Tag: Finescale Model Railways

March 2024

A very busy month leading with the news that David had reached the point where he could break cover over his new 7mm Scale 0 Gauge layout Lyme Regis.

The intention was to build this to scale but, large though it still is, it is reduced to 81% of the original. It was always intended to be a project involving others and various modellers are participating in the layout’s construction. Apart from the fiddle yard (next part of the project) the track is laid and wired, most of the buildings constructed and the scenery taking shape. Spoiler – your Future Editor is aware that the flyover bridge at Axminster is on the agenda!

Lyme Regis does, of course, require three Adams Radial tanks (!) the first of which is making steady progress on David’s work bench. Meanwhile, Lyme Regis is having to make do with slightly over-powered locomotives. The layout is designed to be portable so one day…

Dom has made good progress on the station building on Coombe Town – the roof is now fully tiled so it’s mainly weathering and detailing to get it to a finished state. The building really adds to the feel of the station as he hopes members will agree from the attached image.

Dom’s friend was also kind enough to print some office furniture to his design to fill out the offices when he gets to the interior.

Allan asked members for methods to remove the BR lion logo from his unnumbered Dapol Jinty. Only Roger came up with a solution, use IPA – not, as Allan originally thought, Pale Ale! Unfortunately it only partly helped, the rest was white spirit and much gentle scraping. he does not recommend doing this. Fortunately the resulting mark – the logo was embedded in the paintwork – was masked with the M of LMS, as you will see from the attached image, now heavily weathered, next to his 4F. The photos below them show 7316 at Radstock in 1950, and 4417 at Glastonbury, and at Cole in 1962.

This 4mm scale EM gauge Peckett 0-6-0T from a Mercian kit has been built by Adam and was having a running in session on South Junction. It was named ‘The Marshall’ after the late John Marshall who died in 2015. John was responsible for finding both sheds in Martock. He was a Bristolian, hence it being a Peckett.

Pete’s two Hawksworth auto-coaches have been coupled with the magnets directly into the pockets to give just enough clearance between them, much easier than a bar and loop connector.

Finally we have enough auto-coaches to run a 4 coach set with the 16XX:

Dick received his 7mm Ellis Clark Black 5 recently and is very pleased with it. He is still getting his head round all the DCC functions and sounds as he is fairly new to DCC. It can be set up so that the fire needs coal adding regularly, otherwise the engine runs out of steam, but he thinks that is a bit much at the moment. He has yet to add the details and choose a number for it – he is looking for one that worked over the S & D but the Armstrong Whitworth built ones seem a bit rare. 5440 was one but he knows others with that number on their Black Five so is still looking.

Plank Street, Jim’s 7mm scale Forest of Dean themed layout started life in Chicken Shed 2, but has now been re-erected in the garage following an enforced stay in the trailer whilst the space was needed for the storage of the new B&Q kitchen. This has now been successfully installed in the kitchen and some of the old kitchen units are now in the garage with the layout below them. The next task is to construct the laser cut engine shed and water tower purchased from ‘L-Cut Creative’ at the Doncaster show earlier last month, so the Panniers and Jinty (below) can have a roof over their heads – not all at once of course!

And this is the Jinty that Jim couldn’t resist. For sale on the GOG Sales and Wants” site for only £165, DCC and sound fitted.

Some years ago Steve built a Mercian kit for the ex-LMS Armstrong Whitworth 0-6-0 Diesel Electric shunter that all went into War Department use. Four of them ended up in Belgium and there was an H0 gauge etched brass kit produced to model them, and it seems likely that this ‘4mm scale’ kit was derived from that kit. When built (to 4mm Scale EM Gauge), the loco was found to be 4mm too high and 2mm too wide and towered over any box van it met. Steve had ordered a complete spare chassis etch at the time of purchase, and this allowed him to fully articulate the rods and compensate the chassis on the Sharman principle with one fixed axle. Compensated, with a large Mashima, two 16mm flywheels and a High Level Kits Gearbox and once given enough sideways play on the centre driven axle, it ran exceptionally well. As a result, Steve felt that this was a loco that he couldn’t reasonably give up on, despite not needing it for his model of Verwood.

Having modelled the Downton Train Crash coaches from the 1860s, it occurred to Steve that he should now design a 4mm scale body for it that could be 3D printed, one that would fit on the etched running plate after it was cut and shut. Eight days, 77 QCAD drawings and 1500 lines of OpenSCAD script later he was able to produce these renders.

The Roche drawing was the starting point, with close examination of photos to winkle out the many errors in the drawing. The etched running plate has been shortened, though not by much. A bit was taken off the edges, with the valances refitted slightly inboard, and now the width is about right. The overall wheelbase is 60mm when it should be 58mm, and that pushes the brake blocks behind the sanding hoppers, which being in their original positions are slightly too far outboard – but then something has to give. On Western Thunder Adam perceptively described it as a ‘rubber ruler job’!

This masterpiece of the resin 3D printers’ art (by a specialist) is seen perched on the shortened running plate and chassis, with (happily) everything now pretty much where it should be. The glazing pockets for the side windows came out OK, but will only accept packaging film, so they will need to be opened out to allow for the ‘additive kerf’ of 3D printing. The pockets for front and rear cab windows did not form completely as the resin was unable to drain from the deep slots above the windows, so those will need to opened up to the cab so that they will drain. As with the 1860s coaches, flush glazing is a must and adjustments will be made to the model for the mk2 print so that it will accept Plasitiglaze or glass cover slips. There’s nothing that Steve can do to stop it being an ugly brute flush glazed or not!

October 2023

Much more going on now we’re back in modelling season. At the start of October Half Term, we had a very successful outing of “St. Martin’s Wharf” at Rail-Ex Taunton; the Somerset Club putting on another excellent show in what must be a unique venue. The school dinners were indeed fantastic, and not like they used to be – well, at least in your editor’s experience anyway!

Dave H was responsible to organising its appearance at the show and commented afterwards:

“St. Martin’s Wharf went down very well at Taunton. It looked beautiful and performed well. The switch to DCC meant that it was much more enjoyable to operate than the last time it went out. The main problem we had was invisible muck on the track (which we solved in the end by polishing all the rails with fine emery) and the usual teething problems with AJ couplings. By the end of the show we had a set of stock which coupled and uncoupled reasonably reliably!

Thanks to everyone who helped to get the layout and stock into an exhibitable state, and to all those who helped with shipping it to Taunton and back, or operating at the show. Once we’d set it up and added all the vehicles, people and other bits and bobs it looked stunning. I believe BRM want to come to photograph it one day, so we better make sure the rats don’t get into it again!”

The fully modelled truss bridge…

…and with train passing over.

John has had a major wagon building binge. These are all 7mm scale 0 Gauge wagon kits that have been languishing in a cupboard for many moons, built while taking tea or rain breaks from gardening. This coke hopper is a Parkside kit.

This ex GWR hybar is from a Coopercraft kit. It is loaded with wagon sheets. About 1960 John went to North Norfolk on his bicycle and visited the remains of Melton Constable Works. Ruination was all around me, except one building where six men in protective clothing were making wagon sheets. The canvas was hung up on a rail and was covered with some evil smelling thick liquid, coat after coat, applied with nothing more advanced than sweeping brooms. The drips were drained into a bucket for further use.

This Parkgate is a Slaters kit. What a dirty mucky place Parkgate was when John had to pass through it on my way to my office in Sheffield city centre.

This ex Midland three plank open now works for the civil engineer. It is loaded with ballast – likely to be from Morris & Perry at Gurney Slade by the look of it. This is another Slaters kit.

Finally, this SR six plank open is from a Parkside kit. In the late seventies or early eighties John took the train from Axminster to London for a meeting and parked in the sidings east of Salisbury station in this livery. A bit grubby but wearing this attractive brown. It is loaded with sacks.

Continuing the wagon theme, Pete C has been working on the above in 4mm scale EM Gauge. All are from Cambrian kits. Left to right – Mermaid, SR Walrus waiting lettering and destroying the NATO anti radar black (the black was let down with white), and Oyster modified Shark kit (longer Cabin than a Shark).

Jim has been continuing the wagon theme, but in 2mm finescale of course. The Whale/Seacow project has slightly ground to a halt due to boredom, so his attention has switched to other “gloat boxes”, otherwise known as box files. In one, he found ten completed plastic bodies from TPM (Bernard Taylor) for JUA bogie aggregate wagons, converted from iron ore tipplers for the Merehead to Acton flows with Foster Yeoman. The kits are now available from the N Gauge Society.

One already had the 2mm Scale Association replacement bogie kits fitted and there was a note saying “nine more needed”. Duly ordered, they came last week and all ten pairs of bogies are now constructed. They are a nickel silver etch with whitemetal castings attached and take standard 2mm wheels on 12.25mm long axles (rather than N gauge ones around 14.8mm long). On the next page is a picture of the workbench with one completed wagon and the bogies in various states of assembly. The tiny top hat bearings need filing down so the castings can be super-glued to the etches and a little jig to help with this (the T-shaped things on the left hand cutting mat) is included in the etch, as are replacement ladders and handbrake wheels. Is he Mad or what?

Dom has been constructing the most fantastically detailed 4mm scale point rodding for “Coombe Town” – just needs rust and a little grease…

This is the latest addition for Simon K’s Cerne ‘shunting plank’, a 7mm scale/O Gauge Minerva Siphon G in crimson, renumbered and fitted with battery boxes and dynamo. Then beautifully weathered by Mike B and pictured on his Melcombe Magna layout. Your editor can vouch that when it was delivered to Mike it was the very brightest of bright crimson!