Enfys_Rainbow

Hi all, 

I've just put this Petite Properties laser cut kit together and clad it in embossed plastic sheet. It's not suitable for the layout, but I am intending on using it as a testbed for painting brickwork - which'll be required for the viewblocker house at the left hand side. 

Bit of fun, and I may make use of it in the future. 

They're OK, not the magic tool some would have you believe though. 

Personally, I wouldn't make a big investment in them, one or two maybe, but no more than that. 

How much are these lovely little cottages going to cost? 

Oh, lovely rusting too! 

Nice work! Are the warehouse buildings from Fair Price Models? 

2 hours ago, sb67 said:

The rusty finish looks great, how did you get that? 

Have you seen the Charlie Strong Metals thread on here? There's some superb rusty weathering in it using a hairspray technique to get patchy rust. 

I have seen that thread - this has also been done using the hairspray technique (well actually AK's Heavy Chipping Fluid) 

Bit more progress with the rusty tin shed. It's getting there is all I can say right now. 

The roof needs some further work and then the whole thing needs some more weathering to blend it all together. 

Everyone likes a Spitfire don't they? 

Hi Mike, 

It's SE Finecast embossed plastic sheet. The overlaid bits are actually kitchen foil. I tried butt jointing the sheets but it just doesn't look convincing. I'm not sure of the longevity of this method but time will tell... 

Bit of progress with the corrugated building I started. My plans for this is for it to have a rusty, patchy finish. 

It's been undercoated with a base layer of "rust" ready for further painting. This has also had the advantage of making it easier to take a photo of! 

The overlaid foil panels looks reasonably thin to my eye. 

And here is the aforementioned Lanarkshire bufferstop. It makes a pleasant afternoon project. 

I'm not sure if there should be an extra sleeper at the back to be honest, but it'll be right up against the backscene so there's very limited room if so (also ignore the chairs - these face away from the front of the layout so aren't even visible). 

Thanks Mikkel, I actually have a Lanarkshire bufferstop awaiting construction and you're right, it will help the overall appearance. 

Tonight marks an important landmark for me and this layout: the track is now glued down - this is the furthest I've made it with any layout in the last 10 years! 

Next up is to get the track tidied up by adding missing sleepers at the joints etc. 

Excellent plan, looking forward to seeing progress! 

I also thought of Canada Wharf when I saw the mock up. 

I guess not getting injured/killed is as good a reason as any! 

Hello all, 

Where points are operated by hand using levers attached to extended sleepers, for example in yards, are the levers always on the same side?

For example if there were two points, one directly behind the other, would the levers be on the same side or would it depend on the location of the point relative to other things, available space or something else? 

Improving Peco Code 75 points:

Hi all, 

Anyone who has been following this thread will have seen that I'm using Peco Bullhead track, with Code 75 points. A couple of posts ago, I showed some simple modifications I'd made to the toe end/tie bar to visually improve the look. 

I've decided to take this a step further and there's a couple of other threads where similar modifications have been carried out. 

First, an unmodified point:

And now my modified point:

I've replaced the chairs with those from C&L and removed the original sleepers either side of the tiebar and replaced them with some spare ones taken from some offcuts of the Bullhead track. Obviously there has to be some compromises to ensure stock continues to run smoothly, but overall I think the appearance is vastly improved. 

Note that I've only replaced those on the viewable side of the track. From a low level, I think it's definitely worthwhile. 

Fiddly, time consuming but far easier than building my own track! 

As a local (live in Bangor, work in Llangefni) I'm really pleased on one hand - it's great that the future of the line seems to be secure. 

However I cannot see how services to Bangor (or beyond) could ever be viable unless they were a minimum of hourly (which would be pretty unlikely on a branch such as this). 

As sad as it makes me to say, anyone who needs to travel from either Amlwch or Llangefni to work, will always go by car if they have the option as its far quicker. 

2 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

I'm just a visionary with no computer skills or else I'd be in there, along with many other useful bits and bobs, if I had someone with the necessary skills I'd even buy them a printer!

 

Mike.

I have no experience with 3D printed parts of any kind. But looking at some of the bits made by people like Modelu (for example) it must be possible to do it and probably wouldn't be much less fragile than plastic parts. 

3 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Now, if only someone could 3D print the correct brake levers?!!

I'd have a couple of hundred at least. (That's the number of "incorrect" built and unbuilt Airfix minerals I have!)

 

Mike.

That's a pretty good idea - I'm surprised no one has done it yet! 

Just now, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

If I may point out a slight error, whilst using the Parkside brake levers is an excellent idea, you seem have perpetuated the fault of the original Airfix kit by not having a clutch fitted lever on the non brake shoe side, unless it's my screen reproduction, in which case apologies.

 

Mike.

No you are correct Mike. I just don't have any levers with a clutch. I can live with the error as I can barely see it anyway! 

1 hour ago, Bungus the Fogeyman said:

On the subject of Dapol 16 tonners- I found that on some of the ones I attempted to build that the baseplate had warped, probably due to the age of the mould. Simple answer- bang a Red Panda chassis under it and voila a vac-fitted 16 tonner! Use the old Airfix moulding for the unfitted stuff as the Span Yard man implied!

 

Disgusting of Market Harborough

The solebars had significantly warped on the last one I did. This time though, all in all, its been pretty good. I do appreciate you can improve the underframe by using Red Panda or Parkside chassis, but I also quite like the original! 

Anyway, some more progress to share. The wagon body has now been assembled and the underframe attached. Minor tweaks include replacing the badly misshapen bufferbeams with some plastic channel and substituting the brake levers and brakes with some spare Parkside bits. 

All that really remains now are the buffers themselves and then I can start thinking about the painting. 

Mig Oilbrushers work well - I use them often. 

You don't mention if you're using them neat or not but remember that their intended purpose is often as panel line washes on aircraft - where the whole point is to be able to wipe them off or as washes, which require thinning. 

Hope people don't mind me documenting this build. I'm sure most people have built an Airfix/Dapol mineral wagon in their time, but I thought I'd make an effort to do it in stages. 

The first step for me is to file off the raised numbers moulded into that back of all the body sections. Not entirely necessary as they're hidden by any load, but I always do it anyway! 

After that, I turned my attention to the solebars. I make 2 small adjustments here. The first is drilling a hole in each of the w-irons - this makes a big difference to the appearance once everything is painted and weathered. 

The second is to fill the hole in the solebar itself where the kit brake lever is mounted. I do this because I prefer to use brake levers from Parkside. I glued stretched sprue into the holes, but any rod would also work. 

Once trimmed and painted, its all but invisible. 

3 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Personal opinion I know, but I won't touch a non original Airfix kit, the Dapol manifestations are too poor quality in comparison, but you're making a decent fist of them, long may it continue!

 

Mike.

It's a good point Mike, the Airfix ones are better - the plastic itself is far superior. The loose packed bags Dapol use don't help things stay flat either. 

Either way, I still enjoy building them, and with a bit of care they still build up well most of the time.