Keep them Kitmasters coming.

Yet another Kitmaster coach, this time a corridor composite.
This will make up a 3 coach set for use on Teignford- it's too long for Hennock's fiddleyard.
This time I have used partly made bits and pieces rather than a virgin kit.
The floor and underframe had already been put together, needed some adhesive cleaning off. The sides had had a bad paintjob and the moulded lines were carved off.
The only thing which hadn't been used previously is the roof.
Seen now after a coat of Vauxhall Cardinal Red, it awaits blackend underfarame and ends befor lining and numbering can take place.

GWR Yard Crane.

 Right then! The crane has been undercoated in Holt's finest , now to apply the top coat.
There lies the problem. Whilst I am aware of the existance of a photo, unfortunately I don't have Mr Russells Wagon appendix.
So much time has been spent trawling through books with a Western bent to no avail.
Perhaps I will have to wait until some kind soul can advise meof the colouring of the jib- was it just steel bound wood? The rest isn't really a problem but, as the thing is to be attached to the layout I don't want to have to re-paint it once in situ.
All help gratefully recieved.

Filling those important little places.

 The majority of buildings for Teignford are complete.
However, there are still a couple of areas that need filling.
Behind the Post Office and the farmyard are the bits that still need filling so a couple of templates have been made which will assist when building. These will be the bases that are the footprint of the area needing to be filled.
The triangular one will be low relief whilst the farm building will be whole.
A couple of pieces need sky paper and the fascia needs painting-off to Wilkinsons for blackboard paint methinks!

50,000 hits!

As the sun rose yesterday morning the counter ticked over to 50,000!
For a scale specific blog I don't think that is bad.
Thank you everyone that has visited and those that have sent encouraging messages.
More of the same? I hope so and that my witterings and construction methods don't bore you too much.
Please make sure that you all take part in the R-T-R survey- scroll down- this will run for a couple of weeks so I hope you will each take part.

3MM Ready to Run.

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Survey now ended-thanks to all who took part.

GWR Yard Crane.

 Perhaps I have bent the wire a little.
However, this will not matter too much as the tension will eventually cure this plus the weight that the chain and hook will provide ( hopefully).
This really is a delightful kit to make and is a pleasing rendition of the prototype.
The chain I have sourced from Branchlines-40 links per inch- this is really fine, attaching to hook and winder presents a challenge!

3D Printer from Maplins.

I see that Maplins are taking advance orders for a 3D printer.
The Velleman K8200 is offered for £699.99 and would appear to be similar to that used to produce our 54/64/74XX Pannier bodies.
I would assume that some software will be needed to enable printing- printing in several colours is available-blue, black, red and white are mentioned but not mixable when printing.
At this price I would be tempted but my computer skills I fear won't be up to the standard required.
Click on the link below to see more.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/3d-printer?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=13P7-7

GWR Yard Crane.

 With minimal cleaning up-little if any flash to clean off, this really is a lovely casting. Bear in mind that this was purchased from the Secondhand sales stand andif my mind serves me right-doubtful- this was a Signal Products product.
The gears match up well, just a turn with a round file enables the shafts to pass through and mesh.
Wire has been cut to provide the stays with 0.4mm holes drilled to provde a mechanical fit.

Cattle Dock.

 You may remember my building the cattle dock with help from Adrian Vaughan.
Well, to refresh you ther is a picture to the right of how it looked when first stuck in place after completion.
It did look-well-grey. So out with the dirty paint and after what seemed like an eternity -plus some cows- this is how it turned out.
The bases of the cows will be disguised with some straw (plumbers hemp) so should blend in.
The other thing that needs adding is water troughs-I have the dimensions.

The sheep are in the pasture.

Having quite a number of cast sheep meant a lot of tedious painting.
The flock shown here are mainly off white but there is always a black sheep in the family isn't there?
I did try and remove the cast base but this made legs break and not wishing to upset any animal rights peaople decided to leave the bases on.
To counteract this I mixed some matt paint to blend in with the grassed area- another tedious job if I am honest.
So the sheep are stuck in place and feeding away.

GWR Yard Crane.

 Teignford would need a method of unloading heavy or bulky items. This is where the 3mm Society kit for a GWR Yard Crane comes in handy. There is reference to a photo in Russells GWR wagon appendix- but this I don't have-yet!
The parts are seen on the right together with assembly instructions and an exploded diagram.
This is definitely a superglue job, the parts are a bit fragile for solder to get anywhere near.
The only thing not supplied is a length of wire as indicated.
Seems a kit for an idle evening- I will let you know.

Fiddle yard complete.

 On my list of things to do was the boxing in of the fiddle yard.
Whilst at the local In Excess recently, I found some 3mm ply of good quality at a couple of pounds each plus some thin wooden strip about 3/8 inch square.
This has all been used to box in the fiddle yard as seen here.
Surprisingly this was all cut to shape with a coarse razor saw blade which provided neat cuts with minimum need to clean up afterwards.
All it needs now, together with the fascia is a coat of paint.

Questions-Questions!

It's nice to be asked a question every now and then. Jim Barry, a fellow 3mm Society member asked for directions to the posts about 54/64/74XX Pannier Tanks.
Jim- i'm happy to oblige.
Some pictures to refresh first.

The basic shape.

Basic body added to footplate and society parts added.

The finished article.

Jim -search for rapid prototyping and all will be revealed.Plus search in the locos section.

Push-Pull coaches.

This shows how far I have gotten with the Driving Trailer.
As previously said, the joints are not as good as I had wished but some judicious filling should cure this.
The front of this unit is particularly difficult due to having the bow end with steps to align.
Possibly I should add the mountings after attaching the sides-Ho Hum!

Dorset Meeting June 2013.

Group members ahve other interests and here are a couple of examples.
Both to'O' Gauge they will form part of the Purbeck Modelling Groups layout of the Swanage Branch.
DAS clay is being used for the overbridge- each stone being carved out individually.
The lower picture shows the use of hand towels being used to cover the contour formers.
Whilst our group is 3mm focused, ther are things to be learnt which apply to all scales.

St. Agnes.

 I present today, some more pictures of Nigels rendition of t. Agnes in 3mm Scale.
Peco Hom track-12mm Gauge is used throughout.
The signal box has needed some modification due to more information being provided.
I am never ceased to be amazed by the helpfulness of the odelling fraternity in giving information to assist the building of a model.I know the amount of research made before St. Agnes was started but since that additional views have come to light.

Push -Pull set.

 Continuing on from the last piece about the Maunsell conversion, I submit a couple more pictures of the build.
This illustrates the way in which the waisting of the drivers/guards area is formed.
I had been filled with trepidation about this but the reality is somewhat easier.
Cleanliness is the key, give the brass a good scrub with the glassfibre brush, a smear of flux and add hot solder- simples!

DAS clay.

Whilst on the subject of buildings, I post a picture of a farm building that has been covered in DAS clay.
Colin has made this building to 4mm scale but I think it illustrates a point about the realistic finish that can be had by using this medium.
I have a chunk of this aloft and had been considering the way in which i could use it.
This small building has convinced me to have a go so the next structure for the farm will be a rendered building.

Static Grass.

 I have been interested in this medium for some time. Indeed I am looking forward to an exhibition where I can buy one of the FMR static grass applicators. Why? Well I don't have the time to build one which Colin, one of our group members, has produced. Basically he has bought an electric fly swatter from Maplins, a metal tea strainer from Sainsbury's ( other supermarkets are available), married the two together and hey presto.
The thatched roof on this cottage, albeit 4mm scale has been produced this way, and, I think it looks pretty good. Perhaps the photos don't do it justice because it did raise a few very complimentary comments at our recent meeting. Other points are the use of DAS clay for the walls- more of which anon.

Push Pull set.

Jumping on a bit- I usually forget to take photos as I go along-the Driving end has had the sides added. The sides are in two pieces, replicating the waisting of the brake ends. These were soldered together using a straight edge-metal rule-and the square cut outs provided in the etch to enable the difference in top width.
This was fiddly- asbestos fingers were worn at all timesand blue tack proved particularly useful.
Not particularly happy with the fit-my fault- but will hopefully look better when filled.

Worsley Works Maunsell Push Pull Driving Trailer.

Finally got round to making a start on this one of a pair of coaches to go with the M7 which has been relayed on earlier posts.
Once all has been released from the frets and cleaned up, the first thing is to attach the end steps.
This needs to be carried out first due to the fact that once the montings have been fitted, these would be impossible to fit. Simply folded up, the steps fit neatly into the etched slots.As can beseen, I have just added enough solder to retain them meaning less cleaning up before the next step.

Dorset Group Meeting June 2013.

 This months meeting produced quite a range of models being built.
These will be revealed during the coming few days but as a taster I include the front and rear shots of the station building on  Nigel Cullimores St. Agnes.
Instantly recognisable as the prototype, Nigel has successfully compressed the layout to manageable proportions but in so doing has lost none of the atmosphere of the prototype.
More pictures of this and other projects in later posts.