Scalefour Forum

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...

There are several mentions of hand-drilling arrangements to achieve vertical holes in the thread above. There's a DIY option I wrote about 20-odd years ago (sorry for the 1990's standard of web images!), http://www.2mm.org.uk/articles/fonly/fonlydr.htm http://www.2mm.org.uk/articles/fonly/fonlypt1.h...

I suppose the other option would be to go for a lathe. I understand that you can accurately drill and mill as well as turn albeit less conveniently? Its just that the MF70 seems ideally suited to very fine work and would give both a drilling and a milling function in one? Hey Ho ... decisions decis...

If the MS104 is the same as other stands I've seen to that design, then the Proxxon MB200 stand is substantially better engineered stand. I've found MS104 style stands to be OK-ish, whereas the MB200 made me question whether there is any sense in buying the dedicated TBM220 pillar drill over the MB2...

I'd caution against the MF70 as a drilling machine, because of the lack of lever feed. As a light cut milling machine its good, but it is light cuts only with quite small cutters(*). For some years I had, on loan, the rather heftier Cowell's small milling machine (and a very nice small mill it was!)...

Yes Will I agree. All I needed here was a way of holding a hand drill vertical. Wonder if George Watts could come up with something. His quartering jig is just so clever - and only half the price or less of a RTR loco. Approaching 30 years ago, this was written up by Pete Wright in the 2mm Scale As...

I've seen a large layout use similar trestles, but fit an additional beam to the upper beam, and provide that beam with simple screw adjusters up/down. Similar in concept to the adjusting pads Mark shows in his link, but an entire beam over the width. I might take the car down to Lidl tomorrow at £1...

Wobbly crankpin: bodge+hope method - devise method to hold pin in correct orientation (or as near correct as you can get) and use either retaining compound (eg. Loctite 603) if the gap isn't overly big, or expoxy resin (araldite type stuff, but pick your grade carefully) to secure pin. engineering m...

There is an old article (getting on 20 years old) on the 2mm website on files, and the differences between them. It gets a bit technical due to the style of the author, but the stuff in it is still valid and accurate. I agree with Jol - get a few high quality files (don't be surprised at £20+ each!)...

Options I can see: 1) Wait for it to dry. 2) Wait for it to dry, but also add weights to flatten it. 3) Glue some matching foam on the other side with similar quantity of glue (as one does with plasticard to even out warping) 4) Make a vertical piece to glue to the underside, to form a T-section bea...

Yes, 601 and 603 are available. 601 is expensive, and overkill for the job. 603 a more sensible price, and arguably a saner choice. Its holding a plastic model train wheel on a metal axle, not fixing a bit to a full sized airliner. So, if lacking 601/603, then I'd use varnish, shellac, runny supergl...

don't really know what I'm talking about .... but what about 3d printing (Bill Bedford) and the made to order wheel rims from Ultra scale? Clearly possible. Bill Bedford is one of several possible routes. David Lane (Big Cheese Plant) has shown wheel generation CAD software, various people have sho...

The ones you mention are not in the same league as the Mitchell - would be like buying a 1970's Triang against this year's Hornby releases. Placing a "wanted ad" in Scalefour News and/or MRJ, or searching ebay and other s/hand sales outlets may be a better bet: the vast majority of loco ki...

The models are rather nice - or they will be if assembled like the test examples Chris had at Workshop Wise in Northumberland a few weeks ago.

From a very quick measuring, there is room for sound chip, speaker, etc.. in the bonnet area.


- Nigel

I think I'd want to see a bit of medium term testing of the motor. Run it up/down the speed range, bit of low speed crawling, and attempting to simulate train load for a few days. What worries me is the product description of "precious metal brushes". That can mean all sorts of things, but...

Beam-breaking IR detector would seem to be pretty simple - needs a transmitting IR LED and receiving device. Plus power and an indicator (a visible LED) somewhere. Just check that the beam is broken by your stock, some plastics can be transparent to some wavelengths. Typical components need a 5v DC ...

Tony W wrote:

Captain Kernow wrote:
If you're that short of material, why not just tell everyone that you need more articles for the journal?

You mean a whole album of alternative lyrics?

Tony

You may regret that.... I often end up with alternative lyrics to songs whilst doing something else.

Tim V wrote:

nigelcliffe wrote:If you're going to The Scaleforum
Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair
……….

Can I put this in the News?

Yes, if you want to use it.
It isn't that good - scope to improve the syllable stress patterns.


- Nigel

If you're going to The Scaleforum Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair If you're going to The Scaleforum You're gonna meet some model people there For those who come to The Scaleforum Autumntime will be a compensated affair In the aisles of The Scaleforum Model people with flowers in their hair...

I know this is still "test bench", but before starting layout track-laying, I suggest experimenting with ballasting techniques. There are basically two approaches: ballast before or after fitting the chairs (and rails). The are advantages of ballasting with just sleepers in place - clearin...

My hobby horses include this alongside track cleaning, see another thread. I have used a number of methods over the years and found all to have drawbacks. I met Matthias from Germany last weekend at the superb Perth show. He was launching his machine which uses a cunning jiggler to rub wheel treads...

philip-griffiths wrote:The one scene looked like Blencathra.

Nah, its the Gog Magog near Cambridge (which is slightly off-route for Norwich). If you get the camera angle right, it can look a bit like the lake district

Very Nice Jim, :thumb If it comes with the full motion, even if it does not operate that's great. I have just been making dummy ones, the main part you notice below the boiler is the large balance weight which moves according to the setting of the gears for forward and reverse motion. In DCC and us...