Hi All,
In these trying times one advantage may be more modelling time. Make us all jealous by telling of your great projects.
Of course, I'd better kick it off. I have just finished a freelance railcar from an IP engineering kit - so it is not 009 but 16 mm so perhaps I should not have mentioned it!!
Moving from there I've been finishing off some Jocadis SNCV (Belgian) H0m coaches and a fourgon which were started many years ago. There is also a SNCV tram loco which has been built but needs some fettling.
Lots of other things to build - someone asked what I am going to do with myself when I run out of models to build but I don't think the lockdown will last 10 years!!
Over to you.
Peter
I've had to shift 600 km from my workbench and layout in Kyiv to Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine so my 'modelling' is restricted to virtual designing of a 3D printed mechanism for two turntables, and soon Arduino programming for same. I miss actual hands-on work, but hope to hear from everybody else.
I have been off modeling for a month with a broken arm, but can manage light duties now so am freelancing a very small (10cm long) river bridge for a fictitious light railway near where I live, and am using the architecture from the village pub as inspiration. Photos to follow.
I have so many projects on the go but the most current is a little Indian narrow gauge boxcar/goods wagon, started in 1999 and has been in my junk train box all these years.Well, life was was given to it last Friday 24th April and should be completed tonight after 21 years. It's older than my son by 3 years. Gosh - - -!
Robin.
I don't have a dedicated workbench - I have to negotiate time on the kitchen table (an din this time of house arrest, this is becoming harder!)
However, I bought a second Society Cattle wagon at Narrow Gauge North (probably one of the last exhibitions to go ahead..?) I have built it and put tissue paper on the roof (and also upgraded the roof of the first one with tissue paper) These are now waiting for painting...
A Junin extended double fairlie utilizing two old bachman 0-6-0 chassis
A backwoods miniatures self propelled crane, the older version where you have to build the chassis as well. I'm at the stage where you attach the fly cranks and set the quartering. Not my favourite part of the build! 🤔
The latest thing has been too big for the workbench - a backscene for my French layout. I've used mounting board ( a material I like as it's quite cheap and light) which has had to be suitably braced in the hope it won't warp and then sealed before applying the backscene using a spray on adhesive. The next thing will be some lights for the layout.
Peter
This Barclay (based on Cegin) has been on my workbench for some time, well several years if the truth be known!
I just never got around to working on it.
The Arnold 0-4-0 chassis came from a local model shop with a very poorly made N gauge white metal kit body and a missing connecting rod, although it ran ok it only cost £10. As with all these Arnold chassis I turned the wheel flanges down and fitted a replacement rod almost stright away.
The body came from the 009 Society sales stand a few months later, again as a poorly made and badly painted Douglas body only for £3.
I completly dissasembled the body to its various parts and reassembled it doing the basic body modification not long after I got it, but it has sat here ever since awaiting me to complete the required detail.
I did most of the pipes etc. yesterday, there is still some bits to add before it gets painted, for a start I can not locate my white metal cast 'Penrhyn' type 009 couplings that I know I have somewhere, but it is now almost finished.
The reason I did not finish this up to now was that I intended to fit a "Barclayfication" conversion kit on a Minitrains Boehler. But I never did this in the end.
Nice job Brian, I really like it.What colour have you in mind for the loco? We hope to see a photo or two of it when completed.
Robin.
That is very impressive indeed Brian. The added pipework "spaghetti" and other little details on the body makes a huge amount of difference overall.
Two very basic questions if I may: how do you turn the wheel flanges down? - Do you have a lathe or is it "kitchen table turning" with a power drill by attaching the wheels individually to the chuck by some means and turning down with a swiss file , or by putting the loco in an inverted cradle and powering it up to turn the wheels whilst using the file?
Secondly, what is the "rod" that you wrote about that you replace?
Thanks
Mick
Thanks for the nice comments. Yes the pipe work takes ages, but as said above it makes all the difference on the model.
Quote from: Robin Webster on May 03, 2020, 20:29
What colour have you in mind for the loco?
Black, just like the prototype. It will be spray painted with Halfords satin black rattle can, when I can go and get one! I have an idea about doing the lining, but it depends on how that looks if I bother or not.
Quote from: MickT on May 04, 2020, 10:25
How do you turn the wheel flanges down?
I remove the axles from the chassis and mount them in the chuck of the lathe. They are held tightly enough on the axles so that the tread of one wheel can be in the chuck and you can work on the other.
However you have to make sure you do not heat up the plastic or they start slipping.
Although in the lathe I do use a hand held file to do the actual work. I find this easier than trying to get the flange profile correct using a cutting tool.
I guess it could also be done using a mini drill held in a vice, provided the chuck was good enough and there was little movement in the drill bearings.
I would never try and do this in the chassis with it running as the metal shavings are magnetic and would get on and into the magnet in the motor causing a right mess! It would probably ruin the motor.
Quote from: MickT on May 04, 2020, 10:25
Secondly, what is the "rod" that you wrote about that you replace?
You can see the replacement metal connecting rod in the first photo. It is not from an Arnold loco and needed to be shortened and modified a bit to fit.
Thanks for the comprehensive reply Brian, very helpful for both me and others that were curious I'm sure!
Regarding lining, with reference to your comment that it depends if you bother or not to add lining to the Barclay - depends how particular you are, but I adapted Phil Savage's "fag paper" technique to an even simpler solution some years ago (both Phil's and mine have been in 009 News about 15 or so years ago) and use ordinary printer paper - the thinner the better actually. the standard 80gsm is OK although is rather thick for purpose. If you can still get hold of "bank" or drafting paper, then this would be better.
My first attempts involved drawing very thin lines with the finest tipped pens you can get hold of. This was quickly upgraded to doing thin lines using Paint or similar on the PC. Cut the lines out as fine as poss - with practice you can get down to smaller than 1mm, which at 3 inches scale is OK for me. Stick them on using dilute PVA (I used Marven Medium, but not sure if you can still get this) and that is that basically. Obviously a lot more to it when trying to go round corners neatly etc.
Ted Polet has also experimented with the technique and has way overtaken me as he has kept it up whilst I have laid moribund for years due to other things going on in my life that reduces my available hobby time. Have a look at his Meridian Kitson which is lined using the paper method, at normal viewing distances you would never guess that it is simply strips of paper glued on!
At the risk of generating a new thread drift (sorry about that - I think is should be OK as this is a "general" On Your Workbench topic!), here is a snap of my Langley Baldwin bash into a "NaF" class (Na four wheel or just Naff?) Puffing Billy inspired "Matilda" which was one of my better attempts at using the paper lining technique - and also what was probably my best effort with brass wire "gilding the lily"
(https://i.imgur.com/AaXC0Da.jpg)
And if anyone wants to jump into the deep end with this idea, here is the next development stage that Steve Lanham of Wessex NGM's has perfected, using Photoshop (He is a professional graphic designer after all!) and printing out complete panels. I think he has posted his own photos of some of his little masterpieces either on here or NGRM in the past), this is the only photo that I have of one of his very exotic lining and engine building exercises!
(https://i.imgur.com/4nbfZRj.jpg)
Just some ideas.
Mick
Quote from: MickT on May 05, 2020, 11:33
And if anyone wants to jump into the deep end with this idea, here is the next development stage that Steve Lanham of Wessex NGM's has perfected, using Photoshop (He is a professional graphic designer after all!) and printing out complete panels. I think he has posted his own photos of some of his little masterpieces either on here or NGRM in the past), this is the only photo that I have of one of his very exotic lining and engine building exercises!
I have experiment using a 15 year old 300dpi deskjet printer and photographic paper, it was OK but I think Steve's look better. Probably because I bet he has a better printer :-)
Do you have any idea how he stuck the paper down?
Stephen
I used a variation of the whole panel technique using laser printer waterslide decal paper, but not for model railways (it was work related). I needed to print yellow lettering on a black background. Printing yellow on clear decal film was a washout. The black of the surface showed through making the yellow very dull but printing yellow and black on white decal film worked well. By the time I was thinking of its possibilities for model railways the source of paper (Crafty Computer Paper) had vanished (apart from one source in the UK that wanted an arm and a leg for single sheets) but it is readily available now.
I got as far as wondering if for panels such as name plates or logos the background need only be "close enough" rather than an exact colour match for the painted side it was applied too, if trimmed close enough to the image. I understand the theory is that the eye will be distracted from any slight mismatch by the high contrast between the background and image. Also it might be possible to "tickle" the edges with matching paint to feather them in. I guess a bit of weathering will help and if not, I've seen a number of photos of the last days of steam where about the only thing that was cleaned was the loco number so if queried about the mismatch that's the appropriate response. ;)
I have indeed been experimenting with using a colour printer for the cab side and back lining for Cegin. Both these areas are flat and the loco is black so it should work out ok.
Progress has however stopped until I can find my white metal Penrhyn type couplings. I know I have them somewhare, I just cannot find them!
While this is on hold yesterday and going into today I am completely re-building a Backwoods 009 four wheel motorised crane. I built this to the instructions many years ago, but used super-glue not solder.
The motor and gear bearings had dried out and needed a tiny drop of PTFE oil, but the way this kit was built prevented access to the motor. So I disassembled it, modified the way it was put together so it can come apart by removing screws, added contacts to the wheels as the axle to frame contact had become unreliable, reassembled it and touched up the paint as required. I have also modified the jib that was previously fixed in position, it now has two positions, up as before and lower so it goes under bridges and into sheds etc. this is done by using two alternative jib height 'cables', actually wires, that hook in place. I will post a photo later.
Quote from: Tom Haythornthwaite on April 04, 2020, 08:40
I've had to shift 600 km from my workbench and layout in Kyiv to Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine so my 'modelling' is restricted to virtual designing of a 3D printed mechanism for two turntables, and soon Arduino programming for same. I miss actual hands-on work, but hope to hear from everybody else.
We were able to get to Kyiv for the weekend (with an eight-hour drive each way) and I grabbed some set track and my Baldwin 4-6-0T which is now running on the windowsill. It's a lot better than nothing, and it will serve for my JMRI programming learning.
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DCnhcIcBPEs/XrzmkR3h1iI/AAAAAAAFA5U/StKPNnPJ5Z4OedIauvgi2mMssVabuUBNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20200514_091446%2Bcrop.jpg)
Not so much as a work bench but new additional board for Avyn-A-Llyin with a narrow gauge tramway[12mm gauge]. No 009 track laid yet but the approx position can bee seen in one of the photos. The other photo shows the steps down to the beach.
It is looking good. It's been many years since I've seen the layout - Perth, I think.
I'm intrigued by your tramway track. Is it commercial grooved rail or have you laid normal rail sections side by side?
Graham, it's Peco code 80 flat bottom rail with 2 x 1mm brass section laid by it. I did try with some 0.040" x 0.040" square brass section and 2 x 0.5mm brass strip but was a bit more fiddly. After soldering I then tweeked the track to make sure my longest 4 wheel chassis could get round the curve. This usually meant bending the L section out a bit. Regards Perth I was there in 2011 and 2016 with an invite back when this board is done [or presentable]. I've still yet to lay the 009 track which means making a crossing but need the other 2 boards first, and the magnetic strip for my fallerised road vehicles to follow.
Looks good. What are the various tram bodies we can see.
Peter
Many thanks. The tram points in particular look amazing.
I think it must have been as long ago as 2011!
Apologies for the delay in replying. The tram bodies [in red] are my own 3d print of Chester Demi car. Not happy with it yet as there are a couple of things that didn't draw up very well. The one in the background is a Keilcraft kit of the Birmingham tram, modelled on one that was cut down to a single deck for works use. I also have Llandudno and Colwyn bay 17 in its later form being built [again 3d print of my own and available from Shapeways as well a a Bournemouth bogie double decker [awaiting suitable running gearand also available from Shapeways].
I've just noticed that there is a Kitson Steam tram engine also on one of the pictures designed to run using one of the Tramfabreik mechanisms. Not happy with the etch or 3d print condensor tubes so not available yet.
Also on my work bench is a new cab and chimney for the Roco HF110 loco
Quote from: Crichworkshop2000 on May 17, 2020, 10:22
Apologies for the delay in replying. The tram bodies [in red] are my own 3d print of Chester Demi car. Not happy with it yet as there are a couple of things that didn't draw up very well. The one in the background is a Keilcraft kit of the Birmingham tram, modelled on one that was cut down to a single deck for works use. I also have Llandudno and Colwyn bay 17 in its later form being built [again 3d print of my own and available from Shapeways as well a a Bournemouth bogie double decker [awaiting suitable running gearand also available from Shapeways].
I've just noticed that there is a Kitson Steam tram engine also on one of the pictures designed to run using one of the Tramfabreik mechanisms. Not happy with the etch or 3d print condensor tubes so not available yet.
Thanks for the info on your trams - I'm afraid my own model trams have slipped while I concentrate on metre gauge models. However the next tram will be to re-build a Tramalan Lytham through deck car, bought from Derek Lambelle at the Crich modellers weekend last year.
Peter
I think I am done with this model. Making little people is very difficult.
Here are three views of my little Indian village house.
Robin
(https://i.imgur.com/uoUndclg.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/IwAoT5Ng.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/pV2zOb9g.jpg)
Very atmospheric. Is there a baby in there somewhere? ;)
David.
Haha, indeed David there is, but just not visible. The " girl in the widow" with the tall grass actually does have a baby in her arms,but in my modification the baby got covered up. Oh well!
Thanks,
Robin.