ianLMS

Archers rivets added. One thing i have noticed is that Halfords etching paint isnt adhering as well as it did on previos models i have painted. The only thing i have done differently over the past 3 kits is the cleaning. I have been using an ultrasonuc cleaning solution for removing flux and i changed to Ciff kitchen spray from Astonish. The next one will be cleaned differently to see if it makes a difference. I am also part through the Belpaire version kit which has extra coal rails and will be fitted with vac hoses for passanger train working.

Fortunately i put an order in direct to Archers when i heard they were no longer going to trade and are now slowly going through back orders. Sales ended 25 Nov. Real shame as i like their stuff. Last sitrep they sent me: ................................................................... ARCHER November 25, 2022 SALES HAVE ENDED BUT.... .... CUSTOMER SERVICE HAS NOT! I WILL BE IN THIS OFFICE EVERY DAY. When you buy something from Archer you are not buying Archer, you're buying me. If you're not happy, I'm not happy and I'll do whatever it takes to make things right. If you need to contact me, I can always be reached at info@archertransfers.com If you do contact me regarding the status of your order please include the name under which the order was placed, because it makes it extremely easy for me to respond in a timely manner. Also include your phone number just in case I can't reach you via email. CURRENT SITUATION REGARDING SHIPPING ORDERS As of today we have 530 orders in the queue. As far as I can tell we still have one from Oct. 12, three from Oct 21, one from Oct 22, three from Oct 23 and five or so between the 23rd and 25th. So we're still running about 4 weeks behind. GOOD NEWS part 2: The new packaging is complete, at the printer and should be in full use by the end of next week. So far we have everything for the Surface Details and AFT Decals in house and being used. So what's the big deal? Prior to the new packaging I had three people (including Chrissy, myself and one nincompoop) bagging and we were able to ship about 150 orders a week. With the new packaging Chrissy is the only person bagging and we're still bagging enough inventory to meet our goal of shipping 150 orders a week. --BOILER PLATE INFORMATION-- IMPORTANT! Please check your tracking information! We send tracking information every time we ship a parcel. Please do yourself a huge favor and check it every day. One of the most frustrating things for us here is to get an inquiry asking where an order is only to find out that the tracking indicates that it was delivered weeks ago. PRO TIP: If tracking indicates that your parcel was delivered but you did not receive it you should immediately contact your local post office with the tracking number. The US Postal Service mail carriers scan every parcel with a scanner equipped with GPS which indicates the exact GPS location where the parcel was delivered and they will redirect it to the proper address...... in a perfect world anyway. Did you get my order? If you got a receipt from PayPal with an transaction ID/number, yes we have received your order. So, why don't we just let you know personally right away? Well, perhaps if we didn't have a website designed by an amateur (me) back in the stone ages we would, but our masters at PayPal have deemed it impossible to have this feature. Of course, you can always inquire and I'll do my best to let you know the status of your order. Thank you for your patience during this difficult time and remember that regardless of when you placed your order, it will be shipped and with any luck at all the postal system may deem it appropriate to deliver it! Woody Vondracek, owner Archer Fine Transfers From the cool kids at ARCHER FINE TRANSFERS [archertransfers.com] Archer Fine Transfers | 304 NW Railroad Street, Youngsville, NC Sent by orders@archertransfers.com

Great to meet you yesterday at Warley Mike and thank you so much for giving me some advice on soldering and kit building. Really appreciated the time you spent. You are a true master of yiur craft. Good luck with today!!!

If you do a lot, especially on a bench, i would recommend one of these..... YORKING 858D Soldering Station 220V Hot Air Rework Station Digital Display Desoldering Station Adjustable Hot Air Gun Rework Tool Kit with 3 Nozzles https://amzn.eu/d/fOYyqhb Also useful for low melt soldering, desoldering kits etc. I have one which is part of a complete soldering station. Very useful!! For working under the baseboard, i just use the tip of my soldering iron.

I have a GW Models wheel puller to remove wheels off axles, but it kept pulling the rims off. I got one of these off Amazon instead and it works a treat as there is a plate which slips behind the wheel supporting the centre and the jaws are wide enough to miss the chassis frames. partCore Flywheel Puller Gear Puller https://amzn.eu/d/ivQKrQ4 There are different options mainly designed for radio control car use but this one definately works. I wouldn't have the skill to make a puller myself so hats off to MrWolf!!!

Just finished priming 1 of the 2 '1377' kits you sent me. Rivets will be added next using Archers resin rivets as the brass strip i knew i wouldnt be able to fixed as neatly as i would want them to be. Not as neat and tidy as your example but its coming along. 2nd kit will be the Belpaire version. Buffers came from Lanarkshire models. The only issue i had was working out how the lamp irons folded up lol so ended up using brass rod. The main mistake was adding the rear cab panel and coal bunker before i added in the top trim which resulted in a sloping cab roof. Note for the next build!!!! Great kit though and thank you!!!!

Package recieved. Excellent quality and service as usual. Thank you Ian. Now i need to hunt down a donor body or kit. Probably get a Comet one.

Would any of these figure parts from AC Stadden work with a bit of re-shaping? https://www.acstadden.co.uk/product-page/oo13-1950s-enginemen Ian

To expand a little on how i did it...... First, choose the right motor. This is a 12v dc dual shaft D model, 16000 rpm from ebay. About £7.80 plus postage i think. Leave motor on gearbox. Undo only one of the side screw on the gear box (1st pic above). Using a large drill bit, gently ream out enough of the rivet tops so u can ease the side off. Take it slowly as the other shafts are pushed into the side holes and you dont want to displace these. Remove main drive shaft and gear. Leave all other gears and shafts in place. Tap out the drive shaft gently, supporting just the gear. I used a hollow socket and tapped the shaft out with a pin hammer. The middle of the shaft is ribbed so the gear slots in and doesn't rotate, but the shaft will come out without issue. Ream out the gear slightly to remove the tip of the ribs so its a tight fit on your chosen axle. 1/8" in my case. Slide on gear onto new axle. Slide on brass bearing with thin end facing the gear. Add other bearing on the other side of the gear and make sure the drive gear lines up with the other gears and it fits with only the slightest side play before soldering the bearings to the gear and shaft. You may need to ream out the axle hole in side of gearbox to take new axle. A little at a time and test for a nice loose, but not sloppy fit. Relocate axle and gear into gearbox making sure everything lines up. Add side back on, lining up the other shafts in the holes. Tap side over rivets and fit back the screw. If you removed too much rivet, a little solder or superglue with fix it. Test and make sure all works. Either build chassis around gearbox, or use hornblocks. Hope this explains it. Ian

I have just succesfully replaced the axle on one of these lovely N20's with a Markits Alan Gibson 1/8" axle. In the end, i reamed out the hole to take the new axle and added bearings as spacers, the soldered these to the axle and gear. So far so good. I managed to retain the rivets holding the geabox together. Will test it in one of my next loco builds using hornblocks so its removable. Pics later. If i can do it......... Ian

If you have any left, i will take one off your hands Ian. I am just building one of the 2 x Midland 1F's you sold me a while ago. Very nice kit, just a shame my skills wont do it justice!! Correction. Tad embarressing!! The 1F's were from Dave Basford.... apologies to Ian and Dave!!! I have built two of Ian's excellent Palethorpes sausage van kits though!! Ian

I believe the Crimson livery was very short lived as it was built at the start of the war and was soon re-painted in wartime black. I much prefer the Crimson!!

Broken up dried up polyfilla from an old tub might do the trick as well

French chalk and holder turned up from amazon and tried it out. Works a treat!!!! Cheers for the tip Ian

£2.99 on Amazon for 10 sticks with a holder. Will be here next week!

Took me 2 mins with a blunt Swan & Morton blade to run it through the file grooves and pick out the wm. I like the idea of chalk though. Will try that next time.

True but crime in deepest Norfolk isnt too much of an issue plus for another £1k i can own and feed a pair of Dobermans!!

Money.....and permission lol.Trying to convince my wife i need one of those Crane workshops at least 20' x 12' in the back garden so she can have spare room back and doesnt have to put up with the smell of glues, flux, white spirits and enamals anymore lol!!! £12k plus is the quote but still cheaper than moving house lol!!!

Good morning all, In between making the 3 Falcon wagons, i made a start on a kit i got off ebay which comprised mostly of parts from 247 Developments. The etched underframe and all castings (incl bogeys) came from 247, however, i couldnt find any history of them selling a complete kit. The sides, underframe and floor were brass and roof aluminium, similar to Comet kits. Ends, bogeys and detail were white metal. Possibly a hybrid. It didnt come with instructions, however, the 247 underframe did which helped with placement of the detail parts and truss. I had one picture in my coach reference book of a D2100 coach. Built in 1944, Its a little late for my period (1939), but like City of Lancaster, its acceptable in my book. They were built to the same layout as the 50' brakes, but i had to guess on placement of roof vents and roof strips as the only drawings i had were that of the 50' one. After a bit of head scratching around the solebars etch, i managed to fettle and end up with a decent representation. There is a gap between the ends and roof as the profiles dont match. I will put a backing plate in and fill the gap using filler The gangways are from MJT.

This is the link to the Palthorpes thread. I think the GWR also had similar vans. Again, i dont know the chassis length of the van you are building but it might be adaptable. Ian

There are posts on this forum referencing 6 wheel chassis kits for the Palethorpes van and the Stove R coaches. Macgeordie has designed and has etches made for a 6 wheel chassis which allow the centre axle to move and is linked to the other axles. Similar to the Brassmasters version but maybe easier to build and fit to the kit. Not sure of the vehicle u need to put it on but you may want to contact him to see if it will work for you or if he has a spare etch. Failing that, i devised one for a 6 wheel fish van using Comet w-irons. Works ok ish but not as reliable as his version. Ian

A trio of Falcon Brassworks wagons ready for priming. A 20T brake van, single plank and a 3 plank. More detail here;

My trio of Falcon Brassworks wagon kits. 1. LMS 20T Brake Van d1659. Kit was easy to put together despite lack of instructions. Overall i'm happy with it except for the buffers which are a little over scale (all i had in stock). 2. LMS 12T open single plank wagon d1986. This came in a pack label "etch only". Upon opening it i realised it didnt have an underframe, but did include etches for a 3 plank wagon body. Scratchbuilt solebars and brakes and a pair of MJT w-irons. Kit did come with springs and axle boxes though. Buffers and hooks from Lanarkshire models. 3. This was the bonus kit. A bit of research and i decided that it was a 12T medium goods wagon steel underframe d1927. Again, scratchbuilt underframe and brakes using Masokits sprung w-irons and some springs/axle boxes from Comet which i had as spares. Bit of a heinz 57 but it works. Again buffers and hooks from Lanarkshire. Both kits came with nice detailing parts such as the re-inforcing straps, brackets etc. Off to the paint shop for etch priming now (shed) Ian

Just found this pic that shows the linkage over the axle. Shame it doesnt show the rest but like you said, you cant see it so i wont replicate it. At least i know the rough idea. Link to webpage: http://valeofberkeleyrailway.co.uk/projects/wagon-projects/lms-brakevan-732195/