MikeOxon

I can feel the weight and strength of those girders! The young woman on the right makes an attractive addition to the pic

There's something I find rather fascinating about your latest, Western Sunset! I like the way the 'rhythm' of the curved line of seats echoes that of the orange doors along the train. At first, I didn't like the waste bin but it does echo the tower above the train, and the people add human interest. Even the circular sign on the path fits into the composition - it should be a GWR 'shirt button' (though not at that location!) An extra millimetre on the RHS would have got the whole of the end of the train but perhaps cropping a little off - back to the orange - would avoid that slightly unfinished look? I prefer this to some of your other recent shots where the train seemed too 'incidental' to the scene. Mike Edit - I didn't expand the pic to see that it is, in fact, complete

Nah - they're 0-gauge! When I first scrolled down to the first photo, my immediate thought was that it was a prototype photo! I use the same technique of a real sky 'backdrop' for my own model pics. I think it works very well. There's definitely something odd about that 56xx boiler though - in the photo it looks to have a reverse taper behind the smokebox. I'll hope to see these for real at Abingdon. Mike

I agree that brass is wonderful stuff - very forgiving!

I'm not sure I understand your comment re. TIFF. The format can handle colour and is what I've used for my printed coach sides, as described in my blog post at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1405/entry-13122-instant-chocolate-with-cream/ Mike

JPendle said: "I then printed it out and then cut it. After I'd done this I compared the pieces I'd cut to some I'd cut by hand and founs that they were bigger, around 10% bigger! " You could check the preference settings in the Studio software, There are settings in 'Studio' for import options, in the File | Preferences menu. Make sure you select the option to import "as is" - mine was initially set to "Fit to Page" I also note that there are printer options too - mine was on 300dpi, which I have changed to 1200dpi - hopefully for crisper details. Also, i always convert images to TIFF rather than JPEG, since the compression applied to JPGs can 'lose' fine details. Mike

Thank you, Mikkel. I can now confirm that 'welding' the sides to the ends has been sufficient to hold their shape. On the next one, I think I will incorporate a 'lip' on the edges of the roof, to conceal the join and ensure that the sides are held along their length. I've now added solebars, made from styrene channel. I fixed the ends of these but left the middle section free to flex slightly when the Cleminson centre unit slides. I intend to use the Silhouette to make some Mansell centres for the wheels. Mike

Thank you Snitzl. I value your comments. Mike

Good questions, Mikkel! I'll let you know when I have the answers I'm hoping the ends will be enough to hold everything true but, if not, I shall put some angle members inside the eaves of the sides. You are right to describe me as an experimentalist but I also like things to be simple, so I try to avoid complicated formers and braces. Sometimes, following the prototypical construction methods can be fascinating, but they are often not appropriate for a small-scale model. Mike

Since my last entry, I have been making slow progress with my coach construction. In fact, there has been a lot of trial and error, as I tried to find a way of incorporating printed sides from my Silhouette cutter. I have not scratch-built coaches before, so had a lot to learn, for which the various posts by Mike Trice in the Silhouette cutter thread: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79025-a-guide-to-using-the-silhouettecameo-cutter/?p=1278380 have been particularly helpful Although I had previously found that it is possible to use an inkjet printer on styrene sheet (by coating the surface first), I could not get as crisp an image as when using real photo paper. I've now evolved a system where I use photo paper for the outer layers of the coach side and 10 thou styrene for the inner layer. This allows me to weld the sides to other styrene components by means of MekPak (or similar). Another problem I had to address was how to achieve the curved 'tumble home' in the lower part of the coach sides. I finally hit on a method that uses a curved brass chassis to support the lower sides. I started with a simple rectangle of 10 thou brass sheet then scored and bent the edges to the required profile. I find brass is much easier than plastic card for this sort of task, as it holds a curved profile of its own accord. The brass platform also provides some weight, low down, and provides a secure fixing for the Cleminson chassis. I then glued the laminated sides to the outside of the ' upturned boat' profile of the chassis. For glazing, I used overhead-transparency acetate film, folded to a U-shape, to fit between the sides and under the roof. I built the seating and partitions as a separate module, which could be dropped inside the curved sides of the chassis. The 'seats' are simply cut from a length of styrene square tubing and serve to hold the 20 thou plastic card partitions in a vertical orientation. Side bars made from plastic card strips prevent the floor from bowing - which it does, if not reinforced in this way. The various parts fit together as shown in the following photo: The roof caused me a lot of head scratching. I tried building a box section for the clerestory out of plastic card but found it difficult to get the right profile. It could probably be done with thin plastic card and a lot of transverse formers but this was clearly going to be a fiddly assembly task. Then I thought I would try folding thin (5 thou) brass sheet, which proved surprisingly tough to fold to the profile I wanted. It would have been easier with proper bending jigs, as I was just using a vice and pieces of angle aluminium as a former. As it was, I had to work on the metal rather too much, to achieve the profile I wanted and it cracked along one of the folds. I repaired and stiffened the structure by running solder along the insides of the folds but, I think I will fabricate the next design from separate sections, soldered together. The rather rough bits will be covered by thin (10 thou) plastic card roof sheeting and by the printed clerestory sides, which I made in the same way as the main body sides. The structure is now coming together and I feel that it is going to work - after severe doubts earlier on in the process! Mike Next Post PS - I notice that I put the roof on the wrong way round for the photo! The clerestory lights do line up with the compartments! PPS - The sides are only tacked together with Bluetac for the photo - I hope to achieve a better fit in the end! PPPS - Th final coach can be seen in 'Railway Modeller', Nov.2014, "Computer-aided Cutting"

In post #541 of this thread, I described using a 1/8" diameter diamond dressing tool to etch the surface of plastic and brass sheets with the Silhouette cutter. Subsequently, when trying to mark small circles to represent rivets, I found that the results were rather mis-shapen. Investigation showed that the small diameter tool was only held on two moulding 'pips' at the tip of the pen holder, as shown in the photo below: The result was that the tip could rock slightly from side to side, so distorting curved shapes. I'm sure that this problem could be solved in a number of ways (e.g. adding packing around the tool) but I saw that Amazon also listed a 15/64" (6mm) tool of similar length, so decided to try this as an alternative. I cleaned up the end of the pen holder with a drill to provide a round aperture and inserted the larger tool, which was also held more firmly by the two fixing screws on the sides of the holder. As can be seen in the second photo, below, the diamond tip is now held firmly in both vertical and horizontal directions and engraves circles successfully Mike

and don't forget the crottin cheeses

Thank you for the info. I believe I read all the instructions, which are mainly very good, but did not spot any reminder to open out the holes, except if using an inside-bearing centre axle, when there is a note to ensure a running fit for the axle. I'll know to always check this point in future - one learns by experience. Perhaps, one day, I shall have made enough mistakes to be classed as an expert

I always enjoy 'before and after' views. There's something very satisfying about turning a simple cardboard box into a beautifully detailed model

Thank you for the comment KH1. It's easy enough to deal with, but even easier if done at the outset!

This is an update on progress with building my GWR 6-wheel coaches. I have printed the sides, using the Silhouette cutter, but there is still work to do on the upper sides - why did I have to choose to build clerestory roofs! I have, however, built the Cleminson chassis from the 'Brassmasters' kit, so will share my experiences with this, so far. The kits are very well presented with detailed instructions and the 'extra bits' needed to complete them - wheel bearings, nuts and bolts, and brass rod. The etches themselves are very crisp and of an appropriate strength and thickness. I have scratchbuilt a simple Cleminson chassis before, so was able to appreciate how well thought-out this kit is. The way it can be adjusted for wheelbases from 18 feet to 27' 6" is very clever and I think the instructions do well to recommend using a highlighter to mark the options for the model under construction. It would be very easy to look at the wrong row of figures, otherwise! I suppose it is fair to assume that anyone making these will know a fair bit about what they are doing, but a few points could usefully be explained in the instructions. The two plates at the ends of the chassis have to be registered with marked slots and orientated correctly but it is not explicitly stated to which side of the chassis plate they should be fitted. Once you are into the swing of things, it becomes obvious but it would be good to be sent in the right direction at the outset. Some explanation of the function of the three 'pips' on the strengthening bars would also be useful. A minor problem is that many of the holes in the etches are fractionally under-size - better that than the other. I found it was necessary to ream them out a little for the (supplied) wheel bearings to fit and, also for the various 0.9mm brass rods to be inserted. I had already folded the parts, when I realised this and it is quite tricky opening out the holes in the very fragile brake shoes. I used a 0.95mm drill in a pin vice but it could still snag sufficiently to bend the brake hangers and mess up my careful alignment with the wheels. The small slot in the centre section also needed easing a little to let this part slide freely. I strongly recommend that anyone following in my footsteps should check all these clearances and open out wherever necessary before removing parts from the fret - I shall certainly do that next time. A final minor caution - put some loctite (or similar) on the nuts that hold the end pivots - they fall off in no time, if you don't! I'm pleased to see that the result does its job perfectly under my coach so, all in all, I think this is an excellent and well thought-out kit. Next job is to build the clerestories Mike Next Post

Glad to see you have take account of all the factors - I wish the climate change predictors could do the same! That plant-pot session sounds great

i spotted another photo of some one horse trolley design carts on the excellent Warwickshire Railways site at: http://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrhd705.htm Note the text stating "Driver arrangements varied between areas; the Birmingham pattern had a box seat raised some 10 inches above the flat vehicle floor." Mike

Just counting the bricks in that small panel behind the bed-head yields 20 rows of10 = 200 bricks, so you are going to need a lot to represent all the rubble! Of course, you will use modellers methods to simulate the depth of the heaps and just use the individual ones on the visible surfaces! (won't you? ) Mike

I had assumed that this was a 4-cylinder engine - small cyls both outside and inside the front wheels. This would reduced the sid-to-side oscillation to manageable levels

I think you'd have a better chance of a response if you put this in the Classified - Wants area of the Forums. Mike

Many thanks for your detailed reply, Paul. I encountered this situation as a real problem when I was trying to incorporate a three-way point into an existing layout - see http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/73339-scarm-layout-design-software-with-3d-–-all-users-topic/?p=1155042 I solved it in the end but it involved a lot of trial and error. As the video tutorial shows, the software needs 'help' when creating reverse curves. My suggestion is that, to make the software even easier to use and more versatile, it would be good to put some programming effort into making this process more 'intuitive'. This might involve some iterative solving technique to be built into the program. Mike

I agree that the wheels and axles do not 'work' in etched brass. Since Langley supply wheels separately, I may replace with those. There's a lot that I like about the brass kit, but the shafts and undergear are just too thin. Mike

That's the plan - I have a lot of work to do on the scenics, which I hope to get around to, when I stop building locos, coaches, and other vehicles Mike

There's a photo of a TVR horse lorry with a front board in 'Great Western Way' (p237 - 1st ed. 1978). The driver seems to be in the usual front-left position, rather uncomfortably perched on the front board. Mike