Irish_R_M

Turfburner Sample, which may get lost in transit..

Just catching up with this thread, and I'll be honest, I haven't a fiddlers what that photo is of, despite seeing a little under a thousand hours go into the project. Done well, Fran, you have. (Looking forward to my first Warley now!) RM (Edit - ah yes, that pipe)

1166.2 mm, or a touch under 3' 10" in old money. HTH RM.

Amended CAD and (shortest)Snag List (I've ever written) went to the Far East while you were on the tarmac in Dublin... keep it to yourself.. RM

I fancy a rebuild of a Wakefield Loco from 1912, with Maunsell designing the saddle.. RM

Cheapo reversible options here - magic tape in any good stationary shop, comes in a 1" roll. Apply to the reverse, job done. Alternative is laminating pouches which come in A5 sizes, handy for bigger areas, but has no "sticky" properties. A quick blast of spray mount/glue should suffice. Tracing paper also works. One other one I recall using some years ago, was laminating several sheets of household clingfilm together by judicious use of the rolling pin. Lets more light through than the other options, yet completely obscures the actual internal contents. I used to make up clear corrugated panels for industrial roofs years ago by pressing it between a former. Looks like fibre glass too! A skim of PVA or similar between the sheets, let set for 24 hours, and you have a lifetime supply! HTH, Rich.

Ah my apologies. I'll make enquiries about hard metal straight cutters, but I suspect some high end expensive piece of kit, like those for orthodontic or dental work like this http://www.dentronix.com/Products/tabid/58/ProdID/110/HARD_WIRE_CUTTER_STRAIGHT.aspx RM

Pound shop paint brushes, or if you want bang for buck, a wallpaper paste brush from similar high quality establishments. It'll have the right colour, and can be stuck with pva. Failing that, a brush and pan set will give you as many straight fibres you need. Should you require a laugh, I recalled this video that recommended thus - "Fur from a ginger tom is ideal for making grass, as well as thatch on models of poor peoples houses..." https://youtu.be/5nTtOOKan-U RM

Scruffy, What you need is Xuron Track Cutters # 2175B. It cuts one side flush, the other side is mangled. Best I've ever used. RM

Fran - the man's clearly a Brake Van fan as much as meself, don't be too tough on him. RM

I'd just like to reiterate what the folks above have said. I burned out two of the tankless versions over the space of a few years, one through stupidity, the other through use, before progressing to a serious tank monster, and have never seen this pulsing, even with low pressure weathering. The brushes that come with the kit are fine, some parts poorly engineered, but cleaned well, should give plenty years of service before you feel the need to upgrade.

To answer the OP, railmatch acrylics (IMHO) aren't that good, sadly. Slightly stodgy consistency I found having bought a few of them at a show, which I found surprising. As was the colour palette/rendition, so maybe it was a batch that was well passed it's use by date. It was across about 12 pots. I found the colours nothing like the enamel range in terms of shade and tone. Thinning acrylics is something one learns with time, but I use a simple drop test. Using a medium sized brush, dilute your paint with whatever you choose. I find Adam's Ale works just fine. If, when you lift the brush out of the pot, and the blob of paint hangs for about a second before falling, you've the right airbrush consistency. If it's much quicker than that, leave the lid off for a few hours until some water evaporates. Tamiya acrylics have a very high alcohol content, hence the sweet smell, and aren't the easiest to work with. The dry time is much longer than others as a result and can peel off a poorly prepped surface, even days later. Vallejo / Model Air are the finest about. Model Air is pre-thinned, Vallejo is not (same company). One of each to compare consistency might be a good barometer. Whilst you can certainly get more coats of acrylic on than enamel, be conscious of the plasticising time for acrylics, the time needed for it to go "off" proper. Usually 24 hours before you can start applying masking (safely) but high quality low tack tapes and hairdryers allow bodgers like myself to play fast and loose with those times. A final shot of floor polish or varnish should give you the sealant coat you require to somewhat emulate the enamel finish to be able to use the weathering finishes you're familiar with. Enamels aren't evil, just naughty! hth Rich.

And here was me thinking these were necessary sacrifices to the Floor Fairies. In my deluded attempt to get the one up on them, I can now call a halt to my morning ritual of firing fistfuls of whitemetal axleboxes, leafsprings, and coupling hooks carpetward. Plus, it hurts my sockless foot when trod on. RM.

Farewell, Old Master. The only reason I did Architect School was because they had a module on model making. The only reason I was mad about making buildings was Allan Downes' work. Train tracks were secondary! Floored beyond belief, and it's taken me a few days to absorb this. Funny how such a random individual can have an effect on one's life path. Sincere condolences to family and friends. "Ar dheis Dé do raibh a anam", an old Irish farewell - "On the right Hand side of God may he sit" Richard.

I think it was a case that the smoke box heat destroyed the paint finish, and at some stage it became standard to paint it black. Kieran, lovely work as always. RM.

Bang on Dava, do "something without thinking too much" should be almost a mantra in this hobby. I had the good misfortune to destroy my artery and tendon in my left hand last Christmas, and have been struggling to get back to "normal". I've been with scalpel, ruler and soldering iron since I was 14, and those numbers have almost reversed now, and the amount of things I've avoided attempt, solely because of this injury is ridiculous. There have been scenarios where product has come in from China where a minor item needs correction, many hundreds, and I've gone and sorted it with traditional modelling, without even thinking. There's no doubt that the "strive for progress, rather than perfection" as intimated above, is a solid goal to aim for the majority of modellers. Much of modelling is about mental well being, relaxing, learning, as is the community aspect of fora or clubs. Seriously, only a lunatic would consider doing this for a living? RM

This reminds me of an a story I heard many moons ago, of old boys in a pub saying that they'd give up the drink if the price of a pint went beyond a £1. Canvassed a few recently, and if it goes beyond €5, they swear the same. It's a worthwhile investment in either format imho, even better with dry roasted peanuts and a... RM

Registration successful! Let the games begin

I always held the belief that British Racing Green was as a "hat tip" to the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup race held in Ireland - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1903_Gordon_Bennett_Cup, and that they chose a colour which was green with more yellow in it, rather than, for example, the maunsell green which has a blue hue. If anything, D123, by that logic, is perfect, as there's no blue in it, whereas D5185 has a nice spoonful in there. Rich.

I spend all day designing railway models which is far more demanding than any other jobs I've done in the past, bar the supermodel gig* I did for a summer in 1998, and when it comes to chill out time in the early hours of the morning, the most I can do is plot what stuff to buy "it's holding me back, and I can't possibly do another stroke until I have this thing" nonsense, or "the soldering iron gets a bit stinky" or "filing rail is a bit noisy and might wake the small one", or "I left a key tool in HQ and possibly can't carry on, until I have it". It's all procrastination, and we're all guilty of that - long working days, and the thought of trying to be Worzel Gummidge, and swapping one professional head, for another more leisurely, yet similarly focussed one, in the pursuit of some modelling brilliance, is an anathema for most. So I'll pop on here for a bit, which in itself is inspiration, then I see something astonishing, and the batteries are recharged. Don't get me wrong, I won't actually do anything on foot of this new found enthusiasm, but I'll google the life out whatever it is. That internal dichotomy is enough for me. Now if you'll excuse me, I've some brickwork patterns that need further investigation, before I commit to anything... Rich. P.S. - There's no rush to finish a layout, or a model either. Could you imagine the panic of having nothing left to do? Unconscionable, M'lud. For a healthy attitude toward this challenge, I favour the adage of the gardeners - "Little, and often" *It was repainting a Class 20 in CIE colours with a distemper brush...

Does this qualify? LNWR Hotel on Dublin's North Wall Quay. And the adjacent LNWR Station... Central focus of my quayside layout, might encourage me to do a bit. Richard. P.S. Both still survive in perfect slumber

I have to say, it's taken a bit of time to get used to the digital stuff. Ill be honest, there's nowt better than a pint of plain, bit of peace and quiet, and a thumb through a paper issue. That said, it's equally satisfying to flick through the digital edition, get to the so-called "end" of the mag and keep going into a garden special! Have to say that I do like the additional links to vids and photos on pocketmags, which you don't get with print. Can I be greedy and say I'll stick to both formats, depending on how thirsty I am? Richard. edit: sp3lling

The thing to remember here with all these software packages is the end purpose for which you want it. Most products from the Autodesk stable are "traditional mesh modelling" platforms and do not offer Solid modelling, or parametric modelling, which plays nice with CNC machines and big lumps of steel. Autodesk Inventor does work, but it's an unwashed child in the face of Solidworks or PTC Creo, and they can be big on outlay for a licence. https://shapr3d.com are coming up with some lovely software that's a nice blend of parametric (think stuffy engineering) and traditional (more free flowing and faster), which is in it's infancy, but should be a real game changer long term. Rich.

Yeah, harumph, story there lads? Stick on the CIE roundel too, tut tut. I'd not pay much heed to the colours on graphic and deco plates which are produced in CAD, typically 256 colour range, ala 1992. Rich

If you like DOS, run IPCONFIG /all in CMD.exe, and you'll have all the IP info you need! Do let us know how you get on mind, It's a while since I used GIMP, and am currently hating the most recent photoshop. Rich