RandyWales

Hi Rod...

Scrolling between the images shows a remarkable symmetry between the prototype and model....

The only discrepancy I can see is the speed limit sign :-)

Randall

My 7mm micro is called Maenol Mine.

Golfa'r Maenol (Manor Colliery).

Randall

 

 

Hello all. 

 

A few of you may be familiar with my blog, sporadically chronicling the painfuly slow progress of an N Gauge layout depicting Ropley, a station and yard on the preserved Mid Hants Railway in Hampshire. 

 

Hi Tom...

I was attracted to your thread by the teasers in the ”How Realistic" photo challenge...

I have to applaud you for the standard of modelling. Exceptional.

It's difficult to grasp that the layout is 2mm scale.

Your video and the accompanying soundtrack in the opening post had me smiling broadly....

Is the sound simply an overdub onto the video, or do you run trains synchronised with sounds output through speakers?

Genuine recordings really add an authentic atmosphere...

Randall

Hmmm!

In light of the remarks about the poor choice of transfers and lack of prototypical research etc on this Heljan Class 37, think on this....

When models that have been subjected to poor 'uplifting' to come up for sale, the buyer usually makes sure the price reflects the condition (and this obviously a very minor and easily corrected defect), so I hope the previous owner was happy with the transaction.

Randall

Hi...

For those who aren't members, there is an advertisement in the current Gauge O Guild Gazette for a joint venture between Ellis Clark Trains and Scalelink for a new range (available Q2/Q3 2017) of Darstaed BR Mk1 coaches....

They look very reasonable in the small photos, but I've not seen any Darstaed products first hand.

Advertised as Finescale, Brass-built with a plastic roof.

They will have interiors and lighting, sprung metal bogies and sprung buffers.

Five liveries will be available....BR Blue, BR Crimson & Cream, BR Chocolate & Cream, BR Southern Green and BR Maroon.

Set One: 2 x brake 2nd, 1 x all 2nd, 1x composite.

Set Two: 1 x Kitchen car, 1x Restaurant car, 1x all 1st, 1 x Full brake

Price per set of four is £750

Individual coaches will be made available later at £189 each

They are taking pre-orders now...

Personally, I hope they are decent enough to teach a certain other producer of r-t-r Mk1 coaches that they need to up their game and not keep trying to foist sub-standard offerings onto O gauge modellers at such ridiculous prices.

Also, there are a couple of finescale Bogie Tankers and Well Wagons to be released in 2017.

I haven't found anything else mentioned on either website.

Randall

Any inkling of progress/release at Bristol???

Randall

Just wondering who obtained the best price...

I got my pair at £163 each from Holt Model Railways who honoured the price they quoted when I placed the order way back when.

Caveat: I had settle for 2 x D3045 as the wholesaler was unable to obtain the other BR Blue versions, so I've got some work to do, including removal of the ladder(s).

Randall

Hi Phill...

I'm intrigued by the photos....seems to me that you've sliced the Anker casing in half and the bluetooth module is in one unit with the speaker in the other???

Have you noticed any reduction on sound quality because the speaker is now out of the integral "soundbox"?

I'm guessing that the size and power of the amplifier and speaker makes your modified arrangement satisfactory...

Will you be able to do an outdoor soundcheck before next year's running season because I'm itching to hear the results????

Randall

......I may dig the video camera out too to capture her running with Bluetooth sound too!

Get a move on....It could get painful.

Randall

Tower have today posted a photo of the Class 45 in BR Blue on their homepage.

All I can say is WOW!...I want one....

http://www.tower-models.com

Randall

Hi Randall, 

 

Firstly thank you for what I perceive to be a compliment about the 'look' of my Heljan 25, Secondly, I'd like to know what has set mine aside from others? Is it simply the weathering that has toned down the whole thing and took the eye away from the 'jarring' parts, or is it the scenics my photos were taken in.

 

I think sometimes our eyes can play tricks on us, and when the brain is given masses of information to digest, I feel it can be the outlook of an individual that can determine what is 'seen' in a picture, rather than what is physically there. The whole picture distorting the niggling faults into something more believable.

I find this subject interesting, as from what is said above, a locomotive that isn't quite right can suddenly look acceptable.

 

Whilst I also accept that, even with a few errors, Heljan will sell out of these, just like the other locos that they've made in the past have, I think that I agree that if they thought about the bigger picture a bit more, they might find a few more strings to their bow. They've obviously listened to the modeller about a centre head code 37, as we're going to see one in 2017 from them, maybe they'd think of reworking the 25/1 into a 25/1 Darlington build or even a 25/3 in the future, who knows. What I personally know is that I'm quite happy with what I've got from the Heljan stable up to now, yes they're not perfect, but generally, they are a reasonable representation, and with just a little work, they can be lifted even further.

 

Jinty

 

It is most definitely a compliment, and your insightful summary about the reasons (each of them apply) that may have influenced me is spot-on.

I don't think I actually said I wouldn't buy one.....and in case members are thinking I am foolish basing an opinion on photographs, I did see the pre-production BR Blue version at Bristol earlier this year and I had the same thought then that it looked too flat.

My point (not clearly made it seems) was that Heljan (if the choice was deliberate and it's supposed Derby-built appearance not just coincidental in retrospect) could have easily have chosen a variant that would have sold like wildfire...and not only single purchases....but multiple...

I am currently waiting the chance to buy JLTRT Class 47 which will be my first attempt at a Waterman kit.

I may then opt to buy a JLTRT Class 25.

Mind you, if someone were to offer a blue Heljan Class 47 for sale at a sensible price, I may decide to overturn my objections to Heljan locomotives' appearance and then probably end up buying the Class 25 too....

After all, I have already converted my Heljan Class 37 to centre headcode so I should be able to transform the face of the Class 25....

I have already thought about whether using HEAT to coax the face into a more acceptable shape is feasible.

I've done that too with some stock...

Randall

Hi Randall,

  I don't know how I missed this post, busy trying to save money on sound systems I expect!

You can certainly hear the difference in sound quality with the higher sampling rate of the Bluetooth unit. No warbling horns for a start. Glad to 'hear' that others are following with interest the bluetooth route. And it's getting cheaper.

 

That's an interesting bit of kit you've unearthed....

All the Bluetooth modules/speakers I've used so far have been designed for leisure listening and have On/Off switches and Charging Sockets which have made things a little awkward as provision has to made for these when installing them onboard.

This one, however, appears to be capable of switching on automatically when power is applied.....exactly the sort of device that can only make Bluetooth sound easy-access for those who are interested.... And it's STEREO....as you say....have two speakers onboard and you have the ability to pan the sounds between the speakers....horns from the right end of the loco or even a speaker in each driving car of a DMU for example.

I'll be sending off for one asap....

Randall

I too have played a 'waiting game' on the Class 25 rather than jumping in - my usual impulsive nature.

I'm really glad that I have restrained myself, because every time I have seen a photo (for some reason, Jintyman's excepted) of the Heljan Class 25 flat face, it really jars.... (I called it right for the peaked cap 4mm Western).

I'm convinced that Heljan have (yet again) scored an 'own goal' that has been (luckily for them) offset by the 'probably' COINCIDENTAL similarity to a Derby-built loco. I bet they are very relieved that someone noticed a similarity.

I sort of understand that they try to cater for transition period modellers but I bet that they'd sell MANY more if they stepped back and thought about it a bit more and produced a variant that most modern modellers would accept and favour. How many are passing on the Class 25?...I believe there are far more diesel-era modellers out there who would move up to 7mm scale if Heljan had chosen correctly than the number of sales they are likely to make to their transition market.

Randall

Hi Phill....

It's a great credit to your modelling philosphy that you are able to ignore some of the latest R-T-R 'catwalk' offerings and choose those (with due respect to the manufacturers) less well engineered models, which need much more work (ie modelling skill) to bring them up to the standard you attain.

A lesson to many of us...well done.

I look forward to seeing more.

Randall

Hi Rich...

I'm liking the look of the semi-assembled shed...it's going to have a real presence about it when it's complete.

The weathered internal walls look good and have a look of realism about them already.

Randall

Hi Randall,

Talking to Pete and the guys at JLTRT - kit has been delayed slight, they expect Christmas this year.

 

Further details on my Telford'16 report -http://www.railblogs.co.uk/telford16 - including some pics of the new 47 prototype.

 

Rich

 

Wow....the Blog looks spectacular...that's fast work, too.

Looks very professional.

I'm going to enjoy reading through it.

Randall

Hi Steve..

Any news/photos of the Class47, please?

Randall

 

Have you found anyone here in the UK that can supply those little 1" cube speakers that feature on the bluerail site?

Hi...

A colleague of mine at Swansea RMG has recently taken delivery of twelve at £3.49 each from eBay

I don't know which store he used but they came over from China I believe.

I've actually installed the Bluetooth module and battery taken out of one of them into into the fuel tanks of a 4mm Heljan Class 47 - I had to replace the speaker which is mounted in the body.

I will also be using the module (which is tiny) in a couple of my 7mm locos paired with larger speakers.

I'll report back when I've tested things....

I'll be ordering a Bluerail chip as soon as they are available....

Randall

I think you will be able to order on the day, basically you tell them what variant you want and they will produce it. There should be a test build on display.

I've seen lots of the 3D printed parts and it's superb

I haven't built any JLTRT kits as yet, and I have worries about the amount of pipework around the bogies.

I'd imagine most is from brass castings, but how much of this detail (if any) on JLTRT kits is going to need manual fabrication from brass rod?

Randall

Hi again....

With Telford just around the corner, is anyone aware of whether our wait for the JLTRT Class 47 is about to end?

If so, I'd like to know if it's going to be possible to buy the kit at the show.

I think I need to get my head around which variation I'll be buying, rather than be all a dither on the day.

Randall

Hi again...

Fellow Swansea RMG club member Steve Giffard brought a tiny bluetooth speaker to the club on Thursday...

It's called Smartbox, and it's the one shown in the video in my previous post about Bluerail trains.

I spent no more than two hours yesterday installing the device into a 4mm Heljan Class 47.

I had to discard the speaker and replace it with a 40mm x 28mm one from Maplin.

Here is a link to my 7mm demo of onboard Bluetooth sound....

Smartbox 4mm installation:

I wouldn't worry about the armchair critics Randy, thank's to you I have working sound at £15 per loco which is far superior to any DCC soundchip I have ever heard.

 

I would like some Bluetooth speakers with even longer range for my garden railway  & I am watching developments in wireless Bluetooth control too.

 

Do you have any further developments in mind?

There is a new Bluetooth standard being introduced soon with a range of a couple of hundred metres or even further.

https://www.bluetooth.com/news/pressreleases/2016/06/16/-bluetooth5-quadruples-rangedoubles-speedincreases-data-broadcasting-capacity-by-800

With regards to further developments, I've just installed a bluetooth module / speaker / battery into my....

whisper whisper....4mm Heljan Class 47....

regards

Randall

Thanks Randy, your pioneering work with Bluetooth real loco sound has made a massive difference my railway......I have been searching for a workable sound system for R/C for some time. 

 

I have had an Anker in bits & I may have to resort to this method for other classes of loco, but this is not really needed for now with the Hymeks as I have interchangeable bodies sharing the same chassis, so the Hymek bodies are very easy to remove.

 

When I started putting forward my ideas for using onboard Bluetooth sound on RMweb, (even though I never tried to hide the fact), I received unwarranted criticism because you have to run the trains to match the sounds you hear. What do you think, and is there anything you could suggest to improve things? It's not perfect, but it's high quality on the cheap.

Regards

Randall

Phill....

I have to say I am absolutely thrilled that you've adopted Bluetooth for your loco sounds.

As your garden layout is no doubt the one that EVERYONE dreams of having, it's no small feat for me sharing some ideas with someone as highly respected as yourself.

I can see that you've left the Anker module intact, wheras I dismantled my Veho to make installation and operation as easy as possible. I mounted the module in such a way that I could reach the on/off switch from beneath the loco, and also drilled a small unobtrusive hole through which I can insert the battery charging plug. I presume you are removing the loco body to access the on/off switch and recharge the battery? My loco bodies are permanently reassembled.

Best regards

Randall

Hi Phill...

Great to see you've made some progress with Bluetooth sounds... the quality really is good isn't it?

I've had lots of distractions recently and modelling has taken a back seat and I've lost interest (again) somewhat.

A chap from the Guild has been in touch having seen my thread on the Guild forum, and reading between the lines I think he's going to ask if I can give a demo at Telford.

Have you put the speaker and module onboard...if so, how? (which loco by the way?)

Randall