Simond

Anthony,

sorry to hear of your loss. 

Hopefully the Castle & layout background will be a fitting memorial - I have a Clyde puffer model named "Olive" for similar reasons - it's pictured in my PD thread I think

atb

Simon

On 26/01/2023 at 15:56, airnimal said:

Dave, I wish my first attempt was as good as that. Congratulations and welcome to the club. I expect we will be seeing more now that you have got the bug ! 

 

Schooner, my wife was probably right because painting and weathering is the least favourite part of my modelling.  I have tried to tone my brake van down with some powders but it doesn't really look the part to me. It is not going in the bin but I must try harder as my old teacher use to say.

Mike,

your van is lovely, you might be dissatisfied with some aspects of the finish, but I can assure you the rest of us are well impressed.  I’m very pleased that you’re not planning to bin it!
 

At least with weathering and powders, you can scrub a bit off here, and add a bit more there, until you’re happier.  Then leave it, review it later, repeat if desired…
 

atb

Simon

1 hour ago, The Stationmaster said:

Thank you kind sir - it must be an age thing (in my case, not - I hasten to add - yours).  So following that simple reminder, which has obviously worked, there it now is. (Duly pretending it had been there all the time - which it hadn't)

 

 

Cheers Mike,
 

I’ll have you know that I’ll be 65 in a couple of weeks :(

still about 14 in my head though!

Mike,

photo?

atb

Simon

My dad always said “Guests are like fish, fine & fresh for the first day, start to smell a bit after three…”

Varifocals are not ideal for modelling.

Chin height when seated.

reasonable to work on when standing.

This will help for cyanoacrylates.  Not sure about acrylic paint.  
 

Make sure the acrylics don’t freeze - they don’t like it - whilst fridges should be around 4C, ours has a habit of getting an icy lump at the back, which could cause freezing by contact.

I’m not sure why it helps with cyanos, possibly it’s drier in the fridge, possibly it’s the reduced rate of reaction because it’s colder (though 15 degrees in 280 or so is 5% or thereabouts, so not much), and possibly it’s both.

11 hours ago, Simond said:

#1 Turn one of the wheels one way and then the other whilst watching the worm.  It’ll move towards, and away, from the motor.  Does it touch the motor or anything else?  If not, don’t worry about that aspect.

this is crucial, it’s why I put it first!!!

Found it…

Frames in green, equalising beams in blue, bushes in brass colour.  

Obviously cut the beams as a pair, and do the frame mods with them fixed together too.

hth

Simon

The Springside 14/48 is a dogs breakfast, it’ll never run well, with rigid bearings for the drivers and a sprung trailing axle.  I compensated mine by creating a pair of rocking beams to which I soldered the main axle bearings, and a rigid third point, centred over the trailing axle.  ( there’s a drawing somewhere, I redid it recently, I’ll post if I can find it)

Obviously I needed a gearbox that didn’t depend on the chassis, can’t recall what I used.  Certainly fixed it, and it runs sweetly, or did til I blew the chip with a careless short.:(

Morning John, Happy New Year to you too!

worm soldered to motor shaft…. That’s not the end of the world.  

#1 Turn one of the wheels one way and then the other whilst watching the worm.  It’ll move towards, and away, from the motor.  Does it touch the motor or anything else?  If not, don’t worry about that aspect.

#2  Remove the motor screws (doing it over a clean duster on a tray prevents the carpet monster being fed) and slip the motor out.  Place loco on track, hold the motor delicately in one hand and set your controller to minimum speed.  You’ll hopefully be able to see the worm turning slowly, you need to look for the outside diameter, and ignore the “thread” - you’re trying to see if it’s concentric,  if it’s wobbling, that’s an issue.  If the motor vibrates horribly when you turn up the voltage, that’s also an issue.  
 

Otherwise, you can assume motor and worm are ok.

Whilst the motor is out, does the chassis roll sweetly both ways, with no binding or snags?  Given that it looks like a Premier, or more likely, Springside chassis, both of which are from the “brick outhouse” school of engineering, I’d expect it to be perfect.
 

ok, elephant in the room, sideplay.  
 

you don’t need much, if any, sideplay on any of the axles on an 0 gauge finescale loco, unless the curve radius Is under 6’.  Less than a millimetre is perfectly acceptable on a non-driven axle, but 2mm on the driven one is never going to work well, as the worm and wheel will normally run-in together, and eventually work-harden, and this won’t happen if the mesh is inconsistent, and both gears will wear.  I generally use ready-made gearboxes but in any case, I ensure “almost zero” sideplay by shimming as required.  Really, the minimum clearance to rotate freely, and no more.

how to do this on an assembled loco?  Slaters’ wheels, get a really good 50 thou Allen key (not a metric one!) and hope the screws come out, I guess.  If they don’t, you have the choice of making “C” washers from brass or plasticard, and slipping them onto the axle between wheel and bearing, or between gear and bearing, which might work reasonably well at least for a while, or drilling the screws out.  You can buy replacement screws (and axles if you’re really unlucky) from Slaters.  Slaters also sell packs of etches of washers in three thicknesses, which are handy shims.

7mm ready-made gearboxes?  Speak to Bill at Premier Components, he does single stage and two stage, or Brian at ABC, who does two-stage only, I think.  Otherwise Ron Caplin, or MSC Models.

hope this helps you sort it out.  
 

does it really need more weight?

And your 14/48xx.  Don’t rely on a sprung pony truck…

Do let us know how you get on, goid luck

Simon

Diagnosis at a distance is challenging, however, I’d suggest looking at the following:

that it runs well in one direction and noisily in the other makes me think that the worm is rubbing on the motor front bearing (or something), and moving the worm a millimetre or so away from the motor might cure it.  If it doesn’t, and always assuming a plastic worm that you can get off the shaft,  put a couple of washers between the worm and the motor, and ensure there is just a little free play for the shaft in/out of the motor.

check the gear mesh.  You might need to file the slots in the motor mounting plate to get it sweet.  I’d put an oiled green Rizla cigarette paper between the gears whilst tightening the screws.  Make sure that the motor is not cocked over during this process.  Best if you can assemble the motor with the gears almost out of mesh, then put the Rizla in, then snug the gears into mesh, then tighten the screws, then take out the Rizla, and only then, run it!

just in case, take the motor off the chassis and check that it runs sweetly when not engaged with the gears.  Ditto, make sure the chassis runs nicely without the motor gear meshed.  These must be good for it to stand any chance when assembled!

HTH

HNY!

Simon

Same to you all!

Simon

well, maybe for Mr Holmes, but not for this investigator…

the sticker is modern, it’s presumably the MRC’s record of to whom to pass on the £25 that I paid for it.  
 

I can see no other clues, not even when I removed the sticker!

Seasons Greetings to all, have a great Christmas and a Happy & Healthy 23!
Simon

The wagon is wooden, but not, I suspect, a kit.  It’s a little bit crude, but the lettering is rather nice.

I think it’s a DIY, as noted, it’s wooden, the buffers are solid metal, the coupling hook slots are not quite vertical, and the solebars are not quite long enough to reach the headstocks…

I’m just printing a new set of running gear, hopefully it’ll be a happy marriage of old and new!

Hi Annie

sorry, not a clue!  No markings whatsoever, but they do look nicely made.

I’ve just had a request from t’other channel, so they’re “gone”.

thanks for looking in

Simon

Abject apologies, the photo should have been there.

I’d not seen this before, but the wheels are not fixed to one another and appear to be able to rotate independently.  Good and solid, though!

I recently acquired a rather nice vintage wagon, it was fitted with these, which I do not have any use for.

Free to a good home, indeed any kind of home!  please pm me if you would like them  - yours for the cost of the postage - btw they are not insulated for 2R !

I wholly agree, it’s irritating & amusing in equal measure when said “knowledgeable critic” tells you what “would have been done” but you have the photo of the real thing, and your model is right.

I found myself rivet counting last week.  I can’t hope to emulate Mike’s skill with plasticard, but I’m pretty handy on the CAD, and I purchased an Elegoo Saturn 2, which is mind-bogglingly good at printing things with rivets on, all nicely aligned and identical.  Then you find that the photos & drawings you do have are just not quite good enough, and you’re not quite sure about the spacing, or the exact dimensions of the bit of metal to which they’re fitted…. So you stop and wait for an opportunity to measure the real thing (GW crane match wagon, there’s one at Didcot).

it’s another excuse for never actually finishing a model…

I don’t think this is the right forum for HO brass.  Model engineering is more 5” gauge live steam…

and what do you mean by “validated”?

I suggest you might want to find some active modellers/collectors in your scale, and ask for their opinions & experience

I fear it may not be easy to find what you’re looking for but there are some folks who might be able to help.   You might try “mickoo” on Western Thunder.  

Well, I think the answer is “not enough” either interest or money!

Sore point - most of the history of my last 12 years of modelling was in the lost pictures

I do not keep the photos I post so if they’re gone, they’re gone.  
 

I can take further photos of my turntable and the associated arduino-gubbins if that would help, though it’s installed…

I’m not betting any money, but talk to Andy Duncan.

I used to live in Claughton.  It's "Claw-ton", which is pretty easy, but not much like the spelling.

I do recall a BBC news reader saying (the one and only time the place was famous enough to make the 6 o'clock news), "Cluff-ton".  It was funny when I was six.