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Lisa

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Blog Entries posted by Lisa

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    Havn't been around for a while. I've just come out of hospital, good old NHS, having just had some surgery to my left jaw. There is no pain for the first time in months.
     
    I hope to do some modeling tomorrow after i've walked Maisy. You probably guessed Masiy photograph is used as my icon.
     
    Lisa
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    Last night I completed building my own workbench, up to now I've been working on the kitchen table. Currently I get the power supply from a extension lead on the top of the bench, hopefully I will soon have the 4 way attached to the side of the bench instead.
     

     
     
    I also need to fit a side and back to the bench to prevent items and tools from falling off, and getting lost.
     

     
     
    Lisa
     
     
  8. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    I've been quite recently, i.e. no blog entries this has been because I had a problem with a painful molar! I've now seen the dentist and hopefully the problem is now sorted out.
     
    Either a micro 2mm layout has a fiddleyard or not is a matter of choice. I first considered Mark Fielder's Pizza Layout, Pictures and details can be found via the links page at www.2mm.org.uk This layout has a circle of track with a single siding with all the area covered with scenery.
     
    David Eveleigh's new layout, Framsden, takes a different approach of having the main board which is oval in shape, and has two detachable cassette type fiddleyard, which are attached externally to the layout.
     

     
    The approach which I have taken has a fiddleyard which is physically part of layout, using train cassettes. Which option is used on layout is a matter o choice. On Chagford the fixed backscene is only 57mm high, but the blocks holding this is place is on the scenic side, so that an flexible extension can be fixed to the fiddleyard side.
     

     
    The corners at the ends of the fixed backscene have been rounded so that there is no corner in the extension sky. The intention is to fix a background of fields, trees etc to the fixed backscene. Then to carve the top edge to follow a hedge line. When the buildings are placed in front the amount of this illustration will be restricted. By adding read depth in this way added to the feeling of distance between the mid ground and the sky. The sky will be able to be rolled up using a napkin type ring.
     

     

     
    The above design allow the layout to fit into it's carrying case for ease of transport, whilst having a decent height of backscene whilst the layout is being operated. The blocks which hold the fixed backscene in place will be hidden by buildings and other scenic features.
     
    4th_Train.mov
     
    Lisa
  9. 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
  10. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    Can anyone tell me why when three 2mm modelers meet, they have four preferred track building methods?
     
     
    I seems to be quite fashionable in 2mm circles to lay track, have a problem, rip it up and then relay it. Well now I’ve joined in with a 'Y' point that caused derailments. I have made some plain track to temporally replace it, so I can run trains!
     

     
     
    My re-inventing is in the design of my cassette fiddleyard. The mechanical alignment and electrical connections are achieved using two DC power connectors, see photograph below. The problem is that when I reverse the cassette I reverse the power connections and thus I get a short when I drive a DCC equipped loco onto the cassette! Otherwise the system works well. Why could I just use the standard system?
     

     

    Lisa
  11. 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
  12. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    Today I have been building the new cassette location and electrical connection for the train cassettes on Chagford. Despite the new electrical system being much more straight forward, on the first attempt I got the wiring cassette wiring reversed and found a complete short when I tested it.
     

     

     
    This done I next wired up the section of track to the left of the cassette which had previously been unconnected. Then did some rectification to the point wiring and added the point tie bar.
     
    Then I ran the first train around the whole oval including over the cassette.
     
    2nd_Train.mov
     
    Building points that are not built in a 2mm Association jig is an artform. I am learning fast and hopefully my next point will be easier to build and have the need for less rectification before a train will run over it without derailing.
     
    Lisa
  13. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    Having no car it is an important consideration that the layout should be convenient to transport by public transport. The packing system consist of two components, these are a plastic box, to keep it dry and a bag with a strap that goes over the shoulder to make the carrying easier.
     

     

     
    In doing the measurements to check the maximum height for the backscene, which is 55mm, I decided to redesign the positioning of the overcentre catches to fix the cassette board to the main board. This change simply makes the layout packing easier.
     

     

     
    Lisa
  14. 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
  15. Lisa
    Hello All
     
    I have been wiring the track for DCC, this I though was a simple task, but when I checked my work with a multimeter the rails were shorted. After disconnecting various wire I discovered that one of the pre-cut sleepers was not cut properly. This corrected and the wires reconnected the short has been corrected.
     

     
    Three of the sections of track are held in position using two screws. This is to allow them to be removed to allow a cross over to be installed later.
     

     
    Next I ran a locomotive, which I recorder using my camera phone.
     
    1st_Train.mov
     
    I could not get the locomotive to go round the 78mm radius curve, but this is caused because of a problem with the baseboard join, and the track currently has a hump in the track.
     
    Lisa
  16. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    More details of the prototype
     
    The layout is a model of a mineral tramway, and not a railway. The difference is that a tramway can either go along it's own right of way, or along a public road, either in the road surface or on the verge.
     
    To build such a tramway the permission from the local highway authority to cross or go along public roads is all that is required, together with the purchase of any land required for depots and private rights sections. No acts of parliament are required.
     

     
    A maximum speed of 15 mph where the tramway is on the verge, 5 mph when crossing public roads and 25mph when on a private right of way are imposed by the Tramways Act.
     
     
    Lisa
     
     
     
     
     
    The only restriction on the radius of curves, is whether the locomotives and rolling stock can negotiate them, when a traversed at an appropriate speed laid down by either the highway authority or the tramway operator.
  17. Lisa

    Chagford - My first posting

    By Lisa,

    Hi All
     
    I have been working on layout today! I model in 2mm finescale.
     
    Today I have run my first train on the layout using the non DCC option on the controller, as of yet I don't have a decoder equipped loco yet.
     
    Lisa
  19. 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
  20. Lisa
    Hi
     
    I've done some experimentation with a short length of Easitrack, a small piece of plywood, double sided tape and three wagons, to determine the minimum radius which 10' wagons could negotiate, without coming off. The answer is 75mm radius, if I slightly gauge widen the track.
     
    Initial design of the baseboard, the main baseboard will be 380mm by 140mm, with two add on boards 185mm by 140mm and a hinged flap to support the cassette at the back of the layout.
     
    The scenic area will be presented in diorama format, complete with curved photographic backscene and view block at the front, and will include an array of LED's to light the scene.
     
    I am intending to add legs, so that when the layout is displayed on a table, the height will be boosted to a more normal viewing height.
     
    I am intending to construct the main board using mono-cock construction techniques, to make it rigid, lightweight and minimum thickness.
     
    Lisa
  21. 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!
  22. Lisa
    Operation of Jersey railways
     
    For more information on the operation of Jersey railways click the link below.
     
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/941/entry-11384-st-ouen-jnwr-%E2%80%93-when-is-a-level-crossing-not-a-level-crossing/
     
    Layout Planning II - Back
     
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1283/entry-11355-st-ouen-jnwr-layout-planning-ii/
     
    Layout Mockup - Forward
     
    To view the layout mockup, click on the link below.
     
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1283/entry-11391-st-owen-jnwr-layout-mockup/
     
    Prototype Research
     
    Once the initial design had been done on the track layout, and the siding lengths had been checked, using a full size printout, from Templot, work on the sequence could begin.
     
    Research in the Jersey Archive and the archive of the States of Jersey, the island parliament produced a passenger timetable. Unfortunately archive visitors are not permitted to photograph material. You can get a photograph, via the office at a cost of £40 per page.
     
    Not having that amount of money, I sketched the timetable into my sketchbook, and from that produced a printed version using Open Office. I had obtained scraps of information about goods traffic and using this information from many sources, including the above archives the goods trains were added.
     
    To load the completed timetable click on the link below.
     
    Timetable.doc
     
    I have included a track plan of Pont Marquat, which was built up from various scraps of information from various sources.
     

     
    A drawing of the track plan of St Ouen, obtained from, an appendix of, the Jersey North Western Act held in the States of Jersey Archive. Because of the fee, I copy this into my sketchbook and produced the final drawing using Corel Draw.
     

     
    The completed sequence is show below.
     

     
    Runaround procedures at St Ouen
     
    The link below points to a animation showing how run around will be achieved on St Ouen.
     
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/941/entry-11358-st-ouen-jnwr-running-around-a-passenger-train/
     
    The next stage is to check the sequence using the full size print out, models, and cassettes to see if it works.
     
    Lisa
  24. 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
  25. Lisa

    Thankyou Julie

    By Lisa,

    Thank you Julie, for letting me post some of my material on your blog following the problems with loosing my phone, and thus temporally loosing control of my email account.
     

     
    Lisa
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