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Dave John

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  1. Dave John

    Some shots in the dark.

    By Dave John,


    General
    It was gloomy yesterday so I turned the layout lights on and tried running a few trains in the dark. Daft, but oddly fun.
     
    Anyway, a few random pics of variable quality. The station in general, I need to lightproof the roof more next time it is off.
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    This is a lucky pic. I cant really see the from of the station building so its just done by point the camera at the mirror on the end of the layout and hoping. The resultant image is then reversed in preview.
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
    Through a window. Atmospheric, a bit.... 
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
  2. Dave John
    Over the last couple of years I have made a fair number of wagons, still not enough but I can now run fairly representative goods services. However folk may have noticed that the passengers are poorly served by just two rakes of coaches, and both of those are a bit shorter than they ought to be. So time for a bit of coachbuilding.
     
    The Grampian Corridor Stock, built 1905 was really the CRs finest. Large proportions, very comfortable with great attention to ride and insulation, electrically lit and with corridor connections. A successful design, and as more were built their use was extended to other parts of the CR network. I think that allows me to run a rake of them, and anyway I fancy a go at building some.
     
    Caley coaches do kits for several diagrams. I bought these a few years back, so now is the time to get on with it.
     
    Ok, so bogies first. These are in four sections folded up and fitted with some very nice brass castings.
     
     

     
     
    The three parts of the frames sit on tabs on a sub frame assembly like so. The tabs fold back in line when it is painted and the wheels are in. You could solder it all up solid, but the idea is to allow compensation with the two halves rocking on the longitudinal axis, and the other part rocking laterally .
     
     

     
     
     
    The assembly looks like this from above. Press studs for bogie mounting are provided in the kit, but I’m probably going for a more conventional nut and bolt arrangement.
     
     
     

     
     
    Here is the first assembled with a coat of paint. It runs very smoothly and the compensation seems to work a treat.
     
     

     
     
     
    Not the best of photos, but it gives an idea. Right, so off to build the rest.
  3. Dave John
    A bit of progress on the project.
     
    The first underframe. Relatively straightforward though I fixed it down to a flat board when soldering to prevent distortion. The kit provides for a variety of the brake systems fitted during the life of these coaches but for my period the simple westinghouse arrangement is correct.
     
    Some slight removal of the lower edge to clear the wheels on a curve, but that can’t be seen from the side.
     

     
     
    A row of bogies ready and waiting.
     

     
     
    An underframe in position, it pushes round the layout and through pointwork quite smoothly.
     

     
     
    Some more underframes then bodies.
     
     
  4. Dave John

    The back of trains and 2020........

    By Dave John,


    General
    I consider myself to be a very lucky man. 2020 hasn’t been the best of years for me but it has been a damn sight worse for a large proportion of the worlds population. The lockdowns mean that I have been able to spend more time modelmaking, perhaps the upside of it all.
     
    A year most of us will be glad to see the back of, so I thought I would do a few photos of the back of trains.
     
    A late afternoon train vanishes under the bridge.
     

     
    Tail end of a mixed goods heading east.
     
     

     
    Mineral traffic heading west.
     

     
     
    A snug looking signal cabin.
     
     

     
     
    I can well imagine what Archibald McGregor is thinking about being behind that weight. However since it is in Glaswegian it will have to remain imagined.
     
     

     
     
    Thank you all for taking an interest in the activities at Kelvinbank. I wish you all the best for next year whatever it may bring.
  5. Dave John

    Fixing a traverser

    By Dave John,


    General
    Way back I made a blog about the traverser. I’m the first to admit that traversers are not the ideal storage solution, but space dictated the use of one. At the time I used some heavy duty drawer slides, smooth movement but I always had some problems with backlash when running round a train. To add to the problem they had some sideplay, only a mm or so, but that turned out to be an issue.
     
    Anyway, couple of weeks back I turned the layout on to run a couple of early evening trains while my tea was in the oven. Traverser unlocked, drive engaged to run it across to line 6. Turn round to check my tea, and as the traverser moves across there are a couple of very loud cracks. Yep the whole thing had shifted enough for the rail ends to catch. Result, some rather bent rails and services at Kelvinbank suspended for the day.
     
    So I hit the internet. Proper linear ball slides used to be very expensive, but the price has dropped a lot in recent years. I ordered a pair of 600 mm slides and a ball screw, 80 quid. At that price I did wonder if I was being sold a pup, but when they arrived I was well impressed. Nice smooth linear movement, and no lateral movement that I could feel. Proper ball bearing housings for the lead screw too. Fixed a strap to the slides and clamped the thing the bench, my old dial gauge showed much less than a thou error across the whole length.
     
    Rebuilding the traverser with the new slides proved to be less of a problem than I imagined, though of course having got it all running parallel I then had to go over all the track ends and realign them. Rail ends are now gapped to 0.5 mm.
     
    A couple of photos, shows the general arrangement.

     
     

     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    No engineering solution lasts forever, I will be interested to see how precise the whole thing stays over time.
     
    I might do something more interesting with the  two run round tracks at the lh end at some point. It has occurred to me that converting them to cassettes might be a flexible use of the space.
  6. Dave John
    I am awaiting some parts for the engine, so I thought I would push on with the tender.
     
    The kit does provide all the spacers and a basic compensation beam for the tender chassis. But as usual I have odd ideas about these things. So the chassis sides are adapted for High Level hornblocks and then connected by a length of double sided copperclad. This gives two large lands on the top for pickups and suppression components.
     

     
    The semi circular compensation beam would be visible through the tender cutouts, so I fabricated this one . Good steel pivots to reduce friction and adjustable for ride height by means of an easily accessible  screw underneath. Yep, completely lockdown madness, but why not.
     

     
    A pic of the chassis made up with wheels and brakegear. The pickups are gold tips from scrapped relays soldered to 12 thou spring steel guitar wire. Hopefully this will produce a low drag 6 wheel pickup to aid good running. Might need a bit of a tweek, but all seems to meet the pushing round the track and through points test.
     

     
     
    The tender body went together fairly smoothly. This class of engine ran with a bewildering array of tenders during their lives, so I have tried to work closely to a known period photo, some slight variations from the kit.  Forming the top flare with its flared corners is a time consuming task, but I think I got it about right. Probably a bit of filling will be needed along the joint, but that will be easier to see after a coat of primer. As ever I see things on photos I missed before, a few bits of tidying up needed. 
     

     
     

     
     
     
    For a while the CR used a strange style of handbrake with a vertical capstan wheel geared to a vertical shaft. I can only assume the gearing gave some mechanical advantage, but having a finer pitch on the threaded end might have been simpler. Anyway I have a tin of watch gears. So I had a go at fabricating the mechanism. The horizontal shaft is actually a tube so you can spin the handwheel round. Did I mention lockdown madness?
     

     
     
    Hope everyone is keeping well.
     
  7. Dave John
    I have made a decent start on the body.
     
    The boiler is in two parts, I would have preferred the boiler etch to go all the way to the smokebox front and have the firebox wrapper go round that. Way round it was to find a bit of tube the right diameter and make a ring to support the smokebox wrapper and solder that to the smokebox front. The boiler and its spacer band can then be formed to the diameter of the tube and just slide into the wrapper.
     
    Someone will tell me I ought to buy a rolling machine. They would be right but, well one day. So the boiler is hand rolled.
     
    Key to that is really taking your time, it is a half etch and very delicate. Annealed first then rolled bit by bit until its the right diameter. Sags a little where its cut out for the motor, but I have an idea about that once I am really sure of the exact motor cut out size.
     
    The cab was fun. You can just see the brass fingers on the spectacle plate which are curved round to meet the roof. Solder generously and then file it back to a profile. I’m rather pleased with the way that came out.
     
    I have also drilled holes. Lost of them. Pipes all over on this one.
     
    Anyway, a rough progress pic. The boiler and cab are just sitting on the footplate, but all the tabs line up. Base of the chimney casting looks a bit plump too. 
     

     
    A badly photographed westinghouse pump assembly.
     

     
     
    Gearbox assembly and chassis next.
  8. Dave John
    Sometimes you have to treat yourself. All the better if it supports the hobby as a whole. So I think a bit of loco building is in order.
     
    One of these from a caley coaches kit.
     

     
    Many thanks to Jim of Caley Coaches for getting it to me so efficiently, and to AGW and High Level for wheels and gearbox.
     
    The 670s were built in two lots and had a varied history with several rebuilds and swapping of tenders. Numbering is the usual Caley nightmare, indeed No. 719 carried 8 different Caley numbers and an LMS one through its 47 year life.
     
    For a full history the book to read is “Caldedonian Railway Locomotives , The  Formative years“ by David Hamiliton” . A very interesting and lavishly illustrated book, I recommend it.   I am therefore going for No. 252  which for my period would I think have the larger sandboxes, 6 wheel tender, westinghouse brake and be in lined blue livery.
     
    The kit contains two large etches, brass and n/s,  nice brass castings and sundry bits, all well packaged with decent instructions.
     
    With time on my hands I have made a bit of a start.
    Some coupling rods.
     

     
     
    A foot plate in progress, interesting curves. The kit has a fold up former to aid with the valences , but some wood helps too.
     

     
     
    Splashers, a bit fiddly.
     

     
    Hope everyone is well.
     
     
     
     
     
  9. Dave John
    I wish everyone a good Christmas with a chance to drive a few trains and enjoy some modelling time.
     
    So here we are, a Christmas special.
     

     
     

     
     

     
    Many thanks for all the encouragement, discussion, hints and tips you have all contributed. I enjoy reading and learning from RMweb, keeps my enthusiasm going.
     
    All the best, Dave.
  10. Dave John
    Ok, I have sold my soul to the devil and created a you tube account. So heres my first go at doing a video and linking it through to here. If it doesn't work shout at me and I'll see what I got wrong.
     
    Anyway, this is a proper signal on a plug in post. The mk 2 has a detent spring to hold the signal at the right place ( the mk 1 inchwormed up a bit ) and the signal bit is better. Those round rung ladders from MSE look the part, worth the effort needed to make them. Three out of five made, getting there.
     

     
    Sorry if its a bit grainy, I'm still learning this stuff.
  11. Dave John
    Well, there it is. I made up a circuit that plays one of nine tracks at random, with selectable intervals. Two sounds can be triggered by the IR detectors which will go out of sight beyond the end of the layout. A whistle as a train enters the station and a different one as a train approaches the traverser.
     
    The whole lot is sat neatly in  an old pa amplifier case with its own mains power supplier. This seems to make it immune from transients on the railway itself triggering sounds. The speaker is an old  hi fi bookshelf type tucked away under the layout, gives a distant feel to the ambience.
    A couple of pics. I could post circuit diagrams if anyone wants them, but as with the IR board you probably wouldn’t do it this way unless you happened to have the bits lying about. Sadly I am the sort of person that does. Mair chips than a chip shop.
     

     
     
     

     

     
    One sound every 3 minutes or so seems ok for a start. There are various sounds of railway activity, whistles, shunting, a genuine Caley westinghouse pump and some of a townscape, horses and carts clattering by, some church bells. They do sound as I would imagine them to across a distance. Sourcing the sounds and processing them was actually the most time consuming part of the whole project. If I come across a bit of sound I like I will borrow it, the good thing about the sound module is that the mp3s are on a micro sd so changing them is simple.
     
    The big question is do I like it? The honest answer is that I haven’t made my mind up yet. Ask me this time next year how much of the time I have had it switched on while running trains. As I said in the last post this was something I wanted to try cheaply and the whole thing has only cost about a tenner so if I don’t like it its no big deal.
     
    Photos of nice blue trains will resume now I have got that itch scratched........... 
  12. Dave John

    Playing with sound.

    By Dave John,

    Sound on model railways tends to be a bit of a contentious issue. Some folk love it, others hate it. I’m not sure. Many would advocate the dcc and on board sound route, when done well I’d agree it can be very impressive. Well, it could be if anyone starts doing sound chips for CR locos.
     
    A decade or so back I had a go with dcc. No technical issues, I got it all to work but I really didn’t like it. My mistake was probably to use a Bachmann dynamis controller. I just didn’t get on with peering at a tiny lcd screen instead of watching the trains. My preference is for a simple hand held controller with a rotary knob and a proper direction switch which I can use without having to look at it or keep the controller pointing at the base station. ( I dug it out earlier this year to see if it was worth bothering with and discovered it has now packed up. Oh well. )
     
    But what do I want from sound? Most of the time I am observing trains from a scale 100 yards or more. I would hear whistles, perhaps the heavier exhaust beats and some rail squeal, perhaps buffers clanking during shunting. These would be in the background of all the sound generated in the urban environment, a horse and cart on a cobbled road close to me would be much louder than a train in the distance. The highly detailed sound files for dcc now available might be right if you are very close to a model, but they don’t seem to scale well over a normal viewing distance. At least thats the impression I get from seeing them at exhibitions.
     
    Anyway, a while back I came across this;
     
    http://www.icstation.com/voice-playback-module-sound-module-music-player-voice-broadcast-device-development-board-arduino-p-6148.html
     
    It’s the price of a fish supper, so I bought a couple on spec. Tests show that it works exactly as it should, put 10 sounds on a micro sd, switch a pin down to 0v and the chosen sound plays.
     
    Here is a pic of it on the bench with a twin infra red detector board. ( I could post the circuit diagram of the board, but there are probably simpler solutions. I just happened to have the bits to do it that way)
     
     

     
     
     
     
    So, what about the sounds. Ah, my record. Well, this record;
     
     

     
     
     
    I have recorded the whole thing into a computer file then split it up into identifiable bits using a program called audacity. Still messing about a bit with the files to get a good clean sound. The idea works, I could have two types of whistle triggered by the IR gates then the rest called at random intervals. something like that.
     
    I do know that there are a lot of fancy things out there, sound cards that are dcc addressed and so on. My thinking behind this is that it is a very cheap project, if I decide I really don’t like ambient sound at all then I haven’t wasted a lot of money.
     
  13. Dave John
    There we are , a completed signal box. I am happy with the way it turned out, a fair amount of modelling involved.
     
    So some shots of the box in general.
     

     

     

     
     
     
    I have tried to make the inside reasonably detailed. All those windows make it very visible and I think it was worth the effort. I may have got some of the details wrong, but given the information I have it looks the part. I also found a photo of a locking frame and put it a yard or so in from the front in the locking room, probably not all that accurate but it gives the impression of something being there .
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
    The lighting module connects to contacts in the locking room.
     
     
     

     
     
     
     
     
    Oh, and one at night.
     
     
     

     
     
    It is a bit of a reach to install it and I think I might want to have the board out a bit so I don't slip while drilling holes. 
  14. Dave John

    Urban coal , part 1

    By Dave John,

    I have been thinking about urban coal. Victorian cities consumed huge amounts of coal and of course Glasgow was no exception. Statistics for the quantities mined and moved are available, but staggering though they are do not actually make me think about coal. So instead I started to look at chimneys. I live in a normal west end two bedroom tenement flat which as built had three fireplaces and a kitchen range for cooking and hot water. So thats 32 fires in this block of 8. 14 closes and 2 churches in this street . Up to 450 now. An interesting aside is this link which gives a feel for the the kind of architecture I am on about, I live at the west end of Woodlands. Also has a good map showing how kelvinbridge station and yard was sandwiched in there.

    https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=16798&p=0
     

    Have a look on google earth at the west end and try and guess how many in total. I gave up, the answer is a very big number.

    So how did the railways and in particular the Caledonian deal with the need to bring in and facilitate the distribution of all the coal needed? Firstly, they had a lot of coalyards, I reckon at least a dozen to the west of the city centre, including the NB ones. Thats just yards for wagon to bag to cart deliveries, big factories and institutions such as hospitals had private sidings for direct wagonloads and the tramways were connected to the railways at various places to allow wagonloads to be delivered at night.

    Hmm, so not a couple of small coal staithes then.

    Here is a picture of Kelvinbridge yard, note the piles of coal between the six sidings. Piles that are actually the height of wagons. Bagged coal was used to form “walls” to support it all and anecdotal evidence suggests that summer stockpiles were built up to cope with the winter months. Bear in mind that the photo is from the 1950s when gas and electricity were beginning to have an impact on coal usage. As a personal aside I remember talking to the elderly lady who lived in the flat below me many years ago who had been resident in the west end long enough to remember the yard being shunted at night in the 1920s and 30s. To quote her “ I have no idea how the people that lived next to the yard ever got a wink of sleep”



    Thats the background to my thinking, sorry to blether on a bit. Therefore I have started to make some piles. To the modellers eye these may at first look excessive. But given the evidence it seems to me to be along the lines of what must have gone on. Still a lot of detailing but it does begin to look very urban.
     






     

    Just a couple of snapshots to give you the idea. As ever, comments welcome.
  15. Dave John

    Some signal box parts.

    By Dave John,

    I have been making some more of the parts for the signal box. My idea is to generate a set of pre-painted assemblies which all sort of go together neatly at the end. Best laid plans….
     
     
    So a snapshot of the main structure. Lower walls will be brick on this one. The 4 bits in the soffit are steel.
     

     
    Those steel bits are there to catch the magnets in the roof section. The open rectangle they are on allows a bit of down flex at the corners .
     

     
    Roof clicks neatly into position like so. Clicks off easily so can be painted separately.
     

     
     
     
    The lighting module uses a pair of warm white LED chips. Thing is all those windows make the insides a bit visible, so I don’t want wires to be seen.
     

     
     
    A bit of head scratching later. Make the lighting module so that it fits down inside the chimney breast. It can go in after all the interior detail is fitted, the roof can be removed without disturbing it. I will put a pair of spring contacts on the bottom of the pcb so it just slides into place.
     

     
     
    Lastly, a few bits prepared and ready. Interior bits are a nice etch by Severn Models.
     

     
    Just a few snapshots in bad light really, but helps keep me on track. 
     
  16. Dave John
    Many years ago I made a CR 782 class from the SE finecast kit. There are some pictures of in in service in some earlier blog posts. The basic whitemetal body was fine, pretty accurate and it went together well. It was getting to look very tired, needed a repaint and some details were the worse for knocks and being stuck back badly.
     
    I was never entirely happy with the chassis. Centre axle drive, semi rigid with slightly rocking outer axles. Never picked up really well, too highly geared and the motor filled the cab. Hmm.
     
    However the most obvious fault is that it is the wrong loco.
     
    A bit of history. The 9 members of the 29 class date from 1895 and were fitted with condensing apparatus for working the Glasgow central lines. The same basic design was used for the later 120 members of the 782 class built between 1898 and 1913. So for where I’m based the 29 class is a bit more appropriate.
     
    Right, it was 782 class No. 245 and now its going to be 29 class No. 203.
     
    Chassis built up. AGW frames and wheels re used. Rear axle driven from a high level gearbox and extender with a mitsumi motor. Compensated with high level hornblocks which I thought were a very clever fold up design. Having a silhouette makes cutting balance weights a doddle.
     

     

     
     
    The body ready for quite a lot of filling and a spot of primer. Backdating to a 29 class mainly involves extra pipework, a westinghouse pump, air tanks and different footsteps.
     
     

     
    Paint shop next.
  17. Dave John
    Fair enough, I know its a bit of a model railway cliche but the only place I could put the bus to get a picture was on the bridge.
     
    So there we are, more of a minibus than a full sized one. By the Edwardian era trams were very much the commonest public transport but I have seen pictures of this sort of small bus in the area. I think they were effectively used as a family sized taxi with seating for about six people at a push. It is based on a Scale Link etch, the figures are Andy Stadden though the driver has been Mikkelised with new arms.
     

     
     

     
     

     
     
     
    A loco rebuild next inline on the bench.
  18. Dave John
    Well, it has taken a while but there it is. Number 729 is running and in service. As I have said I find painting and lining difficult but it does look reasonable from normal viewing distances. I am pleased with the way it runs, smooth and with quite sufficient tractive effort for my needs. Watching it in motion I think that the closed doors do make a difference, if I make another tender engine I will repeat that bit.
     
    Anyway a few pictures .
     

     
     
     
     
     

     
     
     

    A bit of video, rough but best I can manage.
     
     
     
     
    Hello to everyone I met at the SECC  on Friday, interesting exhibition.
     
     
     
  19. Dave John

    A motley crew....

    By Dave John,

    I have been slowly painting and lining the D1. It must be said painting and lining is something I have never been good at. I know how to do it but I just don’t seem to have the artistic flair for it. More than half an hour and my eyesight and hands become two entities with wills of their own, so it might be a while longer while I do the D1 bit by bit.
     
    Mind you, I have no shortage of crew ready to drive it. Figures by Andy Stadden, The close up pic shows me where I need to just correct the paintwork a bit.
     
     

     
     
  20. Dave John
    Much has been said about couplings over the years. I like the Alex Jackson coupling, simple, unobtrusive, cheap and reasonably reliable. Yes they get out of alignment and sometimes get bent beyond repair, but what coupling doesn’t. The hassle with couplings in general isn’t coupling them, its uncoupling them.

    I have been thinking about this. My layout is traverser to storage yard, and I want to run around at each end. then some sidings , and a shunting back move off the main line. Thats 32 places where I could do with remote uncoupling. Hmm.

    On the last layout I had tried solenoids and iron nail droppers in a few places. Kinda worked, but you had to be quick or else they got very hot and needed vaguely awkward holding a button down while operating a controller type things. 32 of them isn’t going to happen.

    So I have been experimenting.




    Yep, I have been messing about with magnets again. Thats it in cruel closeup. 3mm long , 1 mm wide. Sits 2-3 mm above rail height.



    Underneath the board its really simple. two sticks and a magnet 20mm x 5 mm.





    Still a work in progress. I might move up a size for the magnet under the board. Of course if you have a set of parallel tracks in a storage yard you can just add more magnets on the same bit of dowelling. Could even have the magnet moved by a servo or a wire in a tube if its in an awkward to get to place.

    One thing is clear though. I am going to have to be careful about my AJs. Over the years I have made them by eye and my eyes are not as sharp these days. Time to order some jigs and start giving them all a going over.
  21. Dave John

    A Dunalastair 1 part 1

    By Dave John,

    A very long time ago I bought a second hand Dunalastair 1 DJH kit . Well, it was 18 quid a go complete with a set of Jackson/Romford wheels and an XO4 motor? Plus some other bits. There was even a spare tender in there which ended up behind 583.

    So why had someone sold it? Well to put it politely the castings were horrible. Looked like they just hadn’t got the whitemetal hot enough and it set while flowing. The footplate was junk, the edges and lip were all over the shop. The boiler was laughable. The tender parts looked like the halves of the mould were a mil apart. You could cast a battleship with the flash.

    But its a DJH kit , why not flog it for silly cash on flea bay? Well, nope, no way would I inflict that on a fellow modeller. Just not on. So over the years I have accumulated a few parts and thrown them in the box.

    Now you are all going to point out that very good kits are available for other Dunalastairs, two to four. There are, but sometimes you just have to stretch your modelling legs and actually file some metal. So stuff it, I’m building a Dunalastair 1. On the plus side I have a lot of info; drawings, pics, descriptions.
    Let’s see how it goes.

    At least I’ll have a box to keep it in.



    Ok, a chassis, some the Romford/Jackson wheels on for now. Gibsons are being painted. I started with a set of Gibson profile milled frames and went on from there.




     

    The compensated front bogie uses copperclad as the spacer, the pattern cut in the bottom would let me fit pickups later.



    High level gearbox, straightforward build, runs nicely.


     

    Well, it’s a start.
  22. Dave John
    Ah, thats better, a bit of wagon building. Nice relaxing stuff. In this case its a pair of D59 wagons from the “true line models” kit, available from the CRA. Many thanks to Tony Brenchley for making the range available. Resin body, my usual type of chassis. As ever full history in “Caledonian Railway Wagons’ by Mike Williams. These two have the later 1905 style end door.

    Thought I would have a go at weathering them a bit, that coal dust gets everywhere.






     


    And just a bit of a panorama from the direction which isn’t usually viewed. Gives me an eye on what it all looks like.



    Still a bit of a wide open space.
  23. Dave John
    Odd how you sometimes think you are going to tackle some part of layout building and then you end up spending a few weeks doing something totally different. I had been thinking about backscenes, but somehow I just fancied doing something a bit scenic. Generally scenery isn’t my strength but I keep seeing so may layouts on here with wonderful rural scenes which tempted me into having a play about.

    So I had a go at the harbour scene. Which by the nature of harbours requires some water. I have tried some of the the fancy scenic waters in the past but without good results, they seemed prone to cracking and expensive. So having read up about it I went for the standard layers of pva and paint followed by layers of varnish method. I’ll let you judge whether it does look like the muddy esturial waters at the confluence of the Kelvin and the Clyde, but I’m happy with it for now.












  24. Dave John
    It's ok, I haven’t suddenly decided to start a revolution, tempting though the idea is. I am of course referring to the figures for the layout. These are a mix, mostly from Andy Stadden with some from Prieser and a few older ones in places they can only be glimpsed at. The men are the problem. Most of the Edwardian ladies have wide skirts and so stand up without too much of a problem, though the ones with the hemline daringly 3 inches off the floor do tend to tip up. The men will too but the smallest disturbance and they all fall over. Hmm, fine if you are modelling a Glasgow Friday night.

    So, how to make them stand up? The obvious answer is glue but it is rather a permanent solution. Done it in the past, if you want to move a figure for variety or to add detail it tends to take a lump of the scenery out stuck to the feet.

    So I bought some “Tacky wax”. Maybe its just me but I didn’t really like it. Doesn’t seem to stay tacky enough to hold someone up unless you put a fair sized blob on the feet. Then they just look like a figure stuck in a big blob of wax. I tried a few things, such as warming it first, but to no avail. Still didn’t like it somehow.

    I did have a play with magnets, but getting ones tiny enough is not a practical proposition.

    Finally I decided to go for the wire in the foot method. I’m sure its not new, but very few good ideas are. Drill a 0.4 hole up through the foot. Superglue in a short length of 11 thou piano wire. When set grind it back to about 5 mm. Drill a 0.4 hole in the place when you want a figure and plant them.

    Advantage is that you can take them out and swap them round easily. The hole is tiny and easy to fill if you don’t want it there but from normal viewing distances it vanishes anyway.

    Some pictures to give an idea.
     


    A man thinking about some work.



    But he went off for tea, leaving just a hole.



    His mate turned up for the back shift.


     
     
     

    How many ? Well that many for a start.


  25. Dave John

    Urban Coal part 2

    By Dave John,

    It has taken a while but I now feel that the overall scene is looking a bit more like a busy urban coal yard. Details and carts are from langley or dart, most figures are Andy Staddens. Anyway, pictures speak louder than words so I’ll shut up.
     

     

     

     
    Something missing though……. Oh yes, the stock. So just for fun.
     

     

     

     

     
    Perhaps a lot of pictures, as ever helps me to see stuff this way.
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