Skinnylinny

Well, the past nearly-a-month (goodness!) has been quite busy with various things, but some modelling has taken place: I found an old, unstarted Dapol Rocket kit, so that's been a gentle build over a week or two (still a way to go) - I was then kindly gifted two Hornby L&M replica open carriages to go with it. This isn't an attempt at an accurate L&M train, but more of a memento of the time my partner and I went to the National Railway Museum and had a ride behind their replica Rocket. Still a fair bit to do on the tender, and the loco needs a few paint errors tidying up, and substitution of wire for the moulded chimney and front step supports. I've also been playing a fair amount of the multiplayer game "Railroads Online!" with @BlueLightning and some other friends. It's a game set in the US around the turn of the century, with the aim of building a 3' gauge logging railway. You start with a little Porter 0-4-0t loco (named "Betsy" and a single flatbed wagon, and a 3-siding yard. We now have 9 locomotives, over 70 wagons and have connected 7 industries. I saw a cheap Bachmann On30 model of the Porter 0-4-0 on eBay, and couldn't resist. With some repainting to represent the polished wood cab and front bufferbeam pilot, Betsy is well on her way to being completed. Strictly, she needs her sand dome replaced with a round-topped one to be more accurate to the in-game version, but that may have to wait for now On30 is definitely satisfying chunky compared to 4mm standard gauge, and I feel myself being drawn towards the dark side... although it is still pre-grouping in era! I've also dug out my ruling pens again, and am having another go at the HO brass LB&SCR G class I acquired from a club member a few years back. It was originally a rather horrible beige colour, so I've repainted it and been having a go at the lining. There are a few rough bits on the splasher, but this is the first attempt. Once I'm happier with my ability it'll probably get sanded back to bare metal and redone properly, but I am rather pleased with some bits! I am still figuring out exactly the right consistency of paint needed though. It's getting better with every use of the pen, so I'm hopeful of still more improvement. Anyway, probably there won't be much update-wise for a little bit, as I will be resting up a lot to save my energy for Model Rail Scotland next weekend. If you're attending, do say hi - I'll be the purple-haired one behind the Edinburgh & Lothians layout (Glendevon) or wandering about in my blue club fleece.

Looking forward to this year's show - I'll be the purple-haired one behind the Edinburgh & Lothians MRC layout as usual (Glendevon this year). Several excellent layouts going this year - looking forward to seeing Arun Quay and Beijiao, as well as a few others.

Aha, yes - I have never had much joy making my own pickups, so these are DCC Concepts' very neat ones - I do find they need a little tweaking, as they bear on the back of the wheels quite hard, but they have saved me *so* much time and hassle with bending bits of wire. Of course, they're a fair bit more expensive than fiddling with bits of wire (£16.95 for a pack of 12 pickups), but a much more consistent, and, as you say, neat result. I've also used their decoder wire in black - it's fine, flexible enough to be easily routed, but then stays in place rather than springing all over the place when the bodyshell is removed. https://www.dccconcepts.com/product/pickup-wiper-12-pack/ https://www.dccconcepts.com/product/wire-decoder-stranded-6m-32g-black/

Very nice! Thank you for sharing. I'll remember that for future projects. For now, I've put an order in with 247, who replied to my email to confirm that yes, they could do me an LSWR Adams oval numberplate for 529. I'll also be picking up a couple of other detail parts from them, so that works out well! Any chance of a picture of said T3? I do love a nice Adams design!

No need for a tank wagon - stick it in churns and put 'em in the guards van of the branch passenger train!

Both are excellent, although I find Kit Kats better for a break - custard creams tend to crumble rather than snapping cleanly! ...Oh, different kind of break!

I meant "not in any of the catalogues". Narrow Planet don't have any LSWR number plates, neither do Roxey. Brassmasters don't have the oval plates listed anywhere on their site, nor can I find them in the instructions for any of their Adams-era kits, so not really any point asking. 247 do offer the oval plates, but not with the correct numbers. However, I didn't know they did commissions, so I will ask them. Thank you.

Thanks to both of you - The Kings Cross plates, unfortunately, don't include no. 529. I'll try to get in touch with Guilplates tomorrow - I see that the best way to get in touch with them is by telephone (Mon-Fri, 9-5:30) on 01483 565980. Having to cut out those oval plates out of the sheet is not ideal, but there we are! Might be better to buy two sets for when I inevitably mess them up!

Does anyone know of a source of etched LSWR Adams-style elliptical number plates in 4mm scale? I'm trying to build a model of A12 class no. 529 (Well, it's currently being CAD-ed up) and I would really like some etched number plates, but I can't find any sources. I've tried the usual suspects (Narrow Planet, Brassmasters, 247 Developments, Roxey) but no joy. Brassmasters sell the digits, but not the oval plate to fit them onto! To give an idea of what I'm after: (Image linked from https://www.swanagerailwaytrust.org/t3-appeal ) CAD file shown below, with placeholder printed oval plates - sadly I don't think they'd look very good printed! Thanks very much in advance, Linny

Thank you! I've found working for Rapido to be very rewarding, and while I may not be at liberty to say what, I can say there are some very interesting projects going on behind the scenes! For those who haven't had a chance to see the section of the newsletter:

No worries, thought it might help save you some of the angst I had when designing mine. Thanks, I have a layout thread in the pre-grouping section, although I have been considering setting one up in the 3D printing section of the forum too. So far most of my 3D prints have been wagons, this is only the second loco I've attempted (and the first where I've worked out the chassis mechanical details before getting stuck in!) http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/130588-great-southern-railway-fictitious/

For the driven axle, I've actually used the bearings on the gearbox (as these stick out slightly from the edge of the gearbox - the driven axle doesn't actually touch the frame at all). The front axle uses Markits 3mm inside-diameter bearings (part number MRAXFB3E for a pack of 12 in their catalogue). The raised bearings can be seen here, and these rest in the "axle holes" in the chassis. The gearbox has to be sprung into place, rather like pinpoint axles into a plastic wagon chassis. It's certainly saved me a lot of time trying to get worms and gears to mesh nicely!

That D1 is looking fantastic so far! I too have played around with those motor/gearbox combinations in my 3D printed LSWR A12 project. I found it easier to buy 3mm Romford axles (available as an alternative to the 1/8" ones). Knocking out the original drive axle on the gearbox (it's only a friction fit) meant that the 3mm Romford axle fitted nicely, and I've held the gear to it with some nail polish (to allow the joint to break if there's any binding, rather than damage the motor). Certainly saved much boring or turning of parts!

Well, if you're going to do castings, I can think of at least one person who is needing to produce about 2 metres of retaining wall, who would love to buy the moulds once you're done with them! They look fantastic, and it's great to see retaining walls that aren't in stretcher bond! Your brickwork looks really lovely here.

Um... is it just me, or would pushing down on that brake lever *release* the brakes through the Morton clutch, rather than applying them?

Hi John, Thanks for the thought, but from what I can tell the plastic is polypropylene, and the contact areas for gluing are tiny (many sub 1mm^2!) so glue just wasn't doing it. To be honest, I'm quite happy with how the Ratio one has come out. Still some tidying up, and smoke deflectors to fit (which will be done when it is in its final position, to ensure they align with the track), but I think it looks pretty smart.

Presumably also the track will raise the wagon up?

Part of the problem is nobody knows exactly what happened when at both companies. The Rapido Newsletter where they confirmed they were going to produce the Titfield Thunderbolt included this section: [Emphasis mine, source: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Rapido-UK-News---No--3.html?soid=1101318906379&aid=sGWrBCZGI0M ]

Happy new year! Well, it has certainly been an interesting few weeks, even if not much has happened on the personal modelling front! The only real progress since Christmas has been the building of a Coopercraft GWR Mink (bought in error - I wanted the W1 cattle wagon kit!) and starting on a footbridge for Linton Town. As lovely as the old Hornby clip-together one is, I've had to give up kitbashing it, as nothing I could do would glue the slippery, greasy, flexible plastic together. Superglue won't touch it, nor will acetone, plastic weld, MEK, or even Araldite (!). I even went out and bought special "flexible plastic" superglue, which comes with a fancy primer, and is intended for those awkward plastics, but no joy. So! Ratio have come to the rescue with their modular footbridge kit. I'm building mine without the roof, and rather cut-down in length (my main span being 3 panels rather than the 5- or 6-panel version catered for in the kit!). I'm also painting it in a maroon and cream colour scheme, similar in appearance to the colours used on LB&SCR stations. Progress so far (mostly while watching @BlueLightning's Youtube stream last night): Still plenty to do though, including tidying up the paintwork where it has been smeared by the glue, but so far I'm very pleased.

Hi Tom, I'm using DLP resin printing (on an Anycubic Photon). How I print things depends on what I'm printing - the LSWR gunpowder van here was printed in one piece, but with interior reinforcement and filleted internal corners to reduce warping due to differential shrinkage. I also decided in this case to omit the roof because the roof of this particular vehicle was completely smooth with no detail, so a piece of plasticard, suitably curved, would give a superior finish to a printed roof. There is some slight bowing to the solebar, and I now generally go for separately-fitted buffers where possible (turned metal ones being finer, stronger and less liable to warp!). The photo also shows just how small some pre-grouping wagons were, another advantage to fitting one-piece models on the build plate! I have found coaching stock to be harder to print reliably, especially compartment stock where the columns between windows are narrow and weak. In some cases, I print solebars and axleguards separately from the body, although I have found that this can cause problems if any part doesn't print dead-straight. Much easier to not have any gaps by not having separate components! Shapeways was the reason I bought my own printer - I was disillusioned with the quality of prints I was getting from Shapeways, and seeing the crystallisation of the Frosted Ultra Detail plastic cause my painted models to develop a glittery surface was horrifying!

Before my time (I wasn't born until '91!), but looking at the lions on each, I assume English and Scottish.

Thanks for the interesting thoughts, Tom. I haven't actually put handrails or wire-type parts on this, and things like the lamp irons, alarm gear and brake gear are solid with the body. I've deliberately left out the floor and interior wall to reduce suction-related warping (easy enough to slot some plasticard in from underneath afterwards, as I've put locating ridges in). The brake standards I know from experience will print well as I've done them on an open carriage truck. As you say, wire/handrail type parts are much better done with wire, hence the cattle rail bars and sheet rail on the rear open being wire. Where I have to represent handrails, I either leave holes for knobs, holes for bent handrails, or printed stand-offs for wire handrails to be glued to, depending on what's needed. This latter approach can be seen on my LSWR birdcage brake van. As for the laser-cut model, it's not 3D printed, but laser-cut from MDF and card. Before I got hold of my printer, I did a fair amount of designs to use a laser cutter which was available at the local hacklab/makerspace.

Hmmm, none of those are things I personally need, although I imagine a Road Truck vehicle might be more useful to some. The engineers' train would also be interesting. The thing to remember is that ordinary open wagons vastly outnumbered anything else in the pre-grouping period, so a couple of variations on those (wooden versus steel solebar, for example, and with or without sheet rails, or different brake types as applicable) would really make for a good representation of a pre-grouping goods train.

As long as you don't pinch the LSWR horsebox I've nearly finished, or the LBSC one I want to do! LSWR 16' Horsebox of 1899 I also want to re-draw-up the LBSC D53 horsebox which I've made as a laser-cut kit, for 3D printing. Those look rather good, I will definitely be in the market for some of the LSWR bolsters!

Yes, but equally, without brake rigging or brake pipes, a loco doesn't have a huge great hole in the side! I imagine also that the buses may be more popular amongst die-cast vehicle collectors, for whom the collectability is a factor - if you start gluing bits onto a new model, it's no longer "factory fresh"...