97xx

I've just spotted that RailMatch acrylic 'universal primer' 2506 is "For use with acrylic paints on plastics and whitemetal" This is in fact what I've been using, but I'd never seen the reference to white metal.

Thanks both - are you diluting this down and with what for use in an airbrush?

I'm at the point of needing to add rivet and/or weld detail to a whitemetal body, for which I have some Archer transfers. Should I apply them to the (cleaned) bare metal, or prime first? I've got MicroSol and MicroSet in stock, so any guidance on using them to best effect most welcome. Thanks.

I'm interested in your views on the above. Up until now I have used Railmatch acrylic primer - which appears completely satisfactory, although I'm not experienced enough to judge the longevity/resilience of it. I topcoat with Railmatch acrylics also - again seem to go on well with the airbrush, I get a very good finish, and I'm not likely to move away from those. I suppose my curiosity is how really suitable the Railmatch acrylic primer is for brass/whitemetal - to what extent is it a good 'primer'? In other lives I've used all sorts of etch primers for metal, but none would be particularly suitable for an airbrush without thinning with acetone (usually) and also not sure I really want them etching my airbrush...!

The remodelling of the Sow's Ear continues. Not sure it's ever going to make much of a Silk Purse however! Rivets on rear buffers were a bit of a faff...

I am absolutely staggered at the truly appalling quality and running performance of so much of this pretty expensive stuff. I too have browsed Sam’s trains and virtually everything he reviews either runs badly, needs fettling, is badly finished, or has bits loose in the box. And this is for hundred pound items. Luckily, for the manufacturers, at least many here are gifted with the fortitude and skill to fix what should have been done by the sloppy and dishonest Chinese manufacturers. I know we can blame lack of QA on the commissioners and sellers but frankly QA in China is a waste of time - the minute you walk away they just do what they want. As well as stealing your IP if you provided any. I know as it has happened to a business I worked in a former corporate life, to the tune of tens of millions. Send the stuff back is an obvious call, but again I know that sometimes it’s just easier to fix it - and in any case we of course would rather have it than not. However if there is a duty on all of us for 2021 it is to call out this rubbish for what it is. These people are laughing at us. Sorry for a bit of a rant, but I’ve been through half a dozen (supposedly decent make) LED bulbs in the last month around the house and it’s just the same story.

Agree re caveat emptor. Ultimately, one bad voice garners on average around two dozen sets of listening ears, so the penalty for unacceptable behaviour is large. We can all imagine that dealing with the general public has its challenges, but I would suggest that in a more specialist area it is likely that we're not quite as 'general' and so hopefully more understanding of supplier challenges. For me, performance issues are far more forgivable than unnecessarily unacceptable behaviour.

Quick update - went for fixed rear axle and compensated front and middle. First time I have ever attempted such a thing and am delighted. A super smooth runner and faultless pickup.

Might be at cross-purposes here - I was referring to the seller's obligation to refund on the original delivery charge - where they are not required to refund you for any 'enhanced' delivery option you chose over their standard one. In detail, they can also pro-rate that refund according to the proportion of delivery charge applicable to only the faulty item. So, to take an extreme example if you had a sheet of transfers faulty in a 30kg delivery of white metal, you'd only get small letter postage refunded, pretty obviously. In terms of returning the item, you are within your rights (and in fact advised) to choose a trackable and compensated service, and be refunded by the seller accordingly. Appreciating that this can indeed be expensive, it is often suggested that you offer the seller the option to issue a return service label, or collect the item. However, I can see that this conversation might not have been too fruitful here...

I'm sure you probably know this by now, but the consumer does NOT have to cover the cost of returning the item where the problem lies with the item being incorrect or faulty. Paying for return is required only where the fault is that of the buyer. You are also entitled to a refund of your original postage costs for receiving the faulty item, the only wrinkle here is (I think) if you selected an optional enhanced delivery service over the standard one offered in which case you are not refunded for the difference above the standard. Consumer Rights Act 2015, effective 1st October 2015.

Sorry Mick, a long time ago - having wracked my memory, I now realise I was referring to Thorne Junct.

A couple of questions if I may: Looking at the latest track plans, it seems Gilberdike junction has been doubled? I remember getting held up there on a Friday night from Hull trying to make a connection at Doncaster. Has Saltend now lost its rail connection? In my day there was a weekly acid train to Baglan Bay.

Just ordered the first Mick, looking forward to reading it!

I worked in Hull '89-93, commuting Su-Fr from the South East, the Sunday journey making the most of what was I recall 'Weekend First' where for initially £3, and latterly a fiver, you could use 1st on the 17:20 direct HST from KX. I've always tended to take an interest in the railways of 'where I've been' and acquired the splendid book 'More Illustrated History of the Railways of Hull' by W.B.Yeadon, pub. 1995, rep. 2006. The 'More' points to this being a follow on to the earlier version. Great book. Fascinating thread, and the book has several of the 'photos I've seen here, plus lots more.

Question: sorry if I missed this, but are the position indicators powered by the same (defective) battery supply?

Decided to rebuild a truly dreadful Q1 I built over 40 years ago, without too many skills then it has to be said. Luckily it was superglued so fell apart in the Nitromors. I've gone for an etched SEF chassis, which I've compensated with HL hornguides/blocks. HL 'box and Mashima. Articulated rods now. I suspect I have added tender pickups unnecessarily, given how amazingly well the chassis runs with compensation on my first go. Decided to create a drawbar which does all the electrical connections without need for wires - the central brass bush provides chassis connectivity via underside of PCB, and topside contacts wiper on tender and is wired loco-side. The body is not looking great, but we have what we have - a 40 year old K's kit. Amusingly, and annoyingly, the tender axleboxes are in different places on each side casting! The backhead is a bit of a bodge but none was included, so I have cobbled up something that at least fills the hole. Tender middle wheelset not fitted for testing. EDIT: need to do some more 'thinning' on various whitemetal endges.

Am about to install the brake gear on a SEF Q1 chassis. It's looking pretty fiddly - a tiny upturned 'U' bracket (bent two places) then a hanger and separate shoe all in n/s soldered up. Times 6 obviously. Aside the enormous potential for a really annoying short circuit, once brakegear is on the wheels will be pretty much unremovable given the shoe clearances dictated by the pre-etched holes. In theory I could try to solder it all up, and then spring it on and off the cross-wires as needed, but given the 'U' bracket this will be monumentally fiddly. I'm sure an experienced hand would not find this such a challenge, however. I would quite like to use plastic brake gear - making up the whole set with rodding and then 'springing' the top of each hanger onto a wire fixed cross the chassis. Thus it can come on and off for wheeling and painting etc. And no curious shorts. I've ordered Parkside plastic brake gear as this looks acceptably close to the prototype, but I'd welcome any other suggestions. Thanks.

The ChinaVirus has given me the time, for better or worse, to get back into 00 modelling. Inspired by many threads on here I have undertaken some RTR rebuilds (the Mainline Manor split chassis), a K's bodyline rebuild and currently am on a K's Q1 rebuild. For the Q1, I've ditched the K's 'brass bar' chassis, with its flangeless centre wheelset and whitemetal 'overlays' on the wobbly plastic wheels, and even incorrect wheelbase, and gone for a SEF etched chassis. Again, inspired by reading threads here I decided to (unnecessarily!) compensate it - never tried anything like this before. Which meant articulating the rods - I went for overlapping and dummy rivet on Markits deluxe crankpins - or at least they were 'deluxe' when I'd counterbored the top hats so they actually screwed down flush to the crankpin shoulder. Rear rigid axle, HL horn blocks front and middle, and compensated beam. All built using the excellent Avonside Chassis Jig, which is a first class product - witness that with no prior experience of it or etched chassis builds or compensation, I have an incredibly smoothly rolling chassis with no tight spots, and the compensation works a dream. It will be getting a HL Hiflier 'box and Mashima motor. Which is a long way of saying 'thanks' to all the various contributors on RMweb who have inspired me to do something a bit challenging! The chassis will be soldered up ultimately with N/S spacers - the current threaded ones are allowing me to test what I've made although I may keep them in some incarnation to secure the body. You will see that the location of the comp beam was an issue as the ideal position was taken with frame holes - I'd be interested if anyone sees a problem with what I've had to do. The 'rod' is 1mm hard brass wire so there isn't any appreciable 'give' - I was conscious that it is indeed meant to be 'compensation' not 'suspension' and I wanted to avoid any ride height or slant issues. EDIT: the wheels are temporary - real build will use boxpoks.

Have a look here for the range that comes from: https://historexagents.com/#product-gallery

Great, thanks. Will bite the bullet and get the 14" one.

So, if I buy the biggest (14") then will it do all the smaller jobs, albeit if it's a bit unwieldy occasionally?

I've tended to use parallel pliers and other such devices to do etch folding, or steel rule plus razor blade etc. It's worked, but, in most cases it feels like a bit of a bodge. I'd like to treat myself to a Hold & Fold tool - I say 'treat' as it will be something to make life easier rather than a necessity, and it's expensive. Having read many posts, what I'm seeing is a hearty recommendation to have one. But which size? I'm 00, and locos and wagons will make up most of what I do, but then again I do have an autotrailer on the shelf calling out "make me". Thoughts welcome!

Thanks for the continuing guidance and suggestions. I take the point about 'is it necessary with a compensated loco?'. Maybe not, but I find myself looking at all those extra wheels and given it's not difficult it seems a shame not to. I think I have a solution: the K's tender has no floor (you had to juggle 3 pinpoint axles between the sides as you glued/soldered it up!). It now will have a 60-thou plasticard dummy floor in order to secure the etched U-chassis which has inside bearings. However, where it is naturally captive it is too 'high' so will need packing to get correct buffer height. So, I will use a layer of PCB, copper side down, which will overhang the 'U', thus allowing me to solder fine brass wire contacts for the wheel treads, with lots of space/flexibility without having to keyhole it all in between brake rodding and so on. Suitable cuts in the PCB will allow me to insulate fully and/or have conductivity to body on LH side as I see fit. I will then employ my amateur go at disguising the connecting wires as pipes. See unpainted version below, which shows how I like to have them 'pluggable' - I have a bit of an aversion to permanently-tethered tenders.

Hmm, this echoes my foray into plungers. Airfix 14xx useless due to plungers and a scratchbuilt chassis I rebuilt and tried them but they prove very unreliable. Also they seem not to like steel tyres. So Gibson plungers and wheels were not a happy marriage! I am minded to go PB strip wipers with a small dimple (or my other experience of fine brass wire with small loop to tyre) - the minimum force, max pressure that Miss Prism speaks of...

Am in the process of making a Wills etched tender chassis for my truly dreadful (hopefully not when I'm finished...) K's Q1 whitemetal kit I am rebuilding and detailing. It's therefore an inside bearing 'U' etch of typical format. My question is on tender pickups. I will be compensating the loco chassis. I've retrofitted various pickups to RTR tenders: brass or PB wire/strip on front and rear wheels. Given I have a virgin etched U here it has crossed my mind to use Gibson plungers (F&R only) - the appeal being an uninhindered chassis space (aside brake gear which will be well below) and so easy to attach a thin straight brass wire to the two pickup spigots on each side, giving them the best possible chance of springing freely. Then the conducting wire can come off anywhere suitable. It is a (very) heavy tender so I'm thinking drag would not be much of an issue - or at least broadly the same as any other method such as wipers/spring wire etc. My reservation is that I've never failed to get wipers/wires etc. to work, but am a bit less enthusiastic about plungers. The theoretical neatness seems often overcome by practical trouble... Thoughts please? Thank you.