Salmon Pastures. Work in progress

[1H was 2E]

Another a propos re whitemetal kits - they caused me to give up modelling. I spent one Xmas in 6th form working on the Post Office and spent my earnings on a chassis and body kit (not K's) for a freight 0-6-0 tender. There was a number of errors in its manufacture and examples are; the footsteps between the first and second axle were an inverted L shape, but the 'lump' to attach under the running plate was so thick the coupling rods hit it. If you filed it 'til it cleared, there was nothing left and it fell off. The two cabsides (cutaway cab) were noticeably different. Not many straight or circular castings. Coupling rods with very small crankpin holes but no crankpins or suggestions. Should have waited til Airfix brought out an RTR at about £6 but I felt my money was completely wasted. And does anyone remember the kit for a certain Atlantic? The prototype had the flanges of the coupled wheels quite close together. The model accurately followed the prototype's coupled wheelbase. Result? Fitting even 'fine scale' wheels was impossible because the flanges fouled each other. How did these manufacturers get away with it? The reviews in a certain model magazine never mentioned any difficulty and the illustration in the 'review' was the same as in the maker's ad on another page. Oh, perhaps I've worked it out then......

[earlswood nob]

Good morning all
Like you SAD, I have a heap of models to be painted. I hate the smell of enamel. I have been trying various acrylic paints, but can't seem to spray them well, so its back to enamel.
Perhaps the LNER officers decided to paint Atlantics, Directors, etc black to help us enamelphobics. Also, single red lining is easier than the compound lining of green locos.
Earlswood Nob

[earlswood nob]

G'day all
A quick diversion on wheel flanges. The newish Markits RP25 profile enables axles to be placed closer together. I built a scratch chassis for my Atlantic and managed to get the axles closer than the original chassis. Another troublesome chassis was the Mikado, I tried fitting Romford 24mm wheels and the flanges clashed, so I was stuck with the original wheels, until recently, when replaced with RP25's. The Romford wheels went to a V2.
Earlswood Nob

[SAD Burdett]

And does anyone remember the kit for a certain Atlantic? The prototype had the flanges of the coupled wheels quite close together. The model accurately followed the prototype's coupled wheelbase. Result? Fitting even 'fine scale' wheels was impossible because the flanges fouled each other. How did these manufacturers get away with it? .

Ho Ho 1H was 2E,,, yes those were the days,,, and welcome back,,, Yes I have one of those Atlantics and thanks for reminding me of the "fun" I had trying to get it built,,, I'm pretty sure it was designed by Joseph Heller of Catch 22 fame,,,, if it looked right it wouldn't run,,, but if you got it to run it didn't look right perhaps it was the precursor of the flexi-chassis.

I have replaced various white metal bits that for me just don't do the model any favours,,,, Bec GC cabs is a favourite,,, and sorry to keep harking on about poor old Mr McGowan but with some of them I have more brass bits than white metal.

I enjoyed Jamieson kits which as it turned out ,were for me, a sort of half way house between kit and scratchbuilding,,, and as I was financing them from pocket money I reckon they were bloomin good value,,,, a friend of mine built an LMS Compound and went beserk on the detailing and it looked absolutely wonderful in about 1974,,,, but this afternoon I have looked at Mr Bachmanns latest offering of the same loco and the detail and "fidelity" of it in my opinion is remarkable.

Aren't we lucky!!!! but usually skint!!!

SAD

[SAD Burdett]

I hate the smell of enamel.

Hello E.N.

Thankfully we are all different as I quite like the smell of any paint and varnish,,, my problem is definitely confidence as soon as I pick up a paint brush or aerosol can I have a mental blank and this strange recurring feeling that it is all a new experience,,, I'd like to take myself off on a painting course but look at the prices and think I could re-wheel my whatever for that sort of money.

RP 25's,,,, I have several and when I first started fitting them I found the flanges were a bit harsh and they were finding all sorts of lumps and bumps in my trackwork that the older Romfords never did,,, now before fitting any RP25's I smooth the flange out just a little bit with a piece of emery as part of the truing and initial running in phase,,,, all I can tell you is it seems to work for me,,,, but,,, aren't they expensive these days!!!!!

The next one I'm attacking will have Gibson wheels and I've never used them before but the decision is taken simply on cost.

And to RayS,,,Pafra,,, nice one,,,that is another blast from the past and something else I had completely forgotten about,,,, have you still got any,,, from memory it smelt like old army socks diluted in meths!!!

[SAD Burdett]

Evening everybody,

Have done that many handrail knobs over the last week my eyeballs need a break,,,,, the following 3 have been promoted from the dusty shelf to the workbench,,, and about time.

A concerted effort is under way to get them finished for the Barrow Hill boys in September,,,, will keep you posted.

SAD

[SAD Burdett]

Foam Board!!!
Has anybody any experience of using it as a strengthener for card buildings???
I know it is, strong, light and very easy to cut,,,, but,,,,

1, what is the preferred glue to use to stick it together??
2, how easy is it to stick brick paper to it after you have built the shell??

Any experienced constructive comments would be much appreciated.

Have had a week to recover from the exertions last weekend and I've got cold turkey already!!!
Tried watching the lunatic lantern last night and decided I'd be better employed dusting the layout off!!!!
For anybody who missed all the fun at Barrow Hill we will be at:

Tonbridge Kent, and Norwich in 2014
Trainwest Melksham, Ely and Scarborough in 2015.

SAD

[jwealleans]

Resurrecting this one from the depths, as SAD mentioned above the layout was at Ely last weekend. I had been looking forward to seeing and it didn't disappoint. I was pleased that the paying public were of one mind with me and they voted it best in show.







This especially caught my eye - I love any Robinson 4-6-0 but a scratchbuilt B3 is always worth the journey, however far it was.





With all the eye candy on parade it's easy to overlook the very good architectural modelling and plentiful small details.





... and SAD and his charming crew were kind enough to entertain my railcar for the day.



Worth catching if they're appearing near you.

[Atlantic 3279]

Agreed. All very nice. That B3 looks rather "choice".

Better still, I believe it will be ten minutes down the road from me next May!

[SAD Burdett]

Agreed. All very nice. That B3 looks rather "choice".

Better still, I believe it will be ten minutes down the road from me next May!

Ti's true we have been asked to take the layout to Cleethorpes next May and we will also be doing Scarborough this August [which is only 45 miles from Middlesborough according to my satnav thing]

I was asked at Ely why I'd stopped posting on the LNER forums and it had nothing at all to do with falling out with anybody,,, in my book it is quite simple the LNER forum is for LNER things & fans,,, and as I've spent the past 18 months doing little else but architectural improvements I shoved all them onto t'other side,,, plus Alan,,, one third of our operating crew is a big supporter and he badgers very well to get me to post things on there.

I have to say though I find it quite amusing that with them you can post at 08.30am and by 10.30am you have dropped 5 pages,,, don't blink or you'll miss it,, surely life's too short to spend your waking hours trawling through that little lot,, not to mention our very own Pastures Blog which for me is a great way of having a rant about the odd ill perceived injustice.

Anyway,, I will be boring you with questions about Robinsons L1/3 Crab/Zeppelin before long as the chassis has reappeared on the workbench and I would like to get it somewhere close before the Cleethorpes show next year.

Jonathan,, many thanks for some lovely photo's taken last weekend,,, I do enjoy photo's,,, I've now got to refix the roof over the fish and chip shop,, sort out numerous gas and yard lamps and you have also reminded me both my O5 and Bec J11 still have gold lettering and numbers,,, no excuse whatsoever your honour other than they were both painted at a time when I didn't take it as seriously as I do now and whilst in Bahrain I just got on and did it rather than worry about the niceties as I do now.

What a great weekend it was,, tiring but thoroughly enjoyable.

Regards, SAD

[SAD Burdett]

Agreed. All very nice. That B3 looks rather "choice".

Better still, I believe it will be ten minutes down the road from me next May!

Now I'm not making any promises Graeme,, as after all we are talking about my nemesis [paintwork],, but it might even have got beyond the photographic grey by the time we do Cleethorpes!!!!

SAD

[SAD Burdett]

[quote=

Anyway,, I will be boring you with questions about Robinsons L1/3 Crab/Zeppelin before long as the chassis has reappeared on the workbench and I would like to get it somewhere close before the Cleethorpes show next year.

=quote]

As mentioned above,, this is progress so far on the L1.
I "won" 4 of these 7 pole motors on ebay for under £10 which I was quite pleased with but when they arrived a couple of issues were obvious:

1, They were physically quite large,, verging on huge for 00.
2, There is very little main shaft available to attach a worm to.

So after juggling about with my basic drawings and chassis plan I decided it should just be possible to mount the motor in bunker and arrange a universal shaft to the worm on the centre driver.

Well thats the theory,, if I can't do it I'll have to invest in a suitable motor to attach to the Branchlines gearbox.
Will keep you posted with progress.

SAD

[Atlantic 3279]

The L1 is certainly the ideal candidate for such a chunky motor.

[SAD Burdett]

Well after a considerable break preparing for various exhibitions etc I have actually made some progress on the L1.

I've spent far too long fannying around with a monster motor and driveshafts,,, the end result being decidedly unbalanced chassis which is never a good thing.

Am running in with a RG4 which will keep me entertained but the long time plan is to go for a High Level and Mashima motor flywheel combination.
This decision was taken after watching some of Tony Wrights loco's and a discussion with Jonathan Wealleans.
All prompted by watching Grantham last weekend and an earlier visit to Little Bytham

Will post pictures of progress

SAD

[earlswood nob]

Hello SAD

I am a great fan of Mashima motors coupled to High Level Gearboxes.
I love the various ratios that the gearboxes offer. I have a couple of dockshunters running with Mashima 1015s and 108:1 gearboxes. They will push (no slack in couplings so straight power) several coaches slightly uphill at walking pace. They won't run much faster, as when did anyone see a dock shunter at speed.
The nylon gears are very quiet and smooth. I am told that RG4s can get noisy when worn.
My L1 was fitted with a Mashima 16 series and a Loadhauler plus 60:1 gearbox.
Generally I use the following ratios:
Passenger and Mixed traffic 40:1
Freight 54:1
Shunting/trip freight 60:1
Shunting/Banking 80:1
Hump/Dock shunting 108:1

Last night I was searching through some magazines that I bought when first contemplating retirement and resuming railway modelling and found an article on Salmon Pastures in BRM May 2009. Perhaps it helped me decide to retire, but it was more likely the broken arm and enforced absence from work that influenced my decision.

Earlswood nob