Steve Cook
Flying Squad
Thanks to Jerry and the Larkrail challenge I appear to be accumulating a few bits and pieces in 2mm, enough to start a workbench thread and wonder if Pandora's box has been cracked open 
I'm not very good at doing just one thing and finishing it off before starting something else so don't be surprised to see a slightly haphazzard approach in here...
First job of the weekend was to carry on with the small building started as part of the Larkrail challenge. Bits of code 40 rail were cut to length to act as bargeboard supports around the perimeter of the roof. If I can figure a way to make rain gutters I have the option of soldering them into place, plasticard bargeboards can then be glued to the brass rail (the hope is that the web of the rail creates a small recess for the glue to hold onto). If plastic turns out to be the best option for guttering that can at least be glued to the bargeboards and brass pins inserted through into the rail for extra support.
A change from soldering led to the conversion of a Farish 24, replacing the standard wheels with a set of the 2mm Association drop in wheelsets. The new wheels were given a quick scrub to clean them up, a polish with a glassfibre brush and then blackened...shown here next to one of the original wheelsets.
The axle is anodised aluminium so I've left it silver - you can't see it with the loco on the track anyway - note to self, check whether drive gear is visible now
Conversion really was a 10 minute job, I spent longer than that prepping the wheels for the swap. Halfway through and you get a good idea of the difference between N and 2mm Finescale
Having converted the loco I started thinking it would be nice to be able to run it on something...oh dear, that'll be a slippery slope ahead then
If you're going to build a layout, points are handy things to have (says the bloke with the 'point less' garden railway) so I broke out the association jigs for filing the Vee and assembling the wing rails. Its the first time I've used any jigs for pointwork construction and it does make the job significantly easier for me, especially in getting the crucial alignments right. I'm not going to pretend it sped the process up much, by the time I'd worked out how to use the jigs (its still possible to get some misalignment on the wing rails) and made the rest of the components I didn't seem to be that far ahead of where I would normally be. There was however, a lot less 'adjusting' during construction and thats where the real time saving was. Tiebars still drive me mental but after a Saturday (and a quite a lot of today) I've got two points in 2mm that pass the wagon test
Both are a B6 configuration and have a 'moving sleeper' tiebar - its worked for Jerry on Highbury and John Greenwood has also used it to good effect on Wenfordbridge Goods - I see no point (doh!) in reinventing the wheel just yet..baby steps for me. The black thing in the middle - a Code 80 N gauge point from my Grandad's old layout, the scene of many happy hours when I was a nipper Length wise there isn't a lot in it, but the frog area..mmmm.....
Sticking it all together on the workbench this evening..
Doesn't seem like an awful lot of stuff for the time spent so far, but its been good fun, different and I can now carry on soldering bits together and finalising the layout plan I have in mind
Steve
I'm not very good at doing just one thing and finishing it off before starting something else so don't be surprised to see a slightly haphazzard approach in here...
First job of the weekend was to carry on with the small building started as part of the Larkrail challenge. Bits of code 40 rail were cut to length to act as bargeboard supports around the perimeter of the roof. If I can figure a way to make rain gutters I have the option of soldering them into place, plasticard bargeboards can then be glued to the brass rail (the hope is that the web of the rail creates a small recess for the glue to hold onto). If plastic turns out to be the best option for guttering that can at least be glued to the bargeboards and brass pins inserted through into the rail for extra support.
A change from soldering led to the conversion of a Farish 24, replacing the standard wheels with a set of the 2mm Association drop in wheelsets. The new wheels were given a quick scrub to clean them up, a polish with a glassfibre brush and then blackened...shown here next to one of the original wheelsets.
The axle is anodised aluminium so I've left it silver - you can't see it with the loco on the track anyway - note to self, check whether drive gear is visible now
Conversion really was a 10 minute job, I spent longer than that prepping the wheels for the swap. Halfway through and you get a good idea of the difference between N and 2mm FinescaleHaving converted the loco I started thinking it would be nice to be able to run it on something...oh dear, that'll be a slippery slope ahead then
If you're going to build a layout, points are handy things to have (says the bloke with the 'point less' garden railway) so I broke out the association jigs for filing the Vee and assembling the wing rails. Its the first time I've used any jigs for pointwork construction and it does make the job significantly easier for me, especially in getting the crucial alignments right. I'm not going to pretend it sped the process up much, by the time I'd worked out how to use the jigs (its still possible to get some misalignment on the wing rails) and made the rest of the components I didn't seem to be that far ahead of where I would normally be. There was however, a lot less 'adjusting' during construction and thats where the real time saving was. Tiebars still drive me mental but after a Saturday (and a quite a lot of today) I've got two points in 2mm that pass the wagon test Both are a B6 configuration and have a 'moving sleeper' tiebar - its worked for Jerry on Highbury and John Greenwood has also used it to good effect on Wenfordbridge Goods - I see no point (doh!) in reinventing the wheel just yet..baby steps for me. The black thing in the middle - a Code 80 N gauge point from my Grandad's old layout, the scene of many happy hours when I was a nipper
Length wise there isn't a lot in it, but the frog area..mmmm.....Sticking it all together on the workbench this evening..
Doesn't seem like an awful lot of stuff for the time spent so far, but its been good fun, different and I can now carry on soldering bits together and finalising the layout plan I have in mind
Steve
