Stuff

We have been having a few computer issues but I will tempt fate and have a go at updating my blog with what has been happening.



The first thing to report is I built, some time ago now, one of the 2mm LMS/BR Buffer Stops.


This looks like it has been the victim of a bit of a hard shunt but is much, much nicer than the Peco version. I am thinking of getting some of the LNWR ones to replace the collection on St Alban's Priory - I will be definitely getting them for St Alban's Abbey when I get around to it. Assuming the rain stops, it will get painted tomorrow - along with a few other things building up.


Tonight I made an attempt on my Worsley Works 2EPB scratch aid. I can't remember if this is 2mm or N gauge - I suspect 2mm as it doesn't fit the Farish Mk1 donor coach at all being too short. In any case, with the aid of the new solder station (not that it is new any more!) no dramas in making up the basic body. Farish Mk 1 roof, cut up chassis for chassis and it is looking ok. All over Blue paint and we shall see how to power the kit. I still have the other coach to do.


The other thing I have started is my TPM 4-VEP insert kit. Again, so far so good with the sides done for the MBSO. Still not sure how this will be powered either. I have TPM motorizing kits to use but the MLV wasn't a great success so now thinking of GWR Railcar chassis. Will have to investigate.


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The Rise of the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway Down Under

The etches of the rolling stock which was characteristic of the W&U arrived from Darkest Essex (see the blogs I am following) on Thursday and the first of 5 tram locos was built the same evening. As there aren't instructions for this kit, I wrote down what I did - anyone interested in what I did is welcome to get in touch. The loco is actually going to be Isle of Sodor Railway No 7 - better known as Toby the Tram Engine. As such, I wasn't too worried if it didn't end up exactly like the pictures in the books. The buffers currently fitted are standard 2mm FS turned brass ones - Great Eastern Loco buffers are going to be ordered when I get around to sending the order to Shop 3.

I am very pleased with how it looks - and it is going to run (which I haven't tested yet as the Darling Daughters railway is still in the process of its expansion/relocation and hasn't be repowered yet) on a Pro-Hobbies chassis - they have been written up in the NGS journal and I suspect a few 2mm FSA Members have got hold of them.

Next on the list was making Henrietta to go with Toby. This was tonight's project while watching round 1 of the new AFL season (Essendon has done pretty well against 19 of the 22 who won the premiership last year for Geelong, fading in the last term but holding on for quite a while).



The results of the efforts of 3 quarters of football are shown. Still a few bits to go - buffers, coupling hooks, brakes and wheels and I suspect there should be some vents on the roof but I haven't really looked into it. It captures what I want at the present time and again, gave me some insights into the build. There are instructions but I will be adding to them from my experience and sending the notes back to Essex. Given that this etches were the reasons why I joined the Dark Side (and the 2mm FSA) I am very glad I did - and David can take a bow too as they are very nice etches, go together well and even with no instructions, a newbie like me was able to do Toby in under 3 hours (and this included fettling the motor to fit) using the etch and a couple of pictures.

Points - part II

The finished point! Very pleased - particularly that under gravity, a bogie will roll from the right hand track, though the point and drop off either of the two exit rails. No snags, no falling into the track. I don't think it is the right gauge - seems to be a little wide (I am using the 2mm track gauges to tell me this so it must be right) and I suspect the problem is it is flat bottom rail from Canada and I think it has a coarser profile than the 2mm FSA stuff does. Still, as a first up attempt I am very pleased - destined for the fiddle yard I think but I will work out the electronics, solder some droppers and run something (probably a light bulb as I don't have a loco yet) to see if there are electrical hassles, then paint and put in a box, awaiting a layout. Took just under 2 hours I think, over two nights. I will actually time the next one to see how long it takes - then do an Easitrac point to see how it goes for comparison but I think these ones will be easier to ballast.

Points

I made a start on my first bit of point work - and soldered track work - in 2mm Fine Scale tonight. The photo is a B7 RH Point. In the end, I only got about an hours work done what with the needs of the domestic authorities from time to time. I used one of the 2mm FSA jigs - I don't remember which one I ordered to be honest. I will have to sus it out so I know if I am doing the right thing!!! I also used flat bottom rail rather than the traditional bullhead. I originally purchased the FB rail to put on some NGS bogie bolster kits, and then found I had the wrong kits for carrying rail! So a use was found.

I am not aiming for neat or speed at this point. I will be glad if something runs though it 99% of the time as I suspect this one will be destined for the fiddle yard.

Comments are welcome - I think you might have to create a blogger account and follow this blog to leave comments, but it is free and you don't get annoying emails (well I haven't) and you don't even have to blog yourself if you don't want to.

Tweaking

I received recently some more of the very excellent N Gauge Society Stove R model. I got some pre-ordered (BR Crimson and Cream, BR Maroon, BR Blue and LMS Crimson) and decided that I had one too many Crimson and Cream and not enough (ie none) BR Crimson. It was the latter which turned up recently (along with some LMS ones for non-NGS member mates). Now I wasn't too impressed with the very light grey rooves (roofs?) and have thus had a go with the good old Humbrol No32 which I favour for things like this. The shot above shows the before and after on the BR Crimson versions. Probably not the right base grey for this livery but works very well with the BR Maroon and Blue versions. I have the Precision Paint colour for Crimson coaches but I find it only works well with an airbrush - not an option out here in the bush and besides, the body is integral with the roof. I am however, having a go with the LMS Roof Grey on my LMS example.


At the same time I was painting the Stoves, I handed off the Dapol BR Blue CCT which had come from the Alton Model Centre (this is ND008 - and one of the early ones. AMC still had it in stock so well pleased for the tip off - thanks TM of ACT). I had managed to win a bid for one on eBay shortly before the tip so I now have two. The roof colour on the original is shown here next to the first coat of No32. I have since done both vehicles and fitted them for close coupling.

Not content just with these, the various finished etched kits were primed and painted on the weekend - the rain has stopped at last and humidity resumed its non-existence. I also painted my recent NGS Gresley BG kit. Dulux Quickdry Heritage Red seems to be a good match for BR Maroon - given that no two painters mixed it the same back then and weathering depended on a lot of things.

Next plan is to finish the BG, fit sides to my Ultima LMS 50' BG and paint the Prestwin shown earlier. After that, it is back into chassis and hopefully the W&U etches will turn up - they are taking an age to come from Darkest Essex.

Database

Tuesday - database entry night. Well, it will be when I get a Round Tuit.

My database has been a labour of love and hate for over 10 years. I blame Gary Stephens and Greg Goodchild. Gary had this great idea many moons ago about doing a loco-spotting competition amongst the members of the BRMA Brisbane North group using published pictures. He would give us a random list of 10 locos (all BR numbers) which we had to find. The rules were simple. Find the loco - 3 points; find within +/-10 locos - 2 points; and find the class only, 1 point. Maximum of 30 points per fortnight. It went for 10 fortnights (I think) and Greg won. I only had small library back then (poor uni student) and I decided to make things easier I would put all my photos onto a database. Even after the competition ended, I kept doing it. It has come in handy over the years as I have been able to find pictures for fellow modellers, and find pictures for me too.

A couple of years ago the file got corrupted and I lost about 2/3rds. I wasn't a happy little camper but decided to start rebuilding. I made some changes and have added more detail to the database. I have also started a second data base - this doesn't track locos, it tracks photos of the Wisbech and Upwell Tramway. It will be used to build our 2mm layout(s).

So 20,000 entries later, over half of the BR steam locos "spotted" - if I had an Ian Allan Combined Edition I would have a lot of red ink.

Purchases

I haven't really done much modelling since the last update - I have made a start on converting a Dapol Autocoach to 2mm Standards by making some bogies for it. Still working out what else to do to it (fixing the vents on the roof is high on the list - and I am thinking of putting it in the last GWR coach livery rather than the late 20's/early 30's livery it currently is in).

What I have been doing is getting packages almost every day (the flood waters are down and the mail is getting through). Today's was from the Alton Model Center with a rake of Dapol Collett's in GWR livery - the first batch years ago sold out in a flash and even this run (NC041-NC03) vanished from the likes of Rails and Hatton's fairly quickly. Fortunately AMC had enough for me to get a rake of 8 - and a BR Blue CCT (NB008) from quite a long time ago. Very happy to have been given the tip from a fellow modeller in the ACT.

Other arrivals include a BHE Royal Scot and a Farish Jubilee - the latter for my wife. Hopefully the nameplates for the Jub turn up soon - 5566 to go with my 45565 so we have our States of Origin running on our layouts.

Last night I ordered the chassis for the J70/Y6 locos which we hope to start building in a week or so - although following the arrival of the NGS Journal one is going in my PD Marsh Sentinal kit - which will be numbered for the W&U Y4.

Pictures

As promised, pictures of my recent efforts. Please bear in mind that these are a scale of 2mm:1 foot and the enlargements are cruel. They look pretty good in the flesh and from NVD.















This is a BR Banana Van to Diag 1/242. It was my wedding anniversary gift from SWMBO as the traditional gift for the 4th Wedding Anniversary is Fruit and Flowers. It is also the kit which I had a lot of trouble with and prompted the purchase of the T2250 solder station from DSE.















A BR Prestwin to Diag 1/277. A 2mm FSA kit which I have been eyeing off for a good number of years. As detailed elsewhere I joined the 2mm FSA in 2009 and purchased the kit, not expecting it to be as complicated as it ended up looking. I was right - it wasn't that complicated and I expect I will be making another couple to go with this one.















A Fencehouse replacement chassis kit for the Chivers BR Tube kit. I have 5 of these wagons and they have never run particularly well. I blame the maker as the rest of the kit went together very nicely with the minimum of fuss. Given I have trouble with my Parkside kits as well, I expect plastic chassis which are more complicated than Peco ones are beyond me. Fortunately I can get these instead!!!















Fencehouse's replacement for the Parkside Dundas 12' chassis. I have a few of these and like the Chivers ones, they don't run well. Now they will.


I really enjoyed putting the last three together, and once I had the good iron, I enjoyed the first too. I would stongly encourage people to have a go at etched kit construction, but invest in a good soldering iron first!

Footy is Back

Footy returned tonight for 2010 with the Bombers travelling to Perth to play the Eagles. Sadly, the Bombers while brilliant in the first term were not so flash after half time and faded to be shut out by 6 or 7 goals (I rarely remember the losing margin - and winning ones aren't relevent 'cause we won!).

What place has this on a Railway Blog? Not much other than I got the iron out and did some modelling in front of the footy. I finished the Prestwin - the valve gear between the tanks isn't that great but it looks the part from NVD so I am not worried. I also continued with the replacement chassis program for my Chivers and Parkside kits - this time building one of the Fencehouses designed Parkside replacements. Went together really well - the only down side being that there are no etched springs nor axleboxes on these kits. I presume - can't find destructions for them - they are designed with the glue one whitemetal axlebox and spring bits in mind. I had a set of four which I used and they look good and run very freely and true - much improved (although the wagons are all in Brisbane so it will be a while before they are fitted) but annoyingly I can only do the one - the 2mm FSA seems to be out of stock of the rest.

While this will set back the Parkside replacements, I still have 4 Tube wagons and 4 LMS kits to build chassis for - all of these etches seem to have all the bits I will need so another 8 games and I should have them all done. By that stage the wagons may have been gotten from Brisbane and then the fitting will commence. The next conundrum is what couplings to fit - these are all basically interchangeable between 2mm and N gauge so putting Rapidos on seems silly but I suspect they will spend more time on N gauge layouts than 2mm ones so... At least changing the couplings might be easy at a later date if I use the right adhesive.

Sorry about the lack of photos - still haven't taken any. Will try to in daylight tomorrow.

OMWB

On My Work Bench - a number of things really. I purchased at T2250 temperature controlled soldering station from Dick Smith about a week and a half ago. This was in response to the advice of fellow members of the 2mm Fine Scale Association Virtual Area Group who, very politely, suggested my Mitre 10 Iron wasn't really suitable. What a revelation. This has been such a joy to use. If you don't have such a beastie and you are becoming a bit more interested in the brass and nickle-silver kits around then I suggest, in the finest traditions of Dilmah - do try it.

So what have I done since the arrival of the latest tool? I have completed the Banana Van kit I got from Amity for our 4th Wedding Anniversary - I didn't read the instructions to start with which I have decided was a mistake (not fatal, but a mistake!) - and a Prestwin (well almost complete - a bit of the valve gear arrangement at the top of the tanks to do). I will post photos when I work out how to do this easily - Amity tells me there is a trick using some program she has but taking the photos is kind of necessary.

The next project is to make a Work Tray - the work bench as such is the dining room table - which I can keep all my stuff on and just take it out, plug the power into it and away I go with everything available - Iron, Lamp, Test Track - and more importantly, just unplug it, pick it all up and put it out of Hollie, Jessica and Hannah's reach.