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John57sharp

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  2. John57sharp

    Fire! Fire!

    By John57sharp,


    2FS
    I like urban buildings and I’m slowly constructing some of the Scalescenes range in N for use on my formative layout, but I’m not getting on too well with cardboard, so I’ve bought the fire station and I’m translating it into plastic card. The brick bond isn’t right, but it’s all I’ve got and you can’t see that easy at NVD.
     
    Van for scale and fitting test, I don’t have a fire engine yet.
     
    One thing I really need to do is to settle on a time period... but then I have 3 x green diesels and 1 large logo and 1 blue, so that’s a couple of decades... 
     
     


  3. John57sharp

    A filler post

    By John57sharp,


    2mmFS
    A small update, nothing has happened in this scale for weeks, too complicated and personal for here, but we’re off and running again, here making coal loads for the minerals.
     
    Filler of milliput in plastic bag off cuts for shape, real coal to be glued over next.
     
    Thanks for looking in.


  4. John57sharp

    A cautionary tale

    By John57sharp,


    Airbrush
    Well here’s a tale, we’ll get a back to  2mm wagons and locos soon, there’s a video in hand, but yesterday I was preparing to give a new16mm scale loco a coat of paint when I managed to drop the airbrush needle, in fact it slipped out of the mechanism when I tilted it. The thing is that usually this would be ok, the carpet is soft, the needle big enough to easily find. Not today. Being outdoors, the needle went down between the cracks in the decking. Oh how we laughed, oh how we cried.... Right said Fred, we’ll have to take that plank up, screws are worn and it may take some time. Many screws were undone and two planks lifted before the needle was found, replacing the planks again was easy. Reassemble the now clean airbrush and... but where’s the spring????  Not under the decking, I was fairly sure of that, I resolved to find a replacement, but after several attempts and no real progress, the moment had passed and other matters required attention. Clearing up dolefully, I gave one last look around where I had been the day before, and there it was! Pristine and innocent looking, just laying there waiting to be found. Of course the suns gone in for a few days now, so that job will have to wait. I will not pause to preach about care and understanding your workplace, I never seem to learn, but I hope this may help others, if only to raise a wry smile....
  5. John57sharp
    Tuesday again. Today’s top tip is a multipurpose tool primarily designed as a holding tool for jewellery makers, a ceramic black with tiny holes throughout, supplied with stainless (and mostly unsolderable) pins. Very useful for holding and securing work, protecting from heat.
     
    I got a twin pack, so the second doubles as a handy tool, drill, pin, wire, work and cocktail stick holder. I put it in a tin lid so the stuff doesn’t go straight through when you pick it up, but only after it did, once.... 
     
     

  6. John57sharp

    Numbers add up to ....

    By John57sharp,


    2FS
    Getting down to it, 2mmFS wagons take just as long to do as their bigger brethren, perhaps longer, there’s a lot of fiddling. So some vans and now a few opens are receiving their numbering and lettering. It’s all CCT Transfers applied on gloss varnish then matt  varnished over. 
     
    I also ripped up the first 2 foot of Easitrac, it was too thick in glue and I hadn’t really thought through the wire droppers. The new length is almost ready to lay, pictures as it happens.

  7. John57sharp
    Tool tip Tuesday, well it is Tuesday and I was thinking of doing one of these now and again. Nothing new here, just stuff I’ve picked up along the way and found useful.
     
    I bought a pack of half a dozen of these off eBay for not much money, and they are surprisingly good. You might think, as I did, that the tips look chunky, but they go to a good fine point, and being ceramic and a bit chunky, they tend to warp less, so less parts ping away into orbit somewhere. As an aside, I think there needs to be a study into the danger of small part debris in low earth orbit, I’m sure there’s a lot of tiny parts up there!
     
    Another obvious benefit is that they are heat proof and can hold parts while you solder them together without the heat travelling towards your trembling fingers, fearful of the sudden pain. The edges are square too, increasing their ability to hold parts.
     
    The only downside is that they are a tad chunky in the tools tray, but that’s hardly a problem!

  10. John57sharp
    I’m writing this taking a coffee and (home baked) shortbread break while I order up some more wheels, and yet more vans from Shop2. Yesterday I got some progress on brake gear after watching Nick Mitchell’s wonderful video on building the 16T mineral, and following his methods I have succeeded in getting 3 or 4 levers on.
     
    I did a stock take and found I had one chassis too many, so I had to buy 2 more van bodies (they come in pairs) so I had to get another chassis too. Good job I like vans!
     
    Pictured below is the workbench at close of play last night. If you look carefully, you may see a brake lever stuck to the tip of the soldering iron.... the batteries ran out just at the wrong moment, and my spares have been pressed into Christmas lights duties, so everything stopped while we recharged! I’m pleased to say that the lever survived!
  11. John57sharp

    Wagons roll!

    By John57sharp,


    2FS
    This is Wagon #12 undergoing some remedial work on the under frame. Replaced a few rubbish attempts at etched axle boxes from the 3D printed range. The large nut is a red herring!

  12. John57sharp

    More 08 progress

    By John57sharp,


    2FS
    Major good news! After the dispiriting news of jamming gears, I put it away for a day or two while I got on with something else. After carefully removing the wheels and gears until it freed up, I traced the problem, I think, to one of the short stub axles on the gear train, it was just too short, so I replaced it. 
     
    After that it all ran smoothly, so I carried on, reassembled everything, even the rods, and it still ran! So I soldered the rods on with the microscopic washers and oil soaked rizla paper. 
     
    It still runs. So far so wonderful. Stay tuned while I put the cosmetic outer frames on and so on.
     
    Once I’ve recovered from the celebration!
  13. John57sharp

    Three steps back....

    By John57sharp,


    2fs
    The drive train has become locked. The driving wheels will only turn 1/3 revolution either way. Hmmm.
     
    I’ve stripped it back to just the gears and the problem persisted, nothing obvious, so the free gear axle came off and the motor turns the worm wheel freely. Phew. I put the free gear axle back, and after an initial stutter, it appears to run well. I’ll do more testing and slowly add the centre axle with gears and wheels and see how it goes.
     
     

  14. John57sharp

    08 Brakes, done!

    By John57sharp,


    2fs
    Today was a good day, the brakes rigging and everything finally went together and looked great, the 4 free axled wheels turned fine. Great result. A little bit of shenanigans followed when the cross wires were cut and replaced by sleeves to insulate the 2 sides, one shoe fell off, but soon fixed.
     
    Then, a small setback.
     
    The whole gear train, previously running well, even with the wheels coupled, is locked solid...
     
    More on this story later.
     
     
     
     



  15. John57sharp

    Brakes 2

    By John57sharp,


    2FS
    All is not as well as I thought. In the earlier entry the brake shoes were lined up one hole too high. My fault for misreading the instructions. I also had tried to attach the brake rigging too high. 
     
    A golden rule that I have yet to learn fully is that if a part doesn’t fit without force, you may have made an error. These kits are good, not many errors at all, so if it don’t fit, you’ve probably done it wrong!
     
    Take 2 seems to be hanging together well.
     
     


  16. John57sharp

    Brakes!

    By John57sharp,


    2fs
    Getting the brake shoes onto the rigging proved to be a long job. Maybe too long for something that will be scarcely visible. Anyway they are now hung, just the control rods to go on now. 
     
    also put 2 van roofs on, took one off again..
     


  17. John57sharp

    Figured out

    By John57sharp,


    2fs
    Just finished the brake hangers on the 08 quickly this morning.
     
    later added some paint to my current off topic project, a 4mm scale figure from Modelu. These are really nice.
     
     

  18. John57sharp

    State of play

    By John57sharp,


    2FS
    A long time since the last post.. times have changed.
     
    This project started off as a possible DJLC entry, but it has moved to a form of shelf layout, hugely inspired by Templefields in MRJ in concept and layout, but not just a direct copy shrunk down. My other major inspiration was Canada Street (maybe I’m in the wrong scale?) which I was delighted to see in Liverpool a few years back. This shelfie won’t be very industrial,  but it may change era.
     
    I’ve almost built 2 Easitrac turnouts from kits using a mix of homemade and bought in jigs, and laid some plain track to learn about that. 
     
    My first loco, the 08, is coming on well. The chassis runs in both directions 6-coupled. I’ve fettled the cosmetic frames so that it still runs with these fitted, and today I’ve been fitting brake rigging using .3mm wire and plastic wire insulation to make it removable. Seen here on my homemade cradle and test stand. This is my second etch, the first was too far gone to be worth continuing, so I took the hit and replaced it. I’m glad I did, it’s made a huge difference. This reflects my philosophy of not accepting anything I’m not happy with, many things get started again with the aim of improvement, which mostly happens.
     
    On this subject,  a wagon update will follow. 
     

  19. John57sharp

    Gronk One progress

    By John57sharp,

    Slowly getting there, confidence higher than usual at the moment.
     
    Cranks and pins and wheels are now mated up, rods laminated and cleaned up. More photos tomorrow.
     
    Quartering next.
  20. John57sharp

    Getting serious

    By John57sharp,

    The vans are progressing well, though I am struggling to keep the tiny multilayer axle boxes together while soldering to the underframes. I will try using different temperature solder. I’ve also started the Presflo wagon from the Association kit, who designed this, it’s a cracking build, very intricate but seems to go together well.
  21. John57sharp
    It was Mick Simpsons article on building an 08 in MRJ 252 that finally did it, though the pressure had been building for some time. I've dabbled in the past with P4, 7mm and 16.5, 14mm, 009, but these days I'm more used to 16mm or 7/8ths scales, with a track around the garden that has similar civil engineering issues to the real thing! So why 2FS? I mean it's so small, watchlike, and there is a clue. I had thought for a long time that I'd like to make a clock from scratch, I already have a small lathe, and spent some time reading up and watching YouTube, where you can find all manner of fascinating horological processes taking place for the camera, but after careful consideration I came to the conclusion that it would cost me a small fortune in specialised tools that would only get a small amount of use, so, reluctantly, I was out.
    Then I had to travel to London for a meeting, bought MRJ for a read on the train, and there was this beautiful mechanism to sit under the rather tasty Farish 08 body. I read it keenly, read a few more MRJs and saw how the 2FS world was coming alive, read some wonderful and inspiring articles, convinced myself that I had to build a Chris Higgs etch, joined the Association and spent some cash. I got a CCT etch too.
    I'm not too sure where this we'll end up. There's no time or space (or appetite) to build an epic layout, but I have always wanted something to run an 08 on, and I almost fell for the new O Gauge one, but this little gem will allow me to do something that's attainable in a small space, possibly with a Victorian industrial type setting, plenty of urban decay and so on, but I'm planning on enjoying the journey.
    I soon achieved a milestone on the 08, managing to turn the worm drive and see the drive train turn with all but the final drive axle in place. The frames had been rather more abused than they deserve, but progress was being made, steady as we go. I've learnt a lot. Solder paste has proved to be a revolution, tweezers not pliers, and check for square, then check again.
    Holes, 0.3mm have proved to be a challenge, hoping that some tungsten carbide drill bits from Amazon will assist here. The brake shoes need to be drilled and folded, they are so tiny that I think I will invest in a magnifying lamp as soon as I can, but I've managed ok so far.
    I’m a slow worker but I enjoy sitting in the sun with a kit or two to build, so let’s see what happens.
  22. John57sharp
    <p>Still moving forward, just about. The quartering was done by eye and by gently fettling the rods until the whole assembly rotated freely. This took time and care, but we got there. I was emboldened to trim off the axle ends, clean then up and was admiring my work when I read a comment from Izzy warning not to do this until I had fitted the outer frames! I have checked though, and I think it will all fit as it is.
     
    I’ll be making spacers as per Mick Simpson’s article because my hamfisted early efforts have broken off the brackets.
     
    I also had a couple of the tiny etched parts delaminate from the rods during reaming. Next time I’ll do some of this before soldering.
     
    Thanks to those who have commented, any feedback welcome.
     
    Cheers
     
    John
  23. John57sharp

    Gronk One, part 2

    By John57sharp,

    Having upgraded my workbench and treated myself to some new tools, I have finally managed to solder up the brake rigging to a standard that I am happy with. The next stage is to add cranks and quarter the wheels...
  24. John57sharp
    Here’s a progress report in the Association BR van kits build. The first picture shows the peg clamp in use to hold things down while I reattach the overlay that hadn’t quite taken on the first attempt.

     
    The second shows that my soldering has improved a bit and the bodies in saddle brown for now.

     
    I have tinned, folded and sweated 8 axlebox etches, but the first 2 I tried to fix on delaminated, so I’m going to try again... Did drop one onto the patio, but it turned up the next morning. Phew!
  25. John57sharp
    Hailed in MRJ as one of the best etched kits ever, ok so that was maybe the 4mm version, but still, I needed one of these for my embryonic layout, so I just had to have one. I started building mine last summer, 2017, and my first learning experience was discovering the need to use solder paste for the very delicate overlays eg on the body ends. I also experimented with a gas soldering iron (disaster), better, new bits for the Antex, but as I work a lot in the garden or at our caravan, I have settled on a battery powered Antex which I really like and use for everything except where you need a lot of heat. This is a great kit and the parts fold up well and fit very nicely into place using the slots and holes provided. The resin roof fits like a glove too, what a splendid way to solve that perennial issue.
    My attempts to build it though have been, as usual, a steep learning curve. This was the first etched kit I’ve tackled in 2FS, and the first in any scale for some years, and in hindsight I’d have been better starting with something slightly smaller, but as you will see, it’s coming together. Yesterday I spent some time sat in the sun, which is by far the best lighting for me, and cleaned up my efforts ready for a coat of etch primer. This did reveal a few issues which I have tried to photograph below in the hope that showing that even my less than perfect workmanship can hopefully produce something halfway decent, in order to encourage other first timers to have a go.
    The underside of the chassis is shown before I started cleaning it up. A lengthy session with a fibreglass burnishing brush (I really hate these, the dust and shards of fibre get everywhere, is there a better option anywhere?) cleaned up a lot of the surface dirt and some excess solder, though I have clearly used too much of that. I had far too much trouble getting the captive nuts to stay on and should have done it earlier than I did. There is a buffer overlay half off, a few of the axle box overlays are missing or slipped, a step is missing and another in off course, and the brake rigging needs fettling.
    The body is better but still needs work, one end overlay was coming adrift, but this was resolved with a little solder paste and using the excellent peg clamp to brace it against while I applied heat (iron not shown, insufficient hands). I find the peg clamp a really useful tool for holding work down and it’s so easy to make and customise for various jobs.
    This is ongoing work, I’ve fixed many of these issues, but it has also given me the confidence to continue, and I’ve got a couple of BR vans under construction with Association underframes being soldered up nicely, even got the wheels spinning freely, so persevere and learn from your mistakes, I try to, and I hope that these “warts and all” articles will encourage those of us who are still striving to reach the dizzy standards seen in this forum.
    More soon...
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