Camperdown

Thanks for that. I'm currently trying to wrangle a DMR Z class into shape and knurling the axles sounds a better bet (for the Gibson drivers) than pinning. The folks who drill obliquely through wheel and axle must go through an awful lot of small drill bits.

I can't remember Guy Williams writing about pinning Ultrascales, but it was certainly something that John Hayes did and described. Appreciate hearing about your experience with Loctite for Hungerford. Perhaps the key here is "friction fit" and that cylindrical axles will work with smooth bore wheels under heavy loads, providing there is something more than just friction to transmit the torque. All positive experiences welcome.

The prices do seem low, given the superb quality of most of the items. David Jenkinson wrote (in MRJ?) about switching to 7mm scale and being careful to make the resale value of his models as high as possible. Christie's seems an odd choice for a specialist auction, but then since DJ was well aware of resale value then this is probably something he discussed with his wife before he died, and Christie's may well have been his choice. (No knowledge here, just speculating). On the subject of friction fit drivers, I appreciate the practical experience of people who see (say, with the Finney A3) the quartering slip under heavy load. It's happened to me too. But my question is, what do they do at Pendon? Plenty of locos there with Ultrascale drivers pulling scale length trains.

>What day did you go to each? Saturday and Saturday. Maybe it's a weather thing, maybe it's a Glasgow thing, or maybe families have more options on an Easter weekend. One further thing I'd meant to say is that the arrangement of stands in Kavesmire can be a bit confusing. Perhaps next year, the organisers could post a copy of the show floor plan at each stair landing, and at each level next to the lifts?

Geatly enjoyed my day there. Problems on the ECML meant that I was about 1.5 hours later than intended. Maybe that meant I missed the worst of the contactless payment queues? FIne selection of layouts. As others have noted, a few previously regular traders were missing. I'd hoped for Phoenix Precision. Still, Alan Gibson and Squires were in attendance, and MetalSmith was there to replace Eileen's. I thought the Kavesmire stand was looking a bit tired. Toilets seemed to be far less clean than in previous years and the previously slick catering operation was overwhelmed by the numbers on Saturday. (However do they manage on race days?) One thing that did strike me was the demographic. Two months ago at Glasgow, there was a good proportion of families and couples. At York, the attendees seemed to be overwhelmingly (male) old gits. I'm an old git myself, so it's not intended to be derogatory (and no reflection on the organisers). There were some childern and couples, of course, but they seemed to be there in very small numbers. Just my impression. Anyway, congrats to all involved for a great show, and here's looking forward to York 2024.

OK, thanks. Presumably the prototype frames were dished here, which is why you've done it. Can't really be to get a few thou extra clearance.

Excellent work. How did you form the thinned section of the frames behind the bogie wheels?

Thanks for the link to the drawing. The same drawing is in the Tibble book, but there it's very poorly reproduced, so the dimensions aren't really readable. I've just erected the cab/bunker/tank sides on a new (nickel) footplate, with new valences and new cab front and rear. The bunker needed an extension at the base as the rearmost drop in the footplate was too shallow. The tank sides are now correctly spaced apart, which means I will need new tank tops/fronts and bunker rear. I'm expecting to have to replace the boiler, and perhaps smokebox too. Part of the trouble for me is that in 4mm, the body is etched from 0.4mm brass. This is the equivalent of building the full sized loco from ragged-edged, flame cut 1.25 inch plate. OK, even 0.010" nickel is a scale 3/4 in thick, but at least with hand made parts you can get to scale size with a good, clean edge. I should really remind myself that most etched kits are just too much damned work and stick to scratch building.

"I am having some difficult conversations with the client..." I'll bet. Still, sometimes it's better just to give up on poorly fitting etched parts and cut the proper size from n/s --- as I'm currently finding with a 4mm DMR Z class.

I thoroughly enjoyed my day in Glasgow. Well done to the organisers. One peculiarity of the hall is that there is no obvious circulation path around the stands. To be clear, I'd much rather it was like it is rather than the sort of long and winding road you get in an Ikea store. Anyway, I didn't stumble across Alloa until very near the end of my visit. And what a fantastic model it is. I think that Alloa was my favourite of the layouts, with Burntisland a close second. But whatever happened to the Scottish Wedding Show, which always used to be at the SEC over the same weekend?

Bit confused by this one. I assume "George Square (Waxy's)" is somewhere near Waxy O'Connor's in Dundas Lane/West George Street. Does anybody know exactly where the bus stop is?

I know what you mean about slots, they certainly have their problems. That said, I would certainly encourage some work on the fold line, along the lines of the scoring you suggest, before the fold is attempted. Nothing worse than trying to bend the flange over and instead ruining the side because it bends just above the base of the panelling. Scrap etch and generous solder can always reinforce the bend after it has been made. Final point, it's best to clamp the side between some long lengths of flat steel and do the bend all at once. But if you can't, then doing the bend a bit a a time (a bit of length and only folding through a small angle) works surprisingly well. Just be gentle and take plenty of time.

The 54' composite etch looks very good. If I was to build it, I think I would be apprehensive about folding the long flanges at the top and bottom of the sides, without damaging the panelled sides themselves. I assume there is a half etched fold line on the reverse side. For the top, you could probably clamp the sides between some steel flats; more difficult at the bottom if the tumblehome has already been formed. Some kits have slots built in to long folds like this; perhaps scoring the fold will help? As I say, just initial apprehension without actually trying to build it, so I'll be interested to see how the build actually proceeds. Best of luck.

Thanks Nick. Carter is a terrible book; really it's just a collection of unedited notes for the book he didn't write. I'm fairly sure that it wasn't Carter where I read the reference. Perhaps it was in one of the LYR Soc's "Platform" magazines (I used to be a member). Then again, this practice of rainbow hued plates had probably died out by the 90s, so black would be in order. Still, indigo would look cool.

I'm just getting round to painting the Barton-Wright 4-4-0 that I build many years ago. (A Sharp Stewart loco). Anyway, I once read that the LYR painted the outer part of loco numberplates with a colour corresponding to the loco builder. Unfortunately, I can't find the reference, or the list of colours for the different suppliers. Can anybody help?

Try www.lightrailwaystores.co.uk

Stunning. Lots to digest in the news section of the website. I like the fact that the model provides a suitable home for the best P4 stock from other modellers. I can remember seeing a P4 Kingswear --- I think it may have been called Kingsbridge, or some such ---- at Bristol in the mid 70s. Wasn't there also a 2mm Kingswear described in MRJ?

Thanks for that. So probably both black and green are authentic. I can believe that green was originally specified for the frames but that was later changed to black. I'm still thinking of painting the frames green.

Thanks for that. I'm inclined to go for green frames and wheels (with tan motion plate and inside frames). I realise that somewhere I have a copy of EF Carter's railway liveries book, but it probably just repeats the same information. Carter is really just a collection of quotes, unlike Hambledon (Locomotives Worth Modelling) which includes recollections of locos as first appeared.

There have been a coupled of LSWR livery questions on here. I'll just add another. I'm scratch building a G6 and plan to finish it in the Drummond goods livery. Bradley (in the Drummond volume) says that the wheels and frames below the running plate were green for both passenger engines (Royal green) and goods engines (holly green). Is that right? The M7 at the NRM and all the models I've seen have green wheels but black frames. Not that preserved locos or models are necessarily representative, and the LSWR under Drummond may have modified painting styles with time. Can anybody shed light on frame colours? Thanks.

We faced similar. Also, a 4m x 3m polycarbonate conservatory roof that had become life expired. This was a (fairly good) DIY job by the previous owners. Understandably, most companies will be reluctant to quote for repair to something not professionally built, that may be hiding some lurking horror. Eventually, we opted for demolition and replacement, with new roof and 4m wall to the garden. The original floor and end (brick) walls were retained. Total cost was about 30K, complicated by living in a conservation area. Frankly though, well worth the money, as the new conservatory is totally dry and much warmer than the leaky, drafty, rotting structure it replaced.

Not a great deal of kit left in that. How did you attach the 0.8mm brass to the back of the smokebox?

Thanks. Crossed helicals would be the ideal to get the right angle drive, but I've never seen any, at least not for 4mm scale locos. The quoted 12V no load speed is the speed at which the motor --- acting as a generator --- will produce exactly 12V back emf, to oppose the 12V supply. So at the no load speed, there is no net voltage across the windings and no current is flowing. Top speed with a load, i.e. driving a light engine through a gearbox, is maybe half that.

So which version of the N20 gear motor do you prefer, all spur gear with bevel or crown/pinion final drive, or worm/spur with output regauged to 1/8in ?

Not too sure what you're done, but it doesn't seem right. The example shown in the spreadseet is for a wheel diameter of 22mm, i.e. 5.5 ft. With a 16000 rpm motor, and gear ratio of 42:1, the wheel rotates at 16000/42 or 381 rpm, i.e. 6.35 rev/s (381/60). This represents a speed of 5.5 * pi * 6.35 = 110 ft/s. 60 mph is equal to 88 ft/s, so this speed is 110 *60 / 88 or 75 mph. Your spreadsheet gives an answer of 120 mph. Suggest you check your working. Incidentally, I usually aim for about half to two thirds of quoted no load speed for maximum model speed.