brian777999

You can control the flow of air and paint. Even with a single action air brush it should not ''go everywhere'' ; the flow of paint can be carefully controlled delivering it only where needed. I will admit that it can take 15 minutes to prepare the paint (stirred and thinned), 5 minutes to airbrush then 20 minutes to clean everything up. The cleanup is one reason I was thinking of using acrylics instead of enamels.

Those Vallejo paints look interesting. If you have used them yourself, which one is closest to UK railway bauxite ? It is hard to tell looking at colour charts online. All the other colours I need seem to be there.

What is causing the wheels to slip like that : wet weather ? What is all that steam being released just before it gets going ?

It is running now but not as smoothly as it should ; very rough at low speeds. When I get some test track set up then I will give it a good run and see if it improves at all. I might then use some slow set Araldite to cement the axles to the wheels and prevent them getting out of quarter again. Where can we buy spare screws for the keeper plates on Bachmann locos ? Are they all the same size ?

I did not have any problem either. I fitted a #20 to both ends which were the same height. Looks so much better. It is a pity the loco is a typical class 03 and runs badly even after disconnecting the fly cranks !

Where is the Branchlines website ? I am not having any luck finding it.

Where is the Branchline website ?

Do you mean the HIGH LEVEL chassis kit ? http://www.highlevelkits.co.uk/03page.html

Does the new 03 have some sort of lighting : Headlamps or cabin lights ?

What about using Wahl hair clipper oil for wheels and axles (not for gears ) ? Has anybody else used this product ?

I have pulled the wheels apart and had a go at quartering them. It was much easy than I thought. The loco runs much better than it did before now that the fly cranks have been disconnected. It is still not a really good slow runner but I will lubricate it and see if it improves. (Wahl hair clipper oil for the axles and white grease for the gears). 1. Did these class 4 locos ever had headlamps ? 2. Is it worth buying a set of new axles from Peters Spares ? Even though the old axles are splitting, I am not sure a set of new axles will make it run any better. 3. Why do the fly cranks cause problems ? They don't run on an axle so they should be trouble free.

Further mucking about has resulted in me getting the wheels out of quarter WITHOUT REMOVING WHEELS FROM THE AXLES ! How did I manage to do that ? Instead of being at 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock on each side, the wheels are now the same on both sides.

That is interesting. I was beginning to wonder if I was wasting my time and money trying to get this loco to run smoothly. But I will purchase replacement axles and see how that goes. No wonder the class 04's always go cheaply on ebay !

I had a go today but still no luck : I disconnected the fly cranks but that has not helped much. I may reconnect them later if I can get the loco to run at all ! Everything seems to be fitting nicely but when the keeper plate is put back on then the wheels will not move (or not move much at all). The gear is not engaging with the motor although I am certain that that axle and gears are seated low enough. I would not be able to get the plate back on if it were seated to high. NB. I did not have a small enough nut driver for the flycranks. What is the correct size nut driver for tie rod nuts on Bachmann and Hornby locos ? I have also noted that the plastic axles are cracked and these will have to be replaced at some stage (available from Peters Spares).

Has anybody fitted Kadees to a Bachmann class 04 diesel shunter ? It currently has the older style tension lock couplers. I have fitted Kadees to many wagons but it usually involved gluing some shims to the underside. I want to aviod doing that to the loco if possible.

The chances of me finding a Mainline chassis in Australia are about the same as winning lotto but I will keep in mind that they can be interchanged.

Thanks, I will try that tomorrow.

I purchased a second hand Bachmann class 04 diesel shunter from ebay. It is probably quite old as it has the older style of tension lock coupler. It was a hesistant runner when I received it and seemed to have a slight rocking motion so I pulled the chassis out to have a look. I cleaned all the electrical contacts as they were very black and dirty. I tested the contacts before reassembly and the motor seems to run well. But now I am having problems getting the gear on the middle axle to mesh with the motor gears. Is there a trick to getting these back together ?

Has anybody used acrylic (water based) house paint through their airbrush to paint model trains ? Model paints in small jars/bottles seems to be getting very expensive (not to mention hard to get in places like Cairns). Colours I would be using are bauxite, light grey, dark grey, black, white and brown. It would also make cleaning up easier.

What glue can be used to repair broken Peco sleepers ?

What about Superquick ? Their kits seems to be few and far between now too.

I am bit puzzled why Metcalfe are still closed. Surely posting things in the mail does not pose a hazard for their staff ?

Painting brickwork : paint the bricks ( slightly different shades) / vanish with some sort of clear coat / rub or paint the mortar between the bricks / wipe off while still wet. Is that the correct procedure or are there some refinements I have missed ?

Is this a kit or is already built and painted ? What are the dimensions ?

There are some good DC sound units about like this : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MODEL-RAILWAY-STEAM-DIESEL-TRAIN-8-EASY-INSTALL-QUALITY-SOUNDS-FX-BOARD-LOUD/264600626487?hash=item3d9b6d2537:g:JHQAAOSwzG9eTsZJ But I am after something that will connect to the train controller so that the sound of the loco will be reasonably matched to the speed setting on the controller. When the controller is set at zero then the sound would be the engine at idle. Does anybody make something like that ? It does not have to be mounted in or on the train/loco. I would be quite happy to have something mounted under or at the rear of the baseboard.