Wolverhampton Mrc Exhibition

[Dikitriki]

....is this coming weekend, 5th/6th November.

I shall be demonstrating 7mm kit building, so if you are going, come and say hi!

There is a good 7mm layout, Hollowbeck Shed, owned by the irrepressible Dave Wellington (Heyside Northern Division), and a full list of layouts is at:

http://www.wolverhamptonmrc.co.uk/exhibit/ours.htm

I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Richard

 

[Jordan]

Will say Hi Saturday !!

 

[iploffy]

I will not know if I am attending this year until I find out what time I finish at work hopefully I will see you on Saturday as well

Ian

 

[Phill Dyson]

Take some pics if you get chance boys

 

[Jordan]

Camera - ah yes!! One thing I tend to forget I must admit!! Last year there was some Scale7 stuff there which to be honest failed to impress me... A JLTRT Class 25 with all the DCC gizmos somehow still looks like a toy when it wobbles on it's bogies.... and stock with all the compensation in the world that still derails... when, that is, the operators condescend to move anything at all, other than when Tony Wright was about with his camera...
They usually hive Richard off in a small corner where his practice of the Dark Arts might go unnoticed - at least we know where to find him each year...!!

 

[Dikitriki]

Sssshhhh

If I'm not found, I can have a weekend's modelling

 

[Jordan]

Guess what I forgot to take to the Show...

Back of the Class time again......

 

[Ressaldar]

you mean apart from your wallet?

cheers

Mike

 

[Jordan]

yeah yeah.... no I forgot my camera - D'oh!
My wallet did get opened, in fact... I bought a ballast-spreading device for OO/HO track, and subsidised my lad's purchase of some old Pullman coaches to go behind his Flying Scotsman - the Trader didn't have any LNER Teak ones.
I'd forgotten just how dire old Hornby wheelsets were - I now need to get several sets of modern replacement steel coach wheels...

 

[Dikitriki]

I had a thoroughly good time at the show. I'd been promoted (or is that relegated) to the main hall, so it was non-stop talking and not much modelling.

One bloke came up to me - I remembered him from last year as I had given him a hands-on soldering lesson - and told me that he had managed to complete his first ever brass loco thanks to my lesson; it had given him the confidence to have a go, and he was chuffed to bits. It made my weekend.

On the Sunday, I took my warship along so that the guys from Shawplan and the 'extreme etchings' team could pull it apart. I was not entirely convinced I had got it right as I found it very difficult to get decent roof pictures of a NB warship in particular. To my delight, once we'd got past the 'nothing a lump hammer can't cure' ribbing, I only have a very small list of items to correct. So next year, it's into the paintshops.

They also went through all the errors on the Heljan Deltic. Hmmm. I think I shall wait for their replacement etchings to come out and really have a go at it. Means a full repaint though, which sort of seems to defeat the object of RTR?

Richard

 

[Phill Dyson]

On the Sunday, I took my warship along so that the guys from Shawplan and the 'extreme etchings' team could pull it apart. I was not entirely convinced I had got it right as I found it very difficult to get decent roof pictures of a NB warship in particular. To my delight, once we'd got past the 'nothing a lump hammer can't cure' ribbing, I only have a very small list of items to correct. So next year, it's into the paintshops.

Richard

Maybe it's just me, but I can never find the 7mm stuff on their website

 

[Jordan]

They also went through all the errors on the Heljan Deltic. ....

"All the errors"...? Just how many are there, then, apart from the nose side grille height, the cab step and possibly the nose profile...?
You're right - it does sort of defeat the object of R-T-R... possibly a reason why the likes of Tower are bleating about a lack of pre-orders for the 31... Heljan are not making a good name for themselves - I suspect that many people now want to see the model first, before committing to buying....

 

[Phill Dyson]

.......or maybe the Class 31 was the wrong choice?

 

[Ressaldar]

Maybe it's just me, but I can never find the 7mm stuff on their website

glad I'm not alone on this one

cheers

Mike

 

[Ressaldar]

"All the errors"...? Just how many are there, then, apart from the nose side grille height, the cab step and possibly the nose profile...?
You're right - it does sort of defeat the object of R-T-R... possibly a reason why the likes of Tower are bleating about a lack of pre-orders for the 31... Heljan are not making a good name for themselves - I suspect that many people now want to see the model first, before committing to buying....

but why do they ignore the comments? enough were made at the pre-production stage about the nose side grills and every model they have produced, the fuel tanks/battery boxes are too wide - is it a Danish thing?

cheers

Mike

 

[Phill Dyson]

glad I'm not alone on this one

cheers

Mike

Might be a good marketing point if we could find the stuff

 

[Steph Dale]

They also went through all the errors on the Heljan Deltic. Hmmm. I think I shall wait for their replacement etchings to come out and really have a go at it. Means a full repaint though, which sort of seems to defeat the object of RTR?

Now that piece of news means I might actually buy a Heljan Deltic...

To be honest the other models I've seen of them in 7mm don't look any better to my eyes. The Heljan got a 'nearly' on my highly subjective scale.

Steph

 

[Jordan]

but why do they ignore the comments? enough were made at the pre-production stage ...

There's a sneaking suspicion arising that I've read about that there isn't a pre-production stage as such... the "test shot" is from the final mold tool, so if when there are errors, it's too late/expensive to do anything about them ...

 

[Steph Dale]

There's a sneaking suspicion arising that I've read about that there isn't a pre-production stage as such... the "test shot" is from the final mold tool, so if when there are errors, it's too late/expensive to do anything about them ...

Quite true. What's to be considered here is that a production quantity for us is often no larger than 'Low Rate Initial Production' (LRIP) for some major industries. Nowadays with digital prototyping and the cost of die making, there is only one go at making a mould as it's so damned expensive. I had been led to believe that Heljan actually use a high-grade aluminium for their dies, rather than going to the expense of steel. This is fine for small runs where mould wear won't be a problem. However, doing corrections is hard; I seem to remember that 'plating in' an alumium mould is at best tricky, I just wish I could remember why (metalurgy and/or electrolysis would seem most likely).

The test shots shown of the Deltic were just that - test shots to see whether the mould worked, not whether the product was any good as that had already been finalised. It's interesting to note that the greatest howler on the model (nose grille) was obvious on the test artwork and 3d CAD drafting in retrospect, but nobody said anything to Heljan until after seeing the test shot. I have to confess I didn't notice it at all until I realised that the horizontal line on the green version wasn't quite where it should be...

I also have to say that I don't think moving the grille is the trickiest job on the planet, but it would mean a respray.

Steph

 

[Jordan]

... doing corrections is hard; I seem to remember that 'plating in' an aluminium mould is at best tricky, I just wish I could remember why (metalurgy and/or electrolysis would seem most likely).

I don't know either, but probably similar to why welding aluminium is a high art as well....
If the 'greatest howler' on the Deltic is the nose grille, then if I was in the market for one I'd be happy enough with it - the grille height isn't so apparent in BR Blue, after all....
Re the 31 pre-orders or lack of; I wouldn't say the 31 is the 'wrong model'... I'm certainly keen although my savings so far have succumbed to the influence of the Dark Side in HO recently....