brian335

Link rot has set in, you'll get a 404 if you try the link quoted. Try this one instead https://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/Electrical_Page_3.html

Finally caught up on the photos upload. The latest of these is all the bits drying out on the radiator following a good scrub down with lashings of hot water and The Barkeepers Friend. Part of the reason for doing this is that the next bit to be stuck on is the smoke box after which it will be virtually impossible to access the inside of the smoke box ever again and I want to be sure everything is bright and shiny.

Gradually getting these photos uploaded. Here's the smoke box and boiler being trial fitted. Fortunately for me, this kit comes with a pre-rolled boiler.

A series of notes following the build of an N Brass Locomotives kit of Lady Margaret, GWR 1308 Having partially realised what I was letting myself in for after starting on Pembroke Castle, I decided to look around for something simpler. I saw this kit at the Peterborough show last year and after (almost) finishing a BR Mark 1, building an axle alignment jig and treating myself to a resistance soldering unit, I decided I was good to go. The kit is superb and any faults in construction are entirely mine. The side frames went together perfectly and are show here with the main bearings in place. All the bearings were the same size and the instructions indicated that the leading wheels should have about a millimetre vertical play and should be sleeved to cater for the smaller axle. I decided that it would be better to make my own bearings to fit and these appear in later photos.

I'd promised myself that if these machines came down to under £500, I would treat myself to one. People keep asking me what am I going to make with it and while I have done a few prints now and am getting to know what will and what won't work, the answer is that as far as I'm concerned, this is just another tool, just like a lathe or milling machine. If I have a need to make something and I think that 3d printing it is a good way to do it, then I will give it a go. My Ormerod 2 part way through the build, being checked to the screen image. Tracking down an electrical fault. It tunred out there wasn't one, just that my meter was unable to read such a low resistance. My first extrusion. Its first real print job - printing an orthogonal test piece. So for example if I want some O Gauge pallets say, do I 3d print them or use coffee stirrers? To my mind coffee stirrers win hands down. One thing I have come up with is a widget to stop chocolate block connectors falling apart which they do from time to time, usually during an exhibition. So anyone got any bright ideas?

It's been a while since I last posted here but I have been busy. Following my trials with building the tender for Pembroke Castle, I realised that I needed some help with Axle Alignment. I saw this jig for sale at the Peterborough show last year and thought I could make one for myself (apologies to Hobby Holidays but I did subsequently buy an RSU off them). These first few entries will be a bit of catch-up as I did this jig around Christmas 2014. So I started off in Sketchup and produced a drawing, ordered some Aluminium, silver steel bar and lots of screws etc from Chronos. The rest of the images can be seen in the gallery and pretty much speak for themselves.

Hi, I hope you will pardon my intrusion on this learned topic but I'm a (very) new boy on the block and wondered if you would mind identifying and explaining the use of some of the tools in that picture you posted. In particular I'm puzzled by three First is just below the callipers and looks like a scribe at one end but what's the flat end for? And second, to the right of the square is a yellow handled object which looks like a mini-weeder Finally, the bars at the bottom, clearly some bending and / or folding arrangement Thanks for all your hard work in producing this series of articles. Brian

Hi Tom, Just came across your entry. I have an NCE system at home which is fine for what I want and have built a MERG setup for my club. I'm not at all electronic savvy but if you can build a kit of any description and you can solder, then you can build a Merg kit as they are really well designed and the instructions are very clear (and yes I am a Merg member!) However, the build for the throttle is not for the faint hearted as there are a lot of components, many are surface mounted and very fiddly to do. That said, I've built two now and they both work. To buy their kits, you do need to be a member and it might be best to first join up and then try out some of their simpler kits such as the Gas Light Twinkler which is now available in both through the hole and surface mount and are both great fun to build. Brian

I Look forward to seeing some pictures. My OO layout has stalled at the mo but it too is based in S Wales - Pembroke Dock to be precise but I've done it on a mix of board heights rather than L Girder. Have you read the recent articles in Hornby mag on Kadees? I saw Kadees in operation at the Grantham show last year on a layout and was very impressed, more so than I have been by Spratt & Winkle type ones. Brian

Thanks, for those comments, I find super glue can be a bit vulnerable to snapping off if given a sharp blow - not that I'm planning on dropping it, but derailments do happen and I'd hate to find a kit of parts. Araldite or an epoxy though would perhaps have done it. I'm going to have one more go at soldering it though by cleaning and then using high and low melt solders on opposite sides as KH1 suggested. Was working on the water chute on the chassis tonight as I didn't understand the instructions first time round. Seemed pretty obvious tonight and went together a treat. Brian

Thanks, i have one of those and yes, it did go wrong, emitting magic smoke for a while. Now back working though and one of my favourite irons - how sad is that! I should have thought of the different melt solders. Thanks I will try that next time after cleaning up.

The instructions are telling me to fasten on the brake harness, shoes etc. It occurs to me that if I do this, I shan't be able to remove them later when I want to paint the chassis as they will be soldered on. I also want to blacken the axles and this will have to be done before adding the brakes. Equally the tender of the body could probably do with at least priming as some of the bits are getting a bit intricate. In my ignorance(!) I assumed the painting was all done at the end, but I guess I shall have to dig the primer out. Good job I got a spray booth for Christmas! The main part of the chassis is now complete apart from the brakes and harness as seen above. The next shot shows the tender body with steps added. These were probably the most fiddly bits yet - easy to bend up but look closely - one of the pairs of steps has brass bits soldered to both sides of the upright, and of course one drops off or goes out of true while you're trying to fix the one on the other side Here's a closer shot I shall have to have yet another go at that one

Mike, Thanks, my temperature controlled iron is a less powerful Maplins effort and while it still works, it has on occasion not done so. I think for the moment I have now all the info / opinions I need on soldering from here and the forum, so I will move on with some photos of progress so far. Ok, hit a brick wall on that one. Do I put them in a gallery first and link from / to there?

Will be very interested to see how you get on with the Silhouette although I expect my wife would want to borrow it! Brian

Thanks guys, Mike, The 60W temperature controlled iron sounds interesting, what make is it please? KH1, Thanks, the sponge is always wet but dipping the iron in the flux sounds very naughty. Just the thought of breating in vapourised phosphoric acid brings tears to my eyes. I must get some pictures up here.

I'm currently building an O Gauge David Andrew kit of a Castle Class loco, having decided to go for 4078 Pembroke Castle which just happens to be near where I used to live. This may be a bit ambitious as this is my first major kit building project. I don't happen to know much about trains or kit building (or this forum for that matter - should this be a blog or just a series of questions on the forum?) so I'm hoping for some constructive advice/ comments as I go. On the advice of friends, I am building the tender first, a Hawksworth 4,000 gallon tender which was allocated to the engine on 23/12/1955. I have already run into a couple of problems - mainly to do with soldering. I am using a Weller 40W but the tip keeps turning black. I then file it back to the copper and the process repeats. I have now wired it though a dimmer switch, thinking that maybe it was getting too hot (I could set fire to things with it!) and that seems to have reduced the problem. My other soldering irons are an 18 W and a temperature controlled one, both fine for electrical soldering but not much use for this game. Any suggestions as to alternatives gratefully received - is a resistance soldering unit a good idea?