-missy-

Hello Yup, part ten and still going!! My modelling speed hasnt really changed, its still a bit on the slow side for my liking but I am still doing things. Distractions like trying to find a new job dont really help as lots of my spare time is taken up with that. Anyway, there has been a bit of progress and enough to squeeze another blog entry in. After plenty of 'tweaking' the chassis now fits into the body and I am very pleased with the fact there is next to nothing showing through the windows although at the price of some of the chassis showing below the side skirts. The lower photo was taken with a wagon to check the buffer height. As always comments always welcome... Missy

Hi Kris Oh pants! Thats me out then, Highclere has 'compromises' all over it! As for Sculptamold drying when I used it over styrene foam stuff I just left it overnight and by the morning it was set solid. I think its more to do with what you mix in with it as I never mixed it with paint/glue/other stuff. Its very impressive on what you have done so far, excellent speed too, that would take me aggeeessss to do. Missy

Hello Pete / Andy, thank you It was the tank wagons I posted on here a while ago LINKY THING Missy

Hello Nigel Im really glad my stuff has inspired you to have a go. Yes, the ground signals work, they are not that much different to make than the normal signals. Missy

Hello Nigel This is where the phrase 'practice makes perfect' really is appropriate, its so true and trust me if you stick at it you will be lining the chassis up on your workbench. As for the signals they have been written up (not by me I might add) and they should be appearing in the 2mm SA newsletter sometime soon. Missy

Hello Thanks again guys. Hi Andy Yes I am. I doubt it much if it will be much more than the tops of seats but I really would like to add some passengers to it. I have to fit another floor to it sometime soon as although I have lowered the height of the chassis it still will come to just below the bottom of the windows. Hello Rich Thanks for the tip-off. It was supposed to be Part 8 (wow, this is dragging on!) so the title has been duly changed. Missy

Hello Guys Thank you for the comments, I really apppreciated the votes of confidence. Hi Steve. What Brass plates are you on about? Do you mean the bogie sideframes? If so Allen of Worsley works is etching some for me so hopefully I will have them soon. Missy

Hello Things are still moving slowly on the railcar. Although I havent totally stopped on my modelling I still have a way to go until I get my modelling mojo totally back. The chassis is now pretty much complete. I made the bracket for the motor today from a piece of brass and soldered it onto the chassis plus thanks to a tip-off from someone (thank you Brian) I found some screws that fitted the end of the motor so I could bolt it in place (they are M1.4 is anyone needs to know). I havent tried it yet by powering the motor but everything turns freely by hand. The final picture of the chassis below shows how much lower the motor now sits in the chassis, there is about 1mm clearance from the top of the rails which should be enough for Highclere and yes, you cannot see it through the windows. I thought I would also show a picture of what is the beginnings of the bits which will eventually hold the LEDs for the lower front lights, there are two shown for both ends which will be cut off once everything is soldered on. They have been milled from more PCB and are a push fit onto the brass 'C' section where the fibre optic will eventually go. Missy

Welcome back Mikkel

Hi Mark This stuff is fantastic! I am seriously impressed with your work, that building is superb and a great bit of modelling with all the odd angles. The painting on it really brings it alive, you come across very creative / artistic, is this connected with your work at all? Missy

Steve. Take a looks at the "Do your own etch artwork" folder in the files section on the 2mm yahoo group, its a very useful doc from Bob Jones. Missy

Hi Alan That is just WRONG on so many levels! Missy

Hi Andy Oh yes, I nearlly forgot about that name! M.

Hello I know this is another way of doing it but I used the weird darker coloured fibres and then 'drybrushed' them after the glue had dried. I tried to use progressively lighter colours towards the tops of the fibres. I have tried to recreate the effect you see when looking at grass where it always is darker right at the roots (especially on long grass). I dont know if its useful or not really, it just was worth mentioning how I do the grass thing! Missy

Hello Thanks again guys for your comments. Hello Steve I have two options, either chop the farish ones around or alternatively rumour has it that Allen of Worsley Works fame is working on some nice yummy etched ones for me. That reminds me to send him an quick email to ask how he is getting on with them... Hello Chris I cut the PCB using my Proxxon milling machine which I have found to be VERY useful especially when making chassis for things. I would definately recommend one. Finally I have just noticed that this is the 500th post on my new blog thingy. I really want to take this opportunity to thank eveyone who has posted comments on my blog and stuck with me on the highs and the lows of my modelling. THANK YOU! Missy

Hello Thank you guys. doing it this way it means that only the tops of the bogies (where the worms are) are visible inside the body which is great considering how large the windows are! I have managed to reduce the overall height of the chassis from 20mm to 14mm of course, if it works! Hi Kris You are right, I have made it from some double sided 1.5mm thick PCB and I have split the copper on the top side and soldered the pickups to it. The only things I have left to do with it is to make a motor mount and lengthen the slots inwards of the bogies a bit as the driveshafts dont quite fit. Missy

Hello Things are still happening albiet slowly on the flying banana. Since the llast post I have added a bit of detail to the roof in the shape of the roof vents and what I think is a bit of conduit which I have noticed on a few pictures. Although hard to see in the below photo I have also added the handrails and the bracket for the lamp on each end. I have also made a start on the chassis. I have used a Tomix chassis as recommended by Bernard earlier in the posts about the railcar, but after checking I found that when it was lined up with the body, the motor fitted well into the body and was very visible plus the the chassis was exactly the same width as the body, which didnt allow for any strengthening so I was kind of persuaded into rebuilding the chassis using the bits from the Tomix one. The photo shows how far I have got with the new chassis, the motor needs to be fitted along with the driveshafts. The original chassis is above (well whats left of it!). No doubt there will be more to come... Missy

Hello Nigel Apologies but I have just come across this blog. As Andy said its nice to see more 2FS stuff here on RMWeb and now I know this is here I am looking forward to seeing more. Thank you for thhe vote of confidence too, that is fantastic to know my stuff is inspiring. Missy

Thanks Guys Its good to know there are people still interested! The filler on the roof shows how far back I had to cut the roof to get the shape right. Thats a good question, I dont think I will be able to get a bit of plastic sheet behind the front windows anymore unless I cut them to the same size as the frame. I guess another option would be to use that liquid stuff? Missy

Hello Its been a while, the last time I posted it was a bit 'doom and gloom' as I had chopped one end of the railcar around a fair bit because it just wasnt right and I was faced with the prospect of completely rebuilding the end from scratch. I will be honest and this was a bit demoralising and it lead to a spell away from modelling with holidays and other things occupying my interest. This weekend I finally sat down infront of my modelling table and made a start rebuilding the end of the railcar... I can imagine many of you are getting bored of this and the many posts I have made about it which I apologise for but this is what I have been upto and its the way I do things. I can still see faults with the rebuilt end but I must move onto other bits otherwise I might give up with it all together, apart from the handrails I am now nearly back to where I was about 2 months ago! Missy

Hello Here are another two from me. The second one is screaming for a caption... Missy

Congratulations Kris M.

Hello I have taken a big step backwards today with the flying banana, it has NOT been a good day... I found out that one end of the railcar was quite a bit shorter than the other end. The only thing I can think has caused it is because its the end I have chopped around a few times to try and get the front windows the right shape. Because of that it has been repeatedly sanded smooth and with every time thats done I have taken a little more of the roof. The above picture shows the state of the cab right now. Because it has been repeatedly cut then filled with solder, the solder has built up so I took the decision to strip it all back and 'wick' off all the excess solder which didnt leave that much left! The windows and roof line will have to be rebuilt now. This shows how far the roof has been taken back. The flat bit of Nickel is the correct width for the point of the roof so it shows the roof is now roughly 1mm too short. Thinking about it I will have to now do some serious rebuilding of the roof. At the moment I think it will probably be easier to cut the end of the roof off and rebuild it again from a fresh piece of brass. I wouldnt be able to live with the knowledge it has been 'cobbled' together, even if its been a VERY frustrating model to make at times. I still havent given up on it yet, although come close to it a couple of times now. It is taking a loooooong time to build though. Missy

Hi Thanks guys for the comments. I can see how people can get 'hooked' on these things right now! Andy - I am seriously tempted to do a model of 6430 or similar for Highclere, they do look good in lined green for sure. Im sure there are many prototypical reasons not to though! Michael - I actually understand what you mean now although I was kind of geting used to it after a while. People who travel in coaches have it easy! Missy