mikeandnel

When this is finished, I don't think that any discrepancies will be obvious. Keep it up! I am modelling the 1840s in EM so you are way earlier than me. I will be keeping an eye on this thread. Concerning outside cranks, the old 'Lion' kit from Keyser had outside cranks and they were a brass etch which was glued on to the end of the axle. Michael dJS

Hello Peter It must be the way I have taken the photos because I can assure you that the chassis is absolutely square and parallel with the body Michael

Well I haven't had much to report this last few weeks as I have been at our other home in Turkey. Unfortunately being there does not lend itself to modelling due to the sense of lethargy that the high temperatures bring. Anyway it is nice to lay in a hammock and read a book now and then. However back to modelling. Projects completed since returning to England are as follows: I have finally been able to find the fault with my L.S.W.R. Railmotor which has been 'bugging' me for some time. The Railmotor is a Jidenco etched brass kit and is painted in LSWR colours with lining done with a bow pen. The problem that I had was that the motor would run and the driving wheels turn but the vehicle just had no grip and would only move sporadically. It took me ages to work out that the motor bogie mounting angle was wrong. This has now been modified and the railmotor now flies round the track (or tries to!) Motor is a DS10 with open gearing. Second build has been a SEF Crane Tank kit as supplied to the South Eastern Railway in 1885, number 409, and has been left in ex Nielsen Works grey because my 80 year old hands will no longer let me do lining of such precision. Looking at the photo of 409 in 'Locomotives of the S.E.R. by D.L. Bradley the lining would appear to be very fine and my white transfer lining is much too thick. Some modifications to the kit have been made to make the loco more like the works photo, The power is provided by a Mashima 1015 motor working through a High Level gearbox and it runs very nicely. Only thing left to do is to put coal on the tops of the side tanks. Third build has been an open wagon of the East & West Yorkshire Union Railway, built in my preferred way with actual wood, but this time I have taken on board the advice from 'Burgundy' and others, and I have scribed the inside planking as well as the outside planking, which I think can be clearly seen in the photo. Since taking the photo, I notice that I seem to have lost a door stop so that will have to be replaced. Next project already under way is a Brighton 'Atlantic', also from a Jidenco kit but modified to bring it somewhat nearer to the many photos. It will probbly end up as an 'H!' Wheels and gearbox, again Mashima and High Level arrived yeaterday. After that, 'Inspector' is next due in the build shop as the wheels etc arrived yeaterday from Alan Gibson Wheels. Hope to get a lot done over the winter. We will see!

Just to add my six-penneth, below hopefully will be seen a scratchbuilt wagon in 4mm EM gauge of the East & West Yorkshire Union Railway. As the photo shows, construction is by using my favourite wooden material, but at the suggestion of 'Burgubdy' and others, I have also scribed the inside planking. The wagon runs on Gibson wheels with pin-point bearings Now I see the photo I realise that I appear to have lost a door stop

After reading all the comments about the Dremel and it's shortcomings, you can see why I keep using Proxxon Michael dJS

Hello NRG710 I was the person who suggested the Proxxon as I have one and would not part with it. It is vastly superior to any of the others and I have not found the standard speeds to be a problem for drilling, polishing, reducing metals etc. It does have a built in speed adjuster but if you need it to run at lower speeds for a particular purpose, then I suggest that you run it through a dimmer switch or similar. I agree with some of the other replies who suggest getting all the accessories from sources such as Lidl or Aldi also, but I would suggest that you get the actual drill bits also from Proxxon which are of very high quality and very robust. I use a lot of 0.5mm drills and whilst many are very flimsy and break easily, I have not been able to break a Proxxon drill of that size after three months. And they remain sharp! You can find them on Ebay quite often. Regards Michael dJS.

Go for the Proxxon equivalent. A much superior tool and made in Germany. Michael dJS

Hello Londontram Did you read this thread: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/74488-scratch-building-wagons/ Best of luck with the wagons Michael dJS

Hello Mike I think that you are doing exactly the right thing to keep your mind from dwelling on other problems. Like you I have health problems in the big 'C' area and I find that modelling in 'EM' gauge really applies the mind and gives it something else to concentrate on (especially as I am also 80 years of age) Please keep your present way of thinking to the front of your mind. My very best wishes to you for the future Michael dJS

Hello Mike Personally I would recommend Summerson. A good source of competitively priced railway books is Grosmont Bookshop: http://www.grosmontbookshop.co.uk/railways.php If they haven't got a particular book they will look for it Amazon is another source, of course. Michael dJS

For the Bigbee Line Thanks for the comment. For the panels I use test pots of emulsion of the most suitable colour and the method is described in the blog. The thickness of the mix has to be just right for the emulsion to flow to the edges of the panel, and naturally the model has to be laid on its side with the panels dead level so that the emulsion mix does not congregate at one end Michael

Mike A nice clear description of your work and methods and I have learnt something from it.Keep us posted on future efforts. Re the airbrush, I could not the results without mine so 'enjoy'! Michael

Paul Thanks for the advice but I have survived to be 80 now and do not have your apparent 'death wish'! Michael

For Job's Modelling and Mike Oxon Thanks for the comments. Much appreciated. I have added another photo to the blog because I did not realise that the roof, ends and seats detail could not be seen Michael

This week has been absolutely frantic with the Head of the house making unreasonable demands and therefore modelling time has been very limited. However, attached are photos of three vehicles finished this week. [They are a LBSCR Craven Family/Luggage carriage from the late 1850s and a LBSCR Open Third of the 1840s. Both are kits from 5 and 9 Models and following my way of doing things, both the 1840s Open and 1850s Family carriage have been fitted with real mahogany steps and running boards, which I weathered to show how that wood fades when exposed to the weather. These mahogany strips can be obtained from any supplier of veneers The third is a model of the ‘Cavell’ PBV number 132 as used to return the body of Nurse Edith Cavell to London after the First World War. Transfers on the two early vehicles are from the Brighton Circle, and those on the PBV are from Fox transfers, although I think the white shading on the figure 1 on the PBV is a bit too thick. I have also put up three photos of SECR Carriages under the following topic http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/75781-secr-non-corridor-third/?p=1152580 That has been all I have achieved this week. Doesn’t it make your heart bleed! Michael

Mike I don't see any sign of a really flat surface in any of your photos. My method for building kit wagons involves assembling them upside down on an old mirror using a miniature set square. I must admit that I can't get on with Superglue and whitemetal and solder all my kits together, but thats just me. As Burgundy says ' Not all castings are precise' and it could be a good idea to put mating castings together back to back to see if any end of the solebars needs trimming to get more accurately matching sides and a more square end result. For Mikkel, What is this gel type that you mention please? Michael

Well Mike, Nice to see that your efforts have been transferred into a blog Hope to see and hear more from you. At the moment I have both N5 and N6 GWR etched brass horseboxes part built and am currently 'faffing about' with the brake gear which is quite intricate. Anyway, if mine turn out as good as yours I will be very pleased with myself Michael

For N15class?Mikkel/Pete_Mcfarlane Thanks for the comments. My whole room is 3 mtrs square but has to double a an office, and your piece of marble obviously does the same job as my mirror. Glad to enjoyed the clean stock thread. It did stir up some interesting reactions, didn't it? Yes Pete, the 'Balloon; was a Blacksmiths kit. I have also done a rake of their SECR Coaches. Michael

Well, not much has been achieved since my last upload to this blog. Got involved in a bit of a controversy about clean rolling stock and, what with that and grandchildren needing to be accommodated, modelling time has been at a premium. This week I have only managed to complete the Lancashire & Yorkshire 10 ton van and the scratchbuilt S.E.R. Sledge Brake van, also managed to spray the two LBSCR Open & Passenger/Luggage carriages with their ‘teak’ topcoat, and also sprayed the ‘Cavell’ SECR PBV. Photo of Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway 10 ton van with canvas roof opening. The van is a modified MAJ kit and the canvas has been replicated by pieces of black tissue paper in order to give that crumpled effect. The roof opening components were not included as part of the kit, so were created from a drawing. Sorry about the branch on the track but there was a slight slope on the table, and the wagon is so free running that it had to be 'chocked'! Photo of scratchbuilt South Eastern Railway Sledge Brake Van For those of you who may not know, these sledge brake vans were built by Brown, Marshall & Co of Birmingham. The idea was that when the van brake was applied, then a ‘shoe’ was forced down against the rail and the resultant friction would retard the movement of the train. Needless to say, it did not catch on! I have also attached a photo of a recently finished LBSCR ‘Balloon’ Brake Third. The reason for showing this is really so that I can describe the method of painting, just in case nobody has thought of doing it the way I do. The coach, when ready, is first sprayed with the LBSCR Coach Brown and allowed to dry. When perfectly dry I mix up a solution of the correct colour emulsion and float it into each etched panel with either an eye dropper of a small brush. If the consistency is right (and it takes a few tries to get it right), then the emulsion will flow to the edges of the recessed panel area and not flow over the raised part of the etch, thus retaining the colour where you want it.. One side at a time, let it dry, then do the other side I estimate one coach side like this takes about 20 minutes with the emulsion. I have also done a rake of four LBSCR 4-wheel coaches the same way, together with a Luggage Brake. Concerning my work area, a photo of this is above and you can see how small it is. The mirror for me is very important because my stock is built on this in order to ensure that everything is flat and level And the use of a square in conjunction with this mirror does mean that most things that I build are not rhomboidal! Soldering irons range from 40 watt to 12 watt and I also have a resistance soldering table if the particular job needs that kind of soldering. I will produce the other photos as soon as the items are finished. Now let the brickbats fly! Michael

For ChrisN Sorry, I forgot to mention that John does not supply these brake vans as kits. All he supplies are the moulded sides and ends. the rest is up to you, so it is partial scratchbuilding. Drawings of similar brake vans can be found in 'An Illustrated History of Southern Wagons, Part 3 Michael

Hello 5700 I have just come across your workbench in the scratchbuilding forum where I also have a topic running. Seeing the realistic wood finish you get on plastic wagon kits, I wondered if you have ever considered using real wood. There are a couple of my wagons there that might interest you. Just a thought Michael mikeandnel

Nick Again many thanks for all your help Michael

Hello Bill Who do you want to shoot? me or the horse? Michael

I am currently in the middle of building two of John Arkell’s South Eastern Railway break (brake?) vans. These are resin castings of which John supplies the two sides and two ends, and the rest is up to you. The quality of the resin castings is very sharp but finding drawings was difficult so John very kindly supplied me with two similar drawings and so the end result should look something like! Apart from that I have finished the 1840s Horsebox, scratch built from a drawing in the Illustrated London News about 160 years ago I have attached photos in order to start some discussion

No, it will not have the lean because my modelling period is around the time it was built, and it was not built with a 'lean;! Michael