Pinkmouse

Morning all. Thaw has definitely set in here, we had rain this morning and more is forecast later. Just popped outside and I'd guess we're hitting the heady heights of around +3 centigrade. No sign of the missing snowman though...

Just been out for a walk to check on the car and road, and enjoyed it so much I went on up the hill to the park. Beautiful. I do like snow at night!

Third day stuck at home in Chatham, we must have had a good 8" last night. Still better then where I'd be working in Bansted though, client, though desperate for me to come in, said they have drifting snow up to 4' deep. Got to sort out the car insurance, then maybe some modelling, or perhaps Halo: Reach on the X-Box. Or may just go back to bed!

Morning all. Got up early to find today's job had been cancelled, so a day at home with no pay. Went back to bed! Ho-hum, the joys of being self employed...

We have about 2" here, turning to sleet as I went back to bed, but now proper snow again. Roads passable with care, so should be fine for tomorrow. I think I'll get on with my DAB rebuild project.

Cold, clear but no frost to scrape off the car this morning.

Yup, same this side of the Thames, though a bit of cloud has crept in since your post. Light snow showers forecast for tomorrow though.

Tried a new recipe for pickled mushrooms yesterday. They look and taste absolutely awesome, but the kitchen is still filled with the fumes from reducing the liquor. Walking in there is like being teargassed!

Lovely crisp frost and clear skies here in Chatham, but no sign of snow yet. I picked up a few more rolls of loft insulation as there's only about 200mm up there at the moment, so once I've woken up, I'll be getting dusty and itchy...

Yup, those pics of the shed are very much lighter, in fact they almost look like lime mortar rather than cement. Are you going to replicate the rebuilding around the northlights?

David, sorry to get picky but the mortar in that pic of the bridge pier you posted is gray, and darker than the bricks, whereas, your sample, though looking very good, is yellow, and lighter than the bricks.

Wonderful bright, clear morning here in the south east. Bit parky outside, but apart from a supermarket trip later I don't plan to go out. Job for today, repair and rebuild my site DAB radio into a much stronger case as it was damaged yesterday in the back of the van. Might add an extra speaker and build an amp module as well so it works in stereo.

I can see a nice sunny patch on the Kent side of the river from here. Perhaps it will get to Chatham soon.

Yup, back from the benefit office and the sun comes out. Coincidence? I think not!

Cold, gray, miserable day here in Chatham - just right for a visit to the cold, gray, miserable Housing Benefit Office...

To be honest I have thought a lot about it and know exactly what is required for the job and despite looking at exhibitions and on the internet I have yet to find anything acceptable.

Looking at the pic, the colour temp/rendition suggests to me high pressure sodium lamps, Google "high bay lighting" for some inspiration. Initial thoughts are warm white LEDs, with some sort of clear cast resin moulding for the pendant. You could cast them in one and then paint the ballast and shade appropriately.

Rain just started here in the South East, and it's a bit breezy here too. Have lots of outside jobs to do, but they may have to wait...

In the guitar world tube/valve amps from the fifties need their caps checked quite often but current thought is NOT to just change them because they are old but to change the caps that actually need changing only.

Indeed, I couldn't agree more, but that is for instrument amps that are meant to be euphonic. However, for hi-fi, unless you are just a collector, re-capping an amp will bring it back to the state that the designer intended, rather then one degraded with age.

Just a quick note on crackly pots - it may be a symptom rather than the cause. Amps use DC superimposed on the AC signal at various points in the circuit, and pot crackles can be a sign that the DC is getting where it shouldn't, usually due to capacitors aging and going out of tolerance. If the pot is changed, and the problem re-occurs, then it might be time for a fuller service.

That reverse curve at the bottom left looks really ugly, and might cause problems with long wheelbase stock. Could you ease it a bit?

As always Mikkel, a wonderfully atmospheric shot. However, my comment about focus is more to do with depth of field, (as I suspect Mikkel well knows! ). With a normal camera in the real world focused on infinity, everything from about 10' to infinity will be fairly in focus, however this depth of focus when taking a pic of a model will be relatively much smaller, if you're lucky you might only get 6" from the point of focus either way. You can improve this using smaller apertures, longer exposures and bright lights, but as I showed above, taking a bigger pic and cropping is sometimes easier.

Another from me...recent picture of work on the layout, and I thought looked quite good

It does look very good, but if you pay a little attention to framing and cropping, it can look better!

Note how I've removed both the very obvious track panel joints and the out of focus nearfield, both givaways that it's a pic of a model. The composition is also now such that the main focus of the eye is drawn from the primary object, the train, back into the landscape, just by putting the loco about a third the way up rather than dead centre. BTW, these comments are meant as positive criticism, to help you, (and others), take better pics, so please take in the good spirit intended!

edit: Just had my second mug of tea, and noticed, (Doh!!), another neat little tweak. ATM, the loco looks like it's thrashing up a bank because the frame is not quite square. If I correct the horizons by rotating the crop, it now looks like it's coasting downhill, so easily explaining the lack of steam and smoke.

Point taken about the rotational axis chaps, but I have to say, for some reason that I can't elucidate, it still feels wrong. But I'll shut up now!

Fair enough about the weight thing, makes sense if the loco isn't sprung.

Just looking at your side control though, surely that's the wrong way round from the pivot to guide a loco into curves, at the moment as the front turns, it pushes the frames in the opposite direction. See a} below.

I think, (and am willing to be proved wrong ), what you need is b}

Nice work Dave, though I'm surprised you kept the w/m bogie. I think I'd have rebuilt it from brass as I did with my SEF M7 to stop it looking quite so clunky.

I think there are a few, me included, who would kill for a decent drawing of both "new-build" and "rebuilt River" versions, plus good clear measurement tables.

You think you've got it hard, at least there's a couple of those still around to measure up. One of the signature engines we need for Eridge is the U1, and there seems to be even less info around for them.

So Pinkmouse, what is the proper colour for an engine?

Well, it's certainly better than blue with yellow ends! This is my current favourite though.

If you fancy real DIY Harry, have a look here.

The Comet tender kit was the first brass kit I ever built.... and it still went together and looked OK. ... go for it.

Indeed, a fine kit. The Brassmasters one looks even better, though it's probably not quite beginner level.

...So, out with all the funny stuff in the engine department, two cylinders per bogie with outside Walschaerts gear, cylinders to the centre Meyer style. Now the tricky bit, the off centreline boiler, with the associated over weight and crew seperation issues. Well, it is obvious isn't it? Use the proven barbette mounting with 'walking pipes' developed for the RN battleships. Have a conventional boiler spin round on a turntable above the bogies, so the firebox is always at the leading end. Bunkers and tanks on the frame ends so the fireman always has a supply. Course, if the fuel runs out one end, the crew have to wait for a nice clear section so that they can spin the boiler on the move. Simple .

Hmm, you've got me thinking. This might be the next project after the SR BG.