Phil's Workbench

Chinese junk ?

2009-07-06T07:06:00.002Z

Stripped hull
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

A fair bit of work with paint stripper cleaned up the hul quite nicely. The results initially looked very promising. This Chinese made model boat has a sort of chine hull - around a (obechi ?) keel there is a solid base and then thin ply sides.

The quality of the wood used looks pretty promising and the workmanship pretty reasonable. Exactly what you would expect in any mass produced product - they aren't going to waste time with filler at the price these things go out the door for !

I sanded the wood with both sanding pads and a detail sander. The keel was sharpened up at the front and made flush at the back end to allow for a single drive shaft and rudder. Things were looking very promising, until I looked at the back.

My plan is to have a copy made of this hull using vac-forming. This will require me to mount it upside down on a flat board, thus the deck has to be flat. This is where the problem appeared. If you look at the photo it's obvious that something is awry. The deck looks wonky. In fact with a bit of examination, the deck is fine, the bottom of the boat is fatter on one side than the other.

It may be that I can sort this out with a sander. Or just stick the hull in the bin and go and find something else to do.

Chinese speedboat

2009-07-05T08:22:00.002Z

Chinese speedboat
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Damn eBay.

I bought this little boat a couple of years ago. It was described as having a plastic hull, which made me think it would be an excellent project and make a nice little runabout for pool and lake.

Of course the reality is different. The hull is wooden and has no space for a motor or any other bits that need to go inside to producing a working model boat. So it's sat on a shelf while I've tried to work out the next step.

This is my plan - strip all the bits off. Clean up the hull, improving the shape a bit. Then have a moulding taken of the hull. Fit a new superstructure using the original fittings where appropriate and some working gubbins inside.

Work starts by pulling the fittings off the hull and stashing them in a box. Most look pretty reusable although a bigger lifebelt would be a good idea. How the Chinese designer thought anyone would use the item supplied is a mystery, it's barely big enough to be an armband !

Detailed chassis

2009-07-04T08:52:00.002Z

Detailed chassis
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Back on the chassis, it is time to do some detailing. First I attached the sandboxes in line with the filler caps etched into the footplate. These aren't perfect replicas of the real thing as far as I can see but exactly what the prototype items look like is impossible to judge from the shots I have. Of course under the footplate you won't notice as they are pretty hidden away.

On the test build, the sand pipes were pretty rudimentary. Good enough for the garden but this time I've fabricated something a bit more realistic. Some 1mm wire and small brass washers representing unions so the job. To make sure the "pipes" are pointing in the right direction I test fitted a wheel each time - at which point I discovered that the read sandboxes are too far forward. Desoldering them using the gas torch (they were attached with 100 degree solder so fell off when I got enough heat in the nickel) and re-fixing back a bit appeared scarier than it turned out to be.

The brake hangers have metal plates bolted to the chassis, represented here with plasticard and slices of rod. This covers up the original hanger holes. I moved the brakes a lot closer to the wheels on this model which will look a lot better even if it does mean the wheels are trapped.

Finally, more slices of plastic rod were super glued around the gearbox aperture. Not sure how visible these will be but I know they are there.

Book Review: A Train is for life by Pete Waterman

2009-07-03T09:09:00.004Z

My first impressions of this book were formed at the Warley exhibition when it launched. The stand was full of people snapping up their signed copies and I just thought it would just be a rich bloke showing off his models and those buying it were collectors who just wanted some association with the most famous railway modeller in the UK. Quite why anyone would want to add it to their library was a bit of a mystery, but then so is Heat magazine so I'm perhaps not that good on celebrity culture.

I should at this point say that I actually like Pete Waterman. I've met him a few times and even been to see and operate his famous Leamingon Spa layout. He's very down to earth and best of all, a very good model maker. His teak coaches are some of the best I've seen. This isn't a case of chequebook modelling - he and his friends actually get their hands dirty. The stock doesn't just sit in a glass case either, it gets used on the layout and you have to drive it. Taking a train of 12 coaches up the back of the model with something GW on the front is a touch scary the first time you do it but soon becomes normal. In fact the whole set up is so normal that you can imagine it's housed in a garage, not a barn, with all the usual garage junk on the ground floor. It's just that Pete's garage junk is more interesting than most of ours.

Anyway, back to the book. Because of my preconceptions I hadn't even picked up a copy for a browse until one appeared in the railways section of our local library. I took a look and immediately added it to the pile to be borrowed.

There's no doubt that this is what is described as a "coffee table" book. There are lots of pictures and not too many words. The photos, are all of excellent quality and in the main, showcase different locomotives. The descriptions are perhaps a touch short, but very informative. You learn a little about each real loco, the section showing the differences between the LMS "Twins" 10000 and 10001 being particularly interesting for me as I will be building a model of at least one of them one day.

The thing is that for the purposes of model making, this is a very useful book. I know you are supposed to return to the prototype every time but sometimes those old pictures are muddy exactly where you need them to be clear to see some detail. So when people have gone to great lengths to do the research, there is a something to be said for using their models as a guide when these locomotives are so clearly pictured. The angles on these pictures are often more use than the traditional 3/4 view from a station platform too.

The prototype choices are catholic with lots of different companies and eras represented. It's not going to be a replacement for proper source material but if you like variety then it has a place on the shelf. All the model making is of the highest quality and very inspirational. I've not seen such a body of work by the countries best model makers in one place before. This is all presented without a hint of showing off, it's just how these things are. How many wouldn't build a similar collection if the funds were available ? Personally I aspire to owning a Guy R William model loco. But then I aspire to owning a Canaletto and I don't think that is going to happen either !

All in all, this is a very good book. If you thing Pete is just a rich and famous bloke who plays at trains then it will change your mind, the title and text explain how once you are infected with an interest in railways it never entirely leaves you - I bet plenty of us know about that !

You can buy the book from Amazon. It would make a great answer for that "What can I get your for birthday/Christmas" question.

Or just borrow it from your local library.

And Pete has a blog.

Bonnet attached

2009-07-02T07:28:00.002Z

Bonnet attached
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

The big lump is attached. After a fair bit of heat, loads of flux and plenty of solder, the Ruston locomotive is looking a lot more finished.

The kit is very helpful here. At the front a couple of slots and tabs locate the front in the right place in all directions. At the back the cab front is marked with a half etch line to assist location. OK, I still measured and squared to make sure the thing was running parallel to the footplate side and central, but I could have got away without this.

As usual, soldering was carried out by tacking with the electric iron and then blowing the metal around with the gas flame. The localised heating of the later is very handy - running the solder along the cab front/bonnet top join I could see the handrail knobs starting to melt and take away the heat before it became liquid. Fantastic, and surprisingly easy.

If you are a beginner, it's worth bearing in mind that working with a tiny soldering iron is harder than a big one. The low power version will take a long while to heat up a lump of metal and because it's slow will need to bring nearly all the metal up to temperature. This is counter intuitive - you'd expect to be safer with less heat but in this case you'd be wrong.

Attaching Guage 1 handrail knobs

2009-07-01T08:10:00.002Z

Guage 1 handrail knob
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Not as easy as it sounds this. A G1 railway locomotive is a large item with enough metal to act as a sink for an awful lot of heat. On the Ruston there's no easy way to get at the back of them either so all the soldering has to happen in the visible areas.

My solutions, which isn't sophisticated but does seem to work OK, is to tack solder the knob in place with ugly blobs of solder applied with the electric iron. Then blob lots of flux over the resulting mess. Finally give this a shot with the small blowtorch.

The torch heats up the knob and surrounding metal faster than the rest of the bodywork can absorb the heat away - something the electric iron can't quite manage - and so the solder metals and is carried into all the places you want it by capillary action.

Result: Handrail and fixing all held in place with no cleaning up required.

Detailed bonnet

2009-06-30T06:47:00.002Z

Detailed bonnet
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

More bonnet fun. At the front there is an extra section containing a fan. Nothing too hard here, just a wrapper to run around the front part. The resulting unit isn't a great fit against the main bonnet section but it's close enough. Of course if I hadn't used too much heat to join the two, I wouldn't have unsoldered the wrapper again which made for some slightly frustrating work.

The doors are a single etch and lined up pretty well. All the holes for the handles matched up properly and the top is straight. Attachment is from the back through holes in the formers which makes the job easy - no need to clean up excess solder showing as it's all hidden !

Getting bonnet handles identical is important. Luckily spacing from the door can be handled by a jig/spacer made from a chip fork. Drawing a line on this also makes snipping the resulting item to length, using my best flush cutters, easy and consistent. In smaller scales I end up using bits of card but chip forks are so much sturdier...

Bonnet wrangling

2009-06-29T07:50:00.002Z

Bonnet top
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Scary job time - fitting the bonnet top.

This is a large, flat sheet which has to be bent and riveted then soldered over some formers with nothing in the way of positive location assistance.

First up I riveted the sheet. Then it was annealed as best I could using a cooker flame. I'd hoped that this would make the metal malleable but if it did, I couldn't tell the difference. The top bend is easy enough, it's pretty gentle and can be formed around any round object. Pondering the sharp corner though I chickened out and decided to use the formers to make sure everything is in the right place. That sounds sensible but it's risky - pull metal too hard over thin formers and you get sags between ridges.

The top was attached centrally and then the bending started. Most of the work was done with fingers. Eventually though, more brutality was required and I clamped the whole thing upside down in a vice with wood to protect the rivets, and lots of heat and solder pinned the ends of the top to the former sides. Not pretty, not fun (the wood kept catching fire) but it worked.

9F behind the bar

2009-06-28T10:12:00.004Z

9F behind the bar
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

DOGA AGM time. I packed up my competition entries and headed down to sunny London. After picking up this years bit of card to act as a background for the photos from Housemans bookshop, and then counteracting all that leftie goodness with a McDogBurger, it was off to The Model Railway Club.

Before the meeting proper we had a weathering demo from D&P Models. Watching someone merrily airbrushing acrylics over nice new RTR locos whilst explaining what he was doing and why. In around 20 minutes the models looked a whole lot more realistic and even I'd learnt something, and I've always been happy with my weathering techniques !

Next up the competition judging took place with those present voting on their favorite models in each class. We had a good turn out with 27 different models entered. The quality was very high again.

Finally the official business took around an hour. I was the Chairman's stunt double - he was unable to attend due to collecting his daughter from university in Sheffield. Personally, I think he should have explained that there is a perfectly good railway line from there and then turned up at the AGM but apparently that's because I'm not a soft hearted parent...

The competition results were announced, I managed a second place in the kit built locomotives category. The winner had built a beautiful 0-4-2 using a Jidenco kit and fully deserved his victory. Simply putting one of those together deserves a medal as they don't have the best reputation in the world !

After the even a few of us repaired to the Doric Arch pub at Euston station. Top quality beer as sensible (for London) prices. The walls are decorated with real railway ephemera and behind the bar is a 3 1/2 inch gauge 9F. This is a whole lot more interesting than the farm implements nailed to the walls of most "character" pubs. I wonder if the landlord was a big customer at the nearby Collectors Corner when it was open years ago ?

You can see pictures of the entries to the modelling competition here.

Express Warflat

2009-06-27T03:59:00.001Z

Months ago I rashly promised to build a sample Warflat wagon for the Double O Gauge Association stand at exhibitions. Delivery at the AGT seemed like a good way of saving postage. The AGT is tomorrow and I realised that the wagon was still a flat pack. Some speedy work was called for.

Luckily I've built this model railway goodie before. In fact if you want full instructions, you can visit a photographic build I did a while ago. In that instance I was supplementing the kit instructions as an aid for those who'd never had a go at an etched kit before. This time, time was of the essence and so I could do things the easy way using all my toys.

So out came the mini blowlamp to blow solder around the larger bits and the RSU to stick those fiddly strips of rivets and retaining rings to the side and save me a whole lot of cleaning up. 4 hours later, allowing for a short tea break, and some pretty intense model making, I had the resulting wagon. As it's a sample for the stand I sprayed lacquer over it rather than paint. That way potential buyers can see what they are getting into.

Next time though, I'm going to take my time.

Making steps

2009-06-26T05:55:00.000Z

The trouble with looking at prototype locomotive photos is that you find more work. At the front of this Ruston as some nice, inset steps. Entirely different from those provided in the kit. Yippee.

The photos were quite clear on the design, but a hard to work out precise dimensions from. Again, I went for something that looks right compared to the rest of the loco. The buffer beam for example gives a pretty good idea of depth. The width is shown by the spacing between sandbox filler and front. Then all (!) I had t0 do was draw the holes to be cut on some metal. Time was saved by soldering the two sheets of nickel silver together once the vertical fold lines had been scribed heavily with a skrawker.

A bit more cutting and filling later I had a pair of U shapes with step holes. Some more nickel at the bottom with a small lip strengthened it all up. Then the footplate hole was cut and the steps fitted. Ideally I'd have soldered them to the underside and then cut the top but again, the pictures showed the top edge of the steps poking up so I had to replicate this as well.

Hopefully the rest of the model will be similar to the kit. Why can't prototype loco owners leave things alone ?

Modifying the back

2009-06-25T06:40:00.002Z

Modifying the back
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Having learned a lesson with the chassis mods, I have been examining the photos of the Ruston locomotive closely before touching the metal. One of the first changes between the prototype and the kit I spotted was the cab back. At some point during the locomotives life, the windows were enlarged and squared up a bit. This looks more modern and for the driver, would have improved visibility quite a lot.

Luckily the shot of the cab back is pretty square on so with a bit of measuring and scribbled match I could use this to work out the correct sizes for the new windows. With perfect accuracy unlikely without a plan, I have tried to make the proportions as close as possible.

Drilling holes in the corners followed by a bit of work with the piercing saw (2 broken blades) and finishing up with a flat file has resulted in a much better view into the cab. Good job there are shots of the inside so I can detail this a bit.

Big rivets

2009-06-24T09:42:00.002Z

GW Models riveter
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Last time I built the Ruston locomotive kit, I used the traditional hammer and blunt nail technique to form the rivets. While I own the best rivet forming tool in the business, the GW Models press, the supplied anvils only go up to O gauge. In G1 the results are far too small.

Now GW Models do produce a version suitable for the larger scale but it is £150, which is rather a lot for the occasional model. Mind you, like all their products, it is a beautiful piece of kit and worth the cash.

A phone call (no web site here than you, this is a proper traditional engineering company) to the proprietor was instructive. The tools for the G1 rivetter won't fit in the standard one I own. However it might be possible for me to do something myself, he could supply a couple of anvils for a fiver which I could drill out , harden and then try in my machine.

Off went the cheque and few days later the anvils turned up in a jiffy bag complete with some handwritten instructions. Following these I drilled the hole out to 1mm and then hardened the steel by heating it to cherry red and dropping the hot lump in some oil to quench it. Not having done this before, I used a small pot of oil left over from an oil change on my camper van. The big surprise (for me) was the colour change in the metal. It went from a shiny silver steel colour to a shiny black. The same colour as the anvils supplied with the tool in the first place, which I guess means I've done something right.

In use, the tool produces lovely domes in the metal. You have to use the punch intended for forming raw metal rather than the half etch version - that's too sharp and either gives a tiny lump or punches clean through the metal.

Gear perving

2009-06-23T07:43:00.002Z

ABC Gears
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Will you look at the quality of this gearbox !

Oooooooh, it's loooverly. Thick brass sides encasing high quality, accurately cut gears all beautifully meshed. Even a spiral cut first stage and all mounted on a Portescap motor. I suspect there are mechanism fetishists out there who have drooled all over their keyboard.

And yes, it runs as well as it looks.

For the technical, this is an ABC models gearbox, I think one of their units designed for O gauge as the locomotive is designed around 7mm technology. It's tiny for the space available but unless you want to stuff a washing machine motor in, then that's going to happen in the cavernous interior of the Ruston.

As a test, I put the wheels and mechanicals into the bare chassis and using a slightly flat 9V battery, had it perform a circuit of the garden railway at walking pace. If I'd wanted slower then 3V from a pair of AA batteries was more than enough to turn the wheels.

CDU ?

2009-06-22T16:05:00.003Z

Bill asked:
...I've followed ur link from the 3mil e'group to Melbridge Dock and on to 'point motors':
http://philsworkbench.blogspot.com/2009/01/point-motors.html

...Glad I did because it reminded me of reading what you have to say about Peco from a previous reading.

I'm getting reports from a few mates who have trouble with the PL-10/12/13 combo and even on the N gauge point! The complaint is unreliability to the point of no-go which is disappointing to hear. I've asked the question if they are using a CDU and the universal answer is no.

Tell me, was the use of a CDU your solution or did you just start out with a CDU and therefore sailed through these unreliability problems without ever realising there was a storm ahead- if you didn't, as so to speak... or do you feel your experience was down to something else?

I had to think quite long and hard about this and I think the answer dates from the mid 1980's when we built a layout called "The Cawood & Wistow Light Railway", a model of the line of the same name. It used PCB track and PECO motors and for a while the wiring was as per the PECO instructions which didn't include mention of any assistance. The idea was that you just attached the motor to a 16V AC output and used a probe and studs for switching. We had the same problems, points didn't reliably change and often just buzzed when we tried to switch them.

Introducing a CDU into the circuit solved most of these problems and has been part of any layout wiring plan since. That's why I had to ponder as it's so long ago since we tried not using one. For the money (Modelex heavy duty version, £6.95) you can't beat one.

Obviously you do need to check that the points aren't glued up, or have ballast in the blades but if that isn't the problem get a CDU. In fact, get one anyway.

Oh, and if you are using PECO points AND adaptor bases, take the over-centre spring out of the later, the motors aren't strong enough to move two springs and you only need one anyway.

Other peoples hobbies

2009-06-22T07:35:00.002Z

Waltzer top
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

I took my Dad for a Fathers Day treat to Hillers near Evesham. It's got nice coffee shop with excellent chocolate cake, a fine farm shop with delicious organic produce and a miniature railway. Oh and they were holding a small model engineering show. Well, he doesn't cook but loves the sound and smell of a steam engine...

Anyway, we wandered around the displays and were impressed at the workmanship to be seen even in such a tiny are as this. The photo shows the top of a model gallopers which is under construction. I suppose I should have been looking at the pretty horses (I did wonder how you carve so many identical steeds) or the exquisite organ in the centre. Not me, I looked at the gears and mechanism that made the horses go up and down. I've always wondered how these things worked and looking into the works I could see easily. The bevel gears run on a rack and as the carousel rotates it drives these which rotate a rod which the horses are attached to and this moves them up and down. Fascinating.

Well I found it fascination. Stop looking at me like that.

Anyway, we had a ride on the miniature train (fare 70p) which runs in an overlapped figure of 8 for 1/3 of a mile. 7 1/4 and 5 inch gauges can be accommodated. Along the way there are loads of gnomes, waterfalls and wild (plastic) beasts to look at. This is a clever marketing move as kids want to take several rides so they get to see everything. It certainly worked for the children behind us. This might be a particularly British thing, but there is something both daft and fun riding a tiny train behind a little steam engine.

There were static boats and planes to look at. We had a nice chat with the guys from Evesham MBC who had some fine models. The longest talk though was with a pair of miniature traction engine owners. I now have a better idea how to drive one of these and also the work involved in building one. From being the other side of the barrier I know how pleasant it is to meet people who have some idea of the work but ask intelligent questions - you get to show off a little someone who sees lots of well made components rather than just a "pretty" engine. After all those years in the workshop (3-4) getting to bask in the glory of your creation must be a relief. What better way to spend a sunny Sunday ?

Tractor Day

2009-06-21T08:01:00.003Z

Tractor with eyes
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Our railway club is based on a farm. We are surrounded by fields and bucolic Warwickshire scenery. It's handy for the model boat club and on a nice day a lovely place to be.

The farmer, our landlord, collects tractors. Not any old tractors (all farmers do that, mostly rusty, broken ones) but foreign single cylinder ones. He's not alone either, it seems there are plenty of other people out there who collect and restore these machines. And they like to show them off so he organised a weekend get together.

On the Saturday evening there was to be a hog roast and after a little negotiation, the railway club was to be opened up to provide some toilet facilities, it being felt that some of those who wanted to eat might be considered to delicate for the portaloos already laid on. If we had enough people some of the layouts would be operating too as an added attraction. As it was most were run and when people weren't consuming dead pig we had a reasonable sized audience.

Now, I quite like putting on a show for the public as opposed to "proper" modellers. If you've read my reports on shows before (and if not, feel free to catch up on old entries, it should distract you from work for a while) you'll know that I find the early morning session at any model railway exhibition usually presents a crowd that stand around looking grumpy in silence. Later in the day the families start to arrive and they aren't afraid to ask questions and chat for fear of looking stupid.

So, a room full of normal people was chatty and generally very appreciative of the models on display. "Modellers" may see the buildings on one layout as simple card kits - humans look at the effect and are gobsmacked that over 100 houses make up the scene that looks a bit Coronation Street. They also don't get picky about the formation of trains but do get excited about sheep and pigs on hillsides. I suppose the tractor hobby has a higher farmer:townie ratio so they can probably tell us what breed the pig is, we just think it's Priesler.

Of course there has to be one.

Since I'm not attached to a layout, I did a bit of general stewarding. My first job was to use some barriers to prevent access to one corner of the premises which had a couple of layouts not being operated and also workbenches with tools on. I set the barriers so it was easily possible to see the layout and yet protected it from wandering hands. This worked a treat - lots of people enjoyed the model (especially the steam road roller on the bridge) and appreciated the high level of craftsmanship on display. In fact they were less trouble than the average enthusiast at a show.

All except one mother and young daughter, who found a circuitous route around the various obstacles and by the time I got to he were in front of the station forecourt and pointing at the horse drawn vehicles in the scene. Before pointing became touching I politely invited them to return to the correct side of the barrier. Mum huffed, "I only wanted to get her [the daughter] closer to the horses."

And to be fair she had. A whopping 6 inches. They were easily seen from the barrier side but that wasn't good enough. So she taught her daughter a lesson - if you can physically overcome an obstacle then it's OK to ignore it. Find a gap in that fence and it's OK to go through even if the implication of the fence is that you should stay back.

Having returned to the public side she then flounced off to the foyer with child and spent the next few minutes giving me evil looks before dragging the rest of her party (Dad ?) out. Obviously it was me that was in the wrong !

Now you might argue that if we don't want to take the risk then fragile things should not be out on display, but why should this be the case ? The people who build layouts are justifiably proud of thier work and keen to let others see the results of thier labours. If we want to persuade anyone that railway modelling isn't just funny men playing with trains, showing off high quality models seems a good method. Obviously there is a risk and we accept that. I've seen accidents happen and the person who did the damage is usually mortified - it ruins thier day more than the person who ends up with the repair.

Ifyou feel the need to see more farm equipment, you'll be pleased to know there are more photos here. Go on, fill your gumboots !

Or if you just want to watch the trains go by:

Brummies got rulers !

2009-06-20T05:39:00.002Z

Last time I built this locomotive kit, there were a few issues with the frames (too narrow) and the axle bearings (too wide). That's all part of the game as far as test builds go - there will be hiccups and you just fix them or find a workaround, meanwhile the manufacturer will go away and sort the problem out. I know everything should be correct first time out but this is real life and it's not. A good kit will have been put together by someone who isn't the designer of manufacturer. Then fettled. All this before the first buyer gets their hands on it.

Anyway, this time I find an extra fret in the box containing frame spacers that are slightly wider than the ones on the main etch. Put these in and the bearings have to be shaved back a touch to the ends of the axles. This is far better than having to use washers to shim away any sideplay.

Better still, the bearing makers got the middle hole right so I didn't have to bush this either ! You might think that this was an odd error originally but it can be easily explained; G1 axles are fatter than O gauge ones and the bearing makers usually work in the larger scale. The trouble is that the axles are the smaller ones as it somehow helps keep the cost down and results in a 10mm kit that costs no more than a 7mm one. Of course you can still use G1 wheels, for example those machined from iron castings, you just have to ream the hole out a bit more.

It's nice to know that the effort on the test build pays off and ruler manufacturers have had two more sales in the Birmingham area.

Excess holes

2009-06-19T08:37:00.002Z

Chassis hole blanked
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

This Ruston locomotive doesn't feature jackshaft drive, which means the chassis has a hole too many under the cab. It seemed sensible to fill this in before starting assembly proper. You can't ignore these things in Gauge One, people notice.

Holding a bit of scrap etch behind the hole I poked a scriber through and drew a circle. In turn, this was cut out with tin snips and filed to fit. Lots of heat, flux and hardly any solder fitted the blanking disks in the hole. Some light filing and polishing with a fibreglass stick left a nice neat job I was pretty proud of.

Then I looked at the prototype pictures properly. These clearly show that the chassis isn't blank in this area on the real thing. In fact there is a slot. A slot with a circular top. The gearbox is obviously pushed into the chassis from the bottom with the drive shaft poking out through the sides. When the loco was converted to conventional drive the slots were simple left in place.

I may have uttered some bad words at this point.

Soooo, I scribed a couple of vertical lines from the bottom go the chassis to the sides of the hole and then cut them with the piercing saw. The blanking disks came out easily enough by wobbling them with small pliers. Then a quick clean up with some files. Finally more spare etch was soldered in the back and the model looked a lot more like the photos.

Another Ruston locomotive

2009-06-18T07:29:00.002Z

Ruston locomotive
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

Time for some chunky locomotive building. Another gauge 1 Ruston diesel is on the bench. This is the second time I've built this Mercian kit but there are some big differences in the way this model will be assembled from the last time.

As you can see, I am building a model of a prototype. Rich has supplied me with a lot of detail shots so my efforts will be toward building a model of this locomotive rather than simply assembling the kit. The kit itself has been developed in light of my test build as well so some jobs should be easier.

Detail wise, well, the model won't have the jackshaft drive as it wasn't fitted to the prototype loco. Some of the areas that are deliberately sketchy (read: garden and clumsy modeller proof) on the kit will be re-worked to bring the detail level up a bit. I've got some very nice photos of the cab interior and sanding systems for example.

Finally the recommended motorising gear has been eshewed in favour of a very nice super high quality unit which may be the best I've ever put into a model locomotive in any scale.

Narrow Gauge Coaches

2009-06-17T07:16:00.002Z

Coaches done
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

One pair of narrow gauge coaches - done.

There are some niggles with these kits, which I've passed on to the manufacturer - but at the end of the day a competent modeller with the benefit of a couple of kits worth of experience can make very nice models using the parts supplied.

The sides deserve special mention as I think they are very nice indeed. The pre-rolled roof is a benefit too for the majority who don't have rolling equipment.

Roof texture

2009-06-16T08:55:00.002Z

coach roofs
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

A brass coach roof is a wonderful thin - strong and easy to fit. It has one disadvantage though, smoothness. Real carriage tops have texture and in the larger scales out models ones should have too.

I've seen the results of sticking tissue paper to the roof and they can be very effective. Trouble is when I try all I get are creases which looks a bit rubbish. On the real thing you aren't aware of the material used, just that it isn't as smooth as the bodywork.

For the NG coaches I tried something new. Each roof was primed in the normal way and then received an extra coat from about 2 feet away. Then, setting the airbrush to a wide spray pattern, several coats of paint went on from the same distance. The plan was that the paint would be partly dry by the time it hit the metal.

The result is like sandpaper. The paint seems pretty well stuck even though it feels like it will bush off. However looking at the models under the light, I could see brass. To cure this, a couple of thinned coats of Humbrol 69 were brushed on. While this took the edge a little off the texture, I liked the results even more.

If you were happy to spend a lot of time with the spray gun, I bet this trick would work a treat to represent roofing felt - varying the paints used would even give the right colours.

Narrow gauge coach bogies

2009-06-15T07:41:00.003Z

Narrow gauge coach bogies
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

A real three-handed job here. With 4 to build, I was relieved that they didn't all take as long as the first one or it would have taken most of a day to put them together !

First job is to make sure you have the correct stretchers - the kit is available for 14mm (representing a prototypically correct 2 foot guage) and 16.5mm modellers. For some reason I originally got the narrower version which confused me initially although replacements were quickly supplied.

Building started with drilling out the axleboxes to accept brass bearings, plain not top hat ones here so they slide into the hole. Then some dry fitting to ensure the stretchers mate with the sides properly. A locating peg is present but the hole for this has to be drilled out as it's not deep enough.

The one sideframe is soldered to the stretcher. And then adjusted to make sure it is at right angles to the side in all planes. While heating the parts have to be gripped between blocks of wood as the metal warms beyond finger point.

Then the tough stage - gripping the wheels, locating the peg and fixing the other side on. All the while keeping things flat. Much juggling of bits of wood and balancing the assembly on an old computer hard disk. Heating solder on one side for too long also weakens the solder on the other too which just makes the work even more "entertaining".

Any slight un-flatness can be twisted out gently with fingers although I found it easy to over do this and have to twist the chassis back. Frustrating.

More furniture making

2009-06-14T08:37:00.002Z

Frame
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

My college course is going well - the frame test piece I started with is now complete. 4 different joints made and all of sort of OK quality. As the tutor said, if I'd been on a City & Guilds course I'd have been told to go and do the whole lot again, but I'm not and on evening classes you get to say that you want to move on. Personally I blame the quality of the wood - I was using a second hand bit from the college wood store and inside it behaved more like balsa than pine when attacked with a chisel.

Anyway, the next project is a small table. First up the challenge was to read the plan and work out a cutting list. Not a big problem as I'm used to plans and picking up the missing dimensions. Then I get handed the wood - a 30ft long 2 inch deep plank. A few minutes with the tools that can kill you hacked enough of of this for my little job and the rest went back into the store.

The wood was quite green with a sticky surface. Once reduced to rough cut parts, most were left for a week to settle. Apparently if you try and work to quickly on anything cut out of a large lump, it can twist or something.

While working a fellow student who is a few weeks ahead of me was trying a machine I'd not seen switch on for a while. Apparently it is a mortiser. For the non woodworker it is a machine that drills square holes.

To use the language of teh interweb: OMG. OMG. OMG !!!

So the next week, one I'd thicknessed all my wood, I asked if I could use the same machine for my mortise holes. "If you really want to" say the tutor as though it wasn't nearly as much fun as making the same holes with chisels. "Yes please" I said - which is short for, "Of course I do ! I've been looking forward to having a go with this bit of kit all week !"

The mortiser is very clever, if a bit limited, doing only one job in the workshop. The way it works is to have a square tube with chisel sharp ends at the bottom. A course drill pokes out through this and chews away most of the wood. Then the chisels carve away the rest giving a nice square hole with the excess wood being taken away by the flutes of the bit. Simple but very effective. I quickly had some nice clean and accurate slots for the joints. Top stuff.

Incidentally, an evening class attracts a surprisingly wide variety of people. I have wondered if the appearance of an Economics Professor in the group means we should all worry how deep the recession is really going to be...

Hornby Magazine Double Whammy

2009-06-13T08:31:00.002Z

Hornby Magazine - July 2009
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker

This month's Hornby Magazine is a good one for me - two articles in glorious technicolor.

First: The Melbridge Box Company makes it's debut in print. This starts with a two-page spread showing most of the layout. This is printed several times larger than life size and yet still looks OK. The only thing missing from the piece is a shot of the buildings in a disassembled state, but then you can get this on the layouts web site.

Second: My exciting new series on kit building kicks off. Entertainingly called "Parker's Guides" by the editor, my mission is to persuade people to take up their modelling knives and have a go at something beyond flashing the plastic in the model shop. These builds are exclusive to Hornby Magazine and you won't be seeing them on this blog. First up is a build of a couple of coal wagons, Parkside's French Door mineral and the classic Airfix 16T. Lots of step by step photos and pointers to avoid the worst problems.

Arriving in WH Smiths (other newsagents are available) yesterday I got a nasty shock. For some reason they had buried the magazine on the rack. That and the pile was down to a couple of copies, one of which was well thumbed.