Jon Fitness

Just catching up with this thread; looks a superb project! Lots of lovely warehouses and a nice curve to it all. I'll be keeping my eye on this! Jon F.

Ah, batch production, great fun and its always good to have a stock of finished arms for stock. Must admit when I spray arms I have a firework stick with a few holes drilled in it into which the arm axles are pushed. Looks like a a big rather ridiculous multi armed signal which I can hold in a gloved hand whilst spraying. Cheers JF

Yes, splash it on with a small cheap model painting brush. Megga cheapo plastic one with nylon bristles is best as there's no metal parts to be attacked by the flux. JF

That signal's not too far out then! JF

I definitely agree with the tip cleaning between each soldered joint. Those "pile of brass shavings" type scourers are the best although cheaper silver coloured ones (available from most supermarkets !) are almost as good. You just drag the tip through 2 or 3 times and it gently removes all the crud without scratching it. Once you get one and start using it, it becomes a subconcious action! I've found over the years Weller tips aren't very robust and once the coating goes on them they crumble away fairly quickly, especially if your flux is a strong one! The safety flux I put a link to is a good one and very gentle on tips too. I havent had to file one or even replace one for years now. To tidy up any joints you aren't happy with, re-clean them with a fibreglass pencil (including the solder, scratch over it but don't scrape it off) re-apply some liquid flux and run a hot iron over it, and the solder will flow further into the joint. For clean up afterwards I usually use CIF stainless steel cleaner spray (available from most supermarkets again!) applied, scrubbed with an old toothbrush and rinsed with plain water. HTH JF

Cant see any useful staging on the signal Steve, it's ladder access only for both arms. I think you'd need to be about 7ft 6" tall to use that lower staging! It must be from an older/other signal arm or other device previously removed. JF

Lovely Pic Steve! The lower lampman's staging looks a bit low down for the arm, was it for another removed signal or route indicator? JF

Check this page at Howes as it shows the spares/sprues etc for the underside of GUVs and Mark ones. The bogie frame is definately all one moulding without any working suspension so I can only imagine the frames are spread and wheel sets are forced in like the 00 versions Some useful looking bits though! JF

And about a quarter of the price of O gauge too! JF

TBH I've never had a look at the Heljan bogies (Always seen their bogie stock as a smuch expensive) but I imagine if "wheels can go in-Wheels can come out". ! I'll await the forthcoming destruction!! JF

I was there on the Saturday. It did a Bury -Rawtenstall with 6 on. It certainly worked hard especially leaving Ramsbottom! Still finding odd bits of char in my camera case.. JF

Lovely. I was there myself and had a very spirited run behind the L&Y A class. Did you get my email by the way? Cheers JF

Would it have been possible to just change the wheelsets or did I miss something earlier on? JF

Half an hours scraping, filing, picking and burnishing has left me with this... Probably rivals a melted Curly Wurly* for straightness and texture but there we go. It seems to have a "good side" which I can work with and may not be used full length... More soon JF *Other weirdly shaped choc bars were available several years ago

Although they represent only the early pattern spectacle plate, it's another etch I'd like in 7mm scale *sigh*.... JF

The roughest steam loco I rode on during my short period as an SVR volunteer fireman in the early 80's was black 5 5000. The back 'boxes were so worn I spent the entire day with my knees bent as the whole cab got bashed upwards, every revolution of the wheels in both forward and reverse. The worrying thing was, it was still mainline certifed at the time.... JF

Hi Stephen, I always find the "lineage" of kits fascinating, with all sorts of bits changing hands over the years and appearing in different ranges under different names. The reason that Andy's unlikely to do any more etched posts sounds similar to my efforts to persuade Colin at Alan Gibson to upscale his signals to 7mm. Each signal has bits that are on other etches and each bit of artwork has it's own problems. Some of them are with an etching company, some have been lost or damaged etc. I have managed to solder the 2 halves of the post together with my 60w soldering station. As expected I did the usual 90% of it OK but got one little bit slightly mis-aligned so there's a bit of rectification to be done. It has responded to a bit of bending and twisting to straighten it out but there's a lot of cleaning up to do. (No pix yet!!) Not convinced it's any easier or better than a wooden one, but I'm not giving up.....yet! JF

I once had a ride in the back cab of a class 56 light engine between Hooton and Chester. I had to hold on for grim death due to the loco thrashing from side to side at about 65-70 MPH. I could hear the coupling swinging about and clanging against the buffer beam! Driver had a grin on his face whilst he watched me climb out rather white faced at Chester! Jon F.

As horrible as they are with all those nasty fibres that get everywhere, yes I use them extensively for cleaning up. Reason? having tried many other methods it's still the quickest and most effective tool I have used for the job...but that's just my opinion! JF

Hi Rich, as soon as soldering methods and techniques get mentioned on here it usually ends in a big shouty match about what's the best way to do things. About the only things that seem to be agreed on are, sufficient heat available in the iron Clean surfaces to be soldered first use a flux Wash the job down at the end of each soldering session to remove flux Don't use lead free solder, it's crap! For what its worth I use this flux. It works for me and smells less 'orrible than other fluxes I have used before. Opens popcorn and settles down! JF

Lovely stuff! I'll soon be able to see if I got the signal I built that stands next to it, anything like the right size! JF

Hi Steve, I suppose the tidying up process is not too different to doing the lattice ones. I just like the thought of nice hollow metal posts I can solder everything to, use as an earth and run wires through. Further to my comments on straightness of construction, some of my wooden posts were none too straight after my attempts with the plane! Anyway, as I say in my signature text, a coat of paint will hide a multitude of tins... JF

You'd be surprised what frames were out there Jinty!

Ah, I've used Michaels 4mm scale crank etches for my 7mm signals a few times and they are very finely etched. I would imagine the posts will be superb. I wonder if I could persuade him to do it in 7mm?JF

Looks superb Steve, does it have a conventional lever frame or one of those weird power frame thingies? You know, the ones with the the little hand operated pull out slides. JF