Rods_of_Revolution

Hi Mick,

Do you use anything to seal the weathering powders? I have found that most varnishes seem to either blow away (when sprayed) or otherwise diminish the appearance of the powders.

All the best,

Jack

That's looking great, really brings it to life having the dirt on there!

Cheers,

Jack

Looking good Pete!

Every time I see your layout I get reminded just how high those tractors had to climb to get back onto the mainline!

I also like how you have modelled the settling tanks, were those rectangular ones still in use during the 1980s or had the circular pools taken over? I'm thinking of modelling the circular type settling tanks on my layout, so if your pools are to be filled with clay I'll be interested to see how you do it.

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Hi Mark,

I used the Peco TTA chassis on mine, the ladders are fragile, but are a little more solid once they are glued to the underframe.

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Sorry for the slow replies chaps,

Guy, typically the rakes of PRAs were not too long and were normally part of speedlink workings, I think the most I have seen together was six. Perhaps this method would be well suited to the TDAs I have done to create the barrels?

Scottish Modeller, you can find the PRA model here: http://www.shapeways.com/shops/rail3d

Kindest Regards,

Jack

That tractor is looking really great, the weathering has come out well, I wouldn't believe it was a first attempt at weathering that's for sure!

The layout is a great picture frame for your Scottish stock and it really has the feel of a wind swept coast on a typical Scottish gray day!

Cheers,

Jack

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the complements, Kernick was certainly one of my inspirations when designing the building.

Yes, both the Tiger and PRA are both made from 3D prints, both are available in my Shapeways Shop's; Valve Design for the Tiger and Rail 3D Prints for the PRA.

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Thanks Pete,

I don't have the skill or patience to do 2FS, besides, half the track is buried in concrete! Hopefully once weathered the deficiencies won't be as badly noticeable as plain Peco.

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Nicely made adjustments Jeremy! Even the wonky dots and white rim on the headcode box!

Certainly a candidate to have bash at weathering, 206 was always filthy, especially compared to 207.

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Thanks guys,

N Scale defintely enables big looking structures even in a small space, modern clay works are huge so although I have a small space I'm trying to recreate that aspect.

Cheers,

Jack

Thanks guys!

rcmacchipilot, I took a screenshot in Railworks and then applied a couple of filters in Photoshop so it looked more like it had been painted.

Now I just need to get a few N scale casks of St Austell Brewery's "Proper Job"...

Cheers,

Jack

Strange, I assumed it would be the same as an attached image.

Try this: http://imageshack.us/clip/my-videos/839/yjw.mp4/

Cheers,

Jack

Here we go, a video showing the uncoupling/coupling operation. Apologies for the quailty, I had to compress the video to make it small enough to upload.

Kindest Regards,

Jack

I'll have a go tonight Pete and see what I can come up with!

Cheers,

Jack

Hi guys, thanks for the positive comments.

Pete, on the locos I have the same configuration as the wagons, buffer beam magnet one end, elastic and magnet t'other, but I have a piece of steel wire vertically down from the buffer beam for the magnet to stick to, this keeps it bent round when not in use and looking like a brake pipe so it doesn't stick out like a sore rapido!

Jon and Mike, the elastic is a little chunky for a scale brakepipe, but I think you can get smaller magnets though they cost more and I haven't found a seller on eBay. Certainly worth experimenting with, I'd be well impressed at seeing working brake and vac pipes in N that's for sure!

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Will, I think having the magnets side on would mean they are more likely to slide apart, there is little friction to be overcome when sliding the magnets over each other, which is good for uncoupling when mounted end on, but would reduce the "draw bar" strength and make uncoupling more difficult if mounted side on. The weight of the vehicles is enough to keep them in place, because you're using the nearest axle as the pivot point when pushing down the weight of the wagon has the mechanical advantage over you and because metal on metal presents little friction the magnets slide down and out of each other's fields easily.

rcmacchipilot, the length possible will depend on several factors; The length/weight of the train, the ammount of fiction in the wheelsets and the tightness of the curves. I reckon 30 wagons if the curves are not too tight and the wheel sets are fairly free rolling, interestingly when you start a train you have to do it like it would be done in the real world, you have to take the slack out of the couplings before you put the real power down, otherwise you risk the front magnet disconnecting! If you want to run longer trains you can just add more magnets, have two, or even three end on in each buffer beam and you'll increase the coupling strength.

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Coupling is easy, just lift the magnet with a hook and it'll locate itself, to uncouple just use the bottom of the hook and push the magnet down and it'll slide down and off.

Kindest Regards,

Jack

That livery is all wrong! It's no where near white enough!!! Seriously though, they're looking great!

Kindest Regards,

Jack

The Mercig models are superb (and expensive) but if I work on a model myself I have the satisfaction and pride gained because it's something I have made with my own hands. That said, if I won the lottery......

Ok Pete, I'll have a Google of Mercig's stuff.

That'd be great Jo, that's if we get any weather worth fotting in! Remind me to bring your DMU book and your ballast wagons!

Cheers,

Jack

Thanks Pete,

Looks simple enough to do and does look much better, there could be an issue without 2mm fs wheelsets in the rolling stock to the lower them as well. My coupling method means occiasionally the buffers touch, so they need to be roughly the right height. I'll experiment!

Cheers,

Jack

Thanks guys,

I'll have to look into lowering it, there is a much bigger gap (relatively speaking) than on the 4mm tractor, is there a "how to" around here somewhere?

For the head light I plan to drill a hole in the nose and then mount a spherical bead cut in two on peice of wire bent through 90 degrees. Paint the back black and the front silver with a blob gloss varnish on to give that lens look.

Kindest Regards,

Jack

Hi Pete,

I'll try and take some photos of 175 tonight, I still have to finish the weathering, add the buffer beam details and the nose headlight!

Cheers,

Jack

They look very nice. I might have to try the scale scene hoods - yours look better than my attempts at masking tape!May I ask what you did for the buffers? I am loosing my temper trying to fit the Parkside Dundas buffers recommended, as they are slightly larger than the holes!

I used the existing holes as "pilot holes" and took a drill bit in a pin vice and opened out the holes to the same size as Parkside buffer shanks, I also wrapped a piece of masking tape around the drill bit so I knew how deep to go.

I hope this helps;

Cheers,

Jack

They look impressive, I am quite clad I model 1-43.5 they look a little small. The hoods look the part the weathering is just about right.

Thanks, I'd love to model 7mm scale, only I lack the time, the space and the finance for such endeavours. At least with N scale time is the only thing I lack!

Kindest Regards,

Jack