Scalefour Forum

I have used an Olfa scrawker to scribe and break off strips and it works well, just requiring a bit of filing to clean up the edge. The other option is to find someone with a guillotine to cut some strip for you.

Philip

They do look like the Brimalm gearboxes that were part of DynaDrive. Quite a low ratio, maybe 30:1 or thereabouts.

Philip

I have checked with a friend who has a Hall and a Castle built by John Hayes, and he has confirmed that these both have RG4s fitted with the 16mm motor. So there is room in the firebox.

Philip

16mm should be fine for big engines like these. Certainly 1616 and 1624 Portescap RG4s would fit.

Philip

Tony, do you find that the solder joint is strong enough to last, with the slight flexing of the joint each time the turnout is thrown? I have been thinking of using glass fibre strip with a pin inserted from below to solder the blades to (Norman Solomon’s system) which avoids this flexing.

Philip

Thanks Dave, A friend has just sent me some old Jackson 14mm wheels to reduce to 13 mm for a special vehicle. Although it’s 00, I shall try your 62° angle suggestion, and I was going to do a parallel tread anyway. It’s good to know I’m not alone in occasionally not having any coning! Philip Philip

Hi Tim, My skimming off the back of the flanges in EM was in response to an EM customer who required an increased b-b beyond that which results from using the standard EM Markits axle. That axle usually gives a b-b of 16.45mm which is wrong for any standard in EM, and my customer uses (mostly) AG, S...

Although I am still not going to recommend turning down a Markits wheel to P4, I have just spent an hour or so taking a bit off the back of the tyres of some driving wheels to increase the back to back for EM, and also to slim down the flanges a bit. When I had finished, the tyre width came out at 2...

Maybe about the same time as Rod, because it's so long ago and I can't remember the date: I have somewhere a Jidenco (don't laugh) Beattie Well Tank kit that I started a new scratchbuilt chassis for at one of Iain Rice's Study Centre weeks (or weekends). Iain convinced me that the supplied chassis w...

Reminds me of ‘when I were a lad’ and Dad would drive us past the (closed) station during our annual holidays. And the big hotel adjacent - was it the ‘Royal Spithead’?

Philip

Just to say that the wheels can be skimmed at the back, I have done this a few times because the customer required an EM back to back of 16.65 mm and the supplied EM axle gives you 16.45mm. This also resulted in a slimmer flange profile (also requested) after I had rounded it off with a file. I woul...

I should make it clear that I’m not advocating the reprofiling of Markits wheels to P4, merely that it is possible if you want to go to all that trouble. Generally I don’t. The odd occasions I have done things with Markits wheels have been in response to customers who wanted a thinner flange and gre...

I think RP25 is as fine as it gets. 247 Developments used to stock the P4 Markits axles. They also did a nice little etched washer which is useful for increasing the back to back dimension in EM. Turning the wheel down to P4 is quite possible but requires a form tool for a proper job. One problem (w...

I don’t know how Tony does it either. I don’t think he uses tender pickups but I wouldn't build a tender engine without them, rigid, compensated or sprung. I find I get steadier running and reliable starts as a result. For the same reason I have installed pickups on the leading and trailing trucks o...

I was lucky to acquire some ‘ends of reels’ from a local alarm company and although It’s a bit thin, is high quality and multi-strand, so if I have any doubts about the current carrying capacity I can just twist a couple of the cores together. It will certainly do for wiring of turnouts and track fe...

This is interesting, as I have never replaced a tender chassis in any of the conversions I have done, either in P4 or EM. I do, however, always add more weight (tenders are always far too light) and ensure that there is some up and down movement on the centre axles. Also I make sure that the tender ...

I wouldn’t build a chassis rigid, getting it absolutely plumb is very difficult and if it rocks in any way you could be in trouble. The RTR boys put these things together on a production line and quality machinery. It’s OK in 00 and to a lesser extent in EM but our minuscule flanges give much less r...

As Gordon says, track quality must be high. Given that, I have had no problems. I have converted lots of Hornby and Bachmann engines (steam, and not little ones either) over the years and the running has been very good indeed. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anything falling off for lack of suspens...

I too want to control track levels, particularly since I will be using quite a few unsprung and uncompensated RTR engines and stock, along with a touch of superelevation here and there. I also like silent running, but the ‘quiet’ track almost seems too quiet to me! I did think of laying track on foa...

I abrade the axle with a file, but often drill a hole through the gear into the axle at 45° and insert a nickel silver pin.

I am a bit suspicious of any kind of glue where oily plastic is involved, especially where mechanical strength is required, hence playing safe(er) with a pin.

Philip

David, there is no need to touch the hole in the Gibson wheel. The crankpin screw cuts its
own thread in the wheel and you tighten it into the wheel. This is when you will find out whether the pin is vertical or not. If it isn’t, I just bend it straight!

Philip

You would almost certainly have an easier time using Gibson crankpins, they are designed for the wheel, but do make sure that the hole in the wheel is vertical. The bushes supplied will be nominally 1.5mm (in practice perhaps a bit less) and the crankpin nut will screw onto the crankpin which is saf...

When I did my Queen Mary I just added some detail, steps, sandpipes, some rigging etc., to the Bachmann bogies. Not quite as nice but it looks the part. I was tempted to use some Hornby bogies instead, which are beautiful renditions, but chose the cheap path. The Roxey etched bogies are fine, though...

I prefer 0.3mm hard brass wire mostly, bearing on the edge of the flange as Dave has said. Wound in a few coils this stays springy with minimal contact pressure.

Philip

Beware there are many kinds of turning centres (indents). Ultrascale indents (for example) are quite pronounced, whereas on some engines they can almost look like pin pricks. Look at a Dukedog and you will find that it has a small centre deepened by a big chamfer on the edge. I prefer to put in my o...