Beer and Buckjumpers

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Paul Willis
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Paul Willis » Fri Apr 10, 2015 1:49 pm

Andy W wrote:Yes, but the strips have been OOS for some time, so I'm looking for an alternative supply.


Ah, yes, these have been lurking in my box marked "pickups" for quite some time, whilst I plucked up the nerve to try a split frame chassis.

I'm an EMGS member as well, so I've just popped over to see what was available there.

I'm afraid that on their redesigned website, I couldn't even *find* the stores, let alone check for any product. I can't tell whether that's because the site has logged me out or not, and I can't see my status or how to log back in!

If I do find anything, I'll let you know. Otherwise, Eileen's at S4N next weekend?

Cheers
Flymo
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Philip Hall
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Philip Hall » Fri Apr 10, 2015 5:35 pm

Flymo,

I believe the EMGS has been having some problems with their website this week and that it's being worked on.

Philip

Phil O
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Phil O » Sat Apr 11, 2015 7:21 am

Flymo748 wrote:
Andy W wrote:Yes, but the strips have been OOS for some time, so I'm looking for an alternative supply.


Ah, yes, these have been lurking in my box marked "pickups" for quite some time, whilst I plucked up the nerve to try a split frame chassis.

I'm an EMGS member as well, so I've just popped over to see what was available there.

I'm afraid that on their redesigned website, I couldn't even *find* the stores, let alone check for any product. I can't tell whether that's because the site has logged me out or not, and I can't see my status or how to log back in!

If I do find anything, I'll let you know. Otherwise, Eileen's at S4N next weekend?

Cheers
Flymo


I am also a member of the EMGS and their shorting strips are currently unavailable as no one can find the artwork to get more etched, I asked the question at EM North in Manchester last year.

The EMGS stores has a software problem and at the moment, I emailed the webmaster earlier this week, no one can access it for the time being.

Phil

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John McAleely
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Re: Another Round...

Postby John McAleely » Sat Apr 11, 2015 8:04 am

John McAleely wrote:BB5 Bill Bedford, etched brass shorting wires for 1/8" axles
(...)
I'm not aware of our restocking options. I've asked Jeremy for an update.


Jeremy is hopeful they will be back in stock, but there's no time he can commit to at the moment.

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Paul Willis
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Paul Willis » Sat Apr 11, 2015 8:40 pm

Phil O wrote:I am also a member of the EMGS and their shorting strips are currently unavailable as no one can find the artwork to get more etched, I asked the question at EM North in Manchester last year.


Artwork is not a problem... Something like the etch that I have should take around an hour to rattle off. Probably less for someone that is actually competent with the software.

Then it's a matter of firing the dxf file off to your etcher of choice and waiting for the shiny brass to drop back through your door:

IMG_8423.JPG


So if the EMGS has left a gap in the market, then it's easy to fill. It may also be something that Mark Humphrys would consider, as he is carving out quite a niche in the space of shorting strips. You only have to look at the range in the Stores to see how hard he has worked at the ultrascale range.

Phil O wrote:The EMGS stores has a software problem and at the moment, I emailed the webmaster earlier this week, no one can access it for the time being.

Phil


Ah, it did look as though something was amiss. On the theme of shorting strips, I've looked for them at both Mousa Models and Eileens and can't find them on either website. In which case the EMGS may be the only current source. I wonder where Jeremy sourced them from.

Cheers
Flymo
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David Thorpe

Re: Another Round...

Postby David Thorpe » Sat Apr 11, 2015 9:35 pm


billbedford

Re: Another Round...

Postby billbedford » Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:44 am

Flymo748 wrote: On the theme of shorting strips, I've looked for them at both Mousa Models and Eileens and can't find them on either website.


That may give you some clue to the potential sales of these items.

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Paul Willis
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Paul Willis » Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:48 am

billbedford wrote:
Flymo748 wrote: On the theme of shorting strips, I've looked for them at both Mousa Models and Eileens and can't find them on either website.


That may give you some clue to the potential sales of these items.


<shrug> Brassmasters have been tracked down and list them, so there's at least one supplier of these. That's enough for the meantime.

Cheers
Flymo
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Paul Willis
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Doing something...

Postby Paul Willis » Wed Jul 01, 2015 6:42 am

It's been rather busy on a number of fronts recently. Modelling has only had the occasional ten minutes when I can pick something up and do it quickly. To make the most of that, I've been ploughing through a few things that were part-built and had stalled for some reason.

One of those was a Slaters kit for a Midland ventilated van - I can't remember the exact terminology. It had stalled because I wanted to build the fitted version that ran on coach-size wheels, as I quite fancied the look of the bigger size of spoked wheel as something out of the ordinary. Progress had halted because I didn't have in stock any W-irons suitable for the larger size of wheel.

So rather than wait any longer, I checked the reference books and changed the plan to the diagram that had the same body style but ran on conventional wagon underpinnings and was through-piped. So in the last week, it has progressed from a bare plastic body to this:


It's been rather busy on a number of fronts recently. Modelling has only had the occasional ten minutes when I can pick something up and do it quickly. To make the most of that, I've been ploughing through a few things that were part-built and had stalled for some reason.

One of those was a Slaters kit for a Midland ventilated van - I can't remember the exact terminology. It had stalled because I wanted to build the fitted version that ran on coach-size wheels, as I quite fancied the look of the bigger size of spoked wheel as something out of the ordinary. Progress had halted because I didn't have in stock any W-irons suitable for the larger size of wheel.

So rather than wait any longer, I checked the reference books and changed the plan to the diagram that had the same body style but ran on conventional wagon underpinnings and was through-piped. So in the last week, it has progressed from a bare plastic body to this:

IMG_8617.JPG


IMG_8613.JPG


The plastic undergear of the kit is replaced by some Bill Bedford sprung w-irons, a Bill Bedford brake lever, a v-hanger nicked from another fret, some old whitemetal brakegear that is still finer than the plastic version, and some safety loops made up from scrap fret waste.

I'm rather pleased with it at the moment. It needs some lead sheet placed inside to bring it up to <cross-thread alert!> my preferred 50g weight for four-wheeled wagons, and then it can take it's place in quite a lengthy queue for the paint shop.

Like James Wells said only a couple of days ago in another place, it's good to be modelling again!

Cheers
Flymo
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Paul Willis
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Paul Willis » Wed Jul 01, 2015 6:43 am

Oh, and now having posted the photo, I can see a little bit of flash that I missed on the inside V-hanger...

I'll clear that off tonight!

Cheers
Flymo
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dal-t
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Re: Another Round...

Postby dal-t » Wed Jul 01, 2015 10:18 am

Flymo748 wrote:Oh, and now having posted the photo, I can see a little bit of flash that I missed on the inside V-hanger...


Yep, works every time! After a few similar bloopers on another site, I have now begun using my (wife's!) digital camera as an essential modeller aid, since the software seems to have a very effective routine for homing-in on imperfections. It is just a faff having to come downstairs each time, to load it up onto the Mac for display at a size my eyes can cope with. Next stage has to be a flat screen in the modelling den with liveview feed - maybe from one of those handy little pen cameras I keep getting uninvited adverts about.
David L-T

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Guy Rixon
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Guy Rixon » Wed Jul 01, 2015 4:51 pm

Nicely done van - and lucky man to have a Slaters' kit to finish!

The version with the smaller wheels: did it still have the spring hangers with the Spencer's patent pads, same as the passenger-rated van?

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Re: Another Round...

Postby Paul Willis » Wed Jul 01, 2015 9:39 pm

dal-t wrote:
Flymo748 wrote:Oh, and now having posted the photo, I can see a little bit of flash that I missed on the inside V-hanger...


Yep, works every time! After a few similar bloopers on another site, I have now begun using my (wife's!) digital camera as an essential modeller aid, since the software seems to have a very effective routine for homing-in on imperfections. It is just a faff having to come downstairs each time, to load it up onto the Mac for display at a size my eyes can cope with. Next stage has to be a flat screen in the modelling den with liveview feed - maybe from one of those handy little pen cameras I keep getting uninvited adverts about.


Phew! On checking it, it turns out that it was actually the end of the other brake rod, sticking out past the vee. Not flash at all.

It's funny how it had caught the light in the photo. David is very right though about the way that a camera makes things leap out at you...

Cheers
Flymo
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Paul Willis
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Paul Willis » Fri Jul 03, 2015 6:39 am

Guy Rixon wrote:Nicely done van - and lucky man to have a Slaters' kit to finish!

The version with the smaller wheels: did it still have the spring hangers with the Spencer's patent pads, same as the passenger-rated van?


Well, there are still a couple of Slaters kits that I have in the big box of unbuilt kits. However you're right that the current position for modellers of the Midland is not ideal. I hope that the range doea become widely available again, as I do like the crisp detail of the body mouldings.

You're right that the spring holders are not correct for the goods-style underframe. However I'm applying the 3 foot rule in this case, as they were already part of the part-built body and I wasn't about to start carving it about and replacing it. Hopefully the difference won't be too obvious when it's finished and painted and in the middle of a train.

The lead weight has gone in the body this morning, in the form of a piece of flashing held in place with Araldite, and the roof can go on this evening. Then it's into the queue for the paint shop...

Next in line are a couple of eBay salvage jobs - a D&S LNWR van that I've already reduced to component parts, and a Jidenco (I think) Midland horse box. The latter is again going to be "impressionistic" given what I have and what i know about the prototype. The important things for me are to have the correct body dimensions to maintain the right proportions, and to have as much of the underframe correct as I can manage. I'm not sure if that makes me the Right Sort Of Modeller ;-)

Cheers
Flymo
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Carlos
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Carlos » Fri Jul 03, 2015 8:58 am

Hi Paul,

Good to see your are modelling at a good pace again! I'm still very busy with other stuff and not being able to do any modelling yet... And don't forget that wool wagon we have in common :x

Carlos

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And off again...

Postby Paul Willis » Sat Jul 04, 2015 7:49 am

Well, the lead sheet went in, and was left for half a day for the Araldite to go properly off. Yes, I have vans where there is a distinct "clunk" from the weight inside moving around as you pick them up... Then it was on with the roof and this is the result:

IMG_1467.JPG


As before, the camera exposes something that the naked eye did not. There was a sliver of flash between the roof and the top of the side at the far end that is highlighted by the camera. Fortunately ninety seconds with my finest scalpel blade and it was no more! How I missed it first time around when assembling the sides I have no idea.

So on to the next thing. I have a succession of projects tucked away in those small Really Useful Boxes that I have a real addiction for. The one that has been tempting me for a little while has been a part-built etched van that I picked up from somewhere or other. It was basically the completed body, plus underframe built rigidly and in all honesty not very well. None of the fittings like axleboxes or coupling hooks were with it.

The Kit was originally Jidenco, and the core body is really nicely proportioned and nicely etched. The rest? <ahem>. The prototype is described in the extraordinarily brief and confusing (how would you build this if you didn't have a good knowledge of how the prototype went together?) instructions as an LMS Calf Van. It actually looks to be the Midland Railway Calf Van, which is nicely illustrated on page 5 of Volume 2 of "An Illustrated History of Midland Wagons".

I neglected to take any pictures of the "before" version, but what I found when comparing it to the reference photo was that the builder had added extra strapping fitted in LMS days, the buffers were all wrong, and what was below the solebars was pretty horrendous and totally unsuitable for P4.

So over the last couple of evenings I've been busy with a slitting disc in a Dremel and a pair of stout snips, removing most of the underpinnings in preparation of replacement. And this morning I cranked the soldering iron up to full to remove the extra strapping, and also the buffers to replace them with correct Midland pattern ones. The soldering braid also came out as well, as all of this was fixed with an excess of the shiny stuff.

This is how the stripped down model looks:

IMG_1464.JPG


IMG_1465.JPG


IMG_1466.JPG


The next steps will be to clean up the remains of the solder with a fibreglass brush, and solder up any dodgy joints and fill in the gaps.

I've started collecting the replacement components to rebuild it in the aforementioned RUB. As usual, it will be sprung suspension, although whether it's Bill Bedford or my own home-brewed etched version remains to be seen.

More as it happens...

Cheers
Flymo
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Paul Townsend
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Re: And off again...

Postby Paul Townsend » Sat Jul 04, 2015 8:55 am

Flymo748 wrote:
So on to the next thing. I have a succession of projects tucked away in those small Really Useful Boxes that I have a real addiction for.
Flymo


Having recognised so much remedial work is required, I would have put it on ebay and bought the kit afresh from Jidenco-reawakened.
However I havent checked that this particular one is available.....just thinking aloud!

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Andy W
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Andy W » Sat Jul 04, 2015 10:01 am

Looking good Paul. Can I assume you've seen the light and abandoned your eastern tendencies for the Midland?
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Re: Another Round...

Postby DougN » Sat Jul 04, 2015 12:11 pm

Hi Paul, one of my favourite attachments for your favourite tools the Dremel is a wire brush for the jewellery suppliers. It cleans solder off beautifully. I have been using them since a friend put me onto them about 3 years ago. I have not worried about excess solder since. :D
Doug
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Paul Willis
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Re: And off again...

Postby Paul Willis » Sat Jul 04, 2015 3:50 pm

Paul Townsend wrote:
Flymo748 wrote:
So on to the next thing. I have a succession of projects tucked away in those small Really Useful Boxes that I have a real addiction for.
Flymo


Having recognised so much remedial work is required, I would have put it on ebay and bought the kit afresh from Jidenco-reawakened.
However I havent checked that this particular one is available.....just thinking aloud!


I understand what you're saying. However this kit was partbuilt anyway, I'd have had to replaced all of these things anyway to make a more realistic model, and it's only taken me a couple of evenings work to reduce it to a state that I can work on.

So I'm happy doing it this way :-)

Cheers
Flymo
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Paul Willis
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Paul Willis » Sat Jul 04, 2015 3:53 pm

Andy W wrote:Looking good Paul. Can I assume you've seen the light and abandoned your eastern tendencies for the Midland?


Not at all! It just happens that I'm working my way through a few bits and pieces of oddities that I have lying around. Thanks to some great discussions with John Redrup, I've just finished a rake of early LNWR ballast wagons as well. Those are also awaiting spraying.

Catholic in my tastes, that's me!

Cheers
Flymo
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Paul Willis
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Paul Willis » Sat Jul 04, 2015 3:55 pm

DougN wrote:Hi Paul, one of my favourite attachments for your favourite tools the Dremel is a wire brush for the jewellery suppliers. It cleans solder off beautifully. I have been using them since a friend put me onto them about 3 years ago. I have not worried about excess solder since. :D


I have a couple of those brushes as well. However I still feel that I have more control over the process if I use a fibre-glass brush. And the first line of attack is always to lift as much off as possible with a hot iron then spread the rest into a thin film so I'm not trying to shift lumps of it.

As with almost everything in finescale modelling, there are many ways to scalp the feline :-)

Cheers
Flymo
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billbedford

Re: Another Round...

Postby billbedford » Sun Jul 05, 2015 8:27 am

I find these are better than wire brushes, if only because you are less likely to get bits of wire in your eye.

DougN
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Re: Another Round...

Postby DougN » Sun Jul 05, 2015 9:54 pm

Thanks Bill I will have to go lookking and try those. I agree with you the steel wires can be annoying. They get stuck in the fingers and turn up in the strangest places.
Doug
Still not doing enough modelling

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Paul Townsend
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Paul Townsend » Mon Jul 06, 2015 5:33 am

DougN wrote:Thanks Bill I will have to go lookking and try those. I agree with you the steel wires can be annoying. They get stuck in the fingers and turn up in the strangest places.


Bought some this Spring from Cousins. Good qty discount.
Good product too.


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