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Everything posted by Softvark
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West Highland Line V4, a 1980's West Highland Line layout
Softvark replied to young37215's topic in Modelling real locations
I used resin on the harbour scene on my layout and it can work well but you have to be really careful to make sure the area you are pouring into is completely sealed. Resin will find the tiniest pin hole and empty on to the floor. For the river area I used good old gloss varnish which was far more controllable. Julian -
West Highland Line V4, a 1980's West Highland Line layout
Softvark replied to young37215's topic in Modelling real locations
On some more remote Scottish lines it was quite common for rodding and signal wires to be covered with planks to protect them from snow and ice. It could be that that is what is seen rather than the tops of electrical trunking. It’s also a useful excuse to avoid having to model rodding and signal wires! Julian -
Glenfinnan Station in O Gauge
Softvark replied to thegreenhowards's topic in Modelling real locations
That 37 sounds the business! Whose sound file/decoder are you using? Julian -
Glenfinnan Station in O Gauge
Softvark replied to thegreenhowards's topic in Modelling real locations
There's a picture of a 31 at Mallaig on the Railscot website - Railscot - Class 31 at Mallaig -
West Highland Line V4, a 1980's West Highland Line layout
Softvark replied to young37215's topic in Modelling real locations
Have a look at HMRS - they do blue grey coach lining transfers and the curved ends. https://hmrs.org.uk/br-coach-lining-up-to-including-blue-grey-period.html Julian -
I’m looking forward to this build too as I bought the same kit only last week. Lots of photos please, Ken!
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Thanks Simon, I thought that might be the case.
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Spectacular modelling as always, Simon. Just going back a bit - please could you let me know where you got the decals for the propane gas cylinders?
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PRMRP OTA kit, underframe details question
Softvark replied to Western Star's topic in 7mm+ modelling
Have you seen the downloadable instructions available from the PRMRP website? I have one of these to build myself and the pdf is more comprehensive than the paper instructions included with the kit. http://www.prmrp.com/uploads/1/2/0/6/12060808/brf-012_ota_instructions_new_version_2008.pdf -
I got around this by putting a small piece of the MSE yellow lens material over the white LED then using the blue lens material in the arm. This actually works very well - there is enough red light passing through the yellow filter to still illuminate the signal red, and the blue material displays green. I'll post a photo later if you're interested in seeing what it looks like.
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There is a track plan of the P4 version on page 9 of Ian's book Modelling Scotland's Railways - Santona Publications - ISBN 0953844889 and there are some photos of Lochside scattered through the book. Ian says that the station building was based upon Eyemouth.
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Brian's 7mm Diesel Workbench, Belated up-date!
Softvark replied to brian daniels's topic in Kitbuilding & Scratchbuilding
I'm just about to convert a 26 to a 27 (body is currently sitting in paint stripper) and it's definitely worth getting the etch from PRMRP. As well as the headcode box it also has new tank sides, fan, snow ploughs, side windows, steps over the buffers etc. They also do castings for the roof vents. The only bit I'm not looking forward to is sanding down the raised part of the roof. -
See http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/133523-sound-effects-for-your-layout/
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I use several different strips of LEDs with different colour temperatures fed from DMX dimmers. DMX is a lighting protocol extensively used in concerts, theatres etc. It's then easy to control them from a PC using free software such as MagicQ. I've also got a few LED 12v spotlights at a low angle to simulate early sun or moonlight. There's even a DCC to DMX converter so you can control lighting from your command station. See Open DCC.
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I recently upgraded to a Hakko solder station. Also not cheap (and rather garish) but an excellent iron with lots of bits available. Very controllable either manually or with presets. I got mine off a well known auction site for around £100 but make sure it's a genuine Hakko. https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=hakko+fx-888d
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There's quite a good video on the BFI site of the Trowse swing bridge replacement that might help. https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-on-line-into-the-nineties-1987-online
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Another option would be to use a DCC circuit breaker (or a booster) - simply put it between the DCC output from your command station and the track. Make sure that the accessory decoders are fed from before the circuit breaker. Then when a short occurs the circuit breaker trips before your command station and you can still use your accessory decoders. These are the breakers that I use and they work well - http://www.dccsupplies.com/item-p-101162/psx-1-intelligent-circuit-breaker-1-power-di http://www.digitrains.co.uk/ecommerce/dcc-accessories/circuit-protection-and-power-management/power-shield-psx-1.aspx I think there are others available.
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I am also using Zimo in my Heljan Class 20s. Digitrains do two versions of the sound files - ZS20A & ZS20B - which is ideal if you want to run in pairs. Zimo have very good features in the decoders if you want to use smoke generators such as automatically linking smoke output to acceleration and startup. The sound is, of course, excellent.
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Ahh - yes I've used JLTRT cellulose in the past and it was very good, but, as you say, is no longer available. Bit of a shame as I find the Railmatch aerosol either comes out too fast or not at all... I do have an airbrush but sometimes you just want a quick blast from a can to avoid all the cleaning up afterwards that an airbrush requires.
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I had to build my own lamps using dowel, brass tube and shades from EMA models. http://www.ema-models.co.uk/index.php/scale-representation/light-fixtures.html I searched for quite a long time before I found these shades which I think look quite good.
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I used 2.5mm square plastic for my concrete posts with the tops bent over by first softening gently by holding over a hot soldering iron and then quickly bending against a jig. I drilled the holes for the wires with the help of another jig and a quick spray of concrete coloured paint completed the job. For the mesh I used 'tulle', available very cheaply from habadashery shops. All it needed was a quick spray with grey primer. I didn't bother with attempting barbs on the barbed wire - I think it would be very hard to make anything which didn't look overscale. One mistake I made was to use fine electrical wire which was difficult to keep tensioned and avoid kinks. I'm in the process of replacing it with 0.3mm nickel silver.