Beer and Buckjumpers

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Ian Everett
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Ian Everett » Tue Jul 21, 2015 7:50 am

It's wonderful what the surgeons can do with some eye defects - I just wish they could make optic nerve fibres regenerate. I'm sure they will but not in my time.

Ian

Terry Bendall
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Terry Bendall » Wed Jul 22, 2015 7:56 am

jim s-w wrote:Does anyone ever actually view models form 3 feet away?


Most people will at exhibitions but unfortunately cameras get a lot closer. My son, who takes pictures of models for Rail Express has found when editing the pictures on the computer, that the camera will pick up things which cannot be seen on the model even with a magnifier. Specks of dust, a spot of missing paint, or blemishes in the paintwork all show up. :(

Terry Bendall

Philip Hall
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Philip Hall » Wed Jul 22, 2015 12:32 pm

I always found that when looking at things literally under my nose that all sorts of blemishes showed up which at normal distances were not that apparent. I am hoping that scenario will not be reversed when I get back to modelling otherwise everything will take too much time!

Thanks to all for the kind good wishes, by the way.

Philip

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Paul Willis
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Oh the shame!

Postby Paul Willis » Sun Nov 01, 2015 7:16 pm

How long is it since I last updated this thread with news on my own modelling? I've been busy with work, but not that busy.

There has been an autumn Missenden that came and went. Very enjoyable it was as well, with excellent company, and some very good modelling to be seen on a range of people's projects. It's amazing how many variants of High Level Kits appear in the 4mm group at Missenden!

I took along a good couple of boxes worth of ratty wagons. These are ones that either

- I built a long time ago, and my standards have now improved

- I have carted around with me from house move to house move and have been damaged through being bounced around in boxes

- Built or part-built models that can be picked up cheap on Well Known Auction Sites that are a candidate for finishing or stripping down and rebuilding.

At Missenden I had mostly the latter, and spent quite a bit of time with a set of Xuron cutters, a sharp scalpel, and some files as I reduced a fair quantity of GWR wagons to their bare bones, ready for rebuilding in a fully sprung and cosmetically detailed way. As the weekend wore on, the pile of plastic shavings around my workbench (these were mostly Coopercraft models) increased substantially.

Part of it was also to work on a set of five LNWR ballast wagons. One of them was an original of mine, where I wasn't satisfied with the paint job on it, and the other four are updates to secondhand purchases. I've just finished the lettering of them with the transfers from the original Ratio kits, and these are them sitting on mats whilst the varnish over them dries. I use Testor's Dullcote, which seems to give a super-thin and properly matt finish when I've previously used it.

IMG_2046.JPG


These seem to be drying nicely, and later in the week I'll be starting on the weathering on them.

However the real reason for the feeling of shame is that I've just gone to put out some materials to build a replacement turnout - and I found that I hadn't unpacked and plugged my soldering iron in since Missenden!

Oh woe is me! I must do better!
Cheers
Flymo
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Paul Willis
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Re: Oh the shame!

Postby Paul Willis » Tue Nov 03, 2015 8:04 am

Flymo748 wrote:However the real reason for the feeling of shame is that I've just gone to put out some materials to build a replacement turnout - and I found that I hadn't unpacked and plugged my soldering iron in since Missenden!


Well, I haven't needed my soldering iron so far. My first task has been to salvage and clean up the rails from the ply-and-rivet built turnout that this new one is replacing.

That done, it's down with the template on a piece of board and start on construction:

IMG_2047.JPG


This is the first time that I'm building pointwork using plastic chairs. I've done one of the Exactoscale turnouts in a box before, and found it quick and easy. So far this seems to be just as straightforward, and a lot less messy than soldered construction.

The one thing that I really like, and it's quite a childish pleasure, is that with the detailed plastic chairs, you finish a bit and it already looks "right". That gives quite a big sense of achievement.

I did discover that I'm dangerously close to running out of Daywat though, so I've popped an order through this morning for another couple of bottles, and some ModelStrip whilst I'm at it. That's for all of those wagons that I still need to restore.

Nothing for the next couple of evenings though, as I have to be out at work events and will have no chance to do any more modelling. I'm really looking forward to starting it again though :-)

Cheers
Flymo
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steve howe
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Re: Another Round...

Postby steve howe » Tue Nov 03, 2015 5:58 pm

That looks like a viciously sharp turnout Paul :o A4?

Steve

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Paul Willis
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Paul Willis » Wed Nov 04, 2015 6:13 am

steve howe wrote:That looks like a viciously sharp turnout Paul :o A4?

Steve


Yes, it's an A4. You can just see the number on the far left.

It's to fit in as a replacement for a damaged one on my demo board/test track. You can see where it fits in on the rough sketch below:

Demo board 023.jpg


After I've built this one, I have to rip out and replace the three-way as well. I'll post the explanation and you'll see why I'm having to do this :-(

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Flymo
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Paul Willis
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This weekend's little project...

Postby Paul Willis » Sat Nov 14, 2015 8:51 am

For reasons that may become obvious in a few days, this weekend's project is a non-rolling stock, non-trackwork related one...

Prompted by a certain Mr Brandreth of this parish, on Monday I ordered a kit from Severn Models. This turned up on Thursday. I missed it lying on the doormat, which meant that I was only able to chat about it at that evening's CHEAG meeting, rather than show it.

IMG_2174.JPG


The intent that it is assembled with superglue rather than soldering, so that will be an interesting experiment. Expect stuck fingers at some point!

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Flymo
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David Knight
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Re: Another Round...

Postby David Knight » Sat Nov 14, 2015 2:40 pm

Paul,

I'm puzzled. Given that it is a brass kit, why not solder? Are you gluing as a test or to stimulate debate or....?

Cheers,

David

JFS
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Re: Another Round...

Postby JFS » Sat Nov 14, 2015 4:57 pm

You and me both David! If it is an experiment Paul, I can save you some trouble - in the long term, the only things which will remain stuck are your fingers!

By the way, I am not a "superglue phobe", (I do use the stuff when it is appropriate) it is just that the exact things which make soldering difficult, (dirt, surface contamination, lack of appropriate process, wrong choice of equipment) are exactly the same things which cause glued joints to fail. If you do glue it, don't be deceived by any tendency for it not to fall apart in the first day or two - it just needs a bit more time before it does so.

Putting it another way, in the time it would take you to adequately and appropriately prepare BRASS to be suitable for an adequate standard of adhesive joint, I could have prepared it, and soldered it and made a permanent one - and be half-way down a pint in the local!

Having said all that, in soldering something this large in brass (which has a much higher thermal conductivity than nickel silver) I would prefer to dig out my large (100 Watt) iron, and fit my biggest bit to it, to be sure of getting enough heat into the joints - the typical 4mm modellers 25 or 40 Watt job is not the best for this.

Hope that is helpful!

Best wishes,

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jon price
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Re: Another Round...

Postby jon price » Sat Nov 14, 2015 10:25 pm

Having said all that, in soldering something this large in brass (which has a much higher thermal conductivity than nickel silver) I would prefer to dig out my large (100 Watt) iron, and fit my biggest bit to it, to be sure of getting enough heat into the joints - the typical 4mm modellers 25 or 40 Watt job is not the best for this.


"this large"? Am I missing something, The hut is about 30x40mm isn't it?
Connah's Quay Workshop threads: viewforum.php?f=125

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David B
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Re: Another Round...

Postby David B » Sat Nov 14, 2015 11:16 pm

JFS wrote:
Having said all that, in soldering something this large in brass (which has a much higher thermal conductivity than nickel silver) I would prefer to dig out my large (100 Watt) iron, and fit my biggest bit to it, to be sure of getting enough heat into the joints - the typical 4mm modellers 25 or 40 Watt job is not the best for this.


A touch of overkill, Howard. It is only an teeny-weeny shed. I made mine with a 50W iron and an RSU on 2 volts.

I saw these kits back in the early summer and bought the shed to try it out. The kits were originally designed for 2mm and the chap who sells them actually made all his with superglue. I prefer to solder metal if I can and only use glue in extremis.

allanferguson
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Re: Another Round...

Postby allanferguson » Sun Nov 15, 2015 12:40 am

One point I have not seen mentioned in this or other recent discussions around soldering is the need to have the bit clean and properly tinned. And incidentally I clean the bit before and after each use using one of these brass turnings thingies. But getting the bit properly tinned before first use is crucial.

Allan F

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Paul Willis
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Paul Willis » Sun Nov 15, 2015 8:09 am

David Knight wrote:Paul,

I'm puzzled. Given that it is a brass kit, why not solder? Are you gluing as a test or to stimulate debate or....?


Well, firstly it's because the instructions say that it is the best way to assemble it ;-)

I could try being perverse, but when I do that for so much else why should I do it all the time?

Secondly, with some Thick Slow-Zap superglue it's very easy to put a small amount on the corner of my modelling mat and then apply just the correct amount.

But most importantly of all, there is minimal structural and engineering strength required at all. The kit will be put together, plonked on a base, and left there. It doesn't have to move, doesn't have to bear any load, and if I clout it with an elbow I suspect that it will have big problems regardless of whether it is soldered or glued ;-)

I decided to time how long it took to put together. This is it after 46 minutes, when I stopped for dessert after dinner:

IMG_2178.JPG


More to be done on it this afternoon...
Cheers
Flymo
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David B
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Re: Another Round...

Postby David B » Sun Nov 15, 2015 8:13 am

allanferguson wrote:One point I have not seen mentioned in this or other recent discussions around soldering is the need to have the bit clean and properly tinned.. . . . . But getting the bit properly tinned before first use is crucial.

I rarely, if ever, tin the bit on my iron. I wipe it often and keep it clean, but if I tin the bit, I find I have too much solder on it. Most of the time, I use a pointed bit and want a small 'rhino horn' which I cannot get if the bit is tinned.

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Paul Willis
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A finished hut...

Postby Paul Willis » Sun Nov 15, 2015 8:40 pm

After one hour and thirty one minutes of modelling, the platelayers' hut is finished.

The time wasn't recorded as a challenge, but simply a reflection to myself of being able to finish things in a reasonable time. My Y14 locomotive is approaching four years since I started it, and although there is only the lining and finishing to do, I still can't motivate myself to end the job...

Anyway, superglue was used throughout, I didn't glue my fingers together at any point, and nothing fell off when it was washed under the tap with Shiny Sinks.

IMG_2179.JPG


IMG_2181.JPG


IMG_2182.JPG


So the next thing is to make a small base to place it on. I was inspired to do this little scene by this cropped section from picture in the Windwood Collection of the Great Eastern Railway Society:

GERJ 105 cover - PW hut.jpg


So let's see how much I can manage to do by next weekend - given that I'm likely to be out four nights this week! Hmm... I may have just cut this too fine!

Cheers
Flymo
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Paul Willis
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Exactoscale 1, Swann Morton nil...

Postby Paul Willis » Fri Dec 04, 2015 5:55 pm

Mystery of the day: how come I have just broken two different scalpel blades, on two different knives, just trimming a couple of Exactoscale check rail chairs to fit?

I haven't suddenly gained super-human strength or anything, and this is literally the last rail to fit in the entire turnout.

Strange...

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Flymo
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Mike Garwood
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Mike Garwood » Fri Dec 04, 2015 9:23 pm

Stop pressing so hard!

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Paul Willis
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Paul Willis » Fri Dec 04, 2015 9:40 pm

Mike Garwood wrote:Stop pressing so hard!


I think that is what I found out!

Anyway, all cut, trimmed and glued now. And finished. I'm just contemplating what type of tiebar will work best. This is for a test track, so I'm not a slave to the prototype.

I have Ambis ones, but I think that the choice will be to use the Masokits ones instead. That can be a treat for tomorrow as I don't fancy starting it at this hour of night.

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Flymo
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Re: Exactoscale 1, Swann Morton nil...

Postby dal-t » Fri Dec 04, 2015 11:54 pm

Flymo748 wrote: ... and this is literally the last rail to fit in the entire turnout.


And therein lies the key. The last of anything is always the one that proves troublesome, refuses to locate, cross-threads, or simply breaks. This phenomenum is one of the great mysteries of the universe; another is why no serious scientific research has be undertaken into this oft-observed but never yet explained anomaly ...
David L-T

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Mike Garwood
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Re: Exactoscale 1, Swann Morton nil...

Postby Mike Garwood » Sat Dec 05, 2015 8:38 am

dal-t wrote:
Flymo748 wrote: ... and this is literally the last rail to fit in the entire turnout.


And therein lies the key. The last of anything is always the one that proves troublesome, refuses to locate, cross-threads, or simply breaks. This phenomenum is one of the great mysteries of the universe; another is why no serious scientific research has be undertaken into this oft-observed but never yet explained anomaly ...


David

It has, it's been encapsulated in Murphy's law :)

Mike

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Paul Willis
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A place to work...

Postby Paul Willis » Thu Dec 10, 2015 6:21 pm

Last month there were a few of us that turned up at the Cambs, Herts and Essex Area Group (CHEAG) in Newport for a natter about what modelling we are currently doing.

My good friend Carlos Vasco was explaining that his modelling time is rather constrained by the need to get everything out to use the kitchen table and then put everything away afterwards, as he doesn't have the advantage of a dedicated space that he can leave projects on. I thought that I'd post about a couple of solutions to this, before I hope to see him next at January's CHEAG meeting.

As I've mentioned before, I'm fortunate to have the space to have a converted bureau/writing desk to do my modelling on. If I want to be tidy, I push everything to the back and close up the front.

Bureau 08.JPG


Bureau 04.JPG


However it's still quite difficult to fit the "modelling bureau" in the back of the car for my semi-annual trips to

Something that I'd spotted was that the fantasy wargaming chain of Games Workshop had produced a portable workbench that they intended for gamers to paint figures on. Now these have been discontinued, but they do come up from time to time on Ebay. Here is an example of one in an auction:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GAMES-WORKSHOP-PAINT-STATION-/301733120026?hash=item4640b2081a:g:t0kAAOSwTapV7EiO

They can be found on both assembled or unassembled form. I was fortunate to find an unbuilt example, so it was possible for me to decide if and how I wanted to modify it.

IMG_8284.JPG


I've equipped it with a tufnol soldering area on the right and a cutting mat at the left hand side. With that is the mount for a vice. This is for one of the little (but good quality) modeller's vices sold by Eileen's Emporium. These have the advantage that you can buy spare bases for the vice unit, so I can swap it from my proper bench to this portable one.

The paint station comes with a variety of holes drilled for paintbrushes, although I use them for all sorts of tools. To stop things rolling around and to keep some type of order, I used a hot glue gun to fasten a cheap stationery tray to the board, which is useful for popping small parts in whilst working. On the other side is a glued down soldering iron stand, to stop that wandering around.

IMG_2191.JPG


Two things that I should also mention are recommendations from the Missenden course notes. One of them is a wooden strip across the front of the underneath, to hold it square on a table and stop it sliding around. The other is to cover the underneath with some green baize to protect any surfaces that it is put on top of.

Now the thing that I mentioned earlier was that these paint stations are no longer produced, so they can be hard to find. So I was very pleased to find a new development at this year's Warley show. Whilst speaking to Grainge & Hodder, who do some of my 5522 etchings for me, I noticed that they had a laser cut worktray. They had produced it just in time for Warley, and had already sold several of them.

It's now a stock item, and can be found on their website:

http://www.graingeandhodder.co.uk/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

Having examined it, it looks better designed than mine, and is also lighter. Obviously, it's also possible for you to customise it as you wish. If I manage to break/lose my original one, I'm sure that I'll buy one of these as a replacement.

I hope that this has given you some thoughts on what to do when space is tight...
Cheers
Flymo
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Terry Bendall
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Terry Bendall » Thu Dec 10, 2015 8:42 pm

Flymo748 wrote:Games Workshop had produced a portable workbench that they intended for gamers to paint figures on


This of course is a very useful idea and there are lots of variations on the same theme. No doubt Flymo's post will bring up pictures of similar ideas. :) Even those with fairly basic woodworking skills should be able to construct something like this ( :D ) and if not find a friend who can or no doubt one of the laser cutting firms could produce something from a sketch for self assembly.

For the budding cabinet maker building a bureau style modelling desk would be feasible. Many years ago old and large roll top desks would do a similar job and have the advantage that most things can be left in place and the cover rolled down but these days they are expensive since they are collectors' items.

Terry Bendall

Carlos
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Carlos » Thu Dec 10, 2015 10:28 pm

Hi Paul,

Thanks a lot for your post, even if this time I did my homework promptly and it comes a bit late... Here it is my brand new (not yet used, actually) modelling tray

IMG_20151210_202800.jpg


It's made from 12 mm MDF, quite sturdy but not heavy, and using a minimum set of square cuts, so I returned from B&Q with all the cutting done... The size is just to fit inside the 80x40 cm cupboard at home. I planned to use some rubber bits for it not to slide, but the idea of the wooden strip and green baize looks better. My plan is to start using it and see how it works and what I needs. Something for holding/keeping the tools in place... your ideas could be copied! What I already have is the test track base:

IMG_20151210_202637.jpg


You can appreciate the space for 2 tracks of 2 favourite gauges. I've yet to cut some C&L flexitrack to length.

I tried to find an already built tray, of the Games Workshop type, but everything I found was too small. GW and Grainge&Holder look bigger but I didn't find them. Good to know if I need a replacement.

So no excuses to finish my wool wagon, now that I'm sure that Santa will leave some buffers & axleboxes on my socks this Christmas ;)
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Winander
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Re: Another Round...

Postby Winander » Fri Dec 11, 2015 1:08 pm

Terry Bendall wrote:Many years ago old and large roll top desks would do a similar job and have the advantage that most things can be left in place and the cover rolled down but these days they are expensive since they are collectors' items.
Terry Bendall


I've been keeping an eye on a local auctioneer that sells mostly house clearance items. The roll top desks are expensive but the drop leaf type such as Flymos' can be had for a reasonable price - I think I paid about £40 for a solid oak one that was complete and in a presentable condition.They crop up every couple of weeks but I suppose this will depend on the area. If you have a mind to get one it is worth spending a little time locating an auctioneer as ours publishes an on-line catalogue with indication prices.

Be careful though going to auctions and bidding can become addictive - on more than one occasion I have been forced to restrain Domestic Management's arm.

regards
Richard Hodgson
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