Barry Ten

2 hours ago, didcot said:

Does anyone know how the return cranks are located? I can see mine moving which in turn causes a tight spot. A gentle push back to the right position and it runs perfectly. 

There's a mild tight spot on mine which isn't severe enough to have disturbed me, but I'll see if I can see anything going on with the return crank.

Mine has completed about fours hours of continuous test running on the Dynamis DCC system with no issues as yet. I wouldn't normally put a loco through anything like as much testing before deciding it's OK, but in this case I want to be certain before I start messing about with weathering etc.

One thing I did want to do is add a Spratt & Winkle bar at each end, as the loco's not much use to me unless it can shunt trains like my other tank engines. However, not only did I not want to do anything irreversible to the model, but my normal method of drilling into the buffer beam wouldn't work as it's die-cast and has a lot of material to go through.

Instead I mounted two copperclad pads just aft of the buffer beams underneath the model, where there are suitable ledges. I then soldered the S&W bars onto these pads.

One painted black, the pads are not obtrusive and the glued bond between pads and model will cope with normal operations. The bars were 0.45 mm brass which is then chemically blackened.

I've used this dodge on the Bachmann prairies which also have cast buffer beams that are difficult to drill through.

On 19/01/2024 at 21:07, Butler Henderson said:

It was catalogued for 1974 but did not actually appear until early 1975

I remember seeing a new one for sale in Hamley's in March '75 when I was taken there on my birthday. I walked

out with an Oliver Cromwell instead as it was more appealing to me as a nine year old. I've still got Cromwell and

although it's a bit of a Trigger's Broom, it still runs on my layout.

35 minutes ago, JZ said:

Must get on with mine now. The masks have arrived from Poland, as has this.

And now that the panel line accent has arrived from Poland, there is now some available from UK retailers. Ain't it always the way.

I used some Humbrol black weathering wash I bought a long time ago... not sure if it's still available. I used a fine brush to run it into the panels and then swabbed off the excess with cotton buds.

Like it, Ian - you're good in front of the camera, relaxed and funny!

On 20/01/2024 at 13:10, scottystitch said:

Yes, a markedly upgraded machine. Radar, more powerful (and augmented engines) to name just two improvements. 
 

originally developed as an interceptor, from memory. 
 

best

 

Scott. 

Here's a Revell one I made:

2 hours ago, MonsalDale said:

Are DJH still going?  Their 00 section seems to have disappeared

This, coupled with the major discounts on 00 items a couple of weeks ago, and a remark posted on another thread,

would suggest something is afoot.

Here's a little K1 telephone kiosk constructed from the Shire Scenes kit in the Dart castings range.

The idea is that this 1920s kiosk will be interchangeable with the more familiar K6 red kiosk on my layout. One thing I like about railway modelling is you learn a lot about social history and technology beyond the railway boundary.

Cheers, Al

On 23/12/2023 at 07:19, JZ said:

So lucky, never managed to get a photo of one.

There's usually a good chance of seeing one around the moat of the Bishop's Palace in Wells. Another reason to visit RailWells!

24 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

But isn't that the Whole Point?

 

Just as there's no good economic argument for going to the football, opera, or pub.

That's a bit of a stretch as an argument, though, as there's no "RTR" equivalent of the football, opera or pub to offer a choice.

40 minutes ago, charlielynch said:

So, I'm quite new to returning to the hobby and thought a few observations on some of the themes that have been raised in this thread... 1) Kits. There's no doubt that they can be charming, rewarding to build (if you know how) and can represent less common prototypes. However. The cost and level of risk involved will put them beyond the abilities of many modellers. As far as I can see, a kit may be more than £300 once wheels and motor are factored in, presuming that a newcomer can fathom out things like 'gearbox of your choice' etc. 

There really is no good economic argument for kitbuilding, alas, unless the time spent building the model becomes factored into the enjoyment process. The one area where kits might score, though, is in longevity. I'm pretty confident that once built, there's no part of a kitbuilt loco I couldn't replace in due course if something went wrong or wore out. Whereas some RTR models seem to be designed with a deliberately obtuse approach when it comes to taking them apart, provided that suitable replacement parts are available (which they probably won't be).

The B17 fits... just!

15 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Mentioning the size of model aircraft. At a local toy fair there is a dealer in diecast model aircraft and most  were to 1/72 scale. He was displaying a Junkers JU52-3m alongside a B17, the JU52 was bigger than the B-17.

Something off there the both the length and wing-span of a B17 exceeds the JU52.

B-17G:

Wing span: 103 ft. 9 in
Length: 74 ft. 9 in
 

JU52:

Wing Span    95 ft 12 in
Length    62 ft 0 in
 

12 hours ago, GMKAT7 said:

Good evening Barry Ten,

 

The B17 looks fantastic!

 

I wish I had the room for a big bird like that (fnarr fnarr).

I hope you have somewhere safe to store it, so the props and guns don't get damaged.

 

Cheers, Nigel.

We'll have to see if it fits in my glass display cabinet once I've finished it. It just takes a 1/32nd Lysander so there's a chance!

I think I might have mentioned that I built the 1/48th Monogram B17 as a kid, but while it was a wonderful model to build, the finished thing was huge and vulnerable, and alas, I don't know what became of it. So a 1/72nd B17 is a slightly more sensible option, even if it hasn't stopped me occasionally looking on ebay for old Monogram kits!

Just about done with the Academy B17G.

It still needs a few decals underneath, a couple of machine guns, and then the radio wire (when I find my reel of EZ Line).

Dave, Roger and I have looked carefully at the logistics of setting up Dave's 7mm Sherton Abbas, not a huge layout but big and heavy and delicate enough to require a careful assembly sequence and ideally three pairs of hands. Our first few set-ups took about three hours, but with practise we were able to get it down to less than 90 minutes, usually by making sure someone was always doing something useful, not just standing around yakking. Simply having two torque wrenches made a big difference. We also colour-coded the legs and end-protectors to make sorting them out much easier.  Once we'd put it up a few times, Roger and I had enough familiarity with the steps that we could keep working while Dave moved the van away from the unloading area. We only ever did a few one-day shows, though. Saturdays are always the most enjoyable operating days because we don't have the tear-down and loading at the end of it. This normally takes about 60 - 90 minutes but depends on outside factors such as how near the organisers let us bring the van.

It was just getting smoothly efficient, when Dave decided to add another board 😂 ... but like a well-trained pit team we're slowly getting back to our previous speedy setup time. In another twist we now have integral legs on the boards, which will save valuable time bolting and unbolting things... but at the cost of making heavy boards even heavier. There is no ideal solution, just a willingness to keep plugging away while there are invitations. Coming to York in a few months!

3 hours ago, Tony Wright said:

Success yesterday...........

 

 

 

 

All the motion was completed on the DJH S15 I was building for a friend - my being the teacher and he the pupil.

 

She happily trotted round LB on 48 loaded wagons.

 

It'll be up to him to complete the detailing now...............

 

 

I'm not sure about the motion bracket, Tony - it looks a bit deep to me? I think there are two on the etch, one for the Maunsell type, the other the Urie (which lacks the little tabs at either end of the lower edge). I seem to remember the instructions not being helpful at this point.

2 hours ago, Mark Laidlay said:

I've modified some Keen kinematic couplings as they needed to be shorter for my H0 scale coaches, once I had them cut into two parts it was easy to raise them as well.  Question is do any higher end modellers use them?

If not why not?

And why does Roger Keen just call them "Close Couplings" instead of giving them a name that differentiates them such as kinematic?  Rhetorical question I guess.

 

I wouldn't call myself a higher-end modeller but I do use them. I needed them for my old layout which had tight curves, so I converted a few rakes and found them very reliable. I don't need them now but I still use the MK1 conversion items on Bachmann coaches for consistency with the ones I've already done. One thing I like about them is that they make a rake of coaches move as a single unit, with no detectable slack between vehicles, which looks very realistic (in my view).

Just had a very straightforward experience ordering some Viessmann bits from Modelbanhunion in Germany. Reasonable postage, good tracking information and the parcel arrived a day after entering the UK.

Pushing on with the B17...