Scalefour Forum

If you go with the CDC print there are a few issues to consider. First, you have to choose the printing material. Choose between "versatile plastic" and "smooth fine detail plastic". The former has poor surface finish and needs lots of work with filler and sanding to make it read...

Andy, have you considered wheels as shown, but with inserts to represent Mansell wheels? A shallow recess turned into the front could hold an etched or printed insert.

I hadn't done those particular brakes, but I've done them now. They are a sprue of 10 assemblies, rather than 8 in the previous products, to get best value from the printer and avoid SW's price-floor of $7.50 per print.

Bizarrely, Deluxe materials Card Glue also works for sticking acrylic glazing to hard materials. I suspect that it works better on painted brass than bare metal. But I shall switch to the Everbuild product if I can find where where to buy it.

Going back to the track layout as modelled, and assuming that the loop is used as a running loop or refuge, what is more likely for trains passing from the loop to the next section: a dummy at the loop exit and an advanced starter; or a running signal, level with signal 8, to enter the section and s...

I often wonder about the economics of getting better components. Bearings for coupled axles are a good example: the cuboid kind that slide in hornguides. If the bearing blocks were accurately machined, then they could just slide in slots etched in the frames, without the hornguides, and it would be ...

steve howe wrote:Out of interest, I did a bit of searching and found this supplier on Amazon:
I think Tamiya thinners is basically isopropyl.
Steve

Yes, but there's some butanol in it too, possibly to stop it drying too quickly when airbrushing.

Some switch cleaners dissolve plastics, particularly polystyrene. Does the WD40 contact-cleaner do that?

Fix the axle box to the w-iron first, then use a 1.5 or 1.8 mm ball fraizer in a Dremel type mini drill. Place the cutter in the slot while it is stationary, then pulse the drill at a slowish speed until you have removed enough of the axlebox without cutting into the w-iron. A foot control for the ...

A thought about models with moving suspensions: the vertical force needed to defeat rail-climbing, as in the Nadal analysis, can be more easily defeated by friction if the vehicle is light. I suggest that the frictional force in the suspension, which opposes downward movement of each wheel, goes app...

Re my previous post of around April 25. Re Nadel's formula and Dave Bradwell's analysis, but correctly taking into account the added downward constant force due the vehicle weight, it is clear that rail climbing derailments are reduced by making the vehicle heavier, regardless of the suspension sys...

Complicating matters, the waisted bearings from AGW have changed recently. The ones I bought at the York show this year are visibly different from those bought a year ago, at least on the outside. On the recent ones, the parallel, 2mm-OD part is deeper than before, the tuning pip on the tip is wider...

I found Leysdown unexpectedly compelling. Normally, I don't get much from these minimal-BLT layouts, but Leysdown had enough variety of movement and just enough sense of place (flat, coastal, population density tends to zero) to grab me. For me, the sound effects were a big plus. Also, it worked fla...

The red brick mixed into the stock brick suggests a drastic repair. Was it wartime damage?

What happens if, instead of joggling, one files away the rail head to the same extent as the joggle? This would be filing a vertical-sided rebate, not cutting away under the railhead to house the toe of the switch.

Here's a challenge: how do I quickly and reliably build motor bogies for models of EMUs and electric locos? This should be simpler than easy-build chassis for models of rod-coupled steam engines, so maybe there's a way to make one in an afternoon without manufacturing parts. My spec: - For P4, eithe...

Personally, I find the idea that assembling an effective (internal and hidden) chassis mechanism in an hour from precision mating parts is regarded as "speed building", rather than an acceptable norm, rather puzzling. It's not as if one has to wind one's own 7 pole motor, cut one's own ge...

If a chassis can be built in minutes from a kit, it follows that the kit eliminates most of the possible mistakes. Otherwise, the build will take either hours, to allow for the anti-cock-up checks, or days, to reverse and repair the cock-ups. I find kit building much more enjoyable when I know I'm u...

Thanks for this. The GA for the 12-ton mineral seems to be that reproduced in the Ince Wagon Works book, which has always been my first reference for RCH details. It's great to have that and associated drawings available in better resolution.

A few years ago, the American Passenger Transport Association were evaluating a proposal to adopt a different wheel profile for LRT trains, one with a greater flange-contact angle. The idea was to allow higher speeds on sharp curves. Makes me think that a less-prototypical profile might help our ov...

A few years ago, the American Passenger Transport Association were evaluating a proposal to adopt a different wheel profile for LRT trains, one with a greater flange-contact angle. The idea was to allow higher speeds on sharp curves. Makes me think that a less-prototypical profile might help our ov...

A few years ago, the American Passenger Transport Association were evaluating a proposal to adopt a different wheel profile for LRT trains, one with a greater flange-contact angle. The idea was to allow higher speeds on sharp curves. Makes me think that a less-prototypical profile might help our ove...

The clearance between blocks and wheels in resin-printed brake gear can be whatever one wants, given that the prints are dimensionally accurate. Shapeways prints seem to be accurate. I've tended to larger-than-scale gaps to accommodate variation in wheel sizes (e.g. AGW are slightly smaller than Exa...

The problem part of this brake hanger, from the point of view of printing, is the 0.75" flat bit. Everything else can be brought (just) above minimum thickness for resin-printing, or is invisible and can be left off: 0.5" flanges that wrap round the middle bearer: invisible, leave them out...

... but as a side note, how do you adjust buffer height? For most stock, you need packing between the floor of the wagon and the brass of the axleguards. For most plastic kits, where the bottom of the floor is sitting at the prototypical height w.r.t the rest of the model, you need 0.5mm packing. T...