Giles

In the middle of bulk building side-tippers. I have eight chassis complete, of a total of twelve required. I make a laser card in 2mm MDF for each chassis

I've had a couple from here with no problem at all....... https://www.kooltoyz.co.uk/radiomaster-tx8.html

Excellent stuff with the axle - it belies how small it actually is. I think you would get into trouble (with shorting) using a stereo jack. I use mono jacks in the bigger stuff which don't short - or at least the type I use don't.... in the 4mm vehicles I use 1.25 Molex sockets instead. Micron sell combined socket/switch units - which I've only recently discovered, which would do you well (bottom of the page) http://www.micronradiocontrol.co.uk/conn_molex2mm.html#mrc-swplate-microslide

For the next layout - 'The Sparrow' I need some different wagons, and I thought I'd have a bash at making some timber side tippers. They need to work of course, as the ship has to be loaded somehow! I've made a couple of prototype, and I'm nearly there with them.

Developing wagons for The Sparrow. Timber Side-tippers of a style that was quite commonly used. Ive made a couple of prototypes to make sure they work and are practical

Lovely stuff! There are several options regarding reversing the steering. One is to take the drag link off the 'top' side of the servo, whereas you are taking the the drag link off the 'bottom of the servo at the moment (so in effect the servo horn is moving from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock instead of front 4 o'clock to 8 o'clock if that makes sense). Second is to take the servo apart and re-wire it internally so it works the other direction. Third is to splash out and buy a transmitter such as the Radiomaster TX8 with Deviation software (about £95), which allows you to reverse the servo direction signal (and also gives you inertia, and lots of other goodies!) . That's the way I would go - they are brilliant, and the models perform much better with a really good transmitter. You can also reprogram the Deltang receiver to output at 60Hz, which will suit the N20 gearmotor best. Congratulations!

Thanks for the heads-up - no, I hadn't.... Amazing!!!

Underground electric locos, a narrow gauge loco...... treasures! Also, beautifully made truss. I can't recall seeing a properly made model one before. Lovely!

I'm fine with freelance - if done realistically! One of the benefits of narrow gauge is that locos had a tendency to move around, and have a 'second life' at another site or railway- so why not a third?

Finally got round to fitting the receiver. It runs very well, with very nice control. It has a 1000mAh battery in the boiler and tank, so it will run for well over a day of exhibition. The motor is one of my last K20's, and looks extremely small under there. Please forgive the absolutely dreadful bit of video- it's only intended to prove it runs!

You should be entirely safe charging at 1S - in this instance up to 650mAh. Since you don't have that exact option, go for 0.5A, which is lower. I have always charged all mine at 1S and never had batteries even get warm. Treated gently and sensibly they are likely to be fine - the risk is high with fast charging, which the aircraft fraternity are more used to doing than us!

2ft gauge Manning Wardle (0-14 radio controlled)

Almost there - I'm just in the process of fitting the motor and radio gear. The rods have been dirtied down since these photos as well... I had fun making wash-out plugs and blow-down valves over the weekend!

Lovely Heath-robinson stuff!

interesting..... is it a fibre based material? on a slightly different note, I've tried shoving Trotec through the Stepcraft, which deals with it very well at 30mm/sec. The two drawbacks are: 0,8mm cutter is the smallest I can go; and the double sided I use for holding materials down on the Stepcraft is rather savage, and I'll have to find something a bit gentler. Sorry - three things..... If I want to engrave, I'll need to change the cutter, which is a pain.......

On its wheels at last..... the wheels and axles have been blackened before fitting the bearings and cranks so that I don't have to rinse them off again and deal with rust. The cranks are all quartered by eye and fitted with loctite, the last one being done as a separate operation, and the chassis rolled back and forth before it set to help it settle in the correct position. The chassis runs very freely at the moment, but there's much more to add!

This is just sky, but it is digitally printed onto front-projection cloth, with top and bottom pockets and side seams.

4mm radio control Bedford TK, as featured in BRM last year

I've made a start on the chassis from 0.036" NS, silver soldered, which goes together nicely. The outside frames are the working frames, which I find is as simple as any other way, and less work than some.

I've had a phone call from Joanne at Trotec UK, who has been really nice and helpful throughout. She has had a response from Austria (the factory who actually manufacture the ADA stuff) . They have tested it and pronounced it fine - on CO2 lasers - which is what they are now saying it is intended for, and that I was 'lucky' that earlier batches worked with a diode laser. Joanne was rather embarrassed at having to deliver this message. There is no intention to make anything suitable for the diode laser. This means that Trotec is 'out' for the likes of us, which is a great shame, as I used it more than any other material - even down to axles for vehicles. It may be that Rowmark do something we can use, I shall try to look into it, but I'm rather knackered. Do please pass the word to interested parties. Best Giles

I progressively straightened out the footplate, pulling out the cab top strips as I went, until the whole thing was basically the correct shape again. I then laid each side against a flat wooden block and burnished from the inside to smooth out all the wrinkles and dents till everything was smooth again. I used a combination of odd items to burnish, the common denominator being that they were rounded and smooth. Larger in radius where I could get them in, but smaller to get into corners etc. Taking it gently and with a little patience and it gets there......

The fun part was transforming big dents into little dents by burnishing - rather too difficult to get rid of them entirely - but rubbing them out does scale them down!

Next up is Manning Wardle "Jubilee 1987" From the North Wales quarries. An Aganoria kit, which will have one of my own RC chassis underneath it. It's not been an easy build, but worth it. Half way through it took a dive to the floor- after the tank was filled with lead! That surprisingly only took about 40 minutes to repair, once I had calmed down..... Final details such as spectacles, chains etc added, together with some weathering. Ready for the chassis now. It does look big next to Gwynedd, which isn't the smallest Hunslet! This is the last remaining damage from the Great Fall. I had considered making a new back-sheet, which would have been no great thing, but actually I rather liked this bruised and battered panel. It's perhaps not something I would be brave enough to do intentionally, but it being there, I want to keep it. The spectacles are CNCd from 1mm perspex, with a 0.4mm rim on the inside. She's got a very Victorian look to her.