-missy-

Hi Kris Yes, tell me about it! But I havent given up on it yet. Hi Andy Thank you. I thought best to do something like this while the enthusiasm was there, it would never get done otherwise. I am planning on using the chassis as mentioned by Bernard. Have you got one too or is it a square one? Hello Bernard Thank you for the advice. I prefer using metal for something like that although I will have a go at using plastic for the roof. I have one of those chassis on order already so I am going to see this one to the end. Missy

Hello Like so many 2mm bods I have gained quite a bit of enthusiasm from last weekends 2mm Expo so, taking a break from the layout for a short while I have taken on another engine. At the Expo I picked up a 2mm Scale GWR Diesel Railcar aka 'Flying Banana' and armed with the book 'Great Western Diesel Railcars' by J.H.Russell I have made a start... So far all I can say is OMG this is going to be a little more difficult than I first thought. I have had to make a couple of new bulkheads at the cab ends as the ones on the etch didnt fit too well plus I have decided to make a floor from thin PCB but WOW, the ends really are origami in brass! I can now totally understand why Allen (of Worsley Works) says that he struggled with the kit. There are plenty of nice compound curves to think about. Right now I have been trying to figure out how the flat end windows change into a nice curve at the bottom! I am carrying on though... Missy ADDITIONAL: Hello It wasnt worth adding another blog entry but below are the results of the day. I am still in shock that this has taken me ALL day! The normal 'these are cruel enlargements' stands fast here and I know the top of the windscreen on the left is slightly out but at least I now have a template for forming the curved bit on the other end. It took a fair bit of tweaking today to get this far, let me know if its ok. Missy

Hi Will:) I have to agree with the others. In fact that is probably the best modelled concrete I have ever seen. The square slab look amazing. Missy

Hi Andy It was nice to meet up again. There should be more shows like that one for sure! Do I spy a worsley 02 kit? If you need any help with gear ratios and stuff give me shout if you like. Missy

Hi Pete Oh expletive! How on earth did I miss that stuff? I really wanted to see it as well. Your work is immaculate, its all so well finished I just wanted to see it for real. I guess thats one of the downsides to exhibiting something at a show in that you miss so many other bits there. At least I got to talk to you though. Missy

Hi Rich As Kris says it was nice to see the layout this weekend as well as yourself too of course. I really wish I had more time at the show to take a closer look at the layouts there though, it really feels like I missed out there. The way the whole layout looks is great, the way the scenery flows, and the way the track blends in, all good stuff. Did you by any chance buy a flying banana this weekend? Also I forgot to ask, can you send me some details on those coaches you mentioned in an earlier post too? Missy

Hello Pete Thank you. It was nice to meet you and put a face to a name. It was great to chat too, its just a shame the weekend went so fast. To be honest a show like that would be better if it lasted a week then at least I could have had time to take all the fantastic stuff in! As Im sure you already know I dont mind answering any questions, it goes for anyone really. I really hope it helps. I would love to see that photo. I remember you taking it and now you have got me interested. Is there any chance you can send it to me? Thanks. Missy

Hello Guys Well its back to reality here now. Im back at work now and all I have are the fantatic memories of the weekend. My mind is now looking towards the next outing of Highclere. Hello Don It was nice to finally meet you at last, you have given me so much encouragement in the past which I am very grateful for. I passed the pannier tank to Bob on the Fencehouses layout on Sunday so it could have a decent run and he said it ran very well so at least I know there is nothing wrong with the engine. I just need to match the standard with the track now. There isnt alot on the layout so I havent really got any excuses to add a bit of detail really. Im glad you liked it though. Hiya Rich Thank you. The encouragement and enthusiasm is definately there now and after seeing how much better it ran on Sunday it certianly has made things seem far less terminal as on Saturday (If I can do it then so can you). The Q1 is one of the engines that I will be trying to sort out soon, its a shame it didnt work at the Show. Hi Andy Likewise Andy. its always nice to meet and talk to you too. It was weird on Sunday as I was struggling more than the layout, it was rather warm that day! Thank you for the tip on the mirror, I will definately try that one out once I get back onto the layout. I just want a small break from it right now as it seems I have been concentrating on Highclere and nothing else for quite a while now. Hal'oh Bryn Likewise, you are always fun to talk to and yes, it was a shame it wasnt for longer. It seemed like I didnt do anything else but talk to people this weekend which was great. As far as exhibitions go I picked up 3 invited for Highclere over the weekend but I am going to be a bit choosy on where it goes for now until I get a bit more confident. At the moment the next time its out is Railex next year. I am looking forward to seeing to updates on your layout and stuff soon too. Hello Nick I wouldnt say its the best looking loco ever but its definately my Favorite. Its a real shame it doesnt run as well as it looks right now though so I will have to sort that out. I totally agree with you about all the layouts though. There was not a single layout there which I though looked poor. The 2mm people are SO friendly, its brilliant. Thank you again for all your comments. Its great to know people like what I am doing and it gives me so much encouragement. Missy

Hiya Kris It was great too see the layout for real, to see a face behind the modelling, and to have a chat. It sounds like you have left the Expo with the same sort of things running through your head as me. Hopefully you are as equally inspired? Missy

Hello Im sitting here tired but happy. The layout is safely back and unpacked from the short trip from Oxford and my mind is still buzzing from the show. For me the 2mm Expo show was amazing. I know it was a very specialised show and alot of people not really intersted in 2mm FS would find it a tad boring but so far this year it was definately the highlight in my modelling calander. The members of the 2mm SA are so friendly and welcoming and it was fantastic to spend time and talk to so many people new and old this weekend. I was glad to bring Highclere too and not all for the good, it was certianly a steep learning curve for myself and I have come away from the show having learnt a few valuble lessons. Everyone I spoke to said the layout looked great which was very encouraging but it also showed that its so important to get the track immaculate. On Saturday I was having 'issues' with the running on the layout which was really frustrating, so much so that at the end of the day I could have so easily dumped the layout in a skip! Fortunately I spent most of the day talking to people so I didnt really have much time to dwell on things. Sunday ended up being lots better, the track was given a good clean with a rag soaked with IPA instead of a rub with some fine emery and this totally transformed the running of the layout. There are still a few minor problems with the track but they are simple fixes but I have decided to have a break from the layout now for a coulple of months and concentrate of a few bits of rolling stock I have been itching to make. I dont have many photos from the show but below are a couple... If anyone else has any then please let me know, post them below, or send them to me. Finally a BIG thank you to Gina and Martin for helping me out this weekend and of course Mike and all the other organisers of the show. Missy

Hello Trevor I must echo the comments above. The overall tone of the layout is spot on. Its got a fantastic blandness about it all, lots of lovely grime too. Thank you for posting the pictures. Missy

Hi Rich Thats a neat looking idea and fantastic that is fits in such a small car too. Unfortunately Highclere wont be making such a glamorous entrance this year, I havent really thought out the transportation of it yet plus the fact its grown way too big to fit into my little car! When you think about it there is so much to take into consideration when building an exhibition layout. Its not all playing trains... See you soon (very soon!) Missy

Thank you Nigel and Don Hello Nigel. Yes, I have two (thank you), they are currently fitted to my 08 shunter (which I need to finish as well!) Missy

Hello Rich As the others have said dont push yourself too much to get things done for the Expo. Trust me your wont be the only part finished layout there! Missy

Hello Andy It nice to see you are modelling again. I do like the idea of using that shelf for a base though. You can almost add the layout on a little plinth sat ontop of it. I think Mark F was doing something similar too where the layout sat ontop of some plain black square baseboards. Its certianly got my imagination flowing now for sure. I am certianly appreciating these little layouts right now as Highclere is getting ever bigger! I am looking forward to seeing you at the Expo. Missy

Thank you John and Don for the replies Its nothing new or clever really. The idea has been around for ages but its something that I have needed to do for a while now. I thought it was worthwhile posting it as it might be useful to someone else.

Hello Recently I made a decision on how Highclere was going to turn up at the Expo. The choice was between having the curved end boards done so I could run something through the station or getting the uncoupling magnets done so I could shunt a few things around the layout. I decided the latter would probably be a more sensible thing to do so I made a start on the uncoupling magnets... A while ago I picked up some SEEP electromagnet uncoupling coil thingies to use on Highclere but I have since found out that the steel pin wasnt long enough to go through the foam baseboards I have used. The first idea was to replace the steel pin with a longer nail but after knocking the pin out from the uncoupler I soon found out that it wasnt going to work (the coils kinda un-wound themselves a bit!). There was nothing else but to make my own... Here are the component parts. I used some 6 inch nails which are about 5mm in diameter, some 'repair' washers which I drilled out to a push fit on the nail and also some PCB which I marked out and isolated 2 areas for the connections. Not shown is the wire which is some 0.27mm diameter enamelled copper wire which was cut to 35m lengths. They are 35m because that worked out at just over 12 ohms which is the same resistance as the SEEP ones. The washers and the PCB was then pushed onto the nail leaving about a 10mm gap between the two, I was fortunate that they were a tight fit but I added a bit of glue just in case. I then soldered one end of the wire to one of the isolated bits of PCB and then wound the wire round the nail using a battery drill (with speed control!) Once I got to the end of the wire it was then soldered to the other isolated section of the PCB while being careful to keep the wire under a bit of tension (otherwise it just uncoils as I found out!) I also found that its better to keep the wire even across the gap by guiding the wire back and forward across. And there you pretty much have it! In the picture above (from front to back) you have a finished and trimmed magnet, the original SEEP one, and finally one that hasnt been trimmed. Missy

Hello Kris As Bryn said its nice to see you posting again. Who makes the toplight kit? because it does look really good. Is it one of Chris Higgs mavellous little kits? Thanks Missy

Thanks guys Good P.S. Pete, of course it will be there! I will have to try and get it running well though... Missy

Hi Rich This is VERY useful to me, thank you for posting it. Missy

Hello Guys Hi Chris. Thank you. I have always wanted to add lights to the layout, I think it adds another ambience although I doubt it if it will be of any use at the Expo. The intention long term is to try and block out all the external light and rely purely on the layout lights, that way I can turn them off and operate the layout in the dark if I wish. Hello Mark. The 'puddle' is purely accidential! Its caused by the diluted PVA painted on to hold the scenics down running onto the polyfilla tarmac bits. I dont know if I like it to be honest so it might be comming off sometime. Hi Mark. Thank you for the praise. The fencing is made from small square brass pushed into the landscape for the posts and fine wire wrapped around them. It could be made to be finer but I felt that if it was it would becomme a little too fragile so I compromised a bit. Congratulations on joining the 2mm SA, you will find everyone to be really friendly and helpful. My track is just the plain PCB sleepers with the track soldered directly to it, the easitrack came around just after I finished building all the track so I wasnt going to bin it all and start again! Hello Jon. Thank you. I have been enjoying your thread on signals. The signal will eventually be controlled by a servo but I havent got that far with it yet. Its been sat in a box for ages now and I have only just got round to fitting it to the layout! There is a post somewhere (I think its one the old RMWeb) on how I built it. Hiys Kris. Thank you. I dont know what state its going to be in for the Expo. ATM it looks like just the two scenic boards but not that much actually moving so I guess I will have to try and talk my way through the two days! I could shunt my little pannier tank around the layout but thats not gong to be very exciting. It kinda does feel a bit like a race sometimes with exhibition deadlines to work to. Not ideal but I guess its normal? Hiya Pete. Thank you. I wouldnt worry about bringing them, its not going to be that dark and I am thinking a few people would get upset if I turn off the lights in the room! Hello Tom. Thank you. Its a shame you cant make it but Im sure you will see it sometime. Hiya Mikkel. Thank you, that means alot to me after all its hopefully what I am trying to achieve. I spent quite a bit of time this weekend studying the cutting on my layout trying out different things. If you notice I have stripped one side of the cutting back to bare 'earth' and stuck down new grass as I was not convinced on how it looked. The darker areas are intended to be brambles as I have noticed in real life they have quite dark foliage. There is still quite a bit to do to this, the main thing is shrubs and trees but they will come later... Thank you all again for the positive comments. Its great to know I am heading in the right direction with the whole thing. Missy

Hello Although I am not setting any world records for the speed of my modelling I like to think that slow and steady 'wins the race' (well thats what I keep saying to myself!). I got a few more things done this weekend, mainly some more scenics which I enjoy, I will let the pictures say the rest... Missy

Hello Thank you guys. That has helped loads as I have been in a bit of a panic for a while now trying to get my head around how I was going to get so much done in time for the show. Now I feel alot better about bringing the layout to the show in pretty much the condition it is now. As some of you have said "not to rush things to get them done for the show" Thank you. Missy

Hello Some people have commented in the past that I have made a good job in the way I have presented Highclere. To me this is just as important as the modelling itself so I have been paying special attention to the way the whole layout looks and the way it all fits together. I seem to spend ages making sure all the little things not only work and fit together, but fit together easily. A good example are the braces that hold the pelment, I have made sure that these arent made to fit a particular position but to be all the same so they can be fitted anywhere. I think its little things like this which will hopefully make taking the layout to shows that bit easier. Although its the wrong pelmet for the baseboard (the other one isnt finished yet) it hopefully shows what the finished layout will look like. The text has been laser cut from plywood and left plain wood so it contrasts with the black background. Still loads to do. I honestly dont know what state the layout is going to be in at the Expo in July! Missy