Pixie

Think you're right Peter. Fun game this..! Pix

This thread is superb - thanks for sharing Neil! Might be my eyes but the closer bodyside grille appears to have the central dividing bar, which would put it as somewhere between D800-12. Trying to find some decent shots of 807 with double arrows to see if the data panel, OHLE patches and red dot all match, but they seem to be quite thin on the ground. Please keep 'em coming Neil. Pix EDIT - underframe on the original also matches one from the first 13.

To be honest, I found it a hard read. I think I'll stick to colouring in. (Apologies for the thread diversion, Jason) Pix

Found this whilst looking for something else... I don't think BR got the front end quite right in theirs. Pix

That's very neat Jez! Not sure if it's any help, but I was recently tipped off that the NGS Seacow detailing pack which has some usable bits in it for the air cylinders and other undergubbins of these AB chassis. Cheers Pix

I'm with Justin on this... but certainly build up to building some of Stephen's Catfish or Dogfish by doing some simpler kits first. When I first started doing some 2mm stuff, I went straight into building seven Dogfish and, whilst they are very well designed kits, the nature of the prototype means there's lot of very fiddly, repetitive bits. I did finally finish them after about 5 years with much threatening of taking up knitting instead, but would recommend doing something like a bunch of chassis kits or some of his minerals to get used to it all. I wish I had! Pix

Afternoon all, Back in front of a laptop and not on an iPad now so I can actually write something without having to prod at a screen. Yes, well, sort of! By day I work for an artist material manufacturer and one of the pastel sets we made goes into a big wooden box with three drawers. Unfortunately one year we had a batch arrive from the Far East that were no where near good enough quality to turn into gift sets and they had to be scrapped. Fortunately for me, I managed to cobble enough bits together to make the wall of drawers you see behind the nameplate. One of my jobs for 2015 is to add partitions in them and also beef a couple up so they can be portable. Sounds like a good way to spend some time Kevin! My comments on mechanisms are really me being picky and wanting to have a couple of mainline locos geared up as shunters for Parkend, where speeds never really get above a scale 20mph. For a watching the trains go by scenario, the new generation of Farish ready to run N gauge is very good and I wouldn't be re-engineering at all. Dapol stuff, in my experience, is much more variable. I picked up a couple of their Westerns before Christmas which are pretty good and the 22s would be fine if I wasn't going to shunt with them. Likewise, the 122/122s are very good runners. Sadly, the six Hymeks I've had have all been terrible. Maybe I've been unlucky but there seems to be other reports of them not being great. As per Andy’s comment, the Freightliner flats were from a run made by Stephen Harris some time ago. They came in fixed sets of 5 vehicles (Two outers and three inners) and were produced to order. To be honest, I’m not sure how I heard about them, but it was either by word of mouth or the Association magazine. Stephen’s a very helpful chap so a polite phone call may yield something. Some stumpy DGs are included on the etched and poke through the buffer beams at the right height. Blank bufferbeams are also included if you want to do them without couplings. For the internal couplings you use a 1x1mm bit of brass and some bits on the etch to represent the fixed couplings. They’re certainly nicer to build up that the Worsley Kit, which is certainly the scratch building aid it’s marketed as. Hi Adam, I’m quite lazy in the way I’ve done the modifications to the underframe tanks – so it’s much more of a visual placebo than a true reflection of accuracy. For the 37, it was a simply case of cutting away the bits that are recessed and replacing them with much thinner material – as it comes, the Farish moulding has a wall thickness of around 2mm and I replaced it with some 10 thou plasticard. The gap between two tanks was also sawn out to show a bit of daylight, although this is mostly in shadow for a lot of the time. I also removed the clips that hold the tank onto the chassis casting as I was lowering the body on the chassis. There was no modification the chassis block – just the plastic fuel tank moulding. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll get a photo… it’d be a lot easier to show visually than explain! For the 25/2, like 5227 show up the thread, it’s a bit simpler. Just cut off the recessed bits… that’s it! The way the plastic tank moulding fits over the chassis block means the latter is about the right depth to no need to add any plasticard. Again, no material from the metal chassis block was removed. For a 25/3 or a one of the four boilerless 25/2s (like 5181), then I removed the water tank completely and cut the recessed bits from the fuel tank. As the water tank was removed, then I did have to saw off some of the chassis block but it’s not a big job. Again, I can get some photos if that’d help. Pix

Oddly enough, the absence of Kenton came up the other week when some friends and I were having a beer in Wokingham. I went to check the Bracknell News, Reading Chronicle, etc but stumbled at the point I don't know his real name. Pix

Evening all, A few more 'long-termers' have rolled off the workbench today in the form of a quintet of Harris CovHops and a pair of Masterclass CCTs. Both very nice kits, although I can't claim to have built the CCTs - I picked them up from Trevor Hale and just painted them. Typically, I notice Farish have now released their versions of these. Right on cue, eh? Also finished are a trio of Prestwins from the 2mm Assocation kit, although I believe Mr Harris is behind these also. He's certainly a very talented chap. Finally, an original 5-car Freightliner set which is just awaiting the inner vehicle couplings added and then they're ready for service. I'm starting to get in the mood for a good soldering session so I may start building the other three sets I've got stashed away over the festive break. The skeleton framing in these is really cool, it's almost a shame to load them up with containers. I plan to use this reasoning to put off building containers for as long as I can get away with! Sadly, just as my mojo is reaching it's peak, I have to return to work tomorrow. Bah humbug, Pix

Thanks gents. I'm really pleased with how the Blue Pullman came out, the Farish model really is superb. Just need to build the other 6-car unit to go with it now! Pix

Whilst it's bleak outside, I've been spending the weekend scanning some old slides which I thought I'd share. There's no details accompanying them, but all the slide mounts are dated as 11/71 so I guess they taken sometime before that. Locations are unknown, but appear to be Swindon or Old Oak as a few of the subjects are missing fittings. Sadly the quality isn't great, but I still like them. Seasons Greetings, Pix

Thanks folks for the comments! Bah - I've been doing bits but most of it is just big batch production which doesn't really make for a good reading. Posts would be a bit like Jesse's Diet - "This week, I have most been swearing at overpriced, out of date transfers!" and the like. How's the family Mr P? All well with the little'un? I'll get some photos when I'm at home Jerry - it's a bit of a bodge at the moment but one of the slightly larger Faulhaber motors (either 10mm or 12mm diameter?) that drives to one bogie and the other one had been stripped down to free-wheel. The motor is a snuggly fit into the Dapol chassis block and accepts the universal joint from the old Dapol lump. Greasing the universal joint seems to get rid of most of the grinding noises and I could just about build one concentric bogie from the two that came with each locos. The wheels are certainly a bit pants, on a rolling road you can see how out of true they are. Andy Carlson rewheeled one with Association 08 wheels which may be a better option. Doing a Hydraulic era in 2mm or N gauge now is very easy with the vast array of RTR that's available and to a decent quality. The biggest gaps to me are the Mk2B/Cs (but should be bodge-able with the windows from a Mk2A dropped into the Mk2Es when they arrive), a decent Hymek (The Dapol body is OK - the roof looks a little peaked and the glazing needs redoing to get rid of the silly wipers - but that chassis is just dire!) and Falcon. That said, when Falcon is in your top three missing RTR items then you know we're in a good position! Doing it in a smaller scale helps do something realistic in a practical size too. It goes seem odd how few photographs there are beyond Cardiff, looking through the various bits I've scavenged from the internet those which looks to me to be publishable are close to nil. There must be some out there somewhere?! There's a chap on Flickr (KDH Archive, I think?) who had some very nice photographs around Fishguard and Cardiff which were superb, not sure if he's worth contacting? I'll send you some links when I find them. That looks superb! I think I've worked out a way to do the Parlour Second which was my biggest concern, the only bit to work out now is how to glaze it in a way that matches the other vehicles. There's one window in the Kitchen First which is the right size and doesn't have the separate blinds so if I can find a way of replicating that I'm sorted. Sadly my attempts of clear casting in the past have not ended well, I may send it to those nice people at CMA Mouldform to see if they could manage it. Yes! Something in early new year perhaps? Here's a few more bits that are almost done with have been hanging around for a while. Firstly a ex-GW Monster, based upon W599 on Paul Bartlett's site. Essentially an Ultima kit with Association bogies and other various gubbins. Also in the theme of NPCCS, one of BR Scenery Vans from a Farish GUV. New buffers, centre door/windows filled and transfers from CCT. Still needs some fittings on the solebar. Might also carve in the vents if I'm feeling brave at some point. A couple of Type 2s as well - 5181 is a solid Parkend machine and one of the ex-NE batch without boilers. 5081 is a nod to 24081 which was in superb form at the MHR diesel gala earlier in the year. Both Farish with a few tweaks - the 24 has had the roof beading corrected from Farish' mistake. Finally, something a bit different and in need of a little explanation. In his teens my dad and his amigos formed a pirate radio station that would broadcast psychedelic tunes across the Thames Valley. In the dead of night, they'd drive out into the woodlands in their Mini, unhook the battery and fire up Radio Andromeda - I think they saw themselves as a land based Radio Caroline. Anyway, I've always thought that Andromeda always sounds like one of the early class 40 names (Unnoficially 40134 ended up as Andromeda later on) and had an idea for a slightly different Christmas present for Dad this year. Let's just hope he doesn't find this thread. Right, CEO has just walked in the room. Back to work! Cheers, Pix

Evening folks, Still here and still quietly plodding away with things in the background. I tend to have a look at the forum everyday but get sidetracked by the seemingly endless amount of RTR announcements that are happening at the moment. I find it all a bit bemusing! All these promised models are very exciting, but they're not really any good to me until I can buy them are they? Anyway, I digress! Sort of, but nothing really photogenic! All of the basic colours are now finished and it's all varnished, but stalled at the decaling stage - initially as I thought no one did them, until some kind sole pointed out that Fox did. I've now got a set and no reason to get it finished, expect I find putting transfers on models tedious. I will finish it this Christmas... going to Warley last weekend reminded me it's been floating around half finished for almost two years. (BTW - Any chance of a Seventies Spotting Days in South Wales please Kevin?!) I've not been entirely idle over the last year or so - probably most note worthy is that I've been pushing on with Parkend Marsh Sidings. It's made a breif appearence on the forum but I'll post something a bit more in-depth if there's interest. Most people have probably heard me harp on about this at some point, but the Marsh Sidings were originally built as an interchange between the railway and the tramways that went deep into the Forest of Dean. I'm modelling it in its twilight days, between 1968 and 1973, when the tramway had long gone and the sidings were used for loading coal and ballast by lorry. I cheated on the baseboards and bought them from Model Railway Solutions in Poole and over the last two years I've laid the track, wired it, made it look presentable and now just enjoying shuffling wagons about to get the running up to scratch. Nearly there, and this winter I hope to move onto the scenic side of things. Here's a quick photo of the layout doing its best impression of a dumping ground this evening. L] The layout party piece will be (hopefully!) working tipper lorries. Most of the summer I've been tinkering with this and I'm now at the stage where my little test rig lorry reverses in, decelerates to a stop, pauses for a moment, backs up to the wagon at a slower rate, pauses for unloading, before taking off again to a off-scene bit. Next step is to swap the test lorry for a proper one (currently awaiting some etches) and add the mechanism to make it tip its load into the wagon. I had a slight rethink on the operation of this recently - originally it was to be controlled by the DCC controller and would require the operator the activate the reversing/unloading/driving off cycle with the press of a function key, as I'd planned to actually load the wagons from the lorry. Doing this for 8 hours straight, over 2 days at an exhibition will be mind-numbing so I've dediced to automate it, with the wagon it loads into having a false floor. It'll have the added bonus of being something moving on scene whilst I shuffle off to do something in the fiddle yard. Currently it does a cycle every 3 minutes which is about right I think. I've also been working on quite a lot of rolling stock for Parkend. Firstly the Farish 25/1 turned up which I'd been really looking forward to. I think the model is very good, although it shares the slightly iffy cab shape as it's 4mm brother. Luckily Bachmann fixed the bodyside grille issue, which would of been tricky to fix. First one completed was 5227 which had a spell on the WR and made it to Parkend at least twice during it's short stay on the region. I've also got 5181 on the workbench at the moment, one of the four boilerless 25/1s. Let's hope 2015 brings a 25/3! 5227 is more or less out the box apart from adding Association wheelsets, weathering/painting and carving the fuel tanks about to add a bit of depth. As they come they're rather flat. I've also got a pair of Dapol 22's, which fit into the Dean Forest vibe nicely. Much like the Dapol Western, they're certainly accurate models but the build quality is terrible. Motors in both have been replaced Faulhaber coreless ones which transform them to silky, shunting locos from the jumpy dogs they were before. Body-wise they're unchanged so far, but I fancy doing one of the later ones that were built with the headcodes. Type 3s were rarer in the Forest but certainly appeared in later days, so I've modelled 6606 in it's early 70s state. It's a standard issue Farish product but lowered, fuel tanks carved around again and a few Shawplan bits thrown in for good measure. L] Running again was a bit iffy so I've replaced Farish's motor with some sourced from China via eBay. Sadly the link is now dead so I can't share, but they were only around £2 a throw and feel much better at slow speed running compared to the Farish lump. Wagons for the layout are also coming together. After years of bullying and nagging, Bryn very kindly sent me a batch of Herring ballast hoppers to build which are almost done. Herrings are the signature wagon for Parkend and there was some kind of beer-fuelled agreement of 'You make me some etches, and I'll build the layout!' a while back. I'm indebted to Bryn for making these available and certainly owe him big time. Buffers are 3D prints from the 2mm Shop and all they're waiting for is decals, which I found today that John Isherwood now supplies. Result. [/url] Also finally completed were a rake of Stephen Harris Dogfish. They're lovely, well-designed kits but due to the complex nature of the prototype, soldering up all the bracing and handrails were enough to push a man over the edge, especially when you're doing 7 wagons in a batch. Never again. [/ Up to this point it probably seems that I've been on the straight-and-narrow, soley focusing on Parkend and related wares. Fat chance. Characteristically for me I've still been working away on all manner of things that really don't fit in with any project I've got planned. Below is the latest batch, which I've spent the last fortnight painting. From left to right there's a trio of Met-Cam Units, a Mk.1 LFK, a Met-Cam TBSL, a couple of original batch Warship, a couple of final batch Warships, a couple of Brush 4's, a pair of choppers and a whole brace of wagons. It's fair to say I don't want to see masking tape or thinners for a long time. All that's left now is the 'joyous' task of putting transfers on them all. [/ Not modelling related, but certainly featuring railways, my best friend and I recently spent two weeks wandering around Japan. Beautiful country, beautiful people, beautiful food, beautiful sights. If you ever have the chance and the slightest inclination, go! I think that's more or less everything of note... I'll stick some more bits up once I actually finish something! Cheers, Pix

IIRC the Heljan unnumbered 47s did very well - I recall one retailer selling out his allocation before they hit his store. I think there's a case for tactfully picked un-numbered models. The one that I'm amazed hasn't happened in 2mm or 4mm is a triple grey, un-numbered 60. It's a livery that's been carried by ever member of the class, with whole host of brandings for almost two decades. Unlike 47s and 37s, where there are various detail pit-falls across the class, I don't think there's anything on the 60s beyond the ariels above the horns. It's a sod to repaint too. Anyway, just my 2p. Pix

Well, five years on I got my 88DS. All it took was for another kind soul to produce a shiny, new kit. Very nice it looks too. Pix

In a distant past, I vowed buy a Finney Bulleid Pacific to celebrate my A-level results. For 8 years, I put it off until 'tomorrow'. Last Sunday, I vowed tomorrow really would be the day. Tomorrow came and he'd sold out yesterday. Moral of the story - Sometimes, you've just go for these things today. F'it. (But, if by some fluke anyone has a 7mm West Country kit and 4500 gallon tender up for grabs or knows where I can find one, please drop me a PM)

Thanks gentlemen! Steve

Evening all, Can anyone confirm what type of tender 34105 is paired with here please? https://www.flickr.com/photos/55919985@N06/5198027038/in/photolist-8VkfkQ-8Vxzfk-8VAARy-dwK3Kh-hJ7GZP-bjJaYK-bjJco2 Thanks in advance! Steve

Superb as ever Tom! Whilst you jest about the pigeon - there are some available: http://www.shapeways.com/model/499052/n-scale-1-160-pigeons-set-of-121.html?modelId=499052&materialId=61. I have a sheet (if that's the right word) if you need fancy a couple.

Thanks for the interest guys and my apologies if I was a little vague first time around. Shown in the above video is the very rough, working prototype for what will one day be a working tipper lorry on Parkend. The lorry is driven by stepper motor that is powered Arduino micro-computer-thingy and a Roco Multimaus. The idea is based upon the excellent turntable drive shown by Tender(Ray) here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/78578-dcc-controlled-peco-turntable-project/ and spurred on my a long conversation at the Nottingham show with Laurie Adams that things like this are possible. The biggest change to Ray's turntable is the swapping of the turntable deck for an aluminium arm and a bank of rare earth magents, which attracts the magnets encapsulated in the lorry above the running deck. This is a little bit of a cheat, as it means the lorry can only travel along a fixed arc, but that suits the location is has to go on the layout. It also suits me as I don't have to mess around with turning front wheels and they can be fixed at an angle. Control of the lorry is via the DCC handset. Within the coding that's written for the Arduino, the stepper motor is treated as a point motor. When it's thrown, it travels from the off-scene point to the on-scene loading point. Editing the coding has meant that I've been able to get the lorry to travel and accelerate at fairly close scale speeds. Current challenge is to get it to reverse at a slowly speed than it drives forward at. The lorry will only ever travel about 130 degrees on a 9'' radius arc, with only about half of this being on show to the public. As the layout is close to eye level, it's not really noticeable that the lorry is on a steady arc so I hope the effect will look quite natural. Once the lorr has made it's journey to the loading area of the layout, another stepper motor with a screw mechanism will be activated via the Arduino again. This will slowly raise a little arm, lifting the lorry's tipper and (I hope!) will drop it's coal load into the awaiting mineral wagon. Off scene, there will be a similarly controlled loader. Luckily, the accuracy and repeatability of the stepper drive should make this fair simple. Famous last words. The lorry seen in the video is a Heath Robinson contraption at the moment to test the principle but will ultimately be replaced by a fairly accurate model of a Albion Clydesdale tipper which is a mixture of Base Toys cab and etched everything else. This is where I'm up to at the moment - the etches are kinda finished but I need to review them a little. If it all works as planned, I'll do a write up at some point. If you hear nothing, assume the worst! Cheers, Pix

This week, I have been creating Avant Garde style films. My latest piece I call 'Look Mum! No hands!'

Hi Eric, Many thanks for the above - the brake arrangement sounds very interesting. I hope I am not being cheeky, but I'd be really keen to see your coding you have used to get the automatic release() function working. I must admit that I don't really understand why the Arduino requires a second throw of the point of the DCC controller to activate the release() function on your initial coding - is there a reason why it essentially stops after the stepper2.moveto(20) on the first throw of the point? Thanks again, Steve

Hi all, A quick update and belated thanks to those who helped out with the operation of my sector plate - I've got my test rig up and working beautifully thanks to this thread. I'm trying to fine tune a few bits before bolting it all together permanently. Eric, Did you mange to get anywhere with the release function? I've noticed that my stepper does get quite warm after a period of use so I'm quite keen to try and include such a function if possible. Speaking more generally about using the Arduino/Adafruit combination to control stepper motors via DCC, has given me a few ideas of possible applications. Is it possible to alter the coding given in Part 6 so that when the point is thrown on the DCC controller the stepper motors moves from it's start position (Let's say 12 o'clock) to 3 o'clock, pause for a couple of seconds and then return to 12 o'clock? When the switch is closed is stays at 12 o'clock. I had a little play about with the DCC segment of the coding, thinking it my be something along the lines of the below, but it didn't seem to work. boolean enable = (data & 0x01) ? 1 : 0; if( address == 196 ) { Serial.print("Basic addr: "); Serial.print(address,DEC); Serial.print(" activate: "); Serial.println(enable,DEC); if( enable ) { stepper2.moveTo(800); delay(2000); stepper2.moveTo(0); } else { stepper2.moveTo(0); } } } Sorry if I'm barking up the wrong tree.... or even in the wrong forest! Cheers, Steve

Hi Ray, Thanks for the reply. Could one solution to be to place the sensor a couple of degrees beyond one of the normal, operating limits of travel so that upon start up the table has to move in the same direction to find it? In other words, if in normal operation the table travels 120 degrees clockwise from Point A to Point B and 120 degrees, counter-clockwise from Point B to Point A, the table will always be between these points at shut down. If the sensor way placed at (say) 5 degrees anticlockwise from Point A and the table travelled anti-clockwise as part of the start up routine, it would always find the sensor before reaching the physical limit of travel. I hope that makes sense, if not I'll try to sketch it out! Thanks again Steve

Hi Ray, This is a truly brilliant and informative thread, many thanks for taking the time to share your knowledge and experiences. On the strength of this thread, I've gone out and treated myself to an Adruino Uno, Adafruit V2 and the same stepper motor as yourself. The other bits I'll hoover up off the internet once I've finished writing this message! I'm looking to power a sector plate using a very similar set up as you have used for the turntable. The total travel required is 120 degree and will not need to stop at intermediate points. Ideally, I would like to be able to control this from one turnout address on my Roco Multimaus (So if I throw the point on the Multimaus, it will travel 120 degees clockwise from position A to position B. When the close the same point on the Multimaus it will travel 120 degree anticlockwise from position B to position A). I'm presuming that the coding shown in Part 6 could be tweaked to accommodate this? To keep things simple, if I presume that the reference point (the location of the Hall Effect Sensor) is mid way through the 120 degree of travel (So position A is 60 degrees counter clockwise of this point and position B is 60 degrees clockwise from it) my guess is I would have to alter the 400 and 2000 values (around mid way through the script) to something like 533 and 2667 if there is 3200 microsteps per rotation? Is there an element of the script that dictates whether the stepper motor travels clockwise or anticlockwise? Sorry if I've got this wrong, I've never even thought of programming before! One other concern, is that the swing of the sector plate will be physically limited to a travel of 120 degrees. In other words, if the stepper motor was to try and complete a full turn it'd smash through the walls of the sector plate well! I can remove the walls for the initial set up (as detailed in part 5) but in service is there any requirement for the stepper motor to be able to travel a full rotation? Again, many thanks for writing this up and apologies if my questions are a little basic! Thanks, Steve