Scalefour Forum

Cheap often means "needs work", and looking at the Ebay listing its hard to determine the actual condition. Certainly not pristine, but amount of corrosion/wear is key to things. Tailstock looks worrying (the black around it), and can't determine if the dings and corrosion on the bed is cr...

Thank you for your reply Nigel. Does the Mod number equate to an actual dimension on one gear tooth. Gordon A Yes-ish. For an Rack (straight line of teeth), Module * PI = pitch of the teeth in mm. More useful is the pitch circle - the value used to calculate where two gearwheels mesh. Pitch Circle ...

Chaps, I see gears as being quoted as for example Mod 0.2 or Mod 0.5. What does this relate to please? Module number. A measure of the tooth size and spacing. The metric equivalent of DP numbers. Smaller Module numbers are smaller teeth. Very roughly, Mod 0.4 is similar to 64DP (and will often enga...

Stephan.wintner wrote:Just a source of small gears I've not seen mentioned :

http://kkpmo.istore.pl/en_US/index?currency=EUR

Mentioned in the fourth post in this thread....

Either switch the frog using a microswitch which is operated by the mechanical movement of the servo, or fit a relay controlled by the Arduino on a second output. Or, if the wiring isn't excessive, the frog could be switched from a control panel using another pole on the switch which controls the tu...

There are outfits like KKPMO from Poland, who sell on website and Ebay as either KKPMO or Microantrieb. If there is stock, they have plastic and brass gears in a variety of sizes. (my experience of KKPMO is mixed - at their best great, but sometimes seem to disappear and not deal with significant or...

Ignoring the centre-pull idea, where I was incoorect, this photo seems to confirm the linkage arrangement discussed in the thread. https://transportsofdelight.smugmug.com/RAILWAYS/BRITISH-DIESEL-AND-ELECTRIC/PRE-TOPS-DIESEL-LOCOMOTIVES/i-763vLLx Zooming well in, I think the upper linkage is visible,...

Mike Edge (in the name of his wife Judith) does a kit for the earlier three 11700-2 which had the same brake arrangement. He is usually very knowledgeable in respect of the prototypes of his kits, so have you tried asking him? Yes, in part because I'm building one of his kits for 11706 (a different...

I see on the Precision website that they are selling Sharman wheels but not at the sort of prices Mike charged! They are about twice the price of Alan Gibson driving wheels Well, there's an opportunity for someone to step in and do it cheaper with new technology :-) The photos on the Precision webs...

I'm following all this so far. Just one more detail - the front linkage from the cross-rod... The cylinder is fine (RHS behind step), which has a lever to the cross-rod. Then what ? I'm guessing a lever in the centre of the rod, to a pull rod running along the centre line, splitting into a Y-shape, ...

I've been looking at the drawings in Modern Locomotives Illustrated 195; ….. Quite a bit of guesswork on inadequate data, but I hope it helps. Thanks Noel, yes, piecing that lot together I can see how it might work. Its not sophisticated, but not expecting sophisticated on a low-speed shunting loco...

This sort of loco: ….. Yes, one of those. Specifically the next one in the build sequence (11706), but they're going to be the same on this detail. I know there is an industrial version at the Bo'ness museum, but that's shut at present. I agree the brake linkages are likely to be similar to steam l...

Daddyman wrote:Can anything been worked out from these?

Unfortunately, that's the wrong loco.

D11700-11707 are different to the later NB locos, specifically the brakes which are between the wheels on the earlier locos. One brake shoe moves forwards the other backwards when apply braking forces.


- Nigel

I'm putting together a North British 0-4-0 shunter, BR 11706. I'm having trouble working out how the brake rods should be arranged. I can see the brake cylinder (behind RH front step), and a cross shaft at the front. The brake shoes and hangers mean the shoes move in opposite directions to apply the...

An EM gauge modeller I know is using walnut sleepers, bought in strips from one of the model boat building companies, chopped to length with a little chopping tool. His view is the walnut take stains better and look more like sleepers than ply. His chairs are plastic, fixed by solvent to the sleeper.

The E4 drawing included in this lot is the Lyn Brooks drawing a copy of which is included in the Alan Gibson kit Thanks, Will. So not worth investing then (all I need is the E4) - too many errors and no dimensions. You can have just the E4 drawing for under a pound. So, a better copy than the one i...

3D printing - I'd assumed we were talking about printing in metal. Which I've done (now running at many hundred parts), sending a CAD file to Materialize in Belgium. Their "high detail stainless" could produce the parts, but any shafts/running surfaces would need additional work, and the p...

Mike Garwood wrote:What’s wrong with printing it (3D) ?

I've experience in printing metal centres for loco wheels in stainless. Its accurate, but not perfect, and any holes will need cleaning out.
If only needing one or two, and putting them on a single sprue it may be cost effective at about £30-£40.

I'd be tempted with "etch it" for the long sections - possibly more than one layer - then turn cylindrical parts to fit through the etch at each end, and join the whole lot together with solder of whatever temperature you can get away with.

Alternative method, which may work in some cases if it doesn't get tangled in frame details and brake gear: Two pieces of angle, which can have one edge filed thin enough to slide between wheel and frames. Arrange so they are about opposite, and support across the jaws of an open vice. This supports...

……….. I've read some excellent reports about Winsor & Newton Galeria Matt varnish, with some users saying that it produces the mattest finish ever, and so have ordered a bottle to try it, one advantage being that I can airbrush it on as lightly as i want. I have a bottle of Cryla (Rowney) matt ...

I've got 14BA nuts on some of my crank pins, and I need to look really closely to spot which ones! And a spanner or nut spinner on a hexagonal nut is easier and quicker than the round ones and pliers ... ;) You can also cheat the nut a little - round off two of the points (opposite ones) with a fil...

Can't answer for Lifecolor. However, I've found that acrylics designed for airbrushes, such as Vallejo Model Air (there are others) are a delight. Set air pressure low into the brush. No p******g about with thinners trying to get the consistency of cream/treacle/beer/honey. Just a put a few drops st...

The failure I described, Nigel, actually happened in an 8 wheel tender where wheel was touching frame on curves and lack of insulation around motor. Disappointed a TCS won't shut down but I don't have one any more - gave it away. Anyway, it's yet another possibility. A further reason for keeping mo...

I think you've just shown that your problem is almost certainly in the installation. A dead short across the motor output should just cause the decoder to shut down. However, if you have a wheel, pick-up or bare joint intermittently touching the chassis/body and a motor terminal or other bare joint...