Scalefour Forum

A few things I would suggest are checked out before investing too heavily in printed track. Hi Andy, Why always so negative? No-one is "investing heavily" in 3D printed track. What I'm doing is having a dabble with Templot and my 3D printer to see what it can do. No doubt others are doing...

Same thing with 3D-printing, which can we're told be made to make almost anything, but that doesn't mean it's the best solution. IMO rail is one of those things where it isn't. Hi Rod, Whether it's the best solution doesn't really come into it. Almost certainly it isn't. The question is, is it a fe...

Thanks all for the comments.

Yes I meant 00 RTR, for track testing. I've looked at the Protocab site, but they do only 0 gauge, and everything on there seems to be marked out of stock. I will improvise something in a permanently-attached wagon for testing purposes.

cheers,

Martin.

grovenor-2685 wrote:I think Ted Scannel can best answer that for you, he has been doing a lot of experimentation.

Thanks Keith. Does that mean you can't (yet) buy a radio control RTR loco off the shelf?

cheers,

Martin.

Cosmetics may be an issue also, how will you get a nice shiny metallic looking top surface? Hi Keith, The toughened PLA polymer is available in steel grey and silver colours (and rust brown for sidings). It has a natural sheen to it. I have already developed a technique to add a skin to provide a s...

Is the technology capable of printing rails with 1:20 inclination, or would it be restricted to vertical? Hi Noel, Yes, it's possible. In fact Templot can already print templates with inclined rail, showing the foot of the rail offset a fraction from the head. Whether it is worth doing is a separat...

Trials will be interesting. I suspect that the friction between wheel and rail will be excessive leading to flange climbing problems, especially with flanges anywhere near scale size. Thanks Keith. I was expecting the opposite -- problems with slipping and adhesion? http://85a.co.uk/forum/images/em...

Some discussion of Battery/Radio Control systems on page 3 of the latest S4 News (216) today. Such discussions usually mention the elimination of electrical wiring and loco pickup problems, but rarely mention the obvious follow-on -- the rails don't need to be metallic . I'm currently working on cre...

+1

One possible way to fix it is to use SMP Scaleway rail in them. SMP rail is, or at least always used to be, under scale width at 0.8mm, instead of scale 0.92mm. Injection-mouldings shrink with age if not injected at a high enough pressure. Which in turn requires having a moulding machine with suffic...

Julian Roberts wrote:Shame Tim's film doesn't show this part of the process!

Hi Julian,

It does show knuckle bends being made, at around 6 minutes 30 seconds in.

Here is another old film about junction renewal:



cheers,

Martin.

Hopefully Tony or Martin will correct me if this is wrong. Hi Julian, It is difficult to make a symmetrical bend if one side is held in pliers and the other side is made with fingers. The side held in pliers will be dead straight up to the start of the bend. The side held in fingers will be slightl...

One question - I had thought switches and crossings were normally straight even on curving track except on the GWR. But is that wrong? Hi Julian, Yes it's wrong. It seems to be a common misunderstanding, despite a glance at any photograph of curved pointwork showing otherwise. When switches and cro...

It seems some photos, especially from iPhones, can have orientation info built in. Yes the orientation is in the EXIF segment of the image file. Browsers can rotate such images automatically if you include in the CSS: img { image-orientation:from-image; } Or at least Firefox can. I just added the a...

The 5m OS map is a digitised download in DWG format and matches exactly the area I am modelling - but £76 + VAT is I'm afraid having a laugh as far as I am concerned :D Hi Tim, Contours at 5m spacing (16ft-5in) are available FREE on the modern OS Maps so-called "Standard" base map: http:/...

Taking samples was tried by C&L a few years ago and was a disaster. Anyway there are a lot of unseen costs in taking a sales stand to a show. First the stand fees, except for the larger shows (Warley BRM etc) they are not always that large a part of the costs. We have given up some shows where ...

It should not be too difficult to improvise a passing contact, which would be briefly connected by the sweep of a lever in a mechanical lever frame, so as to operated the SEEP (or similar) solenoid as the lever is reversed, and (in the opposite direction) when the lever is restored in the frame. Th...

I'm very grateful for your replies, particularly Martin for your very detailed one. I must confess I'm really asking on behalf of someone else, and although this is all quite simple I'm sure I have not personally made a layout since a 00 one 20 years ago, where I had a single Capacitor Discharge Un...

Is there a convenient but equally reliable way of actuating such a motor from a lever frame? Hi Julian, Well obviously the lever needs some form of electrical switch attached. An SPDT microswitch perhaps, or a home-made on-off contact controlling an SPDT relay. Given that much, this design is a sim...

Le Corbusier wrote:where does one find scalefour notes .... not sure I am aware of these?

Hi Tim,

see: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6428

Notes here: https://www.scalefour.org/members/notes/start?do=index

cheers,

Martin.

Pannier Tank wrote:Have you seen this Templot Video?
http://templot.com/companion/catch_points.php

Just to say that the video has now been replaced with an animated infographic:

http://templot.com/companion/catch_points.php

cheers,

Martin.

Given that almost everyone says they forget names, what's the point of knowing someone's name? It's not a pre-condition to talking to them.

What should be on the badge is not the name, but the avatar picture from this forum.

cheers,

Martin.

Is there anything in the story that the full depth windows caused photo-hypnotic effects in the driver from the sleepers flashing closely below? So far as I know, there were no visible measures taken at the time to reduce any such risk, so presumably not. A driver's attention whilst the train is mo...

Is there anything in the story that the full depth windows caused photo-hypnotic effects in the driver from the sleepers flashing closely below? But the driver needed to see a little old lady waving her handkerchief: https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/uk/stop-the-train-i-want-to-get-off-the-magic-...

Hi Julian,

Templot will print the template with joggles if you tick the box on the switch settings dialog:




cheers,

Martin.