halfwit

When writing (or editing) a blog entry you should see a 'Post options' on the right hand side bar with 'Follow this entry' below it. Clicking on the box next to 'Follow this entry' will set up notifications for you. Or just click on 'Follow this entry' at the top... Once you could recieve notification of new comments via email but that seems to have dissappeared. Paul.

Er, its a Heljan model and it was announced here.

I'm not sure Brian, at a guess I'd say some kind of plaster with a stippled surface painted with a mix of oranges, browns and yellows? Painting and weathering are not my strong points I'm afraid. There is some nice work in RT Models gallery. Paul.

I do use superglue as well, both gel and normal depending on application. I did consider it for this task but I wanted to be able to adjust the position of the weights before the glue set. I would imagine that superglue would work well for attaching metal parts to a resin body, I've used it to attach resin parts to brass models in the past. Paul.

I used Alaldite Rapid, which is the only type of epoxy that I use, for fitting the balance weights in place Harry. I've never had a problem using that particular type of glue, as long as all of the parts to be glued are clean. Paul.

Judith Edge kit - £43. Tenshodo motor bogie (assuming that you want a chain drive loco as per the Hornby version) - £31.92 (Mainly Trains). Buffers (Gibson) - £5.

A long time ago I started a High Level Kits RSH 'Husky' (click on the tags above for the relevent entries). The project stalled through a lack of wheels, the kit is designed to use 10mm Sharman wheels which are no longer available. I've decided that its time that this one was finished, so today I've taken a brief break from building Rustons to sort out an alternative wheelset. I'm using Gibson Lowmac discs, slightly oversize but I can live with that, which of course need holes drilling for crankpins. I first made up a lttle jig from 1/2" x 1/8" brass strip; The throw is approx 2.5mm, to suit the cast jackshaft cranks (which aren't physically connected to the connecting rods, being gear driven from the rear axle). So the brass was marked out, then two holes were drilled, 1.9mm and .7mm, using my bench drill. I left the length of brass uncut until I finished drilling, to give me something to hold as I worked. After drilling the jig was cut down to 5mm wide. A piece of 2mm diameter steel was then polished down so that it was a sliding fit in the wheels, then the 1.9mm hole could be opened with a 5 sided broach until the axle slotted in. A drop of Loctite means that its not going anywhere. I could now use the jig to drill the wheels, using a .7mm drill held in a pin vice to drill the holes - the jig keeping the drill nice and square. The front (outer) face of the wheels are profiled, so to prevent the drill from wandering I drilled into the flat rear face. Five holes were actually drilled in each wheel, Husky wheels have four holes cast in. The jig was rotated 90 degrees then 45 degrees either side of the crankpin hole for this. Scribing lines along the edge of the jig on the back of the wheel helped line things up - its not particulary accurate though and I did end up scrapping a couple of wheels. A 1.3mm drill finished things off. The rear of the crankpin hole was then countersunk using a 2mm drill ready for the Gibson crankpins. Balance weights are cut from .020" styrene and will be epoxied in place. Drilling the extra four holes and making balance weights is not actually necessary - the kit comes with etched inserts for the wheels - but mine are long lost... A jig like this could be made from an offcut of etch if no pillar drill was available, as long as extra care is taken to keep the drill square whilst drilling the crankpin holes. Paul.

Thanks for the comments (and the 'likes'). I'm glad that you're enjoying my ramblings Harry, I try hard to make my entries as clear and informative as possible. Paul.

I've been putting much thought into the pick up arrangement on these locos. My usual method is to glue a copper-clad strip across the frames underneath the loco to solder phospher bronze wire to. But there's the gear stretcher bar in the way so I looked at other methods. The method that I've chosen is to solder brackets on either side of the frame, epoxy short lenghts of copper clad sleeper strip underneath the brackets and solder phospher bronze strips in place to act on the edge of the wheel flanges. I'm using the flanges rather than the tread for pick up as the treads on small wheels are likely to pick up a lot of dirt. This also has the advantage of tucking the pick ups up inside the bodywork thereby keeping plenty of daylight under the frames. A pic; The brackets are made from 6mm long lengths of 4mm x 4mm right angled brass with one side filed down to 1.7mm, to clear the radius arms; The only problem is that I don't actually have any phospher bronze strip in stock (about 2mm x .15mm should be suitable?) so I'm going to have to send an order to Eileen's soon. A teaser; Paul.

Regular visitors to this blog might remember how I made a mess of bending up one set of inner frames (if not, or you need to be reminded of my stupidity its all here). Tonight, after a great deal of thought, I decided that I really ought to do something about it. So I first of all ran a fillet of solder down the good edge for strength, then bent a piece of scrap etch to a 90 degree angle and soldered it across the broken front part of the frame (closest to camera). A piece of 1mm square brass was then cut to length and soldered at the opposite (rear) end to add strength where the frame had split. I then decided to add another piece of right angled section opposite the front repair section, just in case that area has been weakened. There is still some cleaning up to be done in that area, the repair sections have been made deliberately oversized, I'll take the minimum of material off to clear the gearbox. Hopefull this repair will work out fine, the frame now has a slight twist which hopefully will dissappear with carefull tweaking, otherwise I'll have to badger Mike and Judith for a spare etch! Paul.