Jon Fitness

A big shunt out at Freckleton (home of the RVPT) enabled a rare chance for me to actually see a full view of my bus I'm restoring. Usually there's something parked 3 ft to it's left at all times so as soon as I saw the buses moving out I grabbed my camera. Within 10 minutes it was buried again! The smoke wasn't mine I hasten to add! The bonnet is missing as I was repairing the main hinge and one of the catches!! JF

A nice short video test! Still not got the hang of this "Filmora" program yet. MS movie maker was much easier! JF

Ooh, it's been a while! Many distractions abound including retirement, holidays, vintage bus running days and now, a planned house move to the IOW which is being brought forward! So, these are the latest signals. Nothing I haven't done before so no "in build" pics.. A tubular post BR(W) distant built to represent a fairly recent installation in the early 1960's.. and the opposite..a dilapidated GWR wooden post signal on its last legs, work stained and minus its finial.. Both are LED lit and servo operated. Video to follow as soon as it's processed.. More soon as I have a lot of signals to build before I have to disrupt the workbench for a while! JF

Had an excellent day at the Ribble Vehicle Preservation Trust's Morecambe running event on Sunday. From many vehicles that were there on the Prom, these were a few of the many which were running a free service between Heysham/Morecambe/ Carnforth. There was also a short circular run out from Morecambe via Bare. This was on the latter service A 1938 Leyland TD5, rebodied postwar with a lowbridge body. Next up from Morecambe to Heysham then all the way through to Carnforth was this 1967 Blackpool Leyland PD3 with a Met-Cam body. On Carnforth Station is this excellent little boozer called the Snug. Highly recommended for a nice range of ales and convivial atmosphere. On Sundays, some of the locals bring in freshly cooked snacks for all to nibble on! Taking us back as far as Morecambe in fine style was this 1958 Barrow Corporation PD2 which has recently gained a refurbished engine. Another run out on the Bare circular was taken on this Blackburn Guy Arab with a Crossley body. The only open topper at the event was this ex Ribble Bristol VR Mk1 which after being transferred to Eastern Counties was given a chop top! As the sun was out it would have been rude not to so off to Carnforth and back again. Final run of the day was taken on the star of the show (for me anyway!) a Ribble Leyland PD3/5 "tank" . Very loud and snorty with a melodious pneumocyclic gearbox, it did a passable impersonation of a first generation DMU and made all the right PD3 sounds. Great end to an excellent day. The program was £3 and all our loose change made it into various collection tins. Hope fully my own bus will be attending next year if I can get my @rse in gear and finish it! JF

Life does have a nasty habit of getting in the way of modelling. I now have a house move ahead of me now I've retired but that pales to nothing compared to any family health problems. Family always comes first, hobbies sometimes take a back seat but it all settles down eventually! JF

Looks the biz Steve. I've started supplementing the reds on mine by over coating the coloured lens with a clear red enamel. Looks like the yellows will be next! JF

Here are the two signals ready for a god scrub and clean before painting: Do you clean them religiously Steve? They do say cleanliness is next to godliness..... JF (sorry!)

Nice to hear life is restoring itself to normal. Good work with the soldering, you have jumped in straight at the deep end and after a splash round, quickly started swimming well! A 30x12 room will certainly help getting the big project started but I don't envy you the garage clearance especially if it's as bad as mine. Cheers JF

Thanks Stephen, looking forward to seeing the pics. Cheers JF

I'm sure one or two people on here would be willing to share the costs with you (cough cough!) Cad is definitely on my to-do list, which program did you use? JF

Lovely stuff! If you can do it in 4mm, 7mm will be a doddle! Cheers JF

Welcome to the dark side. You won't regret it. (your wallet may however...)!! Cheers Jon F.

... between a market seller and a dachshund.. One bawls his wares out on the pavement...

Finally got round to rebuilding the test board for my signals. The old one was built from foamex and regularly came unglued at the seams. In an attempt to hide some of the switches and connections I ended up making it very awkward to use too. The "Megapoint-o-matic version 2" has now finally coughed into life and has allowed me to test the L&Y signal.. Like the old one, it runs from a 12 volt power unit at the moment but once Hobbyking deliver my battery and charger it will have an independant life all of it's own and will be able to travel conveniently to a sunnier spot (the garden) when required. The new unit is still a monument to poor design and crappy workmanship but is much easier to use and features such luxuries as "on-off switches" and "power indicator LEDs" Anyway here is yet another one of my rather unexciting videos showing the now weathered L&Y signal.... More soon JF

I think it's called "having a play" Steve!

I would imagine there's a lot of mechanical reduction required in 2mm scale within the linkages. This may help absorb any twitching. Anyway, 2mm scale LSW bracket? Piccies please!! JF

Looks fantastic! Just need a pic or two of the interior/power frame to finish it. JF

That's better! JF

Looks awesome Steve, your (and anyone else who does it) patience in picking out individual bricks in different shades certainly pays off. Lovely stuff! Cheers JF

A good session with the paints and the Ex L&Y signal is looking shiny and new....way too shiny and new! The distant arms were finished by a mixture of masking and spraying on the fronts and a cut vinyl chevron on the back. I think a good product/idea from someone with the know-how would be some ready cut painting masks from tape for chevrons! Here's a few pictures of it out in the sunshine before I "tone it back a bit" May be a day or 2 before a video test as:- An ill advised Windows update has disabled (amongs other things) my Movie Maker program, My test board/stand thingy fell apart and has been scrapped pending a more useable one being built! More soon JF

Cheers Steve! I've assembled the worky parts but my test driver board has thrown a wobbly and tied the link wires in knots so no pics or vids tonight. I'll be having a word with Mr Fenton tomorrow!! JF Edit. No problem with the Megapoints board!! Signal Builder/operator error. A part of my linkage had fouled the wire for the LEDs and the thrashing about was a jammed servo shouting for help

Wow! is this 4 or 7mm scale? Stunning either way!! JF

Well it's been a little while! I've had a few problems with Microsoft's crappy updates my computer but I think it's getting slightly better now. I decided there was enough useable post to go ahead and make my Ex L&Y signal. I've studied a few pictures and there may be a few fictional bits here and there but I think it'll end up presentable. I've prepared some later pattern L&Y arms using a mix of modified MSE and SSS parts. The arms and spec plates are MSE and the extra overlays are SSS with the lens apertures opened out slightl. I would have liked to really thin the frames much more but I think they would have ended up too weak. The inner frames were left slightly thicker and lens material was cut to fit in the apertures and rest against the inner "ledge". I took anout 3/4inch off the top of the post and about 3inches off the base to get the height I wanted and scratched up some suitable L&Y ish fittings. Once topped with a nice brass finial it started to look OK! Now ready for a final clean up and a visit to the paint shop* (must remember to mask off the holes in the lamps!) More soon JF *Edit...paint now drying on the post and arms!