Colin parks

Well Howard, let's wait until the philosophy is put to some practical application. The easiest way that I can see to prove this is to build some track and a point or two then run a converted EMU backwards and forwards with the hope that it doesn't derail. Having said that, with the current waiting time for Ultrascale products being six months, I shall probably have to re-wheel the 4 SUB with Exactoscale wheels more out of expediency than choice. Given the narrower tread width of Exactoscale wheels, the test will be slightly tougher. All the best, Colin

Hi SirNigel, I have never built anything with compensation so cannot comment much of the matter. What I am going to do is increase the weight of any item of stock which is converted to P4. I the case of the 4 SUB this extra weight will be in the form of lead strips glued under the seats. I have this theory that the heavier a thing is the more it will flex enough to hold the track. My scratch-built chassis on these EMUs are fairly flexible due to their construction. Only testing will prove the theory one way or the other, but from now on I am going to take as much trouble with the track as I do with the models that will run on it. That should at least reduce the risk of wobble. All the best, Colin

Fair enough Cheesysmith, I can see you have a master plan! You certainly can never have enough of those 16t minerals for such a layout. All the best, Colin

Hi Adam, Lovely work as always. The Covhop finish is excellent. You have got those transfers on very neatly. The Cambrian open is nice to see and I shall be having a go at a few of these before long. Your addition of the metal brake gear improves the appearance no end. I have been nagging my brother to produce these or similar wagons for a while. These opens were much loved by the Southern Region engineers for spoil trains and looked very fetching when branded with the green triangles that were fleetingly and inconsistently applied in the 70's. All the best, Colin

Hi Cheesysmith, I didn't mean to sound like a know-it-all re. the Lampreys, but they are wagons I well remember seeing at Newhaven back in the 70's. You have made good job of the wagons pictured. I could suggest one improvement that would really improve the Catfish and that is to remove the plastic-moulded end handrails and replace them with wire - but it's up to you. All the bets, Colin

Hi Cheesysmith, The wagon in your second photo is in fact a Chivers Lamprey. If I recall correctly, the wagon is a BR design see here: http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brlamprey The Catfish wagons are pleasing to see. I made the moulds for them when at Cambrian many years ago. I can remember sketching some details of one at Stratford East yard one weekend and especially wanted to see how the base of the hopper was constructed. The BR staff were very helpful in letting me get a close look. Those were the days! All the best, Colin

Wow! That was quick Peter. It seems much easier to cut the panelling with the drawing glued to the plasticard. The work looks very neatly done too. You will soon be knocking out coaches at the rate of one a day like the great David Jenkinson did. All the best, Colin

Hi Clive, Gosh, after reading your description of modelling gauges, I am now looking at the 4 SUB and its P4 conversion with different eyes. It could be the opiates in my pain-relief patch, or did the SUB just wink at me and say: " how's about a bit of P4-play then mister?!" Re: "And I model 00?" I thought you were modelling Tinsley yard MPD in P4 - or have I got that wrong?! All the best, Colin Hi Mike, I really don't want to get into a gauge war! All the best, Colin

Thanks to you John, David and Howard for tips on the conversions to P4. I have a mind to take apart one failing BB which is in my BR 2 HAP at the moment. The gears are almost stripped on this non-runner so taking it apart is not going to do any harm and maybe it could be re-geared and end up under the 4 SUB one day. If it were possible to buy 14mm dia. Ultrascale wheels and just press-fit them onto the existing axles of the motor bogie as David describes, that would be very convenient. I know it isn't an engineered solution Howard, so forgive me for even thinking of it! The one possible snag I will have with the 4 SUB trailing bogies is that they have all been fitted with brass pin-point bearings. How accurately aligned the axles now are is open to question and possibly not well enough for running with P4 wheels without compensation. Colin

Drat. You got to that punch line before me Sean! I just hope for Mrs Penguin's sake she isn't expecting triplet boys or it'll be Marks one, two and. er, three! I'm not sure how many babies it would take before one unfortunate child would be called Pendolino...... Seriously, though good luck to you both with the birth. Colin

Hi Sean, Family comes first of course, so modelling has to fit around real life, but if it's a boy you could always call him Mark (1) ! I'll get my coat... Colin

Hi Howard, Yes 1.39am it was. If you had the same cocktail of drugs coursing through your veins as I have, you'd probably have been up late too! (disrupted sleep patterns seems to be a side effect of all these tablets.) Anyway, back to matters of a more serious nature: If you are going to show us all how to convert a Hornby 2 BIL to P4,you could either start another topic or place your posts on the 'Hornby 2 BIL upgrade topic' - it's up to you. I for one want to know how to convert a 2 BIL, so a that's one follower you have already! The problem with the Black Beetle which sets it apart from the Hornby motor bogies, (of which I have four in total to convert), is that the gears and wheels are press - fitted onto the to the plastic moulding which forms the inside bearings for the axles and the mounting socket onto the motor. Exhibit one (its not too good a shot, but shows the relevant parts well enough): The above picture is taken from the 2 HAP build, but the 4 SUB is identical in all respects, even down to the clips which locate the cosmetic side frames in place. The transoms were much too wide on the Branchlines' kit's whitemetal castings shown here, with 1.5mm being removed. The transoms are easily altered if too narrow (although that would have implications for the alignment of the shoe beams if they were widened again). The brake rigging is not an issue - it will have to be re-aligned anyway. So if you do have an answer let me know: What type of P4 axles/wheels could be substituted should it be possible to get these assemblies apart? They would have to be from the Ultrascale range ideally, as I am going to standardise all the P4 wheels and use only that manufacturer's products where possible. There are at least four BBs in my EMUs, so it would be a considerable saving if this can be done. No pressure then Howard! All the best, Colin

Excellent models Sean! I had missed seeing posts #280 & #283. The coaches do look very crisp in detail and I especially like the appearance of the window frames on all of the coaches. All the best, Colin

Hi Ian, The work on the EPB's roof looks very neat and tidy. In fact, I must say that the whole standard of work on the bodywork is very high. How you get those conduits and wire fixings so neat is beyond me! All the best, Colin

Hi Howard, So tell me more: If the basic motor bogies can be kept, it would save a lot of re-fitting of the cosmetic motor bogie side frames. Can you think of a way to replace the 00 axles of a Black Beetle and replace them with P4 ones? I have plenty of time on my hands, a lathe and vernier gauges, so pray tell, what is the answer? All the best, Colin

No SS, Simon's work is at the cutting edge of what is possible. I'm doing P4 for dummies or else I shall not do it at all! Colin

Hi Ian, Thanks for your comments re. the 4 SUB. Re moving to P4, you are right, having no steam locos means much less effort! The first loco I intend to convert will be the class 73 (conversion time= about 20 mins. with Ultrascale wheels). This loco can easily be reverted back to 00 should the need arise. As for the 4 SUB and the rest of the stock so fitted, it is more a matter of cost rather than technical difficulty, with each unit requiring a new P4 Black Beetle motor bogie @ £50.00 a pop plus the trailing wheels of course. It is still cheaper than 0 gauge, which I would have considered, but I don't even have the room for the length of trains I want to run in 4mm. I guess that a 4 SUB in 0 gauge would be about 6ft long - gulp! All the best, Colin

Trouble is SS that a layout could be built in the time it would take me to build another SUB and a new layout is more pressing! (But you never know, I did build a second 2 HAP.) All the best, Colin

A brief update on the 2 BIL: The replacement roof conduit which was made from brass wire has not proven to be very satisfactory having distorted over the past few months. Yesterday I decided to change all the wire for plastic rod of 0.4mm and 0.5mm dia. as appropriate. The light quality leaves something to be desired but here is a shot of the unit after the remedial work was done to change six of the conduits.(Two conduits were fitted with plastic rod the first time, so these have been left as they were.) The 2 BIL's roof is now fitted out in the same way as other units in my fleet, so that should mean distortion-free conduits from now on. Colin

Hi Tigermoth, I'll say no more on the 2 HAL or else it will end up as the 2 BIL topic did! Re. conversions: you just might stray back from narrow gauge, but starting off with this P4 malarkey is going to be expensive, so please do not expect to see much news on my venture for quite a while. All the best, Colin

Hi Pete, Just reading the latest posts. I can now see that the Geoff Kent approach is similar to that of building an aircraft wing with the sheet material not really laminated at all. If I were to do this for a coach roof I would use Liquid Poly and apply it with an 00 synthetic bristle brush. Having said that, a coach roof made from 40 thou. sheet clamped in a heated wooden former will never let you down, but I appreciate not everyone will want to do that. It is quite surprising how far even a small amount of solvent will spread, so if the Geoff Kent method is to be successful, it seems to be a case of limiting the spread of solvent inwards from the edges, hence the use of small brush and small amounts of your chosen solvent. The roof does look to be a good one, so fingers crossed! All the best, Colin

Hi John, That method of folding the handles looks just as good a solution. The lack fold lines on the Roxey etchings does have its advantages though as they are much stronger when bent and can be re-worked without snapping. I also used these handles on the Hornby 2 BIL upgrade and if the handles are securely fixed, some gentle adjustment with pliers is possible the get the handles to all stand vertically - not the easiest of tasks as the bending process influences the way these handles will sit(as you now know!) All the best, Colin

Well Tigermoth, not wishing to get into another contentious debate, but: If the Hornby production 2 HAL is as the pre-production model represents, it still has all the issues which irked me with the 2 BIL (minus the 'stupid' faults such as the toilet window, and periscope position). The roof detailing is still a mixture of moulded-on features and separately applied nonsense. Mind you, if I hadn't built a model already, conversion of the Hornby offering would be better than scratch-building. All the best, Colin

Last shots of the 4 SUB for now. These were taken when giving the unit a trial run two days ago. On reflection, it seemed more appropriate to post here rather than on the layout topic. More nostalgia from back in the day with the SUB passing the signal box. The SUB arriving at the platform. As yet it had proved impossible to take a decent photo of the whole unit. The number of windows is the first thing that strikes me when looking at it. The second thing is that I wish I has two of them! Comparative photos of the 4 SUB buffering up to its close cousin the Tin HAL. The prototypes units were made on the same jigs at Eastleigh, so the models should look similar. The larger luggage van of the Tin Hal is plain to see here (as is the fact that the Tin HAL does not have the very subtle water strip detail above the doors). I am now left with the two Bulleid HAPs, the windows of which should look like these two unit but don't. So the next job will be to change their sides for new ones. The SUB and pre-war 2 HAL in profile. No, I won't be buying the new Hornby one when it comes out! One thing that pleases me about this (less than perfect) shot is that you can see through the van doors with no obstruction. This is the motorised end and it took some trail and error work to get the decoder wires to go up and over the windows, with the decoder itself resting on top of the partition to the left. Colin

Hi Howard, Yes, finally the 4 SUB has arrived at the station! It's unlikely that the layout will be exhibited again, so the 4 SUB is only complete in its 00 form temporarily. I shall be converting the SUB to P4 at some point once funds allow and there is a layout to run it on! As for 'green nostalgia', yes it is rather alluring, but I shall continue to plough the late sixties furrow, where on the Southern Region green blue/grey and plain BR blue liveried stock could be seen. (That's my excuse anyway!) All the best, Colin