cypherman

8 hours ago, big jim said:

I don’t know how many kits I’ve bought!

 

the only annoyance is the 45 degree wall only a right hand turn so when I wanted to make the castle wall go to the left I had to customise it so the higher outer ramparts were on the left and the lower wall was to the right

 

This was castle layout incarnation No1, you can see the left hand turn I had to modify to the left of the tower above the tunnel mouth and signal box 

Hi. I know what you mean about that. It is the same with the side walls for the gatehouse. Why could they not put the raised walls where the step are on both sides instead of just one. Would have made them much more useful. It would also be handy if they could make a kit with that were just longer straight walls with no corners or short walls. I hope you will post pictures of your castle when it is finished with all it's scenery.

5 hours ago, BR60103 said:

Is that slip the type where all the blades move at once and you get either both routes straight across or both routes curved?  The Fleischmann DS from the 60s was like that.

Wiring would just need one wire each side. If you can arrange a length of plain track off one road, you can solder the feeds to that and not risk melting the slip. Otherwise, insulated joiners all round and a switch to connect it to either block at one end.

 

Hi, Yes it is. Thanks.

1 hour ago, big jim said:

I modified the arch bit so it’s on an angle in the mainline, bit like Conway, I had to add a small piece to the middle to make it wide enough

 

 

 

This is my main castle bit 

 

while I was building the arch 

 

I dread to think what I’ve spent on it so far! 

Hi Jim,

My god I thought I splashed out a bit on my castle. Yours goes above and beyond mine. I like what you have done with the gatehouse. Similar idea to mine making large towers and a seperate gate. How many wall kits have you used?. I just love the fact that you can reconfigure the castle multiple times till you get what you want. I might get another wall kit and couple of turrets. We shall see.......👍😁

Hi all,

Thanks for the info. What you have suggested is what I did with my old Peco one. But the Peco one broke, with the small lengths of rail falling off. These must be new old stock as

Hampshire Models the company where I bought them from seem to have loads to sell. Plus quite a bit of other Jouef pointwork.

Hi all,

I have just bought 2 of these Jouef 4846 HO/OO Gauge Double Slip . They appear to be fully live. If you put power to any 2 exit lines the whole thing is live. Does any one know how to wire this thing up. The instructions are in French and I gave up French as soon as I took my O level in it 50 years ago🤣

I would also like to know as well is that  Jouef can make a double slip which comes with its point motor for £19.00. Why does Peco charge nearly £50.00 for theirs without the point motor?.

Hi TinTracks.

I have a similar problem. But mine is with a Metcalf castle I have just finished building. My wife has asked what is I suppose a reasonable question. Now you have finished it where the hell is it going. I am not sure about that yet.  But I did have an idea to glue it to a board and hang it from the wall like a picture. I can see that going down like a lead balloon with my wife.......lol

Hi all,

Flying pig. The arch can also be built in to halves. Bit like a flying buttress. You can just about get a single engine under the middle of the arch at ground level. It would be possible to use it in say a cutting where it could be raised up a bit. I find it odd that this was made but they did not make a large tower. There was an arch built into the town walls at Conwy in 1848 that looks a bit like the Metcalf arch. But as I said this was a much later addition to allow the railway in to the town. The two mediaeval looking ends to the railway bridge were built when the bridge was built. The railway really only skirted round the out side of the castle

54 minutes ago, Hroth said:

Is that Schrodingers cat in the box?

 

Sorry.....

 

Nice Castle!

Now you need to name it after a GWR loco...

 

Cardiff......... 😁

Hi all.

I have been building the Metcalf castle over the past few weeks after I managed to get quite a chunk of it ready built and at half the list price. But to buy enough to make a full castle may cost between £110-£130 depending on where you buy it from. So is it worth it. IMHO yes it is. It has been great fun to build. The instructions are fabulous. Clear and well laid out. Following the instructions is quite easy even for a novice as long as you take your time and do not rush building it. A decent glue is required. Plus a very sharp knife and scissors. The only kit I think is a bit un needed is the large arched foot bridge. But that's just my opinion.

So here is what is showing in the pictures I am posting. I will let you work out the total cost yourself. The price I am listing is from Metcalfs website.

1/ PO294 00/H0 Scale Castle Hall £19.50 X1

2/ PO291 00/H0 Scale Castle Gatehouse £20.00 X2

3/ PO292 00/H0 Scale Watch Tower £7.00 X3

4/ PO296 00/H0 Scale Castle Wall Bridge £11.00 X1

5/ PO293 00/H0 Scale Curtain Walls £12.00 X2

Please note that the second gate house was modified into 2 large towers and a free standing inner gate.

One good thing though is that you only need to buy the bits you want. Plus for those modelling Scottish railways the 2 towers from the gatehouse an make 2 lovely tower houses

7 hours ago, TinTracks said:

Just spotted your posting. I maybe be wrong but I'm assuming you're replying to my 'Poor Mans'' Lickey posting?

 No I'm afraid the banker tender it isn't a standard Fowler tender. As @Compound2632 has said it was a one off.

 According to Bill Ibbot in the Nov1967 RM  the tank was built new but the chassis dated ''probably'' (Ibotts words) from 1878. Yep I've plenty of scrapper 4f tenders but the GBL compound is in the worst condition so first in line for butchery. Project is in early thinking stages so progress will be slow. I'll maybe start my own thread on my misdeads.

 Cheers, Rich

Hi TinTracks,

Wouldn't the tender from the Hornby Duke of Sutherland work. Not sure if you are going to put the motor in the loco or the tender. But either way that one could work. If the motor is in the loco then you just remove it from the tender.

Hi all,

I have at least one of every Lima diesel in my collection. The chassis are all fine and all plastic. I have found that Hafix industrial superglue sticks Lima plastic together.

Hi all,

Would the boiler from the early 80's Hornby un rebuilt Patriot be any use. I had heard of it in the past been used to make  a model of Big Bertha.

Hi all,

Early on in this thread I mentioned that I thought Metcalf had dropped the ball a bit by not making a Large tower. I said i would make my own out of a modified gatehouse kit. Well here they are.

That's quite a discount. Pity I prefer my diesels in 2 tone BR green.

Hi SR71,

Can you show how you have attached the chassis to the body. I have a couple of spare N2 bodies hanging around waiting for something to happen to them.

Hi all,

I must admit that as Andyman has said the plastic slide bars are another area where they could self destruct quite easily.

Hi Captain,

Contrary to popular belief. I have at least 20 Mainline engines all still running with their original motors. Only Mainline engines I really had a problem with were the 4mt 4-6-0s. And that was with the axels failing and the quartering going out the window. Replaced their chassis with newer Bachman ones. Which ended up with their own problems of wheel warpage. So I fixed that problem. But that's another story.....😄

Well this is the Manor I bought.

Hi JJB,

Yes Bachmann did improve things quite a bit. But they did it by using as a starting point quite a few Mainline engines.

Hi all,

I went in to my local model shop last week to buy a track rubber and some other things. They had just had a delivery of a dozen or so engines that were being tested to make sure they were working. One of them was a Mainline Manor. Hinton Manor. The model shop I use buys up old stock and collection for resale. I am not sure if this engine had come from some ones collection or had been sat in some shops shelves. But it is immaculate. The wheels have no marks on them to show it had been run. The extras pack was still unopened. All the original paperwork was still their and looked as if it had never been opened. The box is in perfect condition. To put it in a nutshell it looks like it had just left the factory. Plus when tested it ran perfectly. Well here it is

Hi all,

Went out this morning to buy a track cleaning rubber and the gatehouse kit. Came back with a track rubber, Peco small Y point ,Corgi Swordfish biplane and a Brand new, never been out of the box before today Mainline GWR Manor. I think it has come from a guys collection where it appears he bought locos and kept them in their boxes just to look at. Or it may well have been old stock found on a shelf. Either way it had never been run. It was tested at the shop to make sure it ran. Which it did flawlessly. Some how forgot the gatehouse........ DOH

Hi all,

After watching a video of the gatehouse being built I have decided to buy another gatehouse and split it in to 2 large towers and do away with the gate part. Castles always had at least one large tower. Should be a fun build...........😁

Hi Damo,

I hate to say this. But I think you are really over thinking the issue. It is your railway. Run what you like.

Hi,

As said above. Make sure the paper is acid free wrapping paper such as this. 

KAPCO 100 White Tissue Paper MG Acid Free Sheets (20 x 30 inches) for Arts & Craft, Decoupage, Packing, Moving, Removal, Packaging Material for Clothes, Shoes & Storing Fragile Items (500mm x 750mm) from Amazon

Hi all,

Well it is finished. The castle is ready. In total the whole thing has cost about £60.00 including the extras I bought and built. Much less than it should have and well worth it in my opinion. About half the cost it should have been depending on where you bought it from. It is all standing loose at the moment. But when it goes in to it's final place I will glue the walls together. I did consider a fourth tower but decided that it would be overkill. The tower on the top right I modified so that it could be used as a corner tower. Moved the upper doors as suggested by Metcalf. But completely removed the lower door by making it look like a bricked up one using some leftover card wall from the wall kit. It has been great fun putting this together. Especially as I never thought I could have afforded to buy everything here...... :).