1965Nick

Thanks Chris, I’ve tinned nickel silver before and then soldered white metal castings to it using low melt but the space on your mk1 underframe kits to solder in gas cylinders and voltage controllers is way too small to get a hot soldering iron tip in. Cyano gel it is. 

I’m sure everyone will have their opinion or a different solution. But would you recommend to attach white metal castings to etched nickel silver? 
In a larger scale I would have soldered using a low melt solder or an epoxy resin like Araldite. 

Thanks Chris, this has helped enormously! Your generous help us greatly appreciated 😊

Hi Chris, 

I’d be interested to see those photographs too please. 
Thanks, 

Nick

Hi Chris, these photos are perfect and answer my questions. Thank you so much for sharing them. 😀

Thank you all for the replies. I think I know where the water tanks go; in the centre of the trussing as there is no space elsewhere with the refrigeration equipment, battery boxes and various control boxes. I don’t suppose it really matters but I’ll know. 

Hi, 

I’m building a 2mm scale BR mark 1 diagram 24 restaurant car. I need a bit of help on the layout of the underframe. Where were the 2 water tanks positioned? 
Thank you 

I would be interested in more BR mark 1 kits if they were available. Especially the ends and carcass. 

Hi, 

what 2mm etches do you currently have in stock, and how much do they cost. Many thanks!

34 minutes ago, Richard Hall said:

Looks just as lovely in blue as in green.  As you say, a good example of how you can still get plenty of operational interest into a small space.  I have been carrying around an idea in my head for several years, for an inner London small terminus vaguely inspired by the Kings Cross suburban platforms, and set around 1970.  Blue 57' non-corridor stock, Cravens and Derby DMUs, bit of parcels traffic and maybe a through freight line running along the back for some inter-yard trip workings to add variety.  Soot, decay, cigarette adverts and that feeling that hung over North London through the 1970s, that it had never recovered properly from the war. The DJM "Baby Deltic" would have been perfect, pity that never happened.  Someone should build it even if I don't.

 

Richard

That’s very much the plan I have with a run off into a tunnel onto the widened lines. I have quite a few 57 foot Mark 1 suburbans nearing completion.

The BR diagram books (on a few internet sites) are really useful in giving the layout of BR mark 1 coaches. Interestingly enough I’m building models of the diag 36 and 71 RFO and FO but in 2mm FS. We have some great mark 1 kits available. My next step will be the RK and RSO. I’m even including full interiors.

Like you, I’m relatively new to coach building in 2mm FS, having previously modelled in 4mm FS over 25 years ago. 
The best kits I’ve built are the Masterclass BR mark 1 kits. They go together so well, probably because of the great designing and that they’re built from nickel silver. I’ve built 1 kit from Worsley works, which wasn’t quite so well engineered and was etched from brass which seems flimsier and not so easy to work with. I’m sure you get more detail than you did with 4mm fs when I last modelled. My biggest tip is to use a powerful 60 watt iron with a fine 1mm tip, got mine cheaply from Amazon, you can get clean joints quickly. 

Thanks for the replies! 
I’ve often thought I should learn how to 3d print. From what I’ve seen 3d printing looks a lot sharper for detail than white metal casting. Didn’t realise B&H were still around but I’ve just found their price lists for December 2021. 
I do see they do Commonwealth and B4 bogie castings. What is the quality of them like. The 2mm society B1 bogies are really good quality etchings. 

Can anyone help? I’m looking for Propane cylinder boxes and refrigeration equipment for the RB and RMBs I’m building. Etched Pixels are out of stock. Has anyone supplies of UM240 or UM242 they’d be willing to part with. 

Handles are normally made out of etched partsand added on. It’s not as fiddly as you think. I do understand about the thickness of sides. There are etched available of ends and underframes. 2mm is not as scary as many think, 

These look fantastic, would they scale down to 2mm scale?

Thank you! The Llangollen Suburban group on Facebook is wonderful - lots of useful photographs. Maybe even a visit. 

21 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

Have a look here. Loads of photos.

 

No sign in necessary.

 

https://www.facebook.com/Llangollen-Railway-Suburban-Group-254004905093772/

 

If the book you mean is the BR Mark One book by Parkin, unfortunately there is very little on the Suburban stock in it. Worth picking up the supplement though as ISTR it has drawings of them in it.

 

https://hmrs.org.uk/publications/books/books-in-print/british-railways-mark-1-coaches-supplement.html

 

 

 

Jason

Hi,

I’ve a project underway to build a lot of Mark 1 suburban coaching stock in 2mm finescale for a King Cross Suburban model. 
Has anyone got any suburban stock photos to share? It would be interesting to see details of ends and interiors. I know there’s a brilliant book available but the 2nd hand prices are sky high. 
Here’s my contribution an end view of a SLO. 

1 hour ago, Izzy said:

 

The previous 2mm Guv kit by Chris Higgs Masterclass models had an etched roof template for the vent positions to go with the nice resin roofs they had.

 

I have managed to find and scan this etch which is below and should I hope be the right size when copied and printed out. The end slots are of course the centre line.

 

 

Bob

 

Izzy, thank you so much for this! We have got really helpful and kind members on this forum! 

7 hours ago, 2mm Andy said:

I have a drawing somewhere from an old (early 1960s) Model Railway Constructor magazine that shows the vent positions. I'll try to dig it out for you. It would be worth cross-checking it against photos though in case there is some variation in the vent positions.

 

Andy

Thank you, I really do appreciate this. I’ve returned to modelling after 20 odd years, most of my reference library has disappeared. I’ve tried googling but not with much success. 
I can recommend this kit without hesitation. 

Hi,

I’m really enjoying building the 2mm Scale kit for a BR GUV introduced recently by the association. It fits together like a dream. I’m coming to build the roof. Is there a template or plan for the roof ventilators? Any help would be welcomed. 

The new 2mm SA etch for the BR GUV is a delight and has come together good so far

On 23/04/2021 at 12:35, andreas said:

Thank you for your help and encouragement. Without Nick Mitchell's video tutorial I would not have gotten close to a working chassis. As someone who had never used a soldering iron before, his basic soldering advice was particularly useful.

 

I followed your advice and bent the axle boxes slightly outward. One axle is running perfectly now, much better than a comparable Farish wagon. The other axle has also improved significantly but may still need a little more tweaking.

 

I think that was part of the reason. I remember struggling with the axle boxes. Perhaps I managed to unsolder the bearing cups. I should get myself different solder to try varying temperatures.

 

That may be the other reason. I noticed the floor is slightly bent upwards on one side.

 

You probably won't believe it, but the photos were taken after my attempts at cleaning the etch. I used DCCconcepts Sapphire No-Clean flux, which according to their website can be cleaned with "a simple wipe over with cloth or cotton bud dipped in Isopropyl alcohol or even methylated spirits". Well, the results in the photo are after a prolonged bath in IPA and a good scrub with an old toothbrush. That did at least take off the layer of copper oxide that had formed. I will try again with cream cleaner. Out of curiosity, what flux is everyone using? The DCConcepts flux worked well enough (not that I have anything to compare it to) even if it is not intended for brass work.

 

There is one little detail I have still to add to the wagon: the gussets under the strengthening ribs of the bodywork. They are so small it is difficult to see them in the video. I have checked pictures of finished wagons and the prototype but I am still struggling to understand how to get from the two etched parts to the final thing. They look a very different shape to me. Can you perhaps point me to a good picture that shows where the two pieces need to be soldered together?

 

Andreas

I  built the starter kit  a few months ago with the same sort of results - the axle boxes were the hardest part. I found solder paste for certain jobs but found the Chinese version of fluxite and reel of solder that came bundled with my soldering iron from Amazon much better. I use a toothbrush and a shower cleaner from Aldi to clean work up with with good results. Currently I’m building up association kits for BR Mark 1 coaches which are fantastic and offer a good challenge. 

Hi everyone, 

Ive just started one of the 2SA kits of the BR CCT. I’ve realised that the parts diagram (the one on the website) is different from the actual etch. Is this right? I’m thinking that it might be that the end plates might simply be too small in 2mm and that the parts diagram is taken from a larger scale etch.