CF MRC

https://www.maerklin.de/en/products/details/article/39968
 

Maybe our home grown products aren’t so bad after all. 
 

Tim

I think it will look odd without the boiler lined out, Ian. 
 

Tim

Just turn up the amps until

something glows / smokes…

Tim

CF has always had its own bespoke front barriers made from Speedframe. They incorporate a low rail for children to stand on and take into account the strange shape of the layout. They take up a minimum amount of transport space (the vertical frames are permanently assembled) with the horizontal rails adding useful low ballast to an otherwise slightly unstable travelling case. 

If you want see the layout without barriers then come to an MRC mini exhibition at Keen House or 2mm Scale Association event (as in HAMW, series 2, episode 3).

Tim

The Raven 4-6-2 class is now mechanically complete. It slightly ‘stuck its elbows out’ on the slide bars when running and so a restraining wire was soldered across the back of the crocodile, using 145 deg solder. 

https://youtu.be/EoCENm7k2bI

The driving wheels are lined out at the hub but the rims are not yet black. 

Tim

Styrene sheet brickwork can be made to (near) scale, as we have on CF. 

This brickwork is made from heating 20thou styrene on a photo etched zinc plate and then pealing it off at the correct moment. It produces irregularities that can be used to good effect. It then comes down to how you paint it.  The printing plate dates from the 1970s and was made by Dave Hammersley, AKA Roxey Mouldings.  
 

Slaters brick sheets can also produce an effective result, but the bricks are poorly defined and rounded. The secret with this is to sand the surface down until the bricks effectively almost disappear. There are plenty of photos on the CF thread that show various  techniques in use: getting the colour and corners right is 90% of the battle: the majority of buildings on CF don’t have any brick relief. 
 

Tim
 

There are an overwhelming  number of ‘how to’ videos on YouTube some of which can be very informative. The disappointing thing is when they take so long to show very little. 
 

I think a series of staged photos can be just as informative and there is no doubt that camera phones have revolutionised this aspect of ‘how to’.  It’s very tempting to just show what you’ve made at the end of a session, but the steps along the way will probably help people rather more - it’s what I try to do with my 2mm stuff on RMWeb . 
 

Having taught at Missenden for many years, I would say that the ethos is to give people the confidence to get on with their modelling and to achieve finishes on components that they didn’t realise they could achieve.  Tony & I also work on the Lazarus principle with some of the kit builds that are presented. 

It’s also jolly good fun helping fellow modellers on their way…

Tim
 

I do like the way you have made a really tricky component (the tank fillers) simple by clever design. 
 

Tim

It would have to be NER livery Michael, as the picture is pre-grouping. The 4-6-2 class is in works grey, albeit the front buffer beam has already been trimmed back. 
 

Tim

Are you referring to this yard, Richard?

On a different topic, is the layout DC or DCC Peter?

Tim

Little & LARGE. The driving wheels on the Raven 4-6-2 class have been lined out, just awaiting the black axle ends. Meanwhile, I have started to fettle the cast lamp brackets for my 3.5” gauge King Arthur, Sir Sagramore, in a scale approximately an order of magnitude bigger, i.e. 1/152 vs 1/16 full size.

Once the Skittle Alley is re-assembled I’ll probably work on the KA (see separate thread) for a while. 

Tim

I agree with Jerry. My Baldwin 2-6-0 has a slightly ‘loose gearbox’ as does Mons Meg. Engineering four bearings in line is too tricky. 
 

Tim

Slightly going off topic, but I always use the 2mm scale ‘boot test’ for such calculations. Place a figure next to the ground texture and see if it would twist it’s ankle or trip up on it. It is especially useful for textures on e.g. roads. So many layouts are spoiled by using ‘grit’ as a texture in goods yards. In scale terms there virtually isn’t a texture and just plain emulsion paint with pumice filler is all that is needed. 
 

Tim

I recollected you doing it for Valour, Tony. I didn’t fancy sweating on a bass facing, bearing in mind that the nearby flanges of the rod are also soldered on. It didn’t take long to make the square hole with an escapement file and then trimming a block of brass to fit. 

Tim

They are quite substantial cylinders and the class did have clearance issues, being cut down on the front buffer beam very early on in traffic and the rear valence necked in to give platform clearance. 

Two things that puzzle me are whether the reversing gear balance weight (seen above the frames) was visible when the engine was in forward gear.  Also, at some point, it seems that the wheels had some extra square-shaped weights added to the crescent shape as-cast. My engine will be in near original condition so I suspect it would not have the additions. Any ideas? 

Thank you all for the kind comments - I try to show how it’s done in these posts, not just the end result. 
 

Tim

We didn’t realise the name change until relatively recently Tony. 
 

Tim

Tylor’s Tower became Ebonite in 1956, Tony. Interestingly, one of our group worked there in the early 80’s. It was demolished in 1983. 
 

Tim

Interesting question re period on CF, Tony. We generally say, ‘between the wars’. However, my loco scratch building takes the period back to 1910. Of late I have settled around the grouping for loco building. Both Valour and the Skittle Alley would have rubbed shoulders at KX in the summer of 1923 - both in glorious pre-group livery - so that is enough of an excuse for me. I obviously also like the streamliners so that pushes the period to ‘37 onwards.  Generally,  so long as it’s apple green and teak and worth looking at by most viewers, I think, are not too upset. 
 

The actual layout is again set ‘between the wars’. However the track plan near Gasworks Tunnel is up to 1932 and the presence of Belle Isle Up box sets it to the pre KX re-signalling. York Road tube also closed in 1932 so it is safe to say that end will be a time capsule of that era. I just have to make some horrendous underslung GNR somersault signal gantries to complete the scene…

The BR 2-6-2 you saw at Derby is 2mm scale royalty, being perhaps the most famous of the Groves locos.  We never run BR stuff on CF, but you never say never, do you?

Tim