Scalefour Forum

What ever you do dont' look at the location where my work bench is located under..... I seem to now have multiple working spaces none of which are actually the working desk where I wanted it to be. SWMBO saw that I wanted the desk to be in the living room.... then the living room moved..(yes it was me finishing the kitchen and living room in the extension) but I was not allowed to bring my desk into that space.... never did figure out why. So it has now buried it self under stuff in the railway space that is the lounge room.... not the room which the family use for TV watching/ socialising etc. One day I might win and get the desk back into the room I wanted it to be in!

Tim V wrote:So, what is happening on that very empty workbench....

Tim V wrote:So, what is happening on that very empty workbench....

Well...

You may have seen (towards the tail end of the original Beer & Buckjumpers thread) that I've been making good progress with the tender body of the Y14. It has now reached the point in the instructions to deal with the chassis underpinnings.

Like the locomotive, this came in the kit with the original thick milled brass frames, with cut-outs for hornblocks. Thinking that I didn't really need precise accuracy in the dimensions, as there are no coupling rods, and really wishing to use up some of the old stocks of hornblocks and bearings that I have sitting around, I've produced this:



The bearings are some old circular ones that are hanging around. As the hornblocks that I fitted were equally ancient, without sidecheeks, then there was nothing to stop them rotating, and definitely nothing to attach a CSB wire mount to.

So I dug out some spare Gibson long handrail knobs, popped a 0.7mm drill in the pillar drill, and put a mounting hole in the back of each bearing. I put a handrail knob in each hole, and keeping them aligned using a bit of spare wire (because holes at right angles to the frames would do no good at all) soldered them up. A quick run with a 2mm drill in the Dremel restored the holes to roundness.

The chassis frames are now marked and drilled for the CSB mounting points, so if the weather stays grotty, that's what I'll be doing tomorrow.

So, I reused some old kit, proved that I could make a concept work, and whiled away a couple of hours. Will I do it again? No way - using Chris Gibbon's High Level kit would have been about ten times quicker, and would have enabled me to move on much more quickly.

Live and learn!
Flymo

Flymo748 wrote:

Tim V wrote:So, what is happening on that very empty workbench....

The bearings are some old circular ones that are hanging around. As the hornblocks that I fitted were equally ancient, without sidecheeks, then there was nothing to stop them rotating, and definitely nothing to attach a CSB wire mount to.
Flymo

Round Tuits!

Allan F

Yes, but using up redundant stock is a very satisfying way of doing things, and saves some money as well

Absolutely agree!

Allan F

Tim V wrote:Yes, but using up redundant stock is a very satisfying way of doing things, and saves some money as well

allanferguson wrote:Absolutely agree!
Allan F

And that is exactly why I did it... It was very satisfying to see what I had, work out how to use it, and how to fit it together.

However, like many things in life (just don't mention the goat, okay?) having done it once is quite enough. So...

This little lot:



...is Free To Good Home to any Society member that wants them. There's bits from Puffers, Malcolm Mitchell, Alan Gibson (sprung, 2mm axle), Perseverance, Impetus, etc. You can see that I'm a bit of one for snapping up anything vaguely useful on Ebay!

Either pop your name on here saying "This Will Get Me Started!", or drop me a PM or email by midnight on Sunday, and I'll send them off next week to whoever is the lucky modeller drawn out of the hat...

Parts are recycled, I clear out some of my modelling space, it's a win-win as we love to say at the office

Cheers
Flymo

Currently spread out across my dining room table...



Last week 5522 Models took delivery of its first order from the etchers. Twenty sheets of shiny brass, containing an assortment of Midland, LMS, LNWR, and other components.

Now to work out what they all are!

Cheers
Flymo

Flymo748 wrote:Currently spread out across my dining room table...

Now to work out what they all are!

Cheers
Flymo

Although a relatively newcomer to chopping up big etch sheets, I recommend large kitchen scissors as better then tin snips...have fun identifying!

Yes, but using up redundant stock is a very satisfying way of doing things, and saves some money as well

Now I know where some of the orphaned attachments are from.
Keith

Can't wait to see the lists on the website!

Mike

paultownsend wrote:Although a relatively newcomer to chopping up big etch sheets, I recommend large kitchen scissors as better then tin snips...have fun identifying!

I have to say that I've found the opposite to be true - the leverage from the tin-snips is much easier if you're doing a lot of it.

Plus I'm not sure how SWMBO would react if I started stealing her kitchen equipment. Actually, it wouldn't matter, as the kitchen is my domain, and I'm the one with the Heston cookbook

At least it's not putting motorbike engine cases in the dishwasher!

Cheers
Flymo

Actually, it wouldn't matter, as the kitchen is my domain, and I'm the one with the Heston cookbook

Flymo

Paul,

does this mean we can expect kits to include a spray bottle of steam/hot oil aroma, presented in a stores spares box by a fitter in greasy overalls, to create the correct ambience?

Jol

Flymo748 wrote:At least it's not putting motorbike engine cases in the dishwasher!

Why no, it works.

Will

"Dishwasher? - You were lucky! WE 'ad ter lick road clean wi't tongues, etc etc "

My flatmate in Chorlton-cum-Hardy bemused two mates of mine by cleaning his bike chain with Gunk - in the washing up bowl at the sink with the washing-up brush... They didn't stay for tea. (He now runs a deep-sea geophysical prospecting company from West Coast USA, so heaven knows what ends up in the hot tub.)

And yes, I too am looking forward, to the 5522 MR carriages Paul; all best wishes for the venture.

Steve

Flymo748 wrote:I have to say that I've found the opposite to be true - the leverage from the tin-snips is much easier if you're doing a lot of it.

Yes the use of tin snips is the right tool for the job, which is always a good idea. If your snips are blunt they can be sharpened by using a file on the narrow slightly sloping edge to give a sharp corner.

Although the snips would have had some heat treatment, using a file, rather than an oil stone or a grinding wheel does do the job - I used to do it regularly when I was teaching, so that the snips were sharp, but you may not want to use a brand new one.

Terry Bendall

Jol Wilkinson wrote:

Actually, it wouldn't matter, as the kitchen is my domain, and I'm the one with the Heston cookbook

Flymo

Paul,

does this mean we can expect kits to include a spray bottle of steam/hot oil aroma, presented in a stores spares box by a fitter in greasy overalls, to create the correct ambience?

Jol

Hmmm... Hands up who remembers those Hornby locomotives from the 70s that had the smoke generator built in? I vaguely remember that mine might have been something mundane like a Jinty... Anyway, that's a smell that brings back nostalgia

I love the idea, I wonder how the implementation can work...

Cheers!
Flymo

Will L wrote:

Flymo748 wrote:At least it's not putting motorbike engine cases in the dishwasher!

Why no, it works.

Will

Oh, I'm not disputing that it works!

I'm just a little wary of the consequences afterwards... Actually, I did hear from a good (now sadly departed) friend of mine that the best way to get the grease stains and oily smell out afterwards was to run a wash with a large bunch of rhubarb in the dishwasher. I have no idea of the rationale behind that!

Putting a parts-washer in the garage is a possibility, but it comes a long way down the line of desirable tools, like a proper spray booth (no, not from Eileens, one for bodywork panels), a milling machine, etc, etc. I currently get by with five litre cans of Gunk and a lot of paintbrushes...

Cheers
Flymo

I remember the Tri-ang locomotives and the smoke oil very well. The Britannia my parents gave me for a Christmas present in the late 50's or early 60's had a Seuthe smoke generator, I think, and was great fun; I really wasn't bothered about the great oily sheen that covered the smokebox and half of the boiler. Later on, capsules of the smoke oil had a different aroma, heavily perfumed, too heavily perfumed in fact. The room used to reek of the stuff after Dad and I had run a few trains.

Philip

A parts washer...

Now we're talking!

I can think of plenty of uses for a parts washer, in fact I was thinking how I could rig one up the other day, I've got a sink and running water in the garage, plus a lot of dirty bike parts....

Tim V wrote:A parts washer...

Now we're talking!

I can think of plenty of uses for a parts washer, in fact I was thinking how I could rig one up the other day, I've got a sink and running water in the garage, plus a lot of dirty bike parts....

Hi Tim,

It sounds like you've got the basics there

If I was building one, apart from some splashbacks around the sink itself, I'd do two things:

- disconnect the waste-pipe and overflow so that the dirty washing liquid is in a closed system and doesn't seep down the drains but instead into a tank or jerry can.

- see if I could pick up a small and cheap pond fountain or water feature on eBay and mount that on (say) a wooden base.

The logic is that a fountain will already produce a pressurised jet that you can put something over the end (rubber pipe, syringe body, whatever) and will also have a filter on the intake to seive out most of the bits of dirt.

Of course, what I wouldn't know is whether the Gunk or other fluid would destroy the pump seals in short order, but hey, this is garage experimentation. What's the worst that could happen???

Cheers
Flymo

Well, it's been a while! It's not that I haven't been doing any modelling at all. It's merely that I've had a couple of other big things on the go, and the very little free time that I've had has not been devoted to posting about my own modelling.

However I'm now seeing light at the end of the metaphorical tunnel, and there will be more updates soon on progress on various modelling projects.

As a taster, here's a quick snap of my tram locomotive being run in on the rolling road.



I set it up to start programming the various CV values (or finding out what the default values are) on the chip inside it.

In a surprising piece of pre-planning, I've actually set up a simple spreadsheet to record these. Of course this will not just help with this locomotive, but others in future. Now if only I'd made a note of what size motor it was *before* I put the top back on the locomotive...

Cheers
Flymo

I'd tap in "control, control" to set the 511 for 128 speed steps.

You could consider a Sprog, then you don't have to keep a spreadsheet of CVs, the computer will keep it for you...

Tim V wrote:I'd tap in "control, control" to set the 511 for 128 speed steps.

Thanks for the tip. I was aware that the 511 could do 128 speed steps. However I haven't yet reached the point in the User Guide that tells me how to change it.

If it's that simple, then even a numpty like me can manage it

Tim V wrote:You could consider a Sprog, then you don't have to keep a spreadsheet of CVs, the computer will keep it for you...

That's interesting to know. I have toyed with the idea of a Sprog. However it didn't strike me as a "must have" at this point. I'll go away and have another look at it. Particularly as my laptop travels everywhere with me, so would always be available for on-the-fly programming.

Thanks very much for the tips. In terms of dipping a toe in the DCC water, I think that I've reached the point of immersing my heel...

Cheers
Flymo

Tim V wrote:You could consider a Sprog, then you don't have to keep a spreadsheet of CVs, the computer will keep it for you...

And sliders, knobs, tick boxes and (shock!) decimal numbers. It's definitely the way to go.

Not to mention a Sprog reading CV's massively quicker than the ZTC controller; the ZTC is amongst the slowest CV reading devices I've ever used - takes an age to read a single value. It does give you lots of time to type values into your spreadsheet, but might get a bit boring if there are a few hundred to record....

- Nigel (biased as I write a few minor parts of JMRI, which is the usual software of choice to use with a Sprog, but not the only option ).