Bryn

I've finally finished painting and weathering a 3D printed Leyland road tanker from Red Andy on eBay. https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/redandy767

Hi Jo, I've now been using oils for two years, it's a steep leaving curve but it really is a flexible technique once mastered. Hope your first attempts go well!

Part 2 now online.

Still holding its own the N Gauge Society kit of the Shark ballast plough makes a great model with combined with the etched chassis from the association shop (2-335) and 3D printed buffers. Rain strips were changed to a more modern configuration using mircostrip.

A great summary of using oil paints for weathering, there are some much longer stream recordings in his playlists. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZDuDKLny94xsS0T3JDD1wui5y3BQorpw&feature=shares

Hi Fran, Another vote for a decent class 37 and mk2s please!

Recently finished mini project, a detailed and weathered 1:152 muck spreader. Scaled down from a 4mm scale 3D print.

Outstanding work Bob, from beginning to end! I've really enjoyed this build and I fully appreciate the effort to write this up as the build progressed. Thank you!

A rewheeled Farish 40 using the Association drop in axles. Weathering was hand painted using oil paints over a matt varnish base.

A key factor, as Chris mentioned, is where your weight is located in relation to the axles. Stephen Harris wrote an article on this which is worth a read. http://www.2mm.org.uk/articles/new_comp_article/index.htm

Bob, This really is going to be an interesting read, I have every confidence you'll make a nice job of this kit by @Michael Edge. The flycranks are a total nightmare to get right on such small locomotives. In the end I had to radius the rear of mine to clear the flanges of the drivers. I attach a zoomed in image for reference. I left mine to float along the axle in the frames and they are centred by the rods once the crank pin washers are installed. Keep up the great work, this build is really up my street 👍

A very enjoyable day at the 2mm Scale Association's gathering for the North East Area Group's 40th celebrations. The Ruston took home the Grove Trophy and a joint win of the Members Choice Cup. For the event I knocked up a quick little display so the tiny locomotive wouldn't get lost on the table! And finally a shot of the Ruston on Mick Simpson's layout Wansbeck Road during the running quality test for the competition.

Great work Simon, they look fantastic!

Not a problem Ian, I hope this gives you the inspiration to dust off your 3mm kit. Thank you for the kind comment.

A small detail to finish off the model. A 25 litre plastic oil drum carved from plastic section.

Hi Ian, Not really, if you put too small of a dab of oil paint it tends to dry out too quick. The weathering takes a few days and is kept within a container in the freezer between sessions. This rapidly slows down the leaching of linseed oil from the paint. I've had pallets last upto a month over various projects.

And here we have what you have all been waiting for. DGs still requiring fitting but I've not decided which end the loop will be installed.

Before the roof was fixed down glazing was installed and edge given a rust effect. Before weathering I like to make some paint card to test weathering techniques on before application to the final model. Oil paint pallet set up. Ready for action!

Testing the rotary beacon function on the Zimo decoder before the roof is glued down.

Thank you Nigel, kind words! Your class 02 has been a big inspiration of mine and inspired me to have a go myself. Luckily Ive been watching my emails and will happily be entering the competition. I'll be taking some high quality images this weekend when I return from a work trip.

Bob, How strange! I've been on a hunt for information on this and have come across an article which might be of use https://www.onelectrontech.com/tantalum-capacitor-failure-modes-and-causes-esr/ It's a heavy read but gives various failure modes; 1. Failure caused by high voltage of low impedance circuit 2. The peak output current is too large 3. Tantalum capacitor ESR is too high or AC ripple is too high 4. The leakage current of the tantalum capacitor is too large, resulting in insufficient withstand voltage 5. Failure caused by production and assembly I tend to agree with your solution, remove them unless the loco suffers without! Bryn

Hi Bob, It might be worth checking your track voltage. Some older DCC systems used to run higher which caused over voltage on the capacitors, I can't remember the exact figures but remember quite a few N scale modellers in the states having capacitors blow up in this way. There was also a habit to save space by wiring the capacitors directly to ESU decoders without the additional components. It works but they need disconnecting when programming. My only suggestion, until someone more knowledgeable appears, is to check the voltage at the capacitors on another locomotive and ensure it's not above 16V under power. HTH Bryn

How much does three 470uF capacitors improve the running of small locomotives? Remembering; - No suspension - No Simpson springs - No rail wipers - Running through my dubious track

Time for a few coats of paint. After degreasing, the model was given a coat of self etching primer from a spray can. The following layers are all Tamiya acrylics which I mixed into the custom colours required. To paint the chevrons I used an Infini cutting matt to produce 1mm wide strips, the use of clear masking film helped with alignment. The I painted the handrails with enamel paint, this was I could clean up any rough edges with thinner on a brush as this won't damage the acrylic layers below.

Using the original roof as a test piece to see if a working orange beacon could be installed.