Scalefour Forum

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...

Why the TCS Z2 ? Because they had them in stock ? And, if the price on DCC Supplies website is anything to go by, an opportunity to charge twice what you needed to spend and shift the stock ? Its an mid-range decoder, indifferent performance and expensive. Getting the best out it means adjusting a n...

Here's an article about using your normal digital camera for online conferences instead of the usual selfie "up your nose" laptop webcam. It's a bit techy, but worth a read (if you don't mind reading white text on black): http://friedmanarchives.blogspot.com/2020/05/turning-your-camera-in...

If David B is in the N-Essex/S.Suffok area of his layout, then I could point him at a "jobbing engineering company" who could make backplates if given a clear specification drawing showing key diameters, dimensions and thread size. I understand they're going back to limited work either tod...

There is a hole through the headstock which is 12.6mm at the chuck end and 7.7mm at the other. However, 25mm in, there is a step, so if there is a taper, it is only over that distance. Is this the chuck nose fitting you refer to, Nigel? I am afraid thread cutting is beyond my skill - something to l...

Unless its also fitted with a draw-bar to hold in place, I would be reluctant to use a MT-1 taper to hold a chuck in place, its likely to shake loose. Making a draw bar with a nut on the end shouldn't be difficult. What's the chuck nose fitting on the lathe ? Can you make a new nose fitting (chuck b...

Hi David, What size Morse taper do you have in your lathe headstock spindle? MT2 and MT3 is common on middle size hobbyist lathes (e.g. Myford series 10 and 7, Warco, Chester, etc...) MT1 is smaller and less common but found on things like Cowells and Sherline lathes. Cowell is MT0 - I have a Cowel...

Other suppliers will have ER collet holders in straight shanks, such as APT https://www.shop-apt.co.uk/ I agree the collets up to 7mm are likely to be ER11. It may be easier to make an adaptor to the lathe using a straight shank holder than a JST taper, depends how easy it is to setup the lathe for ...

Pete, I made a miniature marking gauge along the lines of the traditional woodworkers gauge, but in steel many years ago. An old gramaphone needle provides the 'scratch maker'. I think Rod Neep first described something similar possibly in a very early MRJ. If you haven't found anything else before...

Never mind wheels, how about a complete set of working valve gear, rods, and cylinders!! PBM You might jest, but I got into this printed (sintered) metal stuff from talking to a fellow modeller who was printing 2mm scale narrow gauge loco chassis with functioning compensating beams in the print... ...

I note that the 2mm society are producing a new style of wheel. It is worth mentioning that the 2mm Scale Association are now using 3D printing for locomotive wheels. They are printed in stainless steel by a firm in (I think) the Netherlands. https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index%20...%20nt-38267...

I've built a couple of these recently, starting with the MSE kits. Ended up ditching the whitemetal middle bit, and scratchbuilding that from some U-section brass (cut down some rectangular tube to get the section needed). Much easier than drilling holes in whitemetal !

- Nigel

Serious question, could you fit R/C and battery in here? http://www.clag.org.uk/coronation0-4-0.html Having built a Coronation from High Level a few years ago, and crammed a lot of DCC electronics into similar and much smaller models, plus a RC bus in 2mm scale, then yes, RC in that loco should be ...

I'd have used a slightly different switch arrangement - a SPDT (aka "changeover! switch), so that in one position it would connect the charging +ve to the battery, and in the other position connect the battery to the receiver(and rest of loco). Thus the loco must be turned off in order for the ...

Hello Nigel Thanks for your quick response. The ammeter I have is a 0 - 5 Amps range and the voltmeter is 0 - 30 Volts. The ammeter reads in .2 Amps stages. Regards Sapper Many motors used by S4 modellers are quite low current consumption, so 0.2A may be more than the motor is consuming. One way to...

circuit sketch is fine, but lacks details of ammeter and its performance. So, what ammeter do you have ? ( Its possible to have one which is too low a range to see anything, or equally have one where the a typical loco would either blow the meter or any protection fuse fitted to the meter. Or have o...