D869

Aluminium cooking foil is another option for putting behind your crankpin washers when soldering. Regards, Andy EDIT: typo

Thanks Pete. That's still the mock-up that it's standing on and the inlay is 1/32 balsa. I still have some more work to do on the gubbins below decks before I can cut any wood on the real baseboard. The track on the mockup is all liftable. I haven't decided yet whether I will use it on the real layout or make new track. Using one set of points on two 'layouts' would be a new take on the usual approach of 'rip it up and start again'. I have been progressing other things too but it's all rather repeat stuff or early days stuff that isn't really good material to talk about on here. The Gresley BG is now in the paint shop but a winter paint job is never going to be quick. Regards, Andy

I promised myself that I would spend some time turning the various bits I've cut out for the shunting tractor into something more tractor shaped. In the previous installment I'd cut out the main chassis frames on the milling machine. In fact the chassis has been together for some time but lacking any sort of superstructure. The body parts are cut from 5 thou K&S brass sheet using good old fashioned scratchbuilding techniques like a coping saw and Swiss files - the only concession to modernity being sticking a CAD printout to the sheet with Pritt instead of marking out by hand. All of the parts were made in pairs with two pieces of 5 thou sweated together. As well as making two identical parts, 10 thou of brass is a bit more stable than 5 thou on its own. Even though I only need one of each front part, I still made two. I'm pleased with the way it's coming along. In particular it is starting to look like a Weatherill L61 loader, which is nice because apart from a very small side elevation from a sales brochure, it's all done from photos. There is still a lot more to do though - putting pre-made parts together gives the appearance of progress but I've used up most of the bits that I've made so I need to go back and make some more. Some photos. No coins though! It's just under an inch long if you want to have some scale.

I've seen 'em but didn't want to let the cat out of the bag before (AFAIK) anybody else had said anything in public. They are excellent. The sooner the better as far as I am concerned and thanks to all involved in making it happen. Regards, Andy

In my coaches I have used tape over the LEDs to produce a less stark colour. I've found that Tamiya masking tape and DCC kapton insulating tape both work equally well. I find this better than paint for multi LED setups like coaches because the density of the tape is repeatable whereas getting a consistent amount of paint on multiple LEDs is tricky. Probably best kept for situations where the LEDs are out of the line of sight though. Regards, Andy

Would it be a good idea for the Association to request copies of the CAD from the folks who drew them? Not insist, just ask nicely, perhaps with some assurances about how it would and would not be used. I know this is fraught with problems of compatability and obsolescence and that different people draw etch artwork in different ways but surely having a copy of someone else's artwork gives you more options than not having it? A couple of years back after having got permission to get etches done from someone else's photo tools, the etchers were unable to locate them... so sadly this doesnt seem to be a one off problem. Regards, Andy

Nice work Pete. The point does seem uncomfortably close to the end of the board but hopefully you have that under control. I like the nail filing stick in the background. I have several which I use a lot. Mine are in multiple dayglo colours and came from a chemist's shop in Southend, so if they are good enough for Essex Girls then they should be right. Regards, Andy

Interesting to see your results Tom, particularly the boiler. I've done a lot of 3d printed tanks but support is always a challenge with cylindrical objects like this. So far I've stuck to Shapeways FUD/FXD (or whatever they call it now). With this the support issues appear as a rough finish where the was is in contact. Not too bad on a welded tank but a nightmare on a riveted one. I've considered using SLA/DLP several times but have been put off by the prospect of lots of sprue type supports being attached to the lower surface. So did your boiler work without having the middle supported or is that one of the lessons? Don't suppose you are at Warley? Regards, Andy

Closing out our 2018 outings was a trip to Wigan this weekend. Friday evening saw us finding a local hostelry where we were amongst a rather partisan bunch watching Wigan play Castleford in the Rugby League semi final. Wigan won so everyone in the pub was happy although when we got back to the hotel we found that the non model railway occupants seemed to be predominantly from Castleford and rather less happy. The meal on Saturday was entertaining. We were sat on a table with the folks from the Book Law stand so it was interesting to find out a bit more about them and just how many shows they do (it's a lot). Ths show was good too... but we pretty much expected that. Our new detail cameos seemed to go down well with the younger punters - we now have a quiz card with photos of things for them to find on the layout. Unfortunately one of our team was not too well today so we were a bit short staffed. It also meant that the rest of us were operating pretty much full time so I didn't take many photos today. Thanks to John and Adrian for helping us out as guest ops this weekend and to Sam for sticking around to help us pack up. The few photos that I did take... Grindley Brook. I really liked this one but the shape of it seems to make it tricky to find an angle for a photo that works. Us and the Roadshow Hebble Vale was right next to us so I took a couple in the last few minutes today.

I'm pondering (not very urgently) the question of point motors myself. Trouble is I'm not convinced that any of them are reliable. The thing that put me off Tortoises was the article (in MRJ?) a while back on how to make them reliable... basically by replacing a whole bunch of their innards. After reading that article I had hoped that Cobalt might be the answer but apparently not. The Fulgurex motors on St Ruth have been a pain - the main issue with these is the microswitches. They are OK out of the box but soldering wires onto them tends to soften the plastic and make them go out of adjustment... which usually manifests itself as a failure at a show. Sometimes the two switches that stop the motor itself go wrong and then the motor either doesnt go or (worse) tries to keep going when it should stop and then overheats. Some of them are hideously noisy too, in spite of whatever we do to lubricate them. Anything else? Seep? I don't think I know anyone who has used these. Servos may offer an answer but there are *soo* many variables there - servo brand, whether what you buy is really the brand that it says on the outside, controller, mechanism to turn the rotary movement into a linear one and switching arrangements. There is certainly less to go wrong with wire in tube straight to the facia. I may go that way but I also rather like the idea of having the controls all in one place. Good luck at the show, whatever the layout! Regards, Andy

Isn't the explanation obvious? Someone asked him if he wanted a ride on a flying banana and he misunderstood what they meant.

Oh dear oh dear (both for the track and the rib). Actually the last shot has a certain ambience. Maybe a post-closure cameo with a JCB or bulldozer dragging away the last few sleepers and bits of rail? Operation possibilities may be limited though and it would probably be disqualified from the GJ challenge. Hope the rib mends soon. Regards, Andy

Did the chap with the 3/4mm layout keep his promise to reveal how it worked at the end of the show?

MinerChris and I had a very enjoyable day in Wells. Mr Greenwood's empire is well worth seeing if you can get there tomorrow. Thanks to John for letting us have a play. D6309 was temporarily DCC chipped and got a run out to North Cornwall along with my Masterclass 'P' set with new 3d printed roofs which look very nice. Most of my attempts to take photos didn't work out but this one of D6309 isn't too bad. Not sure what's going on with those telegraph poles though - must be a very heavy bird sat on the wire.

Thanks Pete. Yes the layout mostly behaved itself. Inevitably there were a couple of issues - for some reason the fiddle yard deck was not isolating when being moved but that's easy enough to work around once you've figured out what's happening. The worst issue was some misalignment on the up line where it crosses the joint between the scissors and MPD boards. This caused some derailments but we could partly work around that by sending freights via the other line which is signalled for both directions. This is not a new issue but has proved to be quite resistant to our efforts to sort it out back at base. It seems to be worse at some shows so maybe it's related to the temperature or floor surface.

Some photos from our trip to Minehead today The venue is an indoor skateboard park - note the rampy things against the wall. The nextdoor neighbours seem to to be even more into their hydraulics than we are. They had a layout to put them on too (Seven Ash) The Gravetts were there too. Very nice! There was a 305mm layout on the doorstep too. They do seem to have some implausible stuff though. Maybe this was the silly last half hour? And a Weatherill wheel loader too - not the right kind for my shunting tractor but the right manufacturer Thanks to Dave and his team for an enjoyable show and for the Belgian buns. Yum! ... and thanks to Jim Allwood for being guest op this afternoon.

Like it - nice job! Not sure if it's the camera or the real thing but the interior lighting looks a little bit bright and white in the photos. Some higher value resistors could deal with the brightness but I've found that an easier way to make LED light both dimmer and warmer is to stick some pale yellow tape over the LED. Either DCC kapton insulating tape or Tamiya masking tape seem to work equally well in this regard and it's easy to play with multiple layers or else just partially covering the LED until you get the effect that you are happy with. We've also used glass paints on white LEDs where they are out in the open but this is not so easy to 'adjust'. HTH. Regards, Andy

The theme here seems to be low tech, but if you do want to deploy a Templot approach... When I needed to do a curvy crossover to fit into some existing track on St Ruth, I took a rubbing of the track 'on site'. If memory serves, this was too big to fit on the scanner so I drew a straight datum line and measured coordinates for several points (not turnouts) along the existing tracks. I then did a simple drawing in CAD to reproduce the lines and then used the result as a background in Templot. Maybe it's possible skip this step and to draw datum points (not turnouts) at specific coordinates directly in Templot - I don't claim to be a Templot expert. The rubbing was also handy for checking the final Templot templates because I only have access to the layout during our fortnightly meetings. Some words and pictures from the time... http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/595/entry-12256-oh-i-do-like-to-be-beside-the-sea-siding/ Regards, Andy

Thanks - the layering is quite promminent in the first photo but it looks like you cleaned it up nicely. I'm doing another one of these just now for use as a resin casting master, hence my interest in cylindrical things... http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/722/entry-18393-1907-hurst-nelson-10t-tank/ It's printed 'right way up' in FXD but those rivets do rather get in the way when it's being rubbed down and a smooth finish is critical if it's going to be painted with silverette. I have thought of Archers rivet transfers but those would need to be lined up accurately so to me that's a last resort if I accidentally 'delete' any of the 3d printed rivets. Regards, Andy

Thanks for that. I've done a good few things in FUD/FXD myself but I'm always on the lookout for alternatives and their pros and cons for different types of model (in Shapeways or outside)... cylindrical objects being of particular interest. I don't suppose you have any pics of loco bodies from your B9C 'in the raw' do you? Regards, Andy

That looks really good. Am I right in thinking that the B9 is an SLA or DLP type of printer? If so then I guess that gives you a smoother outcome than the layering artefacts that we see with Shapeways FUD (or whatever it's called today). How do you deal with supports for tricky things like the underside of the boiler? Feel free to refer me elsewhere if this is already posted someplace. (and sorry Jerry for the tangent) Regards, Andy

That bit was already done before the model came to me. I've had a closer look. There is no solder between the sides and floor so it looks like the sides fold upwards. I suspect that the etch line is on the outside of the fold which is unconventional but it does give a crisp bottom edge to the side. The ends have solder along the bottom edge and up the corners so I'd guess that these were not fold-up jobs. Either material would work but Mr Rathbone reckons that paint adhesion on brass is better than nickel silver so that seems worth having given the choice. Nickel silver has lower thermal conductivity so it's definitely a better choice for etches like wagon chassis where there are lots of bits to join together without burning your fingers or unsoldering earlier work. You're welcome. No worries.

Cheers Jerry. Seems to be a common affliction. Maybe it's because building a single NPCS vehicle leaves you with a finished item that 'makes sense' in its own right whereas most passenger carrying stock needs several friends. Or maybe it conjures up ideas of journeys involving much luggage or Christmas parcels. Now what would you be needing a 1920 GWR rake for? I'm guessing not the S&D. Bath Spa as your next layout maybe? Regards, Andy

I've puzzled over similar issues in the past although not quite to 'coffee ginder' severity. As others have said, the main suspects must be the motor, worm and (less likely) wormwheel/spur gear assembly. End thrust is one possibility, probably the most likely but the friction between worm and wormwheel will also produce sideways thrust which will push the worm one way and the wormwheel the other. This could cause the wormwheel or spur gear to foul something. Is the motor removeable? If so maybe try a different motor... or to isolate the issue... temporarily fit the motor with blu tack or whatever so that it drives from the opposite side of the wormwheel and then see if the coffee grinder effect happens in the same or the opposite direction. If it's opposite then it's the motor/worm. If not then it's further down the drive train - probably the wormwheel/spur gear. Directional issues can come from further down the drive train but for a coffee grinder I think that motor is the most likely and the probability gets less as you head towards the wheels. I must admit that when I did my 45xx I bought the 'dont put end or side thrust on a coreless motor' line and put a single UJ between the motor and the gearbox. This may or may not be overengineered. Regards, Andy

And sort out plenty of heavy things to weight it down while the PVA sets, plus some bits of wood, play, hardboard or whatever to spread the weight over as much of the railhead as possible.