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Fen End Pit

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Blog Comments posted by Fen End Pit

    Fen End Pit

    Posted

    13 hours ago, MonsalDan said:

    Looks very impressive, the layout is coming along very nicely.

    Do you mind if I ask what those orange things on the axles are?

    At this stage I'm just using a bit of wire insulation to hold the coupling rods onto the rear pair of crank pins. It saves putting crank pin nuts on at this stage, obviously the centre crank pin also gets return crank for the valve gear.

    David

    down the sdjr

    Posted

    Mastering an inside cylinder 0-6-0 is a good first step. I've been building P4 locos for almost 30 years and I'm now only just attempting Walschaerts valve gear for the first time!

    Don't dismiss some of the conversion sets from the Alan Gibson, they can be a quick conversion. If you can put up with the period then getting a small Bo-Bo diesel can also be a really easy way to get something moving.

    If you do go down the route with Gibson wheels then invest in a GW Wheel press and quartering tool, boy does it make that job easier.

     

    One thing I did find with rewheeling stock to P4 (and I guess the same is true of EM) is that quite often the proprietary pin-point axles are often a different length to the ones you get for EM and P4. I found I got much better running swapping the wheels onto the original Hornby/Bachmann/Oxford axles, even though you obviously need to put the wheels on with a back-to-back gauge. 

     

    Good luck!

    David

    • Agree 1
    • Informative/Useful 2
    Fen End Pit

    Posted

    4 hours ago, makeitminiature said:

    This is amazing work. Your ability to achieve outstanding results on whatever project you are working on is extraordinary. 
    ive only recently joined RMweb, but find myself being regularly drawn back to your content. 
    I don’t really comment on things, but must let you know how much I enjoy your updates. Thank you for sharing your expertise. 
    My best wishes,

    James

    Glad you like the content. I'm not sure my results  count as outstanding, I just get pleasure from trying to build stuff. When it works it is a bonus!

    Particularly in weird times like these having some modeling to get on with is a tonic. The important thing is to pick something you enjoy. RMWeb has a pretty good community spirit and hopefully the ability to give and receive encouragement and constructing criticism. Sharing our experiences, good and bad with each other can make us all better modellers.

    All the best

    David

     

    Fen End Pit

    Posted

    I'd been using a Ls6090 from HPLaser in Cambridge Makespace for a few years and was one of the trainers on the machine. I was able to buy one for myself when I was unable to get into Cambridge anymore and so now have my own. It is a 40Watt machine with a 2' x 3' bed and it can cut nicely through 6mm laser grade ply for baseboards but will also happily cut 1mm MDF and thin card.

     

    Don't be too jealous, it was paid for by a payout from critical illness cover and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

     

    David

    Fen End Pit

    Posted

    I've not made any laser cut kits as I have been able to produce my own artwork and cutter. I find a few things help with corners.

    First, avoid interlacing brickwork if you can, a butt joint hidden by a drain pipe is a good solution.

    Second, if you have to interlace brickwork, cut the bricks over length and sand back.

    Third, use thin CA glue wicked into the MDF to give added strength to the vulnerable ends before sanding.

     

    The corner of the cattle dock was extra tricky as the walls actually slant inwards by about 2mm over the height, I realised that I have a couple of mistakes on the cattle dock so I think I need one more go before I'm happy.

     

    David

    • Informative/Useful 1
    • Friendly/supportive 1
    KH1

    Posted

    He can't tell us about the secret project as he'd have to kill us afterwards.

     

    It is worth persevering to get the BLtouch working on the Ender-3, it makes bed leveling so much easier and the use of 9 points on the bed to generate a 'mesh' which then allows for slight warping on the bed is a great help. 

     

    All the best

    David

     

     

    Fen End Pit

    Posted

    On 18/03/2020 at 23:01, Tony W said:

    David

    You don't appear to be using a height bar to control the level of the coupling on its return to the rest position. Use of the underside of the bufferbeam introduces a whole range of problems because bufferbeam height on vehicles varies.

     

    Richard

    I think this is what you were referring to: http://www.mmrs.co.uk/technical-articles/alex-jackson-coupling-3/

     

    Tony

    Hi Tony

     

    Actually there is a little block of black plasticard just behind the bufferbeam, it just doesn't show up in the photograghs. which sets the height to match my gauge.

     

    David

    Fen End Pit

    Posted · Edited by Fen End Pit

    7 hours ago, Richard Jones said:

    Hi,

    Exquisite modelling yet again.

    It is my intention to use AJ couplings and have previously bent up the hooks, but it looks as those the design has been improved upon - can you share anything on the way you attach the wires to the vehicles? - I think I saw something, elsewhere on pivoting the wires in a vertical plane, rather than relying on the flexibility of a long wire, anchored near the opposite end of the vehicle.

    Many thanks

    Richard

    Thanks Richard, but I can't claim any credit for the quality of the Hornby molding.

     

    Regarding AJ couplings I am not doing anything too radical, I've never got on with the idea of pivoting them and just stick fixing the other end of the sprung wire to the far end of the wagon. The only thing I did pick up was the use of a 'pulling post'. The idea is that you place a vertical strong wire behind the  buffer beam (just off centre) and then bend the AJ coupling around it. When the coupling is tensioned it pulls against 'pulling post' meaning that the force is applied at the front of the wagon rather than the rear. It also doesn't matter too much if the final fixing position isn't exactly on the centre line because that isn't where the force is being applied.

     

    David

     

    IMG_7865a.jpg

    Fen End Pit

    Posted

    On 02/03/2020 at 03:04, BusDriverMan said:

    After watching the video, I looked up the MSE website and downloaded their assembly guide. They recommend tinning the handles - I guess it should be with lead-free solder?

    This was the Scalefour society frame rather than the MSE one, the handles are steel turnings and the rest of the lever is nickel-silver. I think you need a fairly aggressive flux and as much lead in the solder as legislation will allow.

     

    David

    Fen End Pit

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Dave Holt said:

    David,

    You're quite right to be pleased with the way things are going. The running is excellent and the track holding exemplary and a wonderful advert for P4.  Wish mine was always that good!

    Just a couple of thoughts.

    Are you intending to put any edging strips on the runs round to the cassette yard - a derailment on those sections would end in catastrophe. It looks as if the glazed central portion of the main station building has distorted somewhat, compared with previous photos of it. Or is that just an optical illusion?

    Dave.

     

    Hi Dave

     

    Regarding edging strips, I've thought about it but although I've had plenty of derailments I've not have any catastrophic plunges (yet) or indeed anything close. Stock which comes off tends to stay upright.

     

    You are right about the wood section of the station building, I made the drawing the same size as the gab between the two main parts of the building and didn't allow for the quoins. I just need to sand about .5mm off the ends!

     

    thanks for the nice commends

    David

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