Rob Pulham

Hi Chaz, For me, it's because I enjoy making things as opposed to just assembling the parts that others have made. - if that makes any sense.

I am almost at the point of reassembly of the exhaust injector, having added bits, chopped other bits off and repositioned the main elbow bend. This is a small taster of what I have been up to. First I milled a square section on the end of a piece of brass rod and drilled a 1.6mm hole in the middle and then a 0.6mm hole at each corner before taking it back to the lathe to part it off. This is the basis for a very visible pipe flange. Then I made up some miniature fixings and soldered them to the copper pipe. The much magnified photos make it look much messier than it is to the naked eye.

An Evening With... Iain Young Sunday, 26 November, 2023, 20:00-22:00 Online via Zoom Join Iain Young for the evening where he will discuss how to produce lost wax castings in brass and nickel silver for the kits he produces and for other kit producers. Although seen as a black art Iain hopes to dispel this myth and show that, with care, consistent and accurate results can be produced. Iain is sure many of you will have interesting questions to pose during the session. A video to accompany this session will be available before the evening. The event takes place on Sunday 26th November @ 20:00 GMT The event is FREE to members or £2:00 for non-members. You must register for this event after the 26th September as places are limited.

A bit more detail on what you can feast your eyes on at tomorrow's virtual show Like other virtual shows that the Gauge O Guild has organised, we will have layouts that have never been seen before as well as some which may be familiar. Demonstrations will include both recorded sessions and live sessions provided by members and our technical committee. Traders will be advertising and new product announcements are expected. Layouts Neu-Deting and Patzing - 1930's Germany Hayling Island - LBSCR Woodleigh-sub-Mendip - ex-GWR Branchline Invermire - BR Blue era Scotland Melbourne Street Brewery - BR 1960s Tyneside The Yet To Be Named Layout - BR 1990's Bucks Hill - Multiple eras Melton Garden Railway Thurlby - BR 1960s Lapping Works - GWR/Industrial 1940s Dave's Train Set - Current era Priory Yard Heaton Lodge Junction - BR Blue era Smithfield - Post-Grouping LNER/SR Demonstrations - Live Modular layout concept - Charles Oldroyd Scratch building a loco: making a running chassis - Nick Dunhill Building a NER S1 Ironstone Hopper - Nigel Paine Meet the Guild Chairman - Charles Oldroyd Slicing for 3D printing - Chris Walsh Melbourne Street Brewery - Peter Reynolds Demonstrations & Pre-recorded Videos Figure painting - Rob Anderson Baseboard construction for modular layout - James Aitken Time lapse video of the 2 day layout build at Guildex 2023 - Ian Allen Building vehicles - Kevin Cartwright Building a MERG kit - Peter Reynolds Making a brass gearbox - Rob Pulham Weathering a wagon - Neil Armitage Baby Deltic - Steve Hoather Of London Clay diorama - Julian Carr Heaton Lodge Junction - Simon George Slicing and 3D printing - Chris Walsh Meantime, all videos from the virtual show in 2022 can be viewed on our YouTube Channel You do not need to subscribe to YouTube to view the channel but if you do subscribe to our channel (which is totally free) you will get updates about new content.

Funny you should say that, that's exactly what I have done with mine, albeit that it's a long way from being finished at present. One day...

Me neither, I was just speculating on the origins of the Gladiator Q6 kit and comparing what was in this kit with early 07/George Norton kits that I have experience of. - the Gladiator and Haywood kits are the only two Q6 kits that I am aware of. I have a Rising Star F8 and that's definitely got an etched chassis - rather agricultural but etched none the less. I bought it from the bring and Buy at Bolton show back when it was at the school probably 2015/16 at a guess. I have the Warren Shepherd N2 kit and body etches for a second N2 from Mignon Model Studios. The WS kit has two chassis options included so I plan to use the second one for the MMS upperworks so no experience of the RS N2.

I have only just seen this thread, I don't come here as often these days. I can tell you whose kit it isn't and that's the Haywood Railway kit. I had a look in mine and it definitely doesn't look like your frames. I haven't ever seen inside the Gladiator kit but I do wonder if it originated with George Norton/07 Kits. I have a couple of those and they have solid milled frames/turned boilers which have been replaced in later iterations of the kit with etches. The other possible suggestion might be MSC as their A5 kit has similar frames but I have no idea if they ever did a Q6.

I am working my way along the chassis adding the remaining details as I go. Two quite prominent features are the injectors. The kit included a nice brass casting for the live steam injector. This just needed some of the 'pipes' extending so that I can attach it more securely. The exhaust injector was another matter as I couldn't find a casting for it so I had to buy one in. I had a look on Ragstone and LG Miniatures and the LG one seemed nearest to what I needed. Living out in the sticks as I do I was most impressed that I ordered it on Monday morning and it arrived yesterday lunchtime. This is what you get from Laurie and the image below is what I need it to look like. To completely misquote Eric Morecambe, 'Most of the right bits, but not necessarily in the right order'. Sadly this means a bit of butchery is in order to get pipes facing the right way and one pipe joint that needs removing. The hardest thing about doing things like this is actually holding things to work on them. Luckily there are plenty of holes and spigots on the casting so a bit of work on a few offcuts of brass later and we have a few handles soldered on temporarily. The small hex nut fitting is a part on one end that wasn't present in any of the castings, so I filed a hex on the end of a bit of rod and turned the spigots on it. More to follow when I have it back to together.

Virtual Show - 4th November 2023 Date: 4th November 2023 (LIVE) then recordings of everything will be available until 30th November 2023 Location: Online from the comfort to your own home Price: Free to members and non members Like other virtual shows that the Gauge O Guild has organised, we will have layouts that have never been seen before as well as some which may be familiar. You can watch the videos and then speak to the layout owner by Zoom to ask questions. Demonstrations will include both recorded sessions and live sessions provided by members and our technical committee. Traders will be advertising, product launches are expected and some traders will be available for Q & A sessions. More information will be added when available Meantime, all videos from the virtual show in 2022 can be viewed on our YouTube Channel You do not need to subscribe to YouTube to view the channel but if you do subscribe to our channel (which is totally free) you will get updates about new content. https://www.youtube.com/thegaugeoguild Driving: Use a comfortable chair and make sure you have plenty of refreshments beside you in the passenger seat Transport: Via your computer, iPad, tablet or mobile phone Access the show from the front page of the Guild website

Still beavering away making slow but steady progress. Next up were the front bogie top bearers (or that's how they are referred to in the instructions) and the fitting of the bogie itself. The former were easy, tin with 100 degree solder and use the RSU to heat from inside the frames. The bogie fitting was a little more challenging. My fitting of the representation of inside motion had scuppered using the method that the kit provided. At Guildex I had a chat with Nick about how he had done his and he confirmed what I had thought would have to be the solution. Which is do it like the prototype (simplified of course) and fit a plate to the bottom of the frames. This proved challenging because of my seeming inability to drill a hole in the middle of a rectangular plate... It took three attempts before I got the hole in the ruddy middle. Actually, I am being a bit hard on myself. The first one was in the middle it’s just the plate was too small… With the part finally ready to be fitted I turned my attention to the mounting screw and the 'nut'. The kit comes with a nice turned elongated top had type bush which is threaded 6ba in place of a conventional nut. I had already made the side control springing block to accept this threaded bush so I wanted to use it. However now that the fixing point was much lower in the frames. What I couldn’t work out was whether the bus was threaded all the way to the bottom of the hole or not because I didn’t have a long enough 6BA screw to check. So rather than trying to shorten the existing bush I thought it easier to turn up a new shorter version. I also turned the first 0.45mm to just fit tin the hole in the mounting plate which is slightly larger than the screw. Despite my messing about for quite some time with a stack of washers trying to work out how long the shortened bush needed to be, it ended up slightly short. Thankfully I had the foresight to leave it attached to the rest of the stock so once I worked out how much longer it needed to be, it was and easy job to turn another 2.5mm down to the same diameter. A short length of spring allows the bogie to float up and down by about 1mm. Having got this far there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of swing before it hits the inside of the cylinders but this may change when on track and the side control does its job. Time will tell whether I need to cut back the cylinder wrappers.

A few more micro fixings later saw. a major milestone both mentally and build wise. These are the pins which hold the eccentric rod to the bottom of the expansion link. Initially I made the two fully threaded versions but then realised that it would be better if they were only partially threaded (14BA). I had already fitted the return cranks and after this it was a short step to getting the full motion running.

Well with a proper two forward one back amount of progress I think that I am now back to where I was pre Stafford. When fitting the replacement combination lever I really struggled with the pieces of brass wire which I had previously cut and peined over to hold the various rods in place. After the 4th or 5th pinged off into space I got fed up and chucked up a length of 1.9mm nickel rod in the lathe and turned down some small pins. These combined with some etched washers that I found on a spare etch now retain the rods in place. It was just prior to refitting that I thought that I had best remove the other combination lever and beef it up as I didn't want lightening to strike in the same pace twice. After soldering another strip of nickel to the back and filing to shape I happened to place the two combination levers together on the bench where I realised that the replacement was longer that the one that snapped. As luck would have it I was able to solder a small piece of scrap etch into the bottom end of the fluted section and then drill through to the correct length. The last job was to cut of the over long bit and file the round on the bottom. These are the four stages of the operation but the good news is that it's all now reassembled and I am subject to test running back to where I was and ready to fit the return cranks.

An Evening With... Jakub Stachula View the Event Diary Thursday, 26 October, 2023, 20:00-22:00 Online via Zoom Join Jakub as he takes you through the steps to build and finish a simple station shelter from modular laser cut parts. Along the way Jakub will have part finished models to show each stage in the build, which will hopefully help to reduce any problems you might encounter with laser cut kits. If you have any questions before or during the evening, please do ask so Jakub can help you with your builds. The event takes place on Thursday 26th October @ 20:00 BST The event is FREE to members or £2:00 for non-members. You must register for this event after the 26th September as places are limited.

The day before leaving for Stafford I had a bit of a disaster with the motion on the Princess in so much as one of the combination lever's snapped off while it was running on the rolling road. Initially I thought that it was due to there not being enough material left after opening out the holes for the locating pins but once I got back from Stafford and was able to remove the top end (the simple task of unscrewing a couple of 14ba screws) I found that the rod had actually snapped part way down the fluted section. I think that I have just been unlucky in that it was over cooked etch wise and that there was very little material left. there is so little that I cannot get my camera to focus on it to show what I mean. Thankfully I had a couple of spares courtesy of Nick Dunhill so I have prepped a replacement. Not taking any chances on this one I have soldered a small strip of 10thou (0.25mm) onto the back of the rod to add a little extra strength. This has been done in fits and starts because like many other Chris and I picked something up at Safford that has taken a bit of shaking off. We have started to feel better one day only to feel crap again the next. Fingers crossed it's behind us now. I just have to refit it to the loco now.

Just a reminder that this event is taking taking place next Tuesday evening.

An Evening With... Neil Armitage Tuesday, 26 September, 2023, 20:00-22:00 Online via Zoom Join Neil Armitage of Ellis Clark Trains who will provide a step by step guide to weathering ready to run O gauge rolling stock. Neil's hints and top tips are down to earth, cost effective options for the novice and experienced modeller alike to turn an 'out of the box' loco into a realistic model. He features in our Welcome to O Gauge introductory guide and it will be a pleasure to discuss this topic with him face to face. The event takes place on Tuesday 26th September @ 20:00 BST The event is FREE to members or £2:00 for non-members. You must register for this event as places are limited.

Only one more week to go until Guildex. I am on the technical stand all weekend. Please do drop by and say hello

Well I managed to get my head into gear and work out a way to get past my issue of not being able to retain the cylinders in the chassis without the body in place. From a piece of 3mm diameter nickel rod I turned a short length down to 2.2mm and threaded it 8BA. I cut it off using a piercing saw then reversed it and face it off until I had just the merest hint of a head as the thread ends. I drilled a couple of holes in the top plate between the cylinders and tapped them 8ba there was already a slot in the frame spacer to accommodate one of the screws but I had to drill a corresponding hole to allow the second screw to pass through the spacer. There isn't a huge amount of screw thread in the holes so I soldered the screws in to reinforce them.

An Evening With... Rob Anderson Saturday, 26 August, 2023, 20:00-22:00 Online via Zoom Join Rob Anderson from Northumbrian Painting Services for an evening of figure painting. Rob Anderson will share his tips and techniques for painting figures in O gauge. The event takes place on Saturday 26th August @ 20:00 BST The event is FREE to members or £2:00 for non-members. You must register for this event as places are limited. Registration for this event will open on Thursday 27th July.

A major personal issue has kept me away from the bench for a few weeks apart from a few intermittent sessions. I will reveal the issue when I know if/how it's going to be resolved. During those sessions I have managed to move the reversing support rod so that it now passes through the hole in the frames. Once I have finally set the ride height, I may need to make further adjustment. Nick Dunhill kindly supplied me with a few replacement parts at Barnsley show and I have managed to refit a slightly shorter combination lever.

Guildex 2023 Date: 2nd & 3rd September 2023 Location: Bingley Hall on Stafford County Showground. Weston Road. Stafford Price: One day - £10 members & £15.00 non-members / Both days - £15.00 members & £20 non-members On-line tickets: https://www.gaugeoguild.com/onlinesales/ticketsales.aspx Please note that for Guildex, we have introduced one day tickets as well as the two day tickets. Prices quoted above are for advanced tickets. Tickets on the door are £1.00 extra each for one day and £2 extra each for two day tickets LCut Creative are celebrating 10 years in business in 2023 and are offering 10 x £100 vouchers to advanced ticket purchasers in 2023. We have agreed that advanced ticket numbers, for each event, will go into a free prize draw and there will be: 4 numbers pulled out of the hat for Guildex (2 from the one day ticket hat and 2 from the two day ticket hat). Layouts Booked So Far East Midlands Test Track - accommodating live steam - Nelson Keen York Test Track - York O Gauge Group Kimble - Large continuous run layout - Leamington and Warwick Model Railway Society The team have contributed to the costs of bringing this layout to Guildex for which we are very grateful Blakecaster - Peter Wilson Wedmore - Ken Banks Dove Dale - MIOG Holcombe Brook - Jeff Geary Mordant Street - Bill Campbell Glebe Street - Andrew Allerdyce 2nd Hand Yard - Arry Dodd Grafty Green -Tony Walmsley Guild Stands Loco Clinic and DCC Advice Service Bring & Buy Guild Sales Membership Publications Technical team with small layouts competition and modelling competition (Sat) and Modelling Display (Sun) Demonstrators Booked So Far DCC diesel and electrics Brian Daniels Scenery & buildings David Wright Goods wagons Peter Sylvester Painting & lining Ian Rathbone Weathering Gary Lane Modelling a reduced radius curve Harold Jones Soldering techniques Rob Bishop Building coaches Robin Taylor Memories of Guildex 2022 View the highlights video View the gallery of photos View the seminars videos View the competition winners The future of O Gauge Modelling - hows This family gave permission for us to use this photograph to show just how much they were enjoying Guildex. Photo © Tony Andrews In 2023 For Guildex – we will introduce one day tickets One day - £10 for members & £15.00 to non-members Both days - £15.00 for members & £20 to non-members § These prices will be for advanced tickets Prices on the door will be £1.00 extra each Demonstrators: See Above Stands: Traders Confirmed So Far (30/06/2023) A.W.Adams Loco Boxes & Cradles Ace Products AirFramed Amberly Components Bill Hudson Transport Books Brushes 4 Models Buzz Models C & L Finescale Track Building Systems Ltd Chrezo Modélisme Ferroviaire of France Connoisseur Models CPL Products CSP Models/Sanspareil CRT Kits D.C.Kits Dapol Diane Carney Duncan Models Easy-Build Coaches EBMA Hobby & Craft Ellis Clark Finescale Brass / 55H Finney7 First Class Kits Footplate Models Gladiator Greenwood Railway Products Haywood Railway Heljan A/S HMRS Intentio J & M Hughes James Green Artist J S Models KMS Railtech Lanky Kits LCUT Creative M & J Models Marcway Mark Cook & Margaret Phillips Martin Bloxsom Masterpiece Models Metalsmith (Leeds) Ltd Minerva Model Railways MMM (Made in Manchester Models) MMR Models Modern Outline Kits (MOK) Moor View Models MPB Model Supplies MSC Models Natural Scenics Nick Tozer Railway Books Northumbrian Painting Service P.R.Model Railway Products Parliamentary Trains Ltd Peartree Engineering PECO Peter Clark Models Petite Properties Ltd Phoenix Precision Paints PLM Cast-a-Ways Poppy's Woodtech Pre-Grouping Railways (Was Furness Railway Wagon) Premier Components Primo Models Ragstone Models Ray Heard Model Railways Realism Redefined S M Models SBT Developments Scale Factor Scorpio Models Shamrock Trains Simon's Sort Out Skytrex Ltd Slaters Plastikard Squires Model and Craft Tools Steamline Ltd. Taff Vale Models TMS Models Tower Collection Blackpool Tower Models Trainsporters Walsall Model Industries Walsworth Models Warren Haywood Warren Shephard White Rose Modelworks Driving: By Road The Showground is situated on the A518 Stafford to Uttoxeter road some 4 miles from Stafford. Drivers from either the North or South using the M6 motorway should exit at junction 14 and follow the signs for the County Showground. Distances in Miles Birmingham 32 Newcastle 173 Bristol 116 Norwich 194 Edinburgh 265 Nottingham 64 Liverpool 72 Oxford 95 London 145 Shrewsbury 32 Manchester 60 York 106 By Rail The Showground is just 4 miles from Stafford Railway Station. The station is situated on the West Coast Main Line offering a direct service to London Euston with a journey time of approximately one hour and twenty minutes. It also offers direct services to Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Manchester and Liverpool. By Air Airports - Birmingham International and East Midlands airports are both a 50 minute drive from the Showground whilst Manchester Airport can be reached in little more than an hour. Transport: See Driving for road details

An Evening With... John Gay Wednesday, 26 July, 2023, 20:00-22:00 Online via Zoom Spend an evening with John Gay of Digitrains Ltd where he will discuss the installation of a DCC decoder to an O Gauge locomotive and take any questions you might have, as well as advice about DCC in general or about any issues you may be experiencing. Digitrains will be producing a video specially for this session, and a link will be published when this is available to watch. The event takes place on Wednesday 26th July @ 20:00 BST The event is FREE to members or £2:00 for non-members. You must register for this event as places are limited. Registration for this event will open on Tuesday 27th June.

Monday, 26 June, 2023, 20:00-22:00 Online via Zoom Nick Dunhill continues his series of presentations on scratch building a locomotive. This time he shows us how to build the locomotive frames and associated parts to go under the locomotive body. It follows the boiler, smokebox, firebox and footplate demonstrations from earlier sessions. If you have not seen them already, you can still watch them via the Gauge O Guild YouTube channel, just search for Nick Dunhill. The event takes place on Monday 26th June @ 20:00 BST The event is FREE to members or £2:00 for non-members. You must register for this event as places are limited.

A wider discussion on the subject over on Western Thunder has highlighted that there is more wrong with the motion than just the reversing rod supports. So far I have modified the Radius Rod, moving the pivot hole nearer to the slot by 1mm. I have also modified a spare set of Combination Rods as those supplied are too long too. Nick Dunhill had a replacement set of motion etched when he built his three. He has very kindly offered me some of his spares which I will collect at Barnsley. Progress on the chassis will be put on hold until I have the alternate etches.

Gauge O Guild Summer Show 2023 Date: Saturday, 3rd June 2023. 10:00 - 16:00 (09:30 for advanced ticket holders) Location: Barnsley Metrodome, Queens Ground, Queens Road, Barnsley, S71 1AN. Price: Members £8.00. Non Members £12.00 for advanced tickets. £1.00 extra on the door On-line tickets: https://www.gaugeoguild.com/onlinesales/ticketsales.aspx Layouts: Ceddesfield Halt, GWR Falcon Road, 1960s Edge of City layout, Arcadia Pennsylvania, USA diesel locomotive industrial, Vale of Meifod Light Railway, and Circular Test Track with 7mm NG track as well as 7mm. See Traders and demonstrators below Gauge O Guild: Membership Publications Technical Guild sales Loco Clinic and DCC Advisory Service Nick Dunhill of the Technical Committee is also doing a scratch building demonstration View more information including photos of the venue LCut Creative are celebrating 10 years in business in 2023 and are offering 10 x £100 vouchers to advanced ticket purchasers in 2023. We have agreed that advanced ticket numbers, for each event, will go into a free prize draw and there will be: 2 numbers pulled out of the hat for Kettering 2 numbers pulled out of the hat for Kempton 2 numbers pulled out of the hat for Barnsley 4 numbers pulled out of the hat for Guildex (2 from the one day ticket hat and 2 from the two day ticket hat) Demonstrators: Building modern wagons (MIOG), Building road vehicles, Soldering, Tree building and Electrics Stands: Traders 55H AirFramed Amberly Components Bill Hudson Transport Books Brushes 4 Models Buzz Models C & L Finescale Track Building Systems Ltd Chris Pulham Railway Artist Connoisseur Models Dapol Diane Carney Duncan Models Easy-Build Coaches Ellis Clark Finney7 Gladiator Greenwood Railway Products Haywood Railway HMRS Ian Kirk Models Intentio Judith Edge Kits Lanky Kits LCUT Creative Marcway Masterpiece Models Metalsmith (Leeds) Ltd MMM (Made in Manchester Models) MMR Models MSC Models Nick Tozer Railway Books Northumbrian Painting Service Peter Clark Models Phoenix Precision Paints PLM Cast-a-Ways Poppy's Woodtech Premier Components Primo Models Ray Heard Model Railways Realism Redefined S M Models SBT Developments Scale Factor Simon's Sort Out Skytrex Ltd Slaters Plastikard Squires Model and Craft Tools Steamline Ltd. Tower Collection Blackpool Tower Models Walsall Model Industries Walsworth Models Warren Haywood White Rose Modelworks Driving: Barnsley is approximately halfway between Sheffield and Wakefield, in Yorkshire. The Barnsley Metrodome is just off the M1 so very accessible. From the South, leave M1 Motorway at junction 36 then turn right at roundabout and take A61 north. Or junction 37 and turn right at roundabout using A628. From North, leave M1 Motorway at junction 37 and take left at roundabout using A628. Transport: There is a bus & train service to Barnsley. From the Barnsley Transport Interchange, The Barnsley Metrodome is about 5 minutes' walk. Follow the brown signs. Yorkshire Folk don’t often bite so if you get flummoxed by so many timetables or helping folk finding places, don’t hesitate to ask someone.