Jump to content
 

Lisa

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    308

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Lisa

  1. Lisa

    The Knob Shop

    By Lisa,

    Hi
     
    No I NOT being rude. The name comes from the fact that they started trading selling door knobs. The shop came to my attention looking for different hinges to hinge, joint between two baseboards. The Knob Shop stocks a huge range of hinges, including ones with large hinge plate dimensions. One that I looked at have a over 7" between the rows of screw holes.
     
    They also stock a large range of door stops, window furniture, including units to hold them open.
     
    I think that they are worth looking at when looking for unusual hardware. Their address is http://www.knobshop.biz/
     
    Lisa
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 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
  6. Lisa

    Hitting the Roof!

    By Lisa,

    Hi All
     
     
    This is my first venture, of modifying a card kit. I am finding working with Rocket Card Glue really easy.
     

     
    Today I have finished the back of the building, which will be against the back scene. The slot in the back, is to allow for a block, which strengthens the back scene, as there will be an opening for trains coming from the Dairy Yard, next to the building.
     

     
    It is my intention, to give the roofs, a slight 3D feel, by adding tiles, made from very thin paper, Pendon style and hence the sloping roof finishes flush with the virtual walls.
     

     
    The paper tiles, will slightly overlap the walls, and a thin paper barge board will be added to complete, the roof. The only extra that will then need to be added will be the down pipes.
     
     
    Lisa
  7. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    My challenge entry initially made excellent progress, but due to pressures of work I've done nothing on it all week. I fear that it won’t be finished or complete enough to allow entry.
     
    But I must say that the idea has started me thinking on new lines, quite literally and has enthused my modelling again, thanks RMWeb.
     
    Elisa
     

  8. 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
  10. Lisa
    The Best Will of Mice and Women - Back
     
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1283/entry-11469-st-ouen-jnwr-%E2%80%93-the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-women/
     
    The 1st Buildings - Forward
     
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1283/entry-11543-st-ouen-jnwr-the-1st-buildings/
     
    I have been converting my design of the main baseboard into reality. The main materials I have been using are 4mm plywood, small section of softwood, found in the moulding section of the local DIY superstore, and PVA glue.
     


     
    To cut the small pieces of plywood has required some ingenuity. I have used a saw which uses a hacksaw blade. It cost only £3.00 and comes complete with a blade. This cuts the thin section leaving a very clean cut edge. I have required to hold the plywood when sawing, and sometimes the only way has been to clamp it to the work surface, with several clamps.
     
    Following the removal of a 9mm strip from the back of the board, The back required to be strengthened to prevent it warping. This done I proceeded to making the fixings for the proscenium arch. The nuts for which will be made captive as they will be within the smithy and the Railway Arms Pub respectively.
     

     
    The final view is from the front, as the viewer will see the layout. There will of course be the fiddleyard on the right hand side and the track extension board on the left.
     


     
    When it came to attaching the backscene, I had a problem, but this was not unexpected. I am currently looking a several solutions. The problem is that the flimsy backscene requires being kept in the correct position. It naturally takes the wrong shape, because of the springiness of the material from which it is made.
     

     
    One of the sources of inspiration is a layout build by Paul A Lunn, of a Forest of Dean goods yard.
     
    Lisa
  11. Lisa
    How Much Detail is Required in a Backscene? - Back
     
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1283/entry-11443-st-ouen-jnwr-how-much-detail-is-required-in-a-photo-background/
     
    My Whole life is a Stage - Forward
     
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1283/entry-11512-st-ouen-jnwr-my-whole-world-is-a-stage/
     
    All right I admit it, I have made a design mistake! BUT you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs. I have now reduced the baseboard width by 9mm so that I can close the travelling box.
     

     
    The baseboard top was cut to the initial design size of the layout. Then the front and back pieces were added the layout was increased in width by 6mm, hence the travelling case would not close. BUT these parts are within the scenic section of the layout, so the reduction of the width of the scenic section is only 3mm.
     
    I can live with this. The finished baseboard will be a snug fit, and hence it will not move in transit. So I am making progress with the project. One can only learn things, by making mistakes!
     

     
    Lisa
  12. Lisa
    Answer when it at St Aubin in Jersey, see the diagram below.
     
    St Aubin Level Crossing
     

     
    Signalling on Jersey railways
     
    The only signals on Jersey railways was the two protecting the Level Crossing at St Aubin on the Jersey Railway and two signals protecting Green Street Level crossing in St Helier on the Jersey Eastern Railway.
     
    The signals at St Aubin were lower quadrant, the one at the end of the platform has mounted on a short wooden post, the one protecting the crossing for trains to St Helier was bolted to the tunnel wall.
     
    All points on Jersey railways were operated by hand levers, which were weighted to prevent them moving whist a trains is passing over the points.
     
    Telegraphic Dispatch
     
    Trains were controlled by Telegraphic Dispatch, the Jersey railways were not sleepy branch line, but operated ½ hourly services, except in the early morning and late evening. The lines were single line, with frequent crossing loops.
     
    The Line Controller, based at St Helier (Weighbridge) station, had a diagram of the line painted onto a blackboard. The position of trains was shown, by recording the Train Reporting Number using chalk.
     

    Train Reporting Numbers
     
    JU15 describes Jersey Railways Up Train number 15
    ND05 describes Jersey North Western Railway Down Train number 05
     
    When a train arrived at a crossing loop the Station Agent would telegraph the line controller. The Line Controller would the move the Train Reporting Number to the loop. He would also record the telegraph message in a ledger. When it was safe for the train to proceed, the Line Controller would send a telegraph message to the station agent.
     
    The Station Agent would then write a driver ticket, hand this to the driver and and when safe, give the drive a hand signal to proceed. He would then send a telegraph message to the Line Controller, who would record the message and update the position of the Train Reporting Number.
     
    The next day the the ledger would be reconciled against the tickets issued to the drivers. From St Helier Driver Tickets could be issued to Millbrook, St Aubin as appropriate, depending on train path availability.
     
    The Jersey North Western Railway, was operated as One Engine in Steam, once the train had left the loop at Pont Marquat and outside the station limits of St Ouen.
     
    To return to the main St Ouen blog, click on the link below.
     
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/1283/entry-11391-st-owen-jnwr-layout-mockup/
     
    Lisa
  13. Lisa
    Hi
     
    From now on the entry title will be Le Focq, not La Rocque, because I am now modelling Le Focq station. The blog name will still be La Rocque.
     

     
    As you can see from the photograph below, there is indeed no corners in my sky. The back scene support is now in place. On to which a photographic back scene will be attached.
     

     

     
    The tabs at the top of the back scene support, are to ensure that when the glue sets a gap will exist of 0.5 mm to allow the insertion of the sky extension to be inserted.
     
    Spacers have been placed to keep the support about 0.5 mm from the inside of the scenic board box sides, see photograph below.
     

     
    Once the photographic scene has been attached, the support will be trimmed along the bottom of the open sky. Then a sky coloured extension can be slotted into the gap. This will mean that a viewer looking through the aperture, will not be able to see the layout operator.
     
    The box in the corner is to house the point motor, and will be hidden by a stone barn, which has been moved, about 60 meters, from it's position in the prototype, into it's position on the model.
     
    Lisa
  14. Lisa
    Hi
     
    I been working on La Rocque, the scenic section of the layout is contained in a box, which acts as a view block.
     

     
    The front of the scenic section of the layout
     
    It will have a folding section of the front panel, with the layout name, which has been changed to Le Focq. If you are puzzled by spelling of the station names, they are written in Jersey French.
     

     
    The completed underside of the baseboard
     
    The locators will also act as the DCC bus transfer from the main, scenic board to the fiddle yard boards.
     

     
    The support and location of the two fiddle yard boards
     
    Building a micro layout takes longer than you might think! The task does not reduce in proportion to it's size. For example, the units such as point motors are the same size, which makes fitting them in a more difficult operation.
     
    Lisa
  15. Lisa
    Hi
     
    In order to design any layout, especially a micro layout, like La Rocque some compromises have to be made.
     
    Starting from the right hand side, the cottage has been moved towards the railway crossing and turned through about 15 degrees, to make the back parallel with the railway. The cottage then acts to screen trains as they enter the scene.
     
    The platform at La Rocque, could accommodate 6 carriages, but on the model this will be reduced to about 3.5 carriages, due to space and balance considerations.
     
    The culvert was over 60m from the points, but is an interesting feature, both it's construction and the difference in levels. So it was moved into the scenic area.
     
    Some trees and bushed will be added, to screen the trains as they enter and leave the scene on the left hand side, which did not exist at the prototype location.
     
    Going from front to back of the scene, in the prototype location, there is a gentle gradient. On the model this will be exaggerated to enhance the feeling of distance.
     
    The feel of the location will be completed with a photograhic backscene, with the trainsition masked with a hedge, in front of the backscene.
     

     
    Initial design thoughts can be found at http://www.rmweb.co....esign-thoughts/
     
    Lisa
  16. 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
  17. 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
  18. 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
  19. 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
  20. 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
  21. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    Since building the circuit of track and starting running trains I have had problems with derailments. Upon careful examination of the track I discovered that the alighnment of track section joints was not as good as I thought.
     
    By running a train around, whist running in the locomotive I found that it derailed at a point, I then carefully examined the track near the site.
     

     
    I found that small blobs of solder on the inside of the rails, this is much more critical when the track radius is sub 600mm radius. These blobs were removed by applying the soldering iron to the outside of the rail, and then by using a solder sucker to the inside of the rail when the solder was molten. The process of finding small problems with track and the rectifying them is called fettling.
     

    I also had problems with electrical pickup on the aluminium allow runners of the removable cassette. When I closely examined the inside edge, I found that there was a bur. The locomotive wheel was only in contact with a strip less that 0,2mm wide. This problem was rectified by using a needle file to remove the bur and apply a small radius to the edge of the aluminium section.
     

     
    The above processes took several hours but the time was very well spent as I can run a train around the circuit for one hour without any derailments, even on the very tight curves into the cassette fiddletyard. This has allowed me to run in the new 04 locomotive prior to insulating the DDC decoder. This is essential as doing so will invalidate the Farish warranty as the installation required that the locomotive is modified.
     
    Lisa
  22. 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
  23. Lisa
    Hi All
     
    Once the final layout size was determined, I then started to design the track layout.
     
    At the initial stages I had decided the the main line curve would be 190mm radius. An arc of this radius was drawn on the front of the baseboard, using a ruler type compass. Templates for the various points were produced, complete with sleeper centrelines, using templot.
     

     
    The point templates were laid out as shown in the photograph above. This allowed the lengths of the loop and sidings could be checked using actual wagons. I knew that my length of my trains would have to be shorter than on the prototype but I feel that a train of 4 wagons and a brake, in BR days and 5 wagons in independent days would capture the correct feel. The tramway company did not believe in using brake vans, and because it was a tramway the Board of Trade could not force their use!
     
    I had decided early on that I would decrease the distance between parallel lines from the generally accepted 12.5mm between the centrelines. This has the effect in making the layout appear larger than it is to the viewer.
     
    Sidings on the model will have well very severe curves, but the only restriction on the radius of curves was would the wagons go round them without coming off.
     
    The station is a terminus, despite the layout being an oval, the line after the loop and the platform becomes a private siding for the Dairy, and on the prototype there was a baulk bridge over a stream just beyond a white gate. My intention is to include the bridge, but to leave this until I have laid out the loop and sidings.
     
    At this stage the layout was checked to see if the proposed operation sequence would work. Initially I had intended not to have a carriage siding, but the early part of the sequence would have required excessive shunting if the carriages were left in the platform overnight. It is much easier to check the sequence using real rolling stock rather than using paper based methods.
     
    The track in the area where the bridge will be installed is not glued down, but is held in position with screws for ease of removal. Once the track has been removed the baseboard will be able to be cut and carved to represent the stream channel and a link piece will be screwed and glued beneath to maintain baseboard integrity.
     

     
     
    Lisa
  24. Lisa

    Chagford - Layout Design

    By Lisa,

    Hi All
     
    I started to build Chagford before I stared blogging. So in this entry I will attempt to start to fill in the missing story.
     
    Initially the layout was conceived as a circular layout rather in the style of Mark Fielder's Pizza and the baseboard was built as a circular board. But it soon became obvious that most containers are rectangular, and not having a car and using public transport, the baseboard was trimmed to make it fit.
     

     
    The size of the layout is increase by using the device of the hinged cassette fiddleyard. The position of the backscene has to be positioned so that the fiddleyard can be accommodated when packed for transport. The backscene height is fixed by the box at 85mm.
     
    The blocks are the central fixings for the backscene, and the are composed of two pieced because my carpentry skills are not up to cutting a piece of wood at 90° in two planes. The first piece is fixed to the baseboard top, the second is fixed to the first by a screw in one vertical face. The angle of the back face of the second block was then adjusted using a engineers square to the correct angle and the the screw is tightened.
     

     
    The space between the backscene and the cassette location can be used to store other cassettes during operating sessions, but since the layout sits on a table storage space is not limited. The one advantage of a circular baseboard is that the frontage for a given area is larger than for a conventional rectangular design.
     
    The hinges are placed on blocks to lift the cassette fiddleyard up to make sure that the tracks do not get damaged when the layout is in transit. The two pieces are held together using over centre catches, these have had to be slightly modified to allow the layout to sit flat in the transport box. This increase the height of the backscene and thus the scenery by 12mm and also reduces the possible damage too. Photograph below shows layout seating after modification, which consisted of cutting 5mm from the catch lever.
     

     

     
    To be continued ….........
     
    Lisa
  25. 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
×
×
  • Create New...