Jump to content
 

Lisa

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    308

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Lisa

  1. Lisa

    A Night on the Tiles

    By Lisa,

    Hi All
     
     
    I've been working on the Dairy roof, but I not had successful as expected. BUT I think all is not lost. Along the way, I have learned some valuable lessons. These are when cutting thin paper, it is important to use a very sharp blade in one's scalpel and to cut, rather than tear you must have the blade at a low angle between the blade and the paper being cut.
     
     
    Coming back to the problems, I’ve got PVA glue on the printed brickwork between two windows, but I think I can retrieve the situation by weathering the wall.
     

     
    The glue on the roof, can be hidden, by spraying the roof, with a mist of green paint. Examination of any roof, shows that lichen grows on them.
     
     
    The roof is made up a series of strips, cut from a sheet, produced using Corel PhotoPaint. By applying strips, rather than simply fixing the sheet on a single piece, gives a 3D surface to the overlapping layers of tiles, that make up the roof.
     

     
    The barge boards are made from thin paper to, and where one became damaged during the gluing, I simply patched it just like the prototype would be.
     
     
    If you think, that all is lost, due to a problem, there is usually a way of retrieving the situation!
     
     
    Lisa
  2. Lisa

    Additive Manufacturing

    By Lisa,

    There has been much talk in the model railway press about using 3D printing, and indeed the recent Lynton and Barnstable coaches and wagons by peco used 3D prining in their production.
     
    The masters were 3D printed, and then positive molds were made, and then the sides, ends, roof and chassis were then cast in resin.
     
    Several members of the 2mm Association have experimented with 3D printing, including Missy, using a printging contractor to do the printing. DIY 3D printing setup currently have problems with printing curved profiles. BUT the results depend on which orientation the 3D image is printed. Therefor some experimentation is required, for the best results.
     
    Buts here is a thought, many modellers have been using Additive Manufacturing, for many years using plasticard, to build a variety of models including wagons, coaches, locomotive bodies and of course railway structures.
     
    'There is nothing new under the sun' is there!
  3. Lisa

    Additive Manufacturing 2

    By Lisa,

    Hi
     
    Recently Steam_Julie posted a blog entry where she posted photographs of the cable clamps she made, to fix the DCC power bus to the underside of her layout.
     
    These were manufactured using additive manufacturing techniques, BUT not using a 3D printer, instead using styrene cement and strips of styrene sheet.
     

    Lisa
     
    Posted from andriod phone
     
    Knob Shop blog entry http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/941/entry-12889-the-knob-shop/
  4. Lisa

    Alderney Railway

    By Lisa,

    Hi
     
    I am currently on holiday on Alderney. Since I arrived I have visited the railway. I walked the route, not along the track of course. There were no trains running whilst I was near the track.
     
    Both of the photographs that are taken looking along the track, were taken from a public road, over a level crossing.
     
    The track is largely unbalasted, the sleepers are mostly concrete, the rail is flat bottom. The track sections are bolted together. Interestingly the rails are bolted to the sleepers. The rail joints are not always opposite, following light railway practice, i.e. the rail lengths are not cut.
     
    The trains used is composed of 2 1950's underground coaches, which is operated in push pull mode, by an 0-4-0 diesel locomotives.
     


     

     

     

     
    More information can be found at
     
    http://www.sbrobinson.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Images/Alderney/Ald_f.html
     
    http://www.alderneyrailway.com/
     
    But please note that the miniature railway no longer runs.
     
    Lisa
  5. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    I haven't posted for a while. I've been prosecuted for actions which not only did I not committ, but which NEVER happened. The whole incident was made up by the other woman, so that she could claim compensation.
     
    I have now done the first modelling, since the start of the case!
     
    I am building a dairy, for my tramway layout. I have hacked a Metcalfe warehouse kit, to build a dairy, see photographs below.
     

     
    Despite being built from the kit, it does look like the prototype,the only major difference is the brick colour is slightly wrong, but nothing that weathering will not hide.
     
    I still need to finish of the roofs and detail it!
     
    Lisa
  6. Lisa
    HI All
     
    The cassette design I have been using has proven to be a dead end design, but hay I had an idea but it did not work out in practice. Half the fun for me of working in 2mm is the problem solving aspect!
     

     
    Part of the reason for the problems was one of the connectors / locators was 0.2mm too near to the right hand end of the cassette. This despite careful measurement and allowing for adjustment after assembly.
     
    The cassette worked one way around, but it didn't work when turned round. I will now be using a more conventional design approach, using stationary clips both horizontally locate it and connect the power, this has the added advantages that it is cheaper to manufacture, the DCC power connections are automatically reversed when the cassette is turned around.
     
    Hindsight is the only thing guaranteed to be 100% correct.
     
     
    Lisa
  7. Lisa
    Hi All

    I've been experimenting with DG couplings to check if they will work around the 75mm radius curves into my fiddleyard on my layout. I found that with the wagons round one way the back wagon de-railed and with them around the other way not!
     

    Closer inspection of the wagon chassis proved instructive as the chassis was not square, and in fact one end was 0.5 mm wider than the other and what was happening was one wheelsets was sloppy and once this was corrected the problem with the couplings disappeared.
     
    In order to make the DG coupling work around the 75mm radius the rectangular coupling hook, was removed and replaced with a round section one.
     

     
    In the picture below the front wheel of the second wagon had fallen out and hence the couplings are not at the same height!
     

     
    This proves two things, the best laid plans of mice and women and you should not assume things, and instead you should check the obvious things first!
     
    Lisa
  8. Lisa
    Updated at 18:12 05-05-12
    Hi All
     
    Having started out with Chagford layout, in a circular format, inspired by Mark Fielders Pizza layout. I have discovered that whilst this works in narrow gauge, due to the lack of buffers, in standard gauge it does not work.
     
    I am now pondering a more traditional design, similar to Mayfield Street. The layout would use an offstage cassettes to simulate one end of the loop and another for the Dairy Sidings at the other end.
     

     
    My aim, as with the previous circular design is ease of transport, by bus and train, as I don’t have or want to own a car. I currently considering using a plastic container which has length 400mm height 120mm and width of 135mm. All of these measurements are internal ones.
     
    My design aim is to get the complete layout, complete with its cassettes and facia to fit into the above box for transport. I envisage fitting this box into a holdall for ease of transport. The plastic box keeping the layout dry, despite the small amounts of moisture that would get inside the holdall.
     
    Lisa
  9. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    I use lead free solder, unlike most modellers who I know who bought several rolls of lead solder when lead free was introduced. This requires a higher temperature of 370° and since the pcb sleeper supplied by the 2mm Association are designed it requires very careful soldering, if you are not going to have the copper coming away from the base material. I use 9% Phosphoric Acid flux to ensure the sleeper is very clean and therefor I get a good quality solder joint.
     

     

     
    I hold the sleepers in position on the paper template with double sided tape, this allows their position to be adjusted before I push the sleeper had down. I then cut the rails to the required size, plus an extra 20mm, from the reel of rail. This extra length allows for the fact that you cannot bend the rail to a even curvature right to the end. I soldered the outer rail into position by eye making the inside edge line up with the line on the template. Once I was satisfied with the positioning of this I soldered the inner rail in position using the roller track gauge to ensure the correct track gauge.
     

     
    I then removed the masking tape fixing the template to the baseboard. The turning the template and track over and pressing the track against the baseboard I carefully removed the template from the track. The track section was then cut to length, allowing enough extra to enable the ends to be filled square. After several fittings the track section was the correct length. At this point I applied methylated spirit, using a wipe, as a stopping agent. This works by neutralising the acid.
     

     
    Next the rail position was marked three sleepers from each end of the outer rail. Lille Pins were then inserted into 0.5mm holes, these pins will proved both fixings and power connection points. This section of track is a temporary section until the replacement point has been made. This will allow test running for the testing of chipped locos and rolling stock with DG couplings fitted.
     
    A single Lille Pin was then inserted and soldered to the underside of the inner rail, once the rail was soldered to the outer ones.
     

     
    Finally I Cleaned up the rail surface and checked the alignment using a wagon carefully pushed along.
     
    Lisa
  10. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    There are several ways in which building can be constructed for a layout. I have decided that I am going to build them using embossed plastic sheet. Some of the building, like the workman's cottages for the dairy and the gas works can be built by modifying commercial kits, for Kestrel aka Gaugemaster.
     

     
    I could have built the cottages from scratch from sheets of embossed plasticard. This would have allowed the building to be more individual,but would have evolved much more work.
     
    Modifying kits is often referred to as 'kit bashing', this enables the finished building in this case to be made to suite the prototype and fit in the available space. This visual appearance can be achieved by painting the bricks the correct yellow/red colour and weathering them. The model will be fitted into the available space by building it in half relief, and at the same time we get four half relief cottages from a kit designed to produce two whole cottages.
     

    In order to make the completed cottages strong enough to withstand layout transport they were built on a plasticard plinth and have a blank back wall made from plasticard. The plinth was fitted on place, after the windows were fixed in place. There were six small holes drilled into the plinth to allow the fumes from the plastic weld adhesive to get out, if you don't do this the windows would go cloudy.
     

     

    Lisa
  11. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    I have plenty of experience of using acrylic paints, but this is the first time I have used them to paint 2mm buildings. They have the advantage of being much cheaper than model paints, since you only need a small selection of colours and you can then mix them to obtain a full pallet. They also are water based, which means that if you make a complete mess, you can simply wash a plastic model in warm water, dry and then start again. When you are happy with your finished painting you will need to apply a mat varnish to prevent damage.
     

    I took the unpainted cottages, and first painted the slates the correct shade of grey for Welsh slate. This was initially undiluted acrylic paint, but this did not between the slates. I then added a little water to the paint, and repainted the roof,this time the paint went into the inter slate gaps.
     

    Next I painted the door area white, and let it dry and then over painted the door area, bright red as this was the door colour of the Chagford Gas Light and Coke Company. But the two layers of paint hide the door detail, and I then removed the paint using a wet cotton but and a cocktail stick. When the door had dried I then repainted the door red.
     

     
    I then painted the window sills windows and door frames. Next I dry brushed the brick colour over the walls. The colour only painted bricks and not the mortar. The Cottages still need detailing including weathering.The last photograph does not do the actual building justice!
     
    Lisa
  12. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    When I wrote the the blog entry 'Chagford - Building Homes for the Workers 2' entry I assumed that the acrylic, water based, paint I assumed that the paint would dry within hours. I have been surprised that weeks later the non diluted paint, which I used to paint the brick colour onto the base coat coloured the mortar colour, has not dyed.
     

     
    My previous experience with acrylic paint has been on paper, card or foam-core card base. All of the above are water permeable, whereas high density styrene is not. Therefor the only way for water to leave the paint is through the layer of paint. As the paint dries it becomes increasing more non permeable, so the water has nowhere to escape, and thus the paint does not dry.
     

     

     
    My experience in some ways flies against the above, since the most dilute paint dried more quickly and completely than the non diluted paint. I had to make a decision of what to do with a building that has remained tacky. My decision was to wash of the paint and start again. I applied a thinned coat coloured the mortar colour and then use a technique from an article in Model Rail, which used wax crayons to colour the bricks and then applied a varnish to protect the finish.
     

     
    Lisa
  13. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    The first photograph was the result of the previous attempt to paint the cottages.
     

     
    The next photograph is using the macro and flash with a simplified setup, without tripod shown below and the next photograph below it used macro and no flash. Both were taken in front of a window, i.e. much more light.
     

     

     

     
    The problems with the last attempt at painting the Chagford Gas Company houses, was due to technique is applying the brick colour and the photographic techniques used. Using the macro facility takes photographs that are unforgiving of errors in modelling technique!
     
    The first process I carried out was to wash the previous paint, under a warm water tap. The result is shown in the photograph below. The model was then painted the whole non roof area the mortar colour. The doors, windows and the brick colours were applied using the crayons. The painting of the surfaces allows the crayon to stick to the models plastic surface.
     

     
    The colours used for the bricks were too dark, and by using lighter colours the final appearance more realistic. Also the use of the side of the point of the crayon will mean that the colour is more even and allows the colour to be applied to the bricks and not into the edges of the bricks.
     

     
    But the paint did dry unlike the first attempt where the paint did not dry for weeks after it was applied.
     
    I have experimented with using the macro facility on my camera. I allows me to take pictures very closeup to the subject of the photographs. I still need to check it by taking the photographs using natural lighting. I hope that these changes will improve the results achieved!
     
    Lisa
  14. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    I have recently been building a platform for a friends N gauge layout. This is a colonel HF Stephens line and the platform is composed entirely of timber. A major problem with this is to make the model strong enough to withstand being transported and not have the timbers, in scale terms, too large.
     
    When you consider 1mm equates to 6" in the prototype, I feel that the size of the timbers used in the fence are oversize, but I am pleased with the overall effect. I need however to complete the booking office and then paint and weather the whole platform.
     

     

     
    The height may appear too high, but the model is designed to be fixed directly to the baseboard surface. By the time that ballast and rail height is taken into account, bearing in mind that Peco track uses code 80 rail, the installed height is about correct.
     
    The roughness of the surface, and the patchwork of the joints between the planks on the platform surface capture the feel of the KESR halt at Junction Road. The word 'Junction' in this instance is used in the sense that it is a road which joins two other roads.
     
    The day before this entry was dated, I posted 'Chagford - Latest version of my Ebook Micro Layout Design' entry! To access it use the link below.
     
    http://www.rmweb.co....-layout-design/
     
    Lisa
  15. Lisa
    Hi all
     
    The construction method for the Chagford baseboard is very simple. The top is made from 8mm MDF sheet. A circle was drawn using a ruler type compass. The circle was then cutout using a jigsaw.
     

    Once the basic shape had been cut out, the edge was smoothed using a surform and the attachment blocks were located as shown below. The blocks then had a curved edge made using the surform too.
     

    The edging strip is 4mm MDF cut into a strip and then placed in the bath to soften it, for about 20 minutes. So that it could be bent into the required radius. This was held in place whilst the MDF dried using 10mm chipboard screws. At this point the screws were removed and PVA glue placed on the attachment blocks and the screws replaced. This is possible because once dried the MDF holds it curved shape.
     

     

     

     
    Lisa
  16. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    I have been building part of the boiler house for the Chagford Dairy of the Cooperative Wholesale Society. Or should I say a quarter of it as the rest is off scene.
     
    The model building is based on the boiler house kit from Kestrel. The basic shape is correct, but the windows and the door construction are wrong on this kit. This type of construction is called scratch bashing, as I am modifying a kit, but adding feature which are built from scratch. The end of the building was first cut in half using a raiser saw. The large door into the building where cut out and replaced with a plain sheet of plasticard fixed to the inside. The lapped door was then built up on this base.
     

     
    Next I turned my attention to the building side, the widow less side was cut in half. An aperture slightly too small for the window was then cut out, working from the back of the sheet. Then the sides were filled to size, at this point the bottom of the aperture was lined up with a course of bricks.


    Next a piece of clear plasticard was glued to the reverse of the sheet. Using very thin strips of plasticard the window frames were built up. Small amounts of glue on the clear plasticard will smear it, but window in industrial building were never kept as clean as house windows, so this doesn't matter.
     

    The building was then carefully assembled, making sure that the corner was square. After the glue dried the building was offered up to the corner of the layout to check that it fitted as required.
     

     

    The boiler house will of course need painting and weathering and the back corner of the roof will need to be radiused to allow the curve on the extension backscene.
     
    Lisa
  17. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    To check if the design will work, you can draw out your design full size, and then check the lengths of loops and sidings using the locomotives and rolling stock, as show below.
     

     
    The loop length can be increased by curving the Main and Loop roads. For Chagford this is essential to make sure that the layout will operate correctly.
     
    The above test showed that a train of 4 wagons and a break was able to be run around using the proposed loop. BUT only if one end of the loop was simulated using train cassettes.
     

     
    The length of the goods siding is long enough to enable it to handle 3 wagons. But when the Passenger Tram Siding was too short because it is a requirement to use it as in order to access the Locomotive Shed.
     
    But the points can be moved towards Bow, without problems, to correct this problem.
     
    Lisa
  18. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    When designing and building a micro layout you have to make the most of every cm of layout frontage. That is the reason that Chagford has a curved instead of strait frontage, with the curve, your frontage is longer. The length of the frontage determines the number of discrete scenes which can be fitted it. The layout is designed to be viewed at eye level.
     


    The dairy stream ran between the dairy and the tramway depot. There were two bridges which crossed the stream, the tramway and the road access into the dairy. The latter was a stone arch bridge and the tramway one was a timber baulk type.
     
    I could not determine the exact position of the bridge until I knew how large my model of the boiler house was going to be. Once this was done the baseboard could be cut. I used a carpenters slitting saw to cut from the baseboard edge to the track, cutting at an angle of 80º to the vertical.
     

     


    I then cut across between the two cuts with the aid of a series of small drill holes. I then very carefully cut, the baseboard, under the track with the slitting saw being careful not to damage either the track or the DCC spine cable. Then cutting the other side of the track using small drill hole and finishing the cuts carefully using a Stanley knife. The baseboard material was carefully removed with the aid of a very sharp chisel and the edges cleaned up with a scalpel with a new blade.
     


    The remainder of the cutting was done with a coping saw and small holes to help cut the end. A cable retaining strap for the DCC spline had to be repositioned. A piece of ply wood was cut to size and screwed and glued into position so as to restore the strength of the baseboard.

    The baseboard side was then replaced temporally. I intend replacing the side because the MDF has proved to offer very little protection.
     
    Lisa
  19. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    When making sharp curves, i.e. sub 800mm radius I have found that the standard way of producing 2mm track by using the track jig to produce a herring bone does not work.
     
    I output the template from the track design package without the sleepers showing. This is because the package does not work correctly when the radius of the curve is sub 400mm radius. The template was cut out and fixed to the baseboard using masking tape.
     

     
    I marked the mid point between the rails at each end and then with a compass set to the radius of 190mm I then fund the centre of the circle, using simple school girl geometry. Then I drew in the arc, the centreline of the track.
     

     

     
    Standard sleeper spacing is is 30†which scales to 5mm. Using dividers I divided up the track centreline.
     

     

     
    Then it simply a case of drilling a 1mm hole at the centre of the centreline arc, placing a pencil in the hole and then placing a straight edge against it and positioning the other end on one of the divisions on the track centreline and drawing the sleeper centreline.
     

     
    Construction can now commence!
     
    Lisa
  21. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    Hopefully this is the final version of my Ebook on Micro Layout Design. The link below will allow you to load it!
     
    URL: http://www.diane.me-me.me.uk/Micro_Design/Micro_Design.html
     
    I hope you find it useful, I have definitely found it useful writing it in that it helped to clarified thoughts.
     
    I hope when the heating engineer finishes installing my new central heating, that i will be able to do some real modelling1
     
    Lisa
  22. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    Taking decent photographs of one's models, in 2mm finescale can be difficult. I have been using the macro facility on my digital camera for some time.
     
    However last night, I was experimenting with the camera, and I discovered it has a facility called 'Super Macro'! The photograph below was taken with then lens only 7mm from the subject.
     

     
    You do need of course need to keep the camera very still, but I feel that using this facility does have possibilities.
     
    Lisa
  23. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    One of the problems which I have had whilst writing this blog, is taking photographs of very small models. This problem is made worst because I have problems with hand shake, when trying to hold them camera still. The above problems are more sever if I use the optical zoom function on my camera.
     

     
    What I have been trying to do is take hand-held shots of work in progress, because I feel that this gives a more spontaneous feel to the blog. In order to get better quality photographs it will be necessary to stage shots in order to use a tripod to hold the camera.
     

     
    I have experimented using flash and using additional lighting. With the flash there is a tendency to get pictures with areas in the centre of the picture which appears shiny, this happens because the flash is reflected by shiny surface of the plastic surface. The additional lighting requires careful setting up in order to get fine surface detail in the photographs.
     

     
    I hope that I can find a way to get photographs which capture the feel of the project, but are of a higher quality than so far achieved.
     
    Lisa
  24. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    Recently I have been suffering pain, but I have now started to make progress again. I have finished the modifications to the DCC bus wiring, following the modifications for the Dairy Stream bridge.
     

     
    I have also modified the cassette alignment to make the alignment more reliable.
     

     

     
    Lisa
  25. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    The previous photographs taken were taken using a white background, and the whole setup is placed on my kitchen window shelf, the window is a large one facing east. I think that I need to adjust the white balance on my camera because the pink fringing.
     

     
    I've then spent an hour reading the disk based manual for my digital camera, and I have found that I have just as much control over the camera, as when I use my manual reflex camera.
    The time of day in which the photographs were taken, affects the light quality, and therefor the quality of the resulting photographs.
     
    I will have to experiment to see what settings give the best pictures when working in macro mode! The results are shown below. The slight change of background colour left to right is due to shadow.
     
    All I now have to do is improve my colouring skills!
     
    Lisa
×
×
  • Create New...