Spitfire2865

Wow. 2 updates in one day! And I have photos for you all. I had a dentist appointment today so I was a few towns over, and I was close to a model shop which has stock of almost anything you could imagine to do with US railroads and modelmaking. If its over 20 years old, he probably has it. Well, I stopped by and saw a small handheld controller with a phone cord jack on the bottom. It got me thinking about a fun little controller. So I talked to him and I found an old cab control unit. It worked and I was quite happy to walk out with it, even if I left with less money than I hoped to. It has a momentum option which works very well, as well as 5 throttle options. Run, coast, service, quick service, and emergency. Essentially go, go, slow down, Slow Down!, and STOP!! I just had a nice half hour playing with it and a length of track on my floor. I did NOT know a Hornby Pug could go that slow. So yeah. Also I brought my Hornby Hogwarts Express home and had a go running that with the new gear. Works well, and any problems were caused by bad track. And then, at my grandmothers house, I found an old DC transformer which works perfectly for the controller. The company was located within an hour drive from my house. Oh when things werent made in China... So yeah. Today was a rather productive day off. I did more on my kit, I bought a new controller, found the perfect transformer, got perfect marks from the dentist, and had a great dinner. I love meat pies. Oh yeah. Heres my other Hornby loco I originally got the Philosophers Stone train set when it came out. My dad brought it home from a business trip to London years ago. The loco served me well, but finally died about 6 years ago. It sat in a box for about 4, and then I contacted Hornby about it, sent them it, had them ruin it somehow, got it back, complained about un-satisfaction, and got a newer replacement. I just hate the stupid light on the smokebox...what were they thinking? Well, I wanted to try it out with the new purchase and it runs beautifully. I love slow speed running. Wow..lot of talking. Goodnight!

Yeah. Im.building packing in many shaped layers to fit around all underframe bits

Yes? One is rocking, one is solid. Since I posted this. Ive added horsehooks, inside V hangers, and Ive started packing the floor to bring it up to correct height. Im just nervous about not getting the right height.

Ok. So quick update on my day off. I started today with finally soldering the bearings in place. They went in fairly easily. A little issue with half desoldering a bridle bar on one W irons but that went back on with a quick touch. Once the bearings were all in, I grabbed the axleboxes and with a few turns of a drill bit, opened up the holes enough to fir over the bearings and superglued them on. Heres a loose fit of all parts so far The body was superglued together and the plasticcard floor was cut and fitted with even more glue. A little frosting around the edges occurred but hopefully paint and a heavily weathered interior will hide any imperfections.

What do you need? I can do opens in bass wood. Or vans possibly. Check out my workbench if you want. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/83255-spitfires-workbench/

Knew all that. Bearing holes all opened up for bearings. The axlebox should be flush? So should I solder the bearing to the w iron? Then just glue the axlebox on?exactly how much packing needs to be added? And how the hell can I fit sprung 3 links? The headstocks have been opened up for smiths 3 links yet I discovered the w irons get in the way.

I did the same to mine and its amazing it actually works.

Take it apart, fiddle with the bits, put it back together, pray. Really It may just be a faulty unit. Thats unfortunate. Good luck though.

If I have anything to say so far, its watch out for the body castings. They arent perfectly square and Im not sure what to do about that. And the brake gear is far too ignored. Very little on the actual assembly of it.

My next kit arrived! A Midland railway long low-sided goods van by 51L. I bought this kit not exactly knowing how I would put it together, and when it arrived today, I was excited yet intimidated. I knew the W irons and brake gear were brass but I didnt really think. So seeing the kit, I rode my bike to the local Radio Shack to buy a soldering iron, solder, and flux, because I was not prepared at all. I ended up buying a nice variable watt iron and I soldered the W irons together. Im rather proud of my first attempt. Ive learned that I have no damn clue what Im doing and my success tonight was due only to dumb luck. I also folded up the brake lever guide because I could. Oh, heres a bad picture of the new iron. Im now exhausted. More work tomorrow.

Very nice. Whats that hole on the end?

Whys the LMS liveried one have the only full cab? Or the BRs have the half cabs? Reliverying is in place for anyone who wants the opposite.

Thank you. The kit was made by Testors, an enamel paint company here in the US(doubt you have them over there). I love their paints aand I saw they had a kit of one of my favourite planes for cheap so I bought it not knowing how sparse it was. It certainly is a challenge.

I just realized the v hangers are recessed. Thats odd.

While I wait for the kits to come in the mail, I got my plane out again for some more work. Nothings changed with the outside. The interior is all plasticcard except for the headrest which comes from the mounting block for tension locks from a slaters kit. The rear bulkhead is in place, and the center block is where all the electronic bits went. Im not going to model the front bulkhead as you cant even see it with the pilot there. The pilots seat in primer. The original kit gives two benches to pass as seats. They were supposed to mount to the inside walls but since thats a little hard to get to with the cockpit insert in place, Im going to mount them to the floor with blocks to raise it to the correct height. That way, the entire cockpit is one piece. The rear guns were horribly wrong in the kit. So I ignored the instructions and followed photos. Gluing the guns together, adding a bit of bulk to it with a bit of plastic, and a small shield which still needs to be cut down. Next I need to figure out how to build the gunners harness. Maybe even find some replacement 1:72nd figures...not a big fan of the kits included ones.

Wow. Hornby has gotten a lot better. That underframe detail is amazing for a RTR. Hell, better than most kits offer. The plank painting really makes it pop.

Theyre nice. Id just hate painting each plank a different color. Haha

Not a very good place to stop. That beautiful loco is fouling two points.

Thank you. The brake van isnt weathered yet. I put a lot of effort into it and I dont want to overdo it. What do you mean by specialist wagon? I have no idea. Also, those tie down ropes, as nice as they look, are a pain to do. Its amazing how 8 strings turn into a messy web and then do that all again.

Wow! Big update! Sorry for the massive post. I have been busy the past couple days. Last night I managed to finish my third and final LMS 5 plank open. Fairly normal. Again, I chose to use smaller numbers as the HMRS sheet has so few large numbers and a large selection of smaller ones. The wagon was built yesterday, and the corners were again filled and filed round. People say White Putty dries too quickly but for filling cracks, it works great! Everything painted before assembly and touched up after. Then today, I lettered it, giving it the number 122580. The wagon went together well aside from a little struggling with the sides. By far the underframe went together easiest of all cambrian kits Ive built. I still have an underframe kit I need to do something with. If anyone remembers the previous open, I have now done something with it. It now carries hay under two tarpaulins. Underneath is stuffed with cotton balls and I took some fiber material and tied it up to cover and conceal the cotton on each end. Its not perfect but its the best I could do in 4mm scale. Sixteen tie down ropes! Twelve of them having rather fiddly knots to get them all taut. Some may call it OCD or just plain insane but I would never just glue some paper to a wagon. If I want a tarpaulin, Ill take the effort to tie it down properly. Sure its not easy, and it sure as hell isnt permanent. Of all tarps Ive done so far, I always take them off after a while and mix it up. So thats that update, but just a bit of a recap of all Ive done in my adventures in 4mm scale. Everything I own currently built and fully functioning. In detail My lone Parkside kit, an LMS 20ton Brake van numbered 357714. When I built this I weighted it to function as a brake van. While my wagons end up around 30g, this weighs in at 45g. Maybe I am just insane... Next is my first kit in my 4mm adventure. It started life with a handpainted livery as number 304716, and ended up with a tarpaulin to cover the bad livery, even though the inside was fully painted and weathered. It sits slightly 3 wheeled as most Cambrians probably end up. Some use a plate of glass to get wagons to sit flat, I use my iPad to check during construction. Third is a new arrival which I talked about above. No need for more talking. My newest wagon, still unweathered due to the glue still drying on the brake gear. Next is my first PO wagon, a scratchbuilt wooden body on a Cambrian underframe, hand lettered and to be honest, poorly chosen. When I do get to built a true layout, I doubt Ill use this. It was mostly just a test of my painting skills. Now is another recent addition, a Slaters Midland 8t van. As with my other two Slaters wagons, they are a bit light due to the underframes. Slaters gives very little room for weights and one 7g weight just fits. Oddly enough, they end up weighing about normal for my collection. Something about Slaters kits, or at least the ones I get, is the brake lever is incredibly fragile and if the included wheels get behind the sprue in shipping, the wheel ends up breaking the part. This time, one of the brake levers was cracked in three places and I couldnt repair it. The second was repairable at just one crack, so I ended up with my first single braked wagon. My first Slaters kit. A Midland 8t 3 plank. My first experience with broken parts as well. This one had salvageable parts though. It has carried the load of wood planks since I built it, and like all my other loads, it is tied down to the wagon and not glued at any point. Every plank is separate and removable. The only thing holding it together and in is the thread. Yeah Im thinking Im just insane. And my second Slaters kit, an underframe with a scratchbuilt wooden body. It carries the livery of R.A. Young & Co, a little tribute to my grandfather for whom I can thank for my love of trains. It still does not carry a home location as I am unsure if where to choose. Due to this, It has remained mostly unweathered. And finally is my only RTR stock. A modified, repainted, and re-liveried Dapol LMS vent van. The side strapping was carved off and cleaned up, and the plank grooves were touched up. This is a bit late in my modelling timeframe, coming in mid 1930s, but I enjoy having it. It has had a life of being very dirty, at one point having a tarpaulin to cover a leaky roof, and lastly and most recently, a bit of a clean up for the weathering and a bit of streaking from rain. The roof is actually damaged, having bashed the rain strip with a dropped aerosol can of matt varnish. Clumsy as well as insane! And lastly, my Hornby pug. Still in mid livery changing. So much effort to remove the numbers and just one BR logo that Ive put off removing the other one for over a month now. Still have to figure out how to reblacken those handrails...damn turtlewax... Well. This is the end of my amazingly long post. I congratulate the 3 people who managed to not die of boredom halfway through reading this! I really dont know what to do now. Ive built the three kits I bought, I dont have much money for more, and I have no idea what to do with the Gloucester underframe kit I still have unbuilt. Dont really fancy another PO wagon...at least not an coal wagon. Maybe a PO van but I have little to no information on them, and certainly no useable photos or references. Damn... Oh well. Maybe its time to start saving again for more kits. Maybe next time Ill try something new and exciting. I would love to try a whitemetal kit, though Im not sure where to buy one. Well. Thanks for reading! -Spitfire