chrisveitch

I have to say that I'm at a very similar stage, having toyed with 2mm rather timidly for many years and now trying to make a concerted effort to get some wagons assembled and a point built. Trackbuilding was particularly daunting once it went beyond plain track and I'll admit that I put off point building for a very long time. Even now I've not finished the first one - even just reading the construction guide in Track seemed overwhelming, it is very time-consuming at first and I've found that working my way through it methodically does seems to work, although at the moment I seem to spend as much time making tools and jigs as using them. Solder balls are a revelation - I can't see me going back to soldering track with anything else now.

Apologies, but I'm sure I've seen a YouTube playlist referred to with all of the Jubilee videos on it somewhere, but can't find the reference. Can anyone help please? Regards, Chris

Am I right in thinking (as one with FoD modelling aspirations) that the Berry Wiggins tanks were a special for the N gauge Society in 2002, as Googling them seems to suggest, and that they were only in silver and not the black that the BW prototype tanks mostly appeared to be? I know they're not the correct pattern either, but I'd be prepared to put up with that. Also, I believe there were old POWsides transfers for Berry Wiggins in 4mm but haven't been able to find any in 2mm... Regards, Chris

Nick, I realise I'm only repeating the words of others, but many thanks for putting the time in to prepare this. I'd long overlooked it on the basis that I'm not building a Jubilee - not sure where the logic is in that, since it's a great guide to chassis construction in 2mm. Hopefully it will inspire me to press on with my modest Pannier replacement chassis build once I've sorted out the current chaos of my workshop. The stills from your camera rig post have given me serious OCD envy. Regards, Chris

Thanks Justin - I'd seen closed cell foam in use but didn't know what it was called, so that's really been useful. Also I'd agree with your views on flight cases - very nice, but a honeypot for opportunists.

Does anyone have any great product suggestions or ideas for a stock box to hold a small 2FS collection (or I guess N gauge for that matter)? By "small" I mean 3-4 locos and a dozen wagons or so, which is about all I'll ever be able to manage. I have one of two readymade plastic boxes but none is exactly the right size or has proper foam padding etc. to keep everything safe. I'm happy to accept pointers to existing threads which I've been too lazy to find myself. Regards, Chris

Thanks Andy - I asked the question as I realised there were a few FH products that I wasn't aware of when I saw Fencehouses at Railex NE this weekend. Yes, I could have asked Bob but I think he had enough to cope with already...

I'm sure this has been asked before, but is there an up-to-date online list of Bob Jones' Fencehouses Model Foundry kits? Regards, Chris

Thanks Chris - that makes sense if you're already a programmer.

Interesting, but (having just had a quick play with OpenSCAD) it looks like an awful lot of hard work. Any particular reason why you chose this over using the 3D facilities in TurboCAD?

Not really a 2FS question as such, but does anyone know where to get hold of thin (about 4-6mm-ish) foam for lining stock boxes etc.? Regards, Chris Veitch

It does at the motor end, but could easily have been bushed out with the 1.0-1.5mm sleeve supplied with the Association worm.

Most of this comes from my paranoia about being able to disassemble and reassemble things to correct previous errors. How much of this is counterproductive in introducing new errors is another matter! Is it, just - but there's plenty of non-functional meat across the bottom of the brass mount that can be filed away to give better clearance.

Since I'd received so much helpful advice on remedies for my bendy Pannier replacement chassis on my Any Questions Answered query, I though it only right that I should post a few photos of progress. And given my glacial rate of progression in any of my modelling projects, it's exceptional to see anything happening anyway. These might be of interest, but on the other hand are just as likely to elicit howls of derision or detailed explanations of why not to do it that way. I decided early on that I wasn't keen on silicone tubing or similar to drive the worm from the motor and wasn't very confident that I could align a motor mount accurately enough to get an adapter sleeve to work very well (it's occurred to me later that a silicone sealant base would probably have solved the problem). So I designed a motor mount, but then had the problem of soldering it together accurately. I came up with a mounting jig consisting of a bit of scrap brass turned to the match the worm-bearing-to-motor-bearing distance with a step on the end to match the motor bush hole in the mounting plate - this was then drilled and tapped 6BA and a screw soldered in place and drilled at one end for the worm shaft. A 6BA packing washer also had to be drilled out to the bearing diameter (4mm, I think) to ensure that the nut applied its force in the right place. The whole lot was set up square and the PCB base soldered to the mounting plate successfully. I'd decided that I was going to use a dog clutch drive and turned up a couple of brass plates with pins and corresponding holes (subsequently open out to be slots). I know this can be done with only one pin but it offended my symmetric sensibilities, but time will tell whether one of the pins will be sliced off in light of experience. All has been assembled loosely and looks like it will work, but power has not yet been applied - so it's all going well, at least from a cosmetic point of view... This shows the mounting jig set up to hold the motor mounting plate in position to attach to the PCB motor mount base - yes, it looks crooked because it's just stuffed in place for the photo. The various bits on display with the chassis. The right hand hole in the PCB was a mistake from an earlier effort and serves no purpose... Dog clutch parts The clutch and motor set up in the chassis.

Thanks for that - yes, I'm using the shop 3 PCB spacer strip.

Thanks for that - I honestly can't remember what order they were added as it was built a few months ago, left to one side (with all the other projects) and I then recently tried to fix it. I'm pretty sure I'd have done them end-to-end, i.e. both joints on one spacer, then then next spacer, etc. Your conjecture about the direction of the bowing being on the inside of the last joint soldered certainly fits with what I'm seeing. Maybe time to try a few heat sinks if I get time this weekend.

Thanks Chris - to be honest I’d not thought of that but it does sound worth a try, although I’m still sure it’s my technique that’s somehow at fault.

No, just 3 horizontal spacers as shown in the drawing on the instruction sheet PDF document.

Thanks Chris - I'm confident it's not the jig and is definitely something to do with my cack-handed assembly. I'm wondering if it's something I've done with the centre spacer, which is the one I've never removed and replaced so it could definitely be a problem with the order of assembly. I'll try your suggestions and see how I get on...

Sorry, don’t have a photo to hand but will try for one when next in the workshop. I’m using horizontal PCB spacers milled to fit in the pockets provided in the chassis kit, and assembling it in the jig provided. The frames seem to be OK in the vertical but pull away to one side in the horizontal towards the rear of the chassis (which is where the last spacer was soldered in).

I'm building an Association replacement Pannier chassis and have a persistent problem with the frames bending slightly when soldering in the spacers. I've tried redoing them a couple of times and always get the same (or similar) result - I check the spacer sizes are correct, frames are straight etc. but after the last spacer is soldered in they come out of the jig bent to one side at one end. I've got it down to about a 0.4mm bend along the length of the chassis, but it's not right and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Is it just me, or is this a common phenomenon with expansion/contraction of the frames or something similar? Regards, Chris

Good to meet you at York today and see these chaps in the flesh - also to get a useful bit of the Clifford philosophy on simplicity in loco construction, which probably made me rethink a few plans on the way home ;-)

Thanks Nigel - read, understood and ordered.

I've seen some discussion on using solder balls for trackbuilding and there seem to be a wide range of sizes available - does anyone have any recommendations for suitable sizes? Regards, Chris

The Groups.io platform has a very capable and easy wiki facility - but I think we've been around the houses a few times with a discussion over a move to there from Yahoo,and it seems like it's not considered popular or worthwhile. And yes Jerry, I'd agree that Yahoo is completely pants.