-missy-

I think if I tried to solder something as detailed and to scale like that my fingers would be more flamable than the tanks contents

Hello Paul. Its not anywhere as bad as you think. I didnt burn my fingers once building it, the secret is jigs and supports, holding bits in place while soldering. The kit design helps too, helping you align things while you solder them.

I still havent figured out a good, reliable, and repeatable way for soldering all the bits to the tank yet though. Right now its the hardest part of the kit and soldering bits to a large lump of Brass whilst keeping everything aligned was tough. I really need to come up with a much simpler way of doing all this if I ever build lots more of them.

Any ideas anyone?

M

Thank you guys

Hi Julia.

 

I'll have one of those off you if you are producing more?! There is one in the yard at Ropley between the containers which is used for fuel storage I believe. I was thinking i'd have to scratch build, but perhaps not now

 

Tom.

Hello Tom. I had a feeling you would pop up at some point! Well, you have an option, I have a second 'test' etch or you can wait until I get some more done with some minor revisions.

Absolutely brilliant, Julia. And your speed of producing quality work rivals that of the legendary Mr. Harris. :-)

 

David

Thanks David, although I will never be as good at producing things as Stephen, that guy is a 2mm modelling genius! It has been 2 weeks from start to finish making this wagon though which isnt too shabby.

Brilliant stuff as usual Julia. What mods have you made to the Peckett for the MkII?

Jerry

Hi Jerry. The Peckett has the revisions I talked to you about at York, namely a revised cylinder block thingy. I have a etch here which I can pass onto you next time we meet, unless you would like it sooner and I can post it?

M

Hello Cap'n Biggles.

Thats a very interesting project. I have a few thoughts on it too!

1. Regarding space, I have always believed in the phrase 'less is more'. Its something that I have stuck to on my layout Highclere and I think especially in 2mm it uses one of the scales strengths. Dont try to cram things in if you think you have too much space, aim for a railway in a landscape.

2. Now I have to ask this...Have you ever though about 2mm Finescale? As you are an engineer then Im sure you have the skills to tackle something like that in 2mm Finescale, especially as you are starting from scratch. It looks so much nicer than using PECO or similar and I am sure it will appeal to your engineering background, after all I am an engineer and I havent regretted using 2mmSA standards at all.

3. I really like the Well Tank engines and would love to build one sometime in the future, I know they wont be as good as John Greenwoods fantastic models but if I can get somewhere close then I will be very happy. No doubt some etching will be involved so who knows!

Missy

Thanks Tom.

Adding the trees makes a huge difference!

 

Tom. 

Yeah, you dont want to make some do you? I need loads more!

M

The crane is a GWR 6 ton crane. I used the works drawings produced in issue 0 of the Great Western Journal.

As for counterbalance weights, I am guessing its all in the base as the pivot point for the crane is towards the jib end of the base.

M

Thank you Castle.

Yes, buffers, well remembered!

Me again!

Still love that crane! Have you reached a sticking point with the layout or is it stock building issues? I seem to remember point rodding and wheels.

Hello Skipepsi, The sticking point on the layout has been the point rodding and its meant the layout has been untouched for about a year. I have restarted it though so fingers crossed I dont get to disheartened by it again.

Didn't you bring this to the Oxford Expo a couple of years back? Either way, looks amazing!
Graham

Hi Graham. Yes I did, its been to both the Oxford 2mm Expos. The last one it was just the scenic boards and I had problems with the quality of the track. It forced me to rework most of the trackwork and so far its shown the extra effort was worth it.

I think everyone has covered most of it. For me Highclere was a big inspiration to return to 2mm. I rather think you enjoy doing bits and pieces and are a bit of a grasshopper. A very clever one but finishing a layout requires a bit of dedication and that requires the desire to get it completed. I hope you find that desire.

Don

Hello Don. I do find it hard to focus on things and my imagination does get the better of me lots of the time. I think thats one of the advantages of the hobby though, being able to focus on so many areas and skills. I didnt realise I was a grasshopper though!

M.

Thank you once again guys. Your encouragement is helping loads.

Please forgive me if you've already covered this, but what technique have you used for your grass?

 

It looks fantastically convincing in the photos, I'm sure it's swaying in the wind!

Hello Argos.

The grass is that static stuff, the majority of it is the basic stuff from Woodland Scenics which is applied using a home made fly swat static device. Once stuck I give it a dry brush of straw colours to get rid of the uniformity and 'sheen' you normally get with the fibres.

Where's Elvis?   Be nice to have a picture of him on the layout.

 

Seriously though Missy-great stuff, brilliant photography and the layout oozes atmosphere.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

Thanks Mark.

Elvis is actually on the layout right now and Im sure he will 'pop' up at some point.

I could remind you all about the point rodding - but I won't be so opportunist

Ahh yes, point rodding! This is the reason why the layout has remained untouched for so long. Inspired by the photos and comments I have made a start on the bits for the sidings today and so far so good. Thanks once again to your advice on this SM.

M

Sometimes the old methods are the best Richard. Tried and tested!

Saying that, with your experience on Copenhagen Fields I do not doubt that this is going to look really good.

Missy

P.S. I like those Curiously Cinnamon things too

A very BIG thank you for the comments folks, that is certianly motivation indeed!

Very, VERY much appreciated...

M

Hello Serious7.

Yes, the yard crane was drawn by myself which I got etched. My layout Highclere had this particular type of crane in the goods yard so as nothing already existed it was the only real option. Yes, a repeat order can be easily done but I am currently looking for someone who might be interested in retailing them as its not really something I want to spend time doing.

Welcome to the forum though.

Thanks again for the comments

Remind me - Why Elvis?

The King, I presume - not that  Costello Fello!

Not quite, the nickname came from a comment Pugsley made on this Blog entry...

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/220/entry-4233-flying-banana-part-iii/

It was something to do with the way I made the roof...

Great to see you back Julia. Quite brilliant and inspiring stuff as usual.

 

Jerry

Thanks Jerry  I never really left, its just that it felt like I didnt have anything really worth making a post about.

M

Hello Mikkel.

Hi Missy, the crane really is amazing. Is the gear from the watchmakers parts that you got on ebay?

No, I added them to the etch (as I was getting all the other bits done anyway), although when the watch bits came through the post I did think they would have been a good alternative way of doing the gears.

M

Thank you again

Hi All,

Missy showed me Railcar No. 12 at Ally Pally yesterday and all myself and my friend could say was WOW! It is all very well doing railcars in 4mm but to do this in 2mm to this level really is an achievement.

Castle

Thank you Castle for the comment. I know the photos are a bit rubbish so a comment like that really does help make up for my inability in taking decent photos.

P.S. City of Truro and the flying Peckett (why do I hear close harmony singing as I write that?) was coming on nicely too!

The Flying Peckett, I like it! My engines do seem to attract nicknames dont they The Peckett chassis sadly is in the need of a rebuild so I am going to take the opportunity to tweak the etches a little to get rid of some of the niggly faults which made the initial build that much harder.

It was nice to chat to you again on Saturday too. Dont forget about the coach buffers!

The crane is superb! It almost looks as if it works as well.

Thanks Robbo. No it doesnt work though

Mmmmm.  That rail car is just perfect - sometimes, and when it's done right, 2mm looks better than 4mm!!

Thats a brilliant comment but its far from perfect, trust me. I still struggle a bit when it comes to the quality of a finished model. I can see lots of bits I would love to do better on Elvis but I dont think I have the ability yet to achieve them.

M

Thanks

Can you remind me what you've done for motorising?

Its a very much chopped around Tomix chassis. I ended up making a new chassis frame so I could lower the motor (the original sits quite high and would have been noticeable in the seated bit), re-gearing it as I needed to make new bogie side-frames because I wasn't using the pin point bearings anymore, and finally re-wheeled it to 2mmSA standards (using 6mm wagon wheels of all things!)

M.

That roof beacon so needs to flash Paul!

Looks really good, I hope its going to be nice and dirty?

Missy

Hello

Missy
This look good- your view that the picture is cruel owing to the enlargement is valid. I'll try and put a 'cruel' enlargment of recent Maxtoke coaches up later as a comparison.
 
My own preference for applying lining is through a tubular pen, using acrylic inks. Nothing whatever wrong with a bow pen, I just don't get on with them, using paint. My background as a draughtsman, who remembers bow pens and razor blades may have something to do with that. But even the tubular pens take practice, each time as I don't use them that often. I too agree that gloss surfaces are best (equally for 'wet' lining or transfers).
 
There is always a case for the use of home made transfers. This is illustrated well by Tim's Baldwin on CF. These do produce really crisp lines for boiler bands etc- in scale terms the transfer thickness is probably quite accurate.
 
I use a Badger grit gun- and this, too, clogs sometimes. usually it is a foriegn object - peice of hair, a 'dust flea', or the like, in the pick-up tube. Even a very small amount of moisture can cause a degree of 'clumping' which can get things glued up.

 

Richard
 
 

Hi Richard. You are right, the picture is a bit of a cruel enlargement, when I first saw the photo on my PC screen I was shocked so much I nearly didnt post it!  It does look much better to the naked eye, well for a first attempt it does!

I did contemplate making some transfers for it (or more possibly doing the artwork and getting someone to print them for me) but after seeing Atsos fantastic results he had with a bow pen and the subsequent quick tutorial by him I decided this was the best method for reproducing the lining on CoT. I personally think transfers for this might be a little too fiddly to do. The plan is to do some transfers for another little project of mine shortly though.

GOOD NEWS on the grit blaster though, I finally got the thing to work!! As suggested above I turned up the pressure to around 60-60 PSI and it burst into life, I even did Atsos other little mod and opened up the holes to get more flow. I have now stripped all the paint off of MkII Cot ready for repainting and even made a start taking the paint off my little Mamod project. The only thing is now I have a container full of 'used' grit, Nick mentioned about sieving the grit, my question is with what?

Hi Missy,

 

I'd be over the moon if I could achieve that level of accuracy in 4mm!!  The detail on that bogie is marvelous and your work in general is sublime.

Thank you PMR, thats really nice of you to say. Its still a big experiment to me right now!

M

Thanks once again for all the replies, there is some very useful and helpful information there.

Missy,

 

It looks are though the pen isn't quite the right shape yet. I found that this took a bit of experimentation regarding getting the profile right. Also, I find gently rubbing some medium/fine wet and dry against the inside of the nib (800 grit is the lowest I'll use) helps remove any burrs that will interfere with the paint flow. Practice on some scrap bits first, unpainted plastic card (but make sure it's clean!) is good if you not keen on having to continually paint up bits of brass for experimentation!

Thanks Atso, I will take another look at the pen today and see if I can get the tip right. I had a go at it yesterday but I dont think I was that successful. The plasticard idea is good to, thanks.

Regarding the paint. Did you thicken it before using it for the lining? Coachman's thread on this is really beneficial as I would have never have thought of this on my own. A condensed version of what he recommends (from memory) is: 1.) Leave the paint for a few days to settle. 2.) Pour out all the oil that has risen to the top. 3.) Stir and add back in about 1/4 of the oil. 4.) Stir again, ensuring the paint isn't lumpy at all.

No I didnt, its a fresh tin which I did nothing but shake it before giving it a go.

I would leave the base coat to dry out fully before lining. Also I usually put a coat of gloss on before lining as this seems to help the paint flow. The tender chassis we used was still in it's base plastic so already reasonably glossy.

Would a coating of that Kleer work? The reason I ask is its a bit easier to apply than traditional varnish. The finish on CoT was semi gloss.

The air eraser needs around 50-60 psi to work effectively. I've opened out the feed holes in the cut to around 0.7mm as this helps a lot. However this does have the side effect that the nozzle clogs up from time to time but it is a simple matter to remove it and clean. It is still a bit under powered but will get the job done, also I've been using baking powder in mine - about 60-70% as effective as the aluminum oxide but an awful lot cheaper!

Do you mean the 3 holes at the bottom of the cup? I havent figured out how the thing works yet so its a bit harder to find whats wrong with it. I was assuming air comes out of those 3 holes and agitates the grit forcing it down the central tube controlled by the needle valve at the top? From what you said there it sounds like the grit goes down, through those 3 holes? Strange as there is definately air comming out of them. I think a session with Mr Google is called for! I have plenty of grit but the baking powder is a good tip, thank you.

Hi Missy,

On a more supportive rather than technical note as supplied by the fine people above, I too have had a pig of a day! One of those occasions where I set aside me and my model time and almost nothing went right. The most successful thing about today was the high quality of my soldering burns to my fingers in fact...

I am sure it happens to us all at or point or another but there must have been an anti modelling miasma in the air today!

Really little CoT looks the absolute business by the way.

All the best,

Castle

Yes, I know exactly what you mean! I started off this year with all the enthusiasm of a coiled spring to get some good modelling done but so far it hasnt happened! Determination is the secret me thinks..

Thanks for the kind words about CoT too, its good to hear that from someone who has surrounded themselves with the prototypes. As I mentioned in the post that is MkII which isnt quite right (hence using it for painting trials) so MkIII is in the pipeline.

As Don and Steve said gloss surfaces should line better. This because they have lower roughness than a matt surface. I believe the paint needs to be a bit thicker than milk and more like pouring cream.

Thank you Rich, I will give it another go taking into consideration this, and other advice.

M

Is this the BD-178 thing that Eileen's have been selling recently? I have one of those and for cleaning brass quickly I've been using about 45-50psi, though it should work around 25-30psi for removing transfers, etc. I did make the mistake once of sweeping up the used grit from the bottom of the large plastic box that I use it in and putting that straight back in the cup without sieving it. There were some tiny wood shavings in there and they blocked the nozzle so it needed stripping and blowing out. Also check the moisture trap, it's been very humid of late...

 

Nick

Well its the same one but from a different supplier. The moisture trap is fine so I dont think thats the problem. I get airflow through it without any grit, its just when I add some grit it stops working, empty the grit out and once again its fine. Im reluctant to take it apart yet as Im worried it might mean I cant send it back if it comes to that unless I know exactly how to fix it.

Thanks for the advice though Nick.

Andy, thanks for the link, thats very useful. I remember there was a thread somewhere but hadnt searched for it. From reading that thread it comes across as very complicated and a bit scary!

M.

Thanks for the replies you two.

Nigel, yes, it would make sense and I should have painted some more bits earlier. Thanks for the tip though, next time I will do that.

Andy, its a Revell Omega compressor, the fridge compressor type. It has always been fine with the airbrush, do air erasers use significantly more air or something then? I will be more patient next time too and leave the base paint overnight before trying the lining, the paint did feel a little soft when trying the lining today.

Thank you Richard.

I think you are right, 3D printing is nearly there but not quite. Give it a year or two and Im sure it will be a very desirable technology for us modellers.

Thanks for the vote of confidence too...

Thanks John.

Yes, the coulours of CoT do look good and I am looking forward to painting it although not the lining. You are more than welcome to a kit once I have got the design right, as you saw at St Albans the MkII version still had a few design issues which I have now corrected (hopefully) so MkIII should be much better. The previous versions wont go to waste though, the plan is to use them to practice painting and lining on.

I have a drawing for a No.4 boiler so when I get time I will rework the 3D image I have to suit. I am going to strip it of boiler band and such (as discussed) before printing.

I would love to see your 2D stuff for a bulldog sometime. I have a part built drawing for one and once CoT is done I can use the same techniques to create a bulldog (or thats the plan).

As the others have said, those little bits have made a huge difference to the looks of the wagon. They dont look like a toy anymore for sure.

Good work there Pete.

I will tell you when I get back to getting rid of the footplate wobble. It is simple really. I made the mistake of trying to make it in as few pieces as possible but 5 parts makes fabrication much easier.

 

 

Oh yes. And the various other 4-4-0 classes. In isolation they all look quite same-y in photographs if you overlook sizes and details, which is very easily done. I read again recently (probably on here somewhere) that the frames are different on the two sides of C of T. One side has what is commonly referred to as type 3 frame strengthening and the other type 5. Something to note for version 3 of the model perhaps?

 

Incidentally I am (and continue to do so) slowly drawing what is definitively a bulldog. These also suffered from problems with the frames requiring various strengthening improvements over the years that make photographs essential for an accurate model of a particular series at a particular time of life.

Thats where you and me differ I fear. It is impossible to get a model 100% accurate, you can spend all your time procrastinating over all the details or you can try and make something that is the best representation of that model you can. I know what category I fall into, do you?

Hello Ian.

Thank you, yes I am still planning on using a 3D printed boiler. I am currently on 3D Type 4 boiler MkIV but its still not right so I havent ordered one yet. The current plan is to print the wheel centers too (depending on the result of the Peckett experiment)

There does seem to be a bit of interest with the crane though so I will put all the bits together and look into selling it somehow. It will not be a complete kit but more like a Worsley Works scratch aid type of thing. It would be a shame to keep something like that to myself wouldnt it!