Finsbury

woooo! Recaro and 5 point harness, "Wind it up to Warp speed!" KR, Bernie edited and good to go. Yeah, baby!

Playing with a bit of wire today. What fun a simpleton like me can have with a bit of wire. We couldn't afford toys, a twig from the park and a dead fly from the condensation drenched windowsill amounted to hours of joy. Anyway, I was a photographic technician in a previous life, zero evidence provided, m'lud. One half mocked up, thus; Some kind of suspension needs to be devised on the 'loose' axle and proved. I consider today's effort to be seismic in comparison to earlier works. ATB, Bernie

New to this thread, so whatever I say will only be a variation on a theme. Knowing the area quite well, I look at one photo and it reminds of one building on say, Worship St, yet from another angle it reminds me of a completely different building, albeit still in the same locale. Rinse and repeat with the other structures and you indeed capture the feel of the area. All the more remarkable for being Stateside sourced kits! Utterly beguiling, compelling and beautiful. Thank you for this creation and thank you for sharing it with us. It is quite special. Kindest regards, Bernie

THAT rifle!

4 Wheel pick-up with rudimentary springing on one axle. None of which has got further than the 'wouldn't it be great...?' stage.

Hallo Scott, progress has stalled - I was playing 12" to the foot railway today. I reckon a Hornby pacer motor is the cost effective option. The Branchlines option is tried and tested, probably the easiest. This motor is simple enough after a but of butchery. The downside is sourcing it without customs and excise stinging you for 20 odd quid. What it has going for it is size - or lack of it, and it can take a 2mm axle and wheels of your choice. It is virtually invisible within the chassis. An Ickenham and District club member has done a really nice one with a slightly larger motor driving a (Bill Bedford?) gearbox. Slightly more visible, but it really appealed to me. Superb engineering in miniature. Regards, Bernie

Dave said "I'm really interested in where the motor/drive came from, been looking but can't find anything similar." Cloggydog mentioned them on the thread 'axle hung motors' in the motors and drive section. re; http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10260566 No connection, yada yada, etc. Sorry my quote function (brain) doesn't work. Bern

Crispy Dave, You have pm. KR, Bernie

Well. I have been recommended to use Revel contacta professional and it seems to do the trick. Promptly dropped it and broke the other side off... A pox on my house for buying all amounts of 'super' glues, as I had the Revel stuff tucked away in a Tamiya box from 25 odd years ago. I have to engender a bit more serenity in my work, methinks. Apologies to the Dapol gang. Another bonus is that after three days of shouting at it, the paint has finally gone off, so apologies to Mr Humbrol, too. Time to fiddle with the decoder, no doubt this will also continue at a glacial rate.

Oh, And Humbrol #85 can go and do one, as well. The gloopy, sticky, non drying crap.

Well, this has turned into a special variety of cobbers. Having spent over £50 on finding a way to stick this thing together, decent glue remains elusive. PPP Superweld came close, though. Why do Dapol persist with this xxxx plastic? Does it cost another £ to make real plastic that sticks? Anyway, after two coats of failure A little filling and smoothing eh? Oh no. And the glass is laughable! Sorry for ranting, modern glue is crap, along with my eyes. Simon from the Ickenham and District club has a beautiful version with a gearbox, really neat. Oh well, plod on. All the best! Bernie

Easier start-up, more power, increased reliability and fewer emissions. Win.

I can see we have a seasoned veteran here. It's been a while since I have witnessed the Mercury Rectifier manuoevre played so effectively. Well played Sir, well played! I shall scurry off to read the many manuals, my copy of 'Sir Henry at Rawlinson End does MC for dummies' being a favourite.

According to the 'Geoff Shreeves wibbling inanely' rule, (subsection 345, paragraph 89,211) regarding wendyballers on the pop, I give you Lancaster Gate. Ha!

If they are enjoying themselves, power to them. I love that the Americas give such space. Indeed I think Dylan Thomas worked in a room such as "to turn around, one has to vacate the room, first!" Bern

A very interesting thread. To go from the negativity to whom and what was involved is indeed intriguing. As a current MRC member, I shall not divulge the denouement!

Ah, gotcha! Are the adapters just before a curve or turn? Bern

Hi Mersey, I am am only starting in track construction, so I apologise in advance If I am wrong or preaching to the converted. Please correct me if I am wrong! 1) I am not sure what a flanged undercab wheel is, but I am pretty sure any scratchbuilt turnout will perform better than a converted peco. Make sure all track is level, level and more level. Baseboard joints need to be even more level than the level stuff. 1b) Re derailing. Is the track radius suitable for the rolling stock? Is the track suitable at all? (see1) Is there easement on the curves? Is the stock suitable for the curve? RTR/ kitbuilt? 2) Personally I wouldn't have used copperclad* (on a tie bar) at all, but I don't see an issue, even if you need to further isolate/renovate. I'm obviously talking out of my hat, the clever men will be along shortly! But seriously, all the best, I am quite a few years behind and learning. Bern * edit for the tie bar bit, as I am looking forward to ply and sleeper, AND copperclad construction! edit x2 I can see you are p4.

Info addendum, the axle on the motor came out at 1.97mm and proved to be a sloppy fit with anything like remotely round wheels. The brass cog is easily knocked off however, and with a bit (a lot, getting cherry red) of heat, can be be tapped on to the Wizard axle. Hindsight being 20/20 I would have used a P4 axle, so as to make a universal gauge possibility thingy doobery. Or something.

Crikey, it's been a while! Not a huge amount of progress I'll admit, but hey ho. First off, I shall note JP's concern re compensation; I will be trying out (1) a central springy beam on the un-motored axle, (2) coiled PB pick-ups on the same. I have looked at sprung hornblocks, but space (and my eyes) may be an issue. Anyway. A problem I did find with the Dapol wheels is that they were a bit pissed. They went round and round all right. But only if you want the effect of a clown's car. Boingy boingy boingy etc. Not good. Having purchased a set of 12mm 3 hole wagon wheels, this has improved things no end. The little metal passengers will no doubt be pleased. I took the chance to buy the same wheelset in EM as I will go down this road/track at some point. The fit for P4/S4/EM/00 finescale is evidently plausible. Metal tyred and insulated. All from Wizards, no connection, happy punter, etc.. I didn't use the original weight after all as it only came in at 25.16g. Here we have 2x 10g steel car wheel balancing weights, I like to think some metal passengers will help with fine tuning weight distribution. A 5g weight fits lovely where the decoder sits if you are strictly analogue. That's all for now, apart from nausing up the Branchlines interior kit. Another one to be ordered, it is good. Take care everyone, Bernie

Cheers H, I don't know whether that knowledge is worth a funny or a like, so have an 'informative' instead! Is the brown one a Datsun sunny?

Off topic considering the beautiful motors herein, but some identification of the 'motorcars' would be appreciated! Photo taken in the west of Ireland, if it helps. The gentleman posing with the bicycle was my father in law, and a hero. RIP St Paddy. Bernie

Order placed, sound and supercap, em wheelset, roll on June/July. Smashing bloke on the 'phone, I even resisted the urge to wishlist! Bernie

Cheers Biff, stuck in some wheel weights as I couldn't get an offcut of lead. Running like a champ. Phoned the missus and ghe thought I was at the station! Fitting up the 26, now. Bernie

Addendum for anyone troubled by train fares to B'ham Int'l, I signed up to Virgin West Coast's* mailing list and got two returns from Euston for £34. This included first class going home. A fiver one way way standard class. All my purchases at the show saved on postage, enough to cover travel (and near enough the entrance fees). I'll take a rucksack next year! Bernie *No connection, etc.