been making some Plate wagons (PECO bodies, Association etched chassis) and some loads to put in them. The loads are supposed to be ten metal plates per wagon, represented by 40mm x 12mm 5 thou plastic sheet. I have glued the sheets to four battons, the whole lot to be fixed inside each wagon. I'm wondering how in practice such loads would be secured together in a wagon to prevent the sheets sliding around. I've got some chain but the links (1mm long) look a bit big to me. Anyone any ideas for something realistic looking? Nigel Hunt

Hi, Apologies for not posting an update earlier, but anyway the Association website will soon have a place where 3D print files can be exchanged. The plan is to include author's name, product details and contact details. Once its up and running and a few products have been listed, we'll have a review and decide whether and how to carry on. Nigel Hunt

Hi Kevin, Do you know what the cost of materials is for these wagons? Is it proportional to the number printed off, or is it possible to achieve economies of scale via increase quantities? Nigel Hunt

Hi, It might be better to wait and see what the Committee thinks about this. There might be issues I've not thought about that put a spanner in the works- unlikely but you never know. I'm please with the response so far, thanks. Nigel Hunt

Hi, Product Development Officer here. This seems like a really good idea and I wonder if the Association could facilitate it in some way. I thought that we could create a list of drawings available for sharing, with an item description, the designer name and contact details, cost if any, and any other useful information. The list could be included on the Association website under Products or some other area. I will discuss this on Saturday when we have a Zoom Committee meeting and report back. Does anyone think my proposal is worth looking at, and would anyone be willing to use the service? Nigel Hunt

Hi, Coaches coming along nicely. Are the roofs finished, as I think they need rainstrips adding. Nigel Hunt

If you need more information for your model you could try the South Western Circle, https://www.lswr.org/. They have a number of drawings for bits of M7s. You may have to join to get them, but I'm sure they would be happy to provide information free if asked. I found a series of articles that appeared in Model Railways in the 1970s invaluable for learning scratchbuilding techniques. They were by B Fesank and I think entitled, 'For locomotive building start here'. Much of the narrative was based on the construction of a Midland Railway 1F half cab. I've not seen the Simon Bolton book so I don't know how much of the material is duplicated in the two sources of information. Nigel Hunt

Hi Simon, Nice work on the wagons, and the J94 is coming along nicely. Just a couple of points concerning the chassis. Firstly the front guard irons should hang vertically, not at an angle. Secondly you can paint the whole chassis with the top coat before fitting the brake gear. To solder the brake hangers in place, strip the paint off the 0.3mm rod first. Soldering the top end of the brake hangers to these should not damage much of the paintwork nearby and can be touched up when you paint the brake gear. Nigel Hunt

Here is a pic of the layers I use as described above. Top left is a drawing of a frame spacer for a Fowler tank. To the right is the 'construction' layer with the basic outline of the part. Middle left is the layer with white hatch for no etch. To the right is the red layer with etch from the top only, and the last layer is for blue hatch with etch from underneath only. So the part has outer fold lines on the underside, and inner half etched fold lines on the top only. The part number '5' is on the top only. The small red rectangles are the fills for the attachment tabs. Hope this helps. Nigel Hunt

Me too, I couldn't understand why David used so many layers. As he's a lot cleverer than me I just assumed he knew more about it all than I do. PEC told me to use four layers - the outline shape, white hatch for no etch, red hatch for etch from above and blue hatch for etch from underneath. This all seems very simple to me so that's how I draw my artwork. I use Autocad LT, arrange it all in a final sheet, send it off and get the sheets back from PEC some weeks later. I've used PPD too but found on one occasion the quality of the final product was poor, so I tend to stick with PEC. Nig H

Hi John. Everything Nick and Simon have said is good advice and probably the best way to fix the wrappers. I didn't use a torch, but the biggest tip I've got on my Antex 25W iron. I didn't anneal the wrapper as I worry that this makes the metal too soft. For the smokebox wrapper I tinned the tube first. The wrapper should be rolled so it's a tight spring fit round the boiler tube. Once correctly located as per the instructions, I held it in place with wooden clothes pegs of various sizes round the diameter and /or inside the front end of the tube to hold the front edge of the wrapper down on the boiler tube. It's important to check that the wrapper is held down tightly against the tube before you start soldering. I probably started applying heat at the top centre rear of the wrapper and worked my way round the edge. At the front end I'd apply heat inside the tube first at the top centre of the wrapper then work round on the inside of the tube. To get plenty of heat transfer, I loaded plenty of solder onto the tip, and I was generous with the flux too. When all the soldering is done it looks a right mess but can be cleaned up. You can always draw lumps of solder out with the soldering iron as you clean it all up, then use scrapers such as old knife blades, glass fibre brushes etc to do the cleaning up. At the cab/ firebox end you don't need a plug to align the two assemblies, though it's a good idea that I never thought of. My thinking was that the sideways alignment was crucial so lining up the sides of the square with the circle should achieve that. The precise vertical height of the firebox might be affected by the seating of the smokebox on the saddle and minor variations in assembly of the various parts and the whole firebox/ boiler/ smokebox assembly. Here is a pic of my smokebox wrapper attachment tools. And two shots showing the method with ex rocket stick blocks of wood. Nig H

Some needle files might be useful. Nigel Hunt

Hi Simon, You can test for shorts using a DC controller. Just connect the terminals to the frame and then each spacer in turn with the power set high. The red light on my Gaugemaster goes out if there is a short. Regards, Nigel Hunt

I know what its supposed to be for as its one of my chassis kits. Looking good so far, get in touch if you have any queries. Regards, Nigel Hunt

I usually make the cylinder and slide bar support bracket/ motion bracket as one unit that drops into slots in the frames. These slots act as a jig to hold the cylinders and slide bar support bracket in place while the slide bars are soldered to the slide bar support bracket. It gets a bit fiddly if the crosshead has to be fitted before the two sub units are joined. The unit could be bolted to a spacer between the frames, but I keep it all in place via the soldered joint between the return crank and the driving wheel crank pin. This allows the cylinder unit to be lifted up and out of the frames, clear of the driving wheels. Here are some pics of the assembly for a Princess Royal. In these pics the pcb blocks have yet to be cut through to isolate the left and right sides electrically. Nigel Hunt

Hi, You're right Kevin, it is one of the NGS saloons, just with finescale wheels fitted.

Hello John, Thanks for the explanation - very useful. Nigel Hunt

Hi John, I'd be interested to see how the articulation works for the twin. Any chance of a pic please? Nigel Hunt

Thanks Andy and Jerry, that's answered my question. A lot of interesting stuff on the Falcon website. I wonder if they might do 2mm versions of some of their etches. Nigel Hunt

Hello, Anyone know what this is a model of? Regards, Nigel Hunt

Some on Ebay at a mere £154 ( each, not per dozen), and free post too. I have some of these I bought from China. They were described as used, and I can't guarantee they are genuine, but let me know if you are interested in them. Regards, Nigel Hunt