Thorburn's - dipping my toes in the water...

[John Donnelly]

They are Ultrascales for the Hornby 56 that I picked up cheaply - the 56 is the older Mainline model and is a non-runner that has had it's gears removed.

John

[themagicspanner]

Cheers John. I'm looking to avoid Ultrascale for simpler conversions as the waiting time is a wee bit long. I'll probably look at Gibson options.

[Colin Parks]

The 08 now no longer needs to balance on the rails...

Not too happy with the performance though. There is either something wrong with the quartering of the wheel set (which I doubt but will check) or one of the original coupling rods is too long, causing the wheels to bind and the driving axle to lift. The model had a slight wobble with it's OO wheels when I first got it and I blindly hoped that the Ultrascale set would solve the bother.

I'll post some close ups when I get a chance tonight.

I ran out of time last night to give it a full test, although I did run it without the motor connected and it displayed the same binding. At least that's one source discounted.

---

Anyway, here is a shot of the offending loco reflected in the large puddle that filled up over the weekend.



Unfortunately, the water material I've used doesn't stay as nice and reflective once it's dry but it does give an idea of the effect I'm trying to get.


Mike

Hi MIke,

Just a thought on troublesome Hornby 08s: I had one that was binding from new. It turned out to be that some (factory applied) yellow paint had got onto one of the shouldered crank pins and the blob of paint was causing the problem. It was easily removed and the binding ceased. It is only a long shot, but it might be worth checking to see if there is any paint in the coupling rod holes on your model.

Lovely picture though!

All the best,

Colin

[themagicspanner]

The running still wasn't perfect so I purchased a new set of Hornby crank rods. Looking at them it's pretty obvious that the originals were pretty deformed (the model was bought second hand). I think I'll carefully remove the paint from around the holes of the new rods and see if that makes things any better.

On a related note - why are the Ultrascale balance weights so poor?

I'll put my experiences with the re-wheeling of the 08 into one of the other threads on the matetr, just to keep everything in one place.


Glad you like the photo. The water wasn't a success when it dried so it got chopped out and replaced with clear perspex, painted on the underside with the same dark colour as the surrounding mud. Hopefully I'll have something to show over the weekend.


Mike

[John Donnelly]

On a related note - why are the Ultrascale balance weights so poor?

In terms of their cut and finish, mine were fine and fit perfectly, they were just to thick and stood proud of the rims so have to be thinned...

John

[themagicspanner]

I was just imagining that they would have been etched brass to match the quality of the wheelset.

[John Donnelly]

Cheers John. I'm looking to avoid Ultrascale for simpler conversions as the waiting time is a wee bit long. I'll probably look at Gibson options.

If I'd had to order them I probably wouldn't have bothered but I got them off eBay. I know Terry Bendall gets good results with Black Beetle coach wheels for his diesel conversions, I've stuck to Ultrascales so far as they make the job so easy, I tend to order in batches so the waiting is less of an issue.

John

[themagicspanner]

After the aborted attempt with the Javis 'water' I decided to try with 1mm thk clear perspex painted dark on the underside and embedded in the DAS clay.

Whilst not perfect - there's a little bit of distortion in the reflection due to the surface being out of plane - I'm pretty happy with the general effect.



I also thought it was time to start adding a bit of something that isn't mud, so the tea strainer came out and I started with the greenery at the front of the layout.

[themagicspanner]

Cheers guys,

Small jobs appear to be getting done at the moment. For some reason I jumped out of bed this morning keen to make a 5' high fence for the bottom of the embankment.

Here are a couple of shots of it before it was planted:






And a couple of it in situ:






A couple of weeks ago I was doing an internet search for this that and the other thing and found a wonderful thread on RMWeb about Sutton Manor Colliery. It was the inspiration behind the puddles and what I hope will be suitable clutter. I particularly like the stuff sitting up against the fence in the fourth shot.

I've even managed to build the AJ coupling jig and a couple of test couplings. Maybe the next job is to make the mounting jig and get them on some wagons.


Mike

[themagicspanner]

A few more photos to show progress. Nothing too exciting to report.








I was having a bit of bother with one of the Cobalt point motors so had to swap it with another. Does anyone have any experience with them not working, even when they're not driving anything? Could it be internal friction?

The next phase will be to start on the granary. I'm going to be in Duns at the weekend so I'll be able to get some reference shots.

Mike

[Simon Glidewell]

Very effective early stages of modelling Mike; your use of modelling clay around the track looks particularly good. I also like the weeds and abandoned sleepers! A fine layout in the making.

All the best
Simon

[themagicspanner]

Thanks for that Simon.

No modelling this weekend although I did manage to have a wee field trip to the actual location, which is only 10 minutes walk from my parents' house.

When I told the young lad in the shop at John Thorburn & Sons what I was up to he was more than happy for me to take a look about.

Here are some better images of the Granary, which is going to take centre(ish) stage.







The last photo is the side that faces where the railway was so I think I'll model that side and the end with the open door facing the left hand end of the layout.


Mike

[themagicspanner]

Thought I should post an update for those of you who don't frequent RMWeb!

Things have been a little slow of late, not that that's a bad thing. There's no hurry to get things done as it's only a little project and I'd rather spend time learning rather than rushing through and not getting things the way I want.

Having decided to model the granary, I've managed to get some Das clay onto a piece of foam board without the thing curling up. Scribing may well start this weekend. To assist with the setting out of the windows and doors etc. I've created a perspective corrected elevation that I can use for scaling the different elements.



The clutter around the yard has continued to gather and I've even had my first shot at making a wire tree armature. The paint and PVA mix was still wet when I took the photo, so it looks a wee bit shiny!





Last up is a video of the 08 (minus it's brake gear) propelling a few wagons into position. I really must get those AJs done.

http://vimeo.com/109166096


Mike

[Andy W]

There's a definite feeling of decay and decline creeping into the example prototypes posted on this board, which is no bad thing (being in decay and decline myself!). Neat work.

[iak]

Small but perfectly formed...
There is something very tasty about this wee project - atmosphere, taste, etc???

[John Donnelly]

Looking good Mike, like you I'm still just propelling wagons while I decide to stick with 3 links or go for AJs...

John

[themagicspanner]

Cheers John,

I've decided to go with AJs - the promise of hands off coupling and uncoupling is too much to resist for a layout this is only for shunting.


Mike

[themagicspanner]

A few updates for a Friday night.

Firstly I've been scouring the verges of Edinburgh's footpaths for some suitable twigs to make dead trees from. Here is the result.






As you'll have noticed I've also been beavering away with bits of plasticard trying to build a convincing 'modern' shed for the corner of the layout.




Also, here's an overview of the layout.



As you can see there's a fair bit of room at the back for a whole host of buildings and general clutter.

[themagicspanner]

Sheds and Grids

No, not a Class 66!

I've spent a few nights working on the 'modern' sheds at the far corner of the layout. Here are a few shots.






There is, however, a Grid...

It's the Mainline version, which I picked up for £30 at Harburn Hobbies in Edinburgh. I think I'll order myself the A1 detailing kit and have a bash at that. The model is surprisingly nice looking although there is a large gap between the un-powered bogie and the body, although I'm sure this can be remedied fairly easily. It even runs quite nicely.

The main point of concern will be re-wheeling it for P4 use. Ultrascale do a set of wheels for this particular model with the pancake motor but I'm not that fussed about waiting 6+ months for them. Jim Smith-Wright wrote a good paper about using a different chassis, but I'm not too keen to put that much work into converting this.

Maybe I'll just get some Gibson wheels and leave it un-powered. Anybody got any suggestions?

[John Donnelly]

Buildings are looking good...

My Mainline 56 is a non runner as well. I got some cheap P4 wheels of eBay (can't even remember which loco they should be for) and disconnected the gears. With a bit detailing and weathering it looks OK and gives my 08 something a little unusual to move around...



John

[jim s-w]

The original mainline wheels have a plastic centre with a boss moulded on much like the gear on an ultrascale. You can pop the tyre off, thin down the boss a bit and glue it to the back of a p4 wheel with a 2mm axle. Doesn't take that long and it's free!

HTH

Jim

[themagicspanner]

Cheers Jim.

[themagicspanner]

Managed to find a couple of hours today to have a shot a making and fitting some AJs. I had built the jigs quite a while ago but had never been too inclined to build the couplings.

I've not added the magnetic dropper yet so I can only couple up but they do appear to be working quite well.

Here's a wee video of them in action.

http://vimeo.com/110471341


Mike

[John Donnelly]

Nice job, how did you find making them? It's a job I'm going to have to contemplate soon but as a complete novice I don't know what it's going to be like...

John

[themagicspanner]

If you buy all of the right jigs it's pretty easy.