richbrummitt

You appear to have asked the right questions. This once again shows that fidelity matters to you and is why (I believe) so many follow and contribute here.

Yes. The ‘stock photo’ on the previous page is the same tank taken from the platform rather than the car park and also shows it without the black band on the outlet. My guess is that the modern paint is not as robust and additional protection has been added for the kind of heat a localised fire can output. The edges are a far too neat for a scorched patch. It is only a guess.

I’ve managed this with sticky label wrappers - scoring before cutting for removal from the backing - as a trial for a weighbridge building. Whilst it was reasonably successful it was definitely tricky due to the sizes involved and the wrapper wanting to stick everywhere all at once. I understand your reluctance to accept this as a solution but it might be manageable to do sections of wall between successive down pipes or other features that would adequately disguise the joins.

I missed this one the other day, over by the turntable and up the line (a little), which does have a lid. The ‘fascinator’ - to prevent birds perching -must be a modern addition. For me I cannot reconcile the bands of dark stone with period photos. It could have been a regional variation thing, as so many things were. We could have a whole separate discussion about window frames for example. Why is part of the ‘arm’ painted black, anyone?

There’s also one at Minehead too. Presently the conical part is on the floor and the remainder is shrouded in scaffolding. If size is of utmost importance and if you can find a WSR volunteer you might be able to get some measurements off it while the works are happening?

Pretty good but not quite. There’s some great views further along at the next parking spot about a mile or so on too but probably not visible in ‘Google reality’. We tried to go up Bunkery Deacon earlier this week on the way to Minehead. Said child refused to wear trousers and then complained the wind made him cold. He wouldn’t go on shoulders so we didn’t quite make the top, but we did see it from a distance. I should have taken chocolate or something for ‘motivation’. If only I’d seen your post first! The sporadic rain appears to be missing from your experience but in our reality it wasn’t helping persuade anyone onwards. Luckily it lasted only a few minutes. Chance? Surely that’s a certainty!

How does the size of these compare with your own (3D CAD for printing) work?

At work someone comes and checks them to a standard. I believe this involves measuring against a number of gauge blocks (previously checked/calibrated) at various points across the range. For a 150mm caliper (correct terminology ) this might be 50mm 100mm &c. I don't know if you can change the value on the readout for adjustment. Once, upon checking, the Facom branded one that I had at work (about £90) got consigned to scrap because it was badly out of line with what it should have been reading after just two years. What you could do is keep a table of adjustments with the device to correct the readings from the display. It would be a right PITA though. We buy Insize now. They seem to be decent, especially for the price. Mark 'For indication only' and you should avoid the question. How do you check that the parts are what you asked for - do you simply trust the suppliers? My own vernier calipers have both inches (top) and mm (bottom). They have never been calibrated though. For some things it just seems like a license to grab money IMO.

The following train should be okay: According to the thread the express left at 11:15 on Tuesday.

The ones I have for work have DRO. I refer to them as large or small digital spanner. The one I use at home actually has a vernier.

Not sure how you are cutting the mesh Grahame (so I might be trying to teach egg sucking), but I try to use scissors for most of my etch removal. Reasonable craft/kitchen type scissors the type of which used to be available in Staples for a couple of quid will work for small thin pieces like etch tabs. The ones I have are branded Rapesco and they are comparable if not otherwise identical to the ones we have in the sideboard, which are branded Staples. I also have some similar to these for the when the metal is thicker than the scissors can manage (about 0.005"). I never use them on steel though; the blades could easily become notched.

That’s an Urbis ZX1 / Schreder MC1. For rail use they almost universally have a flat glass ‘bowl’ and are mounted with the lower face parallel to the ground i.e. 0 degrees inclined. Historically the ZX1 could only be mounted on the top of a pole with 5 degrees inclination and that meant the light was possibly visible to the driver (not good) so a stub bracket had to be used with the spigot entering the back of the body casting of the luminaire to get 0 degrees. Around 15 years ago the base castings were revised to post top installation possible at different inclinations including 0 degrees, which is how I believe it must be in the picture. These were called ZXU1. Note the lamp post has a hinge near the bottom. These allow the pole to be lowered and the whole maintained at ground level. It’s a while since I worked for Urbis and I’ve forgotten who the major supplier of such posts is. With that information maybe some enterprising soul will be able to model and print something suitable. There are drawings and plenty of pictures on line as they been around for 25 years.

More lettering. This time it’s all with a 5/0 brush. These are the prints from Ian Morgan’s CAD seen somewhere upthread. The third of the trio will have to wait for another session, as will the other sides of the wagons shown! Hopefully they will go just as well.

Getting ever closer. Transfers I had didn’t cover all aspects of the lettering required. The G on one side got damaged but weathering should hide. Matt varnish required first then the vac. pipe, couplings and wheels will complete.

Is it an easier job making the chimney breast wider to match?

iirc David turned a cone on the lathe and then bent the coned part around the headstock and then carefully sawed/parted it off at the correct positions relative to the diameter. (Turning a cone in the lathe is straightforward for any with a taper top slide who has a clue what they are doing, although the taper is not much.) When I attempted the same for myself I went about the turning in the same manner but fashioned a way of clamping the fustrum in the mill to finish the ends in the correct alignment. It seemed to me a much safer route than working with an out of balance workpiece in my small lathe.

It seems like they did; plus my school books since reception year, a full set of milk teeth, hospital bracelet, most toys… I honestly don’t know how strong the stuff holding up the ceiling is in their bungalow but it’s doing well: there must be more stuff in the attic than in the house. Now it’s up to me to do something with all this stuff I’ve had to be pretty brutal and my mundane life history has started to be, necessarily, discarded. I do get your point.

There were two different lengths of ventilator hood on GWR iron minks. Initially short (1'7½") and then longer (1'11½"). There's an HMRS booklet on these iron bodied wagons with a wealth of detail. The rails model looks like it might have used the dimension from a pre 1899 build/drawing.

Or the one at the back is from Triang

The latter is something I have always struggled more with. Using cotton buds or other applicators with a fluid is how I have tried most recently. Getting to the axle-bushing interface is a particular challenge (for those fibres you mentioned). What is your method, please?

Whilst the goods shed is in a similar style to the one at Hungerford (in Wiltshire) the site arrangement looks all wrong: This place appears to be a terminus with an island platform. Is this another Hungerford or somewhere else? The coal bins are certainly of interest to the discussion in this thread however.

It’d be stupidly expensive for what you want to use it for but I got some EMC mesh that is .001” blackened copper wire fixed in a square grid spaced at 100 openings an inch at work for a current project. I don’t think I ever saw any mesh so fine as this before. It’s a Parker Chomerics product. Maybe you can convince a rep to send a sample or get some offcuts from somewhere.

I'll be interested. I have a few items with surface rust that I was plucking up the courage to try phosphoric acid on.

An attempt to get back on thread: I have 4 off 2-522 that I will never build. The mouldings mean these are only suitable for vans that had planked wooden doors fitted from 1927- , and whilst it is possible to rework the doors to make a gpv I don’t need (m)any of those. Let me know if they are of use, anybody.

One of these has been on my to-do list for about 10 years. I suspect it will still be there in 10 more. I assume that you will be doing a coach too, unlike the one in this video: www.youtube.com//watch?v=q-2no7hmp2A