Tony Teague

I think I'd prefer neglected! Tony

How could I not?

Trial fitting of the wheels to the E6-X chassis showed that ride height was actually spot on - so no further adjustments required, although there is some adjustment neded in terms of how the body is fixed to the chassis - I am not sure that the 3D printed plastic can be drilled to take a bolt!: So I pressed on and as of the end of the day I have a motorised, free-rolling chassis, which has been run in for a half hour on the rolling road: During the build I discovered that the axle and smaller rear bogie wheels were missing from my chassis kit, so tomorrow I will be off to Scaleforum where Dave Ellis of South Eastern Finecast has offered to bring some with him - excellent service! With the body now sitting on the chassis, it is beginning to look like a locomotive: Although it has yet to receive any paint, the second print looks even better now that I have added the splashers, which come printed inside the loco body: I also hope to pick up some brass fittings tomorrow, such as sprung buffers, clack valves, a whistle and firebox door handles tomorrow as I think these will add a lot to the look of the finished loco. Tony

Thanks AdeMoore I have no connections with Poppy's who also do various laser cut things in wood; I was recommended to the product via Tony Wright, see: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/64295-wright-writes/?p=2540958 Tony

About a month ago I reported the arrival of a 3D printed body for an ex-LB&SCR E6-X loco from Shapeways (one of my missing locos!) but have not managed to find time to work on it since - until now! In fact, Shapeways had sent me an earlier, but faulty, print which they rapidly agreed to replace and so I turned this problem to advantage by using the faulty print as a test bed for painting schemes; here it is painted in white acrylic primer: and then with an aerosol satin black - you can see the flaws in the print along the tank sides: These tests have given me confidence that I will be able to achieve a presentable finish using the much better replacement print, and so I have now started to build the chassis, which is from an E6 kit by South Eastern Finecast; the E6 had identical wheel sizes and configuration to the E6-X which was derived from it: For the experienced reader I should point out that this is only the third loco chassis that I have ever built! - I am therefore open to constructive improvement suggestions! It is seen sitting here in "Poppys Jig" - a device that I find most helpful - with the connecting rods placed along the outside so as to ensure the chassis is square: I then checked this for fit against the body: this revealed that whilst the body fitted snuggly at the rear, there would be a problem at the front, where the "foot" underneath the boiler sits exactly above a screwed brass frame spacer that protrudes above the top of the chassis: Having soldered a further spacer towards the front of the chassis, I decided to remove the screwed brass spacer completely: This has resolved the particular problem, but further adjustment(s) maybe required to get the ride height correct: This is as far as I got today, so my next job will be to trial fit the wheels to the chassis to ensure that it runs freely, but also to confirm ride height and if necessary make further adjustments. I will then finish the chassis before moving on to detail the body. Tony

Andy Sounds like the best approach. Tony

Yes, built years ago and now very dated / not up to current spec, but with so much still to be done, a re-build or replacement is not likely to happen! Tony

These two S15's are both built from DJH kits (but not by me!): No.499 is the Urie version built an painted for me by Chris Phillips: No.847 is the Maunsell version which I acquired via Tony from the estate of a deceased modeller and so the builder is unknown: As has been said, Hornby have only produced the Maunsell version and there is no doubt that it has a level of detail that the kit-built examples do not achieve; nevertheless they are pretty good models with excellent haulage capability. I love the look of the S15's; here is the real thing on the Bluebell Railway (my image): [with apologies - not often I can post SR pictures on an LNER thread!] Tony

I have also made further progress on the area in front of Churminster South signal box, so that one can now get long views into the shed and station: In the distance, to the left one can see Wadley's Brewery buildings; these four shots were taken using focus stacking and I have posted them in larger format because the level of detail that one can see by zooming in is considerable! (Just click on each image for the larger version). The T9 in front of the box is one of my recent weathering projects: The bare / unpainted wood to the centre left is the back of the control panel, which is difficult to omit at this angle; the "muddy" area to the bottom left is the location for the old village of Churminster, at the bottom of the hill and cut off from the newer part at the top when the railway came through. It will be the last area to get modelled on the whole layout because it is such a handy area to put things on! Tony

The Kirk / Maunsell brake composite is now completed barring couplings and some tweaking of ride height: I don't think it looks bad, until you see it alongside the Hornby Maunsells, at which point the deep window mouldings stand out: I guess that it is a model "of it's time" but whether it would look right in the ACE alongside an otherwise Hornby rake is questionable I may have to find other uses for it.

Andy Thanks for the update - knowing that you were otherwise occupied, I had refrained from asking, but progress looks real. Yes, I can send you the parts you mention, and I was also intending that we use the T9 backhead so I will sort out these bits and mail them. Thanks again for taking this on! Tony

You may have been lucky - or used a different type of PVA. This took about 15 years to show: The key issue seems to be that it was enclosed - the side tanks were also filled but showed no sign of expansion. Tony

Thanks Mick! I did wonder whether the brassicas needed a bit of weathering, but I'll probably leave alone! Tony

Thanks for responding to my query; it sounds very sophisticated, and having seen it in action I know it works. I think I will start by consulting my own neighbourhood electronics genius, but failing that, I had also thought of exploring the use of IRDOTs, having already got over a hundred installed and working on the railway. Many thanks! Tony

According to "The Book of The Schools" (Irwell Press), your Schools can't be within the first 10 which had smaller windows and flat sided tenders ( although the latter could have got swapped around later). All but 5 of the class appeared in pre-war malachite, and all but 8 in post war malachite - and some locos also had the wider chimneys fitted by 1939, so you have a lot of choice as to suitable candidates, e.g. 914 from 1946 to 1950, 919 from 1941 to 1943 and 1946 to 1949, 924 from 1940 to 1943 and 1947 to 1950, 938 from 1940 to 1943 and 1946 to 1948 (random examples). Good luck! Tony

Andy I have seen your daughter's work on LB - excellent! I think you are right on the coal, there are a couple of lumps that would kill a scale fireman! I must break them down. Best wishes Tony

My better half is a very keen gardener but currently she is sadly too unwell to do what she enjoys; so when last week I heard her say "I'd really like to do some gardening" I thought that I ought to help out. She had previously designed and constructed the Churminster Station Master's garden, and so I duly provided her with all the materials that might be needed, plus templates for two vacant semi-detached garden plots, and she was off! Here is what she delivered: They look pretty impressive to me! Here is where they sit in the local surroundings - just opposite Churminster Parish Church: Meanwhile anotheor loco has been through the weathering works; it's Bulleid Q1 no.C8, which is normally resident at the front of the Kent Coalfields coal train: I think I am beginning to get the hang of this weathering business: Tony

Thanks Andy The roofs will definitely receive attention! Tony

Andy The coaches look good to me, although being a Southern man I tend to think that they would look better in green! I have tried the 2 Precision Paints to produce teak, but I found the Mike Trice method even better, as outlined in: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/75178-reproducing-varnished-teak-improving-latest-Hornby-thompsons/ I was going for a heavier weathered effect which may not be what you want: Looking at these again, I think the roofs are way to clean and need more work! Tony

Managed to get a coat of paint on the Maunsell brake comp today, but plenty still to do; I sprayed the sides and brush-painted the ends, underframe and interior I still have to get some gloss on there to take the transfers, spray the roof, pick out door handles, etc, matt varnish, add corridors, and glaze! I have also acquired some additional Hornby Maunsell brakes and so the ACE should soon be complete - I will have to limit it to about 10 coaches due to fiddle yard constraints, but at least 6 of those will be brake compos. Tony

OK, so can someone show how they have used Excel for this purpose? I am Ok with spreadsheets but I am not sure that I can see the transition. Tony

For a break from scenery (and before my diversion to weathering) I was attempting to set up a realistic looking Atlantic Coast Express rake - and in the process realised that I was short of a few Maunsell brake composites - you can never have enough for a proper ACE ! I recalled that I had some old unmade Kirk Maunsell kits in a drawer and so I set out to make some - although in the process I discovered that only one of them was a brake composite, but never mind. I won't bore people with the whole construction saga, but having made a few of these before, it was suggested to me that I should use aluminium sheet to reinforce the floor pan of these coaches as they are otherwise a bit flexible and can take on the shape of a banana! The metal is cut to the same shape as the floor and then glued to the top side of it with contact adhesive: This forms a strong 'sandwich' which is unlikely to bend and around which the coach can be constructed as a separate box: I replaced the Kirk roof vents with cast metal ones: The coach interior can then be constructed on the floor which will be removable: The only down side of adding the metal floors is that the interior partitions and seats have to be cut down by a couple of millimetres to allow for the thickness of the metal. This is where I had got to with two coaches by the end of the day: The interiors remain to be finished and painted, whilst the exterior will also be sprayed prior to glazing, transfers etc. In the meantime I shall still have to buy a couple more brake composites! Tony

My limited experience with the American pick-up system was also not good, but for slightly different reasons to those Tony outlines. I use DC and have some OO RTR models by OO Works who use this approach and I wondered why they would stall at certain section breaks, where there was a change from one controller to another - until I realised that this was how they were wired. This meant that the loco was trying to pick up at the front on one one side from the first controller and through the tender at the rear on the opposite side from a second controller; unless the train was moving fast enough for momentum to carry it across the gap they inevitably stalled. Once I realised the reason, it was soon solved through adding pick ups to the opposite side - plus of course the additional pick-ups also increased reliability. Tony

I share your interest in this topic Ian and would love to know more about how it might be used. Tony

Now that's uncanny! Are you just practising before taking on Set 733 in SR livery - or is this a batch process? Tony