Scattergun Distractions - Gadzooks, I appear to have gone normal
- Thread starter Neil
- Start date
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
A free tin of Uncle Joe's Mint Balls with every order, eh? Tasty
!Now what would Sir JB have made of railway forums on the t'internet? [in case there are those of you who are thinking "what is he rambling on about?"... there is a tenuous link between Joe and John Betjeman and that is Richard Hardy and an observation coach.]
regards, Graham
Neil
Western Thunderer
This morning I found and posted a link to a super photo of the Emett designed Oystercreek Station for the Festival of Britain. I commented that I didn't think I could get away with such a structure on one of my layouts no matter how attractive it may be. However ....
.... the more I thought about it the more I wanted it, so the Ganllwyd Tram will have an Emett inspired station rather than an outright copy. So far I reckon I've spent about an hour and a half cutting out the basic shape in 40thou and laminating some planked stuff on the top. The wooden walls are deliberately short so that they can be mounted atop a dwarf stone wall base.
.... the more I thought about it the more I wanted it, so the Ganllwyd Tram will have an Emett inspired station rather than an outright copy. So far I reckon I've spent about an hour and a half cutting out the basic shape in 40thou and laminating some planked stuff on the top. The wooden walls are deliberately short so that they can be mounted atop a dwarf stone wall base.
Neil
Western Thunderer
What a difference a week makes ....
The contrived and cheesy sepia shot is an attempt to disguise what remains to be done, but does give an idea that the basic building is not that far from finished. I've arranged an internal floor that plugs in and the dividing wall between public and working spaces is a sliding fit so that I can fully detail the innards. It won't be the full Pendon, but it will give the basics so that lighting won't give up any glaring deficiencies.
The contrived and cheesy sepia shot is an attempt to disguise what remains to be done, but does give an idea that the basic building is not that far from finished. I've arranged an internal floor that plugs in and the dividing wall between public and working spaces is a sliding fit so that I can fully detail the innards. It won't be the full Pendon, but it will give the basics so that lighting won't give up any glaring deficiencies.
Neil
Western Thunderer
Well mixed news from the casting bench. Last week I completed the moulds for the tea van body and roof, and managed a test shot in resin.
The first cheering aspect is that the castings seem not to have any dimensional drift, body and roof fit together as well as the masters do. I'm also happy with the roof, the air bubbles that have formed are in the right places and the thin edges seem to have taken well. The body isn't as good, bubbles have been trapped in the corners, and some of the dimples in the doors have been rendered as nipples (as it were). Squinting inside the mould this seems to be the mould being at fault; when the rubber was poured it has only settled into a proportion of the dimples. I suspect that this was a result of the mould being made in a hurry to use up a miscalculation in the rubber I needed for the roof. I will be tweaking the master to include the couplings with the body, improving the venting for the resin and I'll try to ensure that the liquid rubber gets worked into the indentations.
The first cheering aspect is that the castings seem not to have any dimensional drift, body and roof fit together as well as the masters do. I'm also happy with the roof, the air bubbles that have formed are in the right places and the thin edges seem to have taken well. The body isn't as good, bubbles have been trapped in the corners, and some of the dimples in the doors have been rendered as nipples (as it were). Squinting inside the mould this seems to be the mould being at fault; when the rubber was poured it has only settled into a proportion of the dimples. I suspect that this was a result of the mould being made in a hurry to use up a miscalculation in the rubber I needed for the roof. I will be tweaking the master to include the couplings with the body, improving the venting for the resin and I'll try to ensure that the liquid rubber gets worked into the indentations.
Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
Where did you get the casting set from?
I'm looking to try resin casting myself, namely scale Class 33 bogie side frames in HO scale.
I'm looking to try resin casting myself, namely scale Class 33 bogie side frames in HO scale.
Neil
Western Thunderer
Neil
Western Thunderer
Years ago, when diesels were blue and the dreadful woman from Grantham had yet to decimate British manufacturing industries I spent a few years on the railway learning how to make things work with wires. During that time, and with easy access to simple electronic components I made a hand held controller that required a 12v dc feed. I'd also assembled the components for another two.
Fast forward thirty years and i found myself staring at a 9v battery and thinking that if i could house this within the hand held unit then I could make a very lightweight and portable unit to power my tiny trains.
Here's the proof of concept lash up.
and here's it working ....
Fast forward thirty years and i found myself staring at a 9v battery and thinking that if i could house this within the hand held unit then I could make a very lightweight and portable unit to power my tiny trains.
Here's the proof of concept lash up.
and here's it working ....
Neil
Western Thunderer
Work on Morfa has temporarily ground to a halt as I thought I'd better try to make some progress with my notion of providing resin cast 009 trinkets for the connoisseur of the unusual. I've documented the improvements gained in both mould making and the resultant casts here. Casting is a bit of a stop start process, and it's useful to have something to do between pouring the resin and turning the solid object out of the mould. Recently I've been hacking this 99p Tomy toy from the Oxfam shop in Aberystwyth ....
.... into this, a Dajeelingesque bogie carriage.
.... into this, a Dajeelingesque bogie carriage.
Neil
Western Thunderer
You may have thought that with no posts here in distractions since last August that I've managed to take a more single minded approach to my model making. Well you'd be wrong; the only reason for the lack of copy is that I've been paralysed by a surfeit of possibilities. Morfa has required little in the way of decision making so it has benefited while some of my dafter ideas have been on hold. Well time and a need to produce a couple of pieces for the next Corris model railway show has focussed my mind, and spurred on a bit more activity with the Ganllwyd Trams station building last seen in sepia (to disguise the lack of paint) last April. It now sports colour, and a second version of the roof mounted sign.
It still requires a spot of gentle weathering, glazing and interior detailing, but it's close to being ready.
It still requires a spot of gentle weathering, glazing and interior detailing, but it's close to being ready.
Neil
Western Thunderer
Thank you Simon, like the locos I took inspiration from the NER way of colouring things in.
Neil
Western Thunderer
Thank you; the stone base is formed from strips of plasticard which form the courses of stone. Each strip is nicked on the outside face to define the vertical joints between blocks, the outside face of the block is shaved (sometimes at a slight angle) so that the blocks have a pleasing irregularity and the top and bottom outer edges are chamfered to give a thin gap between courses. All this is done by eye rather than measured so that all the joints have differing gaps. One aspect of scribed stonework that I've become increasingly aware of is that the gaps between the courses have a regularity imposed by the width of the scribing implement. Once it's on ones radar it really grates.
