Scalefour Forum

I have recently purchased a tin of Ronseal matt varnish. I have used this many times in the past but this new tin is giving me a slightly white finish if applied by airbrush. I thin 50:50 with white spirit normally but I have also thinned with acetone thinner and never had this 'white' finish befor...

New to P4 and the concept of making my own track, I am caught in a grande (perhaps naive) scheme. I have been toying with using brass chairs to feed the rail - that way one can completely conceal the dropper by soldering beneath the chair. It takes some forethought on drilling holes etc. I thought ...

Have been considering about putting a small layout above the workbench in my shed now for a while, The shed isn't particularly big (6ftx5ft ruffly) However this is big enough to fit a small layout on a 7ft radius in! So have been tinkering around in Templot and came up with the attachment below. Th...

I need scale drawings for a GWR Autocoach, as I plan to scratchbuild two (eventually four) of them to run on my railway. I wish to be as accurate as possible, and these drawings would be a great boon. As has been said already, there are a couple of different variants, so perhaps you could post deta...

Well, not in a bad way. I have finally managed to get some time earlier today to get started with some of the modelling kit that I bought at Scaleforum. I've used the Brassmasters wagon wheelbase jig to straighten out the w-irons on my LNWR ballast restoration job. It now sits squarely in the runnig...

I've recently read quite a lot about making prefabricated common crossings, ... near the knuckle there are (in a double slip) five rails very close together on the same timber, and I don't relish soldering that lot together in situ. All bright ideas welcome ..... Without wishing to offend by statin...

Tim V wrote:22

Is that an estimate or a confession?

Flymo

I stuck with the original intention of scale length rail for the next section. Time will tell if the droppers stick as well! A bit stupid really as that section on the main line is beyond the platform edge and under the canopy. The problem will come trying to lay 30' rails in the yard in the foregr...

Well, it's the night before Scaleforum and I'm adding the last things to my shopping list... Alan Gibson waisted pinpoints - if I'm getting the wheelsets, then I need the bearings. The ones with the metal cutaway so that they are like a little Mayan pyramid (but obviously without the human sacrifice...

Well, I have to say I'm a bit surprised that only two people on this board apparently use the CSB suspension system! I can only think that the general lack of response indicates that most people either aren't interested in it or have used it but with indifferent results. Personally, the next medium...

Further thoughts on what I need on my shopping list... - an airbrush moisture trap . I've never had one, and thankfully never had bad results from spraying, but from reading so many articles saying that they help get a good finish, I think that it's about time. - weathering colours . More precisely,...

I can vouch for the Brassmaster's jig, I managed to turn a box of useless wagons into a fleet of runners in a very short time. That's definitely what I need. The photos are still on my DSLR, but I took a picture that I'll post in the next instalment of three LNWR vans in a line. Or rather, in a str...

In a blatant steal of a title from RMWeb, with Scaleforum 2009 only about a month away, I've started thinking about what I need (or simply would like!) to stock up on. The list so far (and this post will be edited as I go along) is: - miniature snipe nosed pliers . When I started dismantling the whe...

Time to illustrate the progress so far. The picture below shows the transverse spacer .bar that I've put in to hold apart the two sides, and one of the slivers of plastic strip that I've inserted between the lead flashing and the wagon side. There is one on the nearer side as well - it is obvious th...

We've all heard occasional stories of tyres becoming detached from wheel rims in use. Less frequently mentioned, but probably more prevalent is the chance of a wheelset moving around on an axle during use. Well, I've decided that I'll try and eliminate that risk. So after double checking each wheels...

First question; suspension system. The kits come for three-point compensation, but I've fancied trying springing on a loco. My locos to date have all been three-point compensation, with pickups onto wheel treads. So, what method to try for springing ? There are several options, and the Continuous B...

Working brakes have been done by Ted Scannell. See: Ted has also used memory wire to activate (actuate?) brakes as well. See: <http://www.clag.org.uk/memory-brake.html> I've seen that coach working on Green Street at a CLAG night. Seriously impressive smoothness of movement, and whilst we weren't t...

According to the reference below, the most common early LNWR wagons were 1 plank and 2 plank open wagons. Prior to 1898 15’6” over headstocks, and 16’ after this date. Quite a few 2 plankers must have been built. Only some will have had drop sides. http://www.igg.org.uk/gansg/00-app2/lms/lnwr.htm A...

Well, it's been a while... The combination of stupidly long hours at work and a couple of scheduled holidays mean that it's been far too long since I did any modelling. After a couple of days riding motorbikes around Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire, I now ache too much to do anything more than a bit of...

Sorry, what's a CSB ? I'm not too surprised at the hornblocks being on the large side. Fortunately I have a lathe, access to a mill, and am used to scratchbuilding small parts. Its often easier to make new smaller ones than to reduce the size of parts already made. A Continuous Springy Beam. I can ...

On your additional points; As being new to P4 I used the forum to firstly find out if this was the norm, thats all. I am surprised my thread has got to 80+ reads with only your input coming back. Pete Pete, I'm pleased that you got an answer from Andrew. As you say you're new to P4, I thought that ...

Hi Mike I find the best way is to save them as jpegs and if necessary reduce their image size with a resolution of about 100dpi's and a physical size of say 150mm along the longest edge. I use Photoshop and this process can be done quite easily, I am sure it can be done in similar programmes. If yo...

jim s-w wrote:Hi All

As part of my modelling roads I need Iron work. Seems that no 2 are the same but I have produced a variety of Brummy specific

Hi Jim,

Those look very nice indeed. Out of interest, what drawing package are you using to prepare the artwork?

Cheers
Paul

In my last post, I was thinking that the greatest hurdle to overcome in restoring the LNWR two plank wagon would be to return the warped dropsides to some form of straightness. Wrong! I've actually made pretty good progress on that particular task, and they only need a final bit of tweaking (I can't...

Hey Flymo, couldn't resist the title, so here is a picture of my "restored" (from OO) Buckjumper, current pride of the line on the Upper Leaside light railway branch. Very nice :-) I have one (or possibly two!) unmade of the Connoisseur Kits for a J68, from the days when they used to sel...