4mm An EM Workbench: Mini-Signwriting (rough)
- Thread starter AJC
- Start date
AJC
Western Thunderer
Yes indeed - fair play to PECO. I don't suppose that the results will be cheap (given the price tag on their OO bullhead) but that really is not the issue. As a facilitating move for those wanting to take some of the challenge out of the gauge change this has enormous potential.
Adam
Adam
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
AJC
Western Thunderer
I haven't the faintest notion and would suspect that - for the majority of EM modellers, either active or existing only in potentia - dare I say it, this might not matter a jot (just as for an awful lot of modellers in all scales and standards, what goes on behind the loco drawhook doesn't seem to matter all that much).
My best guess, since I have no prior knowledge of these but based on this: EMGS commissions Peco for RTR EM Gauge bullhead track/turnouts - Peco, is that they took their existing templates and used these as the basis for the geometry. I've built enough turnouts using these self-same templates to know that they work from my own experience and I would reckon that the same factors apply to these as apply to the OO bullhead track that PECO have produced: to have something that can pass as representative for most British railways from about the 1880s(?) onwards that you can simply get out of a packet is a worthwhile end in itself. Obviously, not everyone will hold to that view as the screeds and screeds of posts on the subject of the existing OO bullhead track on the other channel demonstrate.
Adam
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
Hi Graham,
I don't think this matters in the slightest.
Those that are exercised by the number of bolts on a chair or the panel length will do what they always have - make their own track.
Those that are frightened off EM by the absence of RTL track now have the impetus to have a go. And you can get an awful long way with decent looking flexible track and just a R or L hand point.
This has got to be a great move, and I hope it is supported. Who knows, manufacturers might start looking at EM friendly locos and stock!
Richard
76043
Western Thunderer
I understand the high cost of the PECO bullhead turnouts is due to an increased level of hand finishing than their other turnouts. There is no reason why they should tell us this commercial knowledge, but it would be nice for this to be more widely known and consequently they be given a break on it. Additionally, considering the production is in Devon we should look upon this initiative favourably in my view.
Of course they can't make every type of chair/sleeper combination, having just discovered Cecil J Allen's Modern British Permanent Way 1915 magazine series, via the GE society, no-one ever will!
RE042 Modern British Permanent Way 1915
And maybe it's the beginning of the the end for OO!!
Tony
Of course they can't make every type of chair/sleeper combination, having just discovered Cecil J Allen's Modern British Permanent Way 1915 magazine series, via the GE society, no-one ever will!
RE042 Modern British Permanent Way 1915
And maybe it's the beginning of the the end for OO!!
Tony
AJC
Western Thunderer
Yep. I think that the EMGS are missing a bit of a trick by making availability from them only, at least initially (though I can completely understand why, some sort of marketing arrangement with, say, Eileen's Emporium could work wonders).
Adam
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MartinWales
Western Thunderer
Richard Thomas
New Member
Well done Peco...this certainly shows that you have an eye on the future, and let's face it, you've been a leader for the past 70+ years.
Excellent news hopefully it will be the start of greater popularity for EM and maybe years down the line - long past our lifetimes? - it could be the standard for 4mm instead of OO.
I wish they'd had it 30 odd years ago when I was a member of the EMGS - 4mm is a bit too small for my eyes these days
I wish they'd had it 30 odd years ago when I was a member of the EMGS - 4mm is a bit too small for my eyes these days
Peckett: The Marshal
AJC
Western Thunderer
Basking in the winter sunshine, Peckett, The Marshal is now all but complete (though I'm a little unsure about the smokebox weathering).
The name, by the by - as well a being a decent name for shunting engine - is a reminder of John Marshall, Bristolian and Union man to his toes, who bought the kit and died before he could get around to building it. Thanks John.
Adam
The name, by the by - as well a being a decent name for shunting engine - is a reminder of John Marshall, Bristolian and Union man to his toes, who bought the kit and died before he could get around to building it. Thanks John.
Adam
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Yorkshire Dave
Western Thunderer
.
100HP Sentinel
AJC
Western Thunderer
Not a lot of modelling over the Christmas period, though Brighton Works has been successfully commissioned (though the Peckett requires a bit of remedial work to make it run as well as I think it should).
Anyhow, another year, another Sentinel. You may recall my - rather involved - conversion of a pre-war 200HP loco built for the S&DJR into a post-war machine (here's the finished result if your memory need jogging: 4mm - The Sentinel (and derivatives) in EM - overdue update). This one is the smaller brother, a post-war 100HP loco from RT Models (with drive unit from High Level) and has, so far, been a complete delight to build with every part fitting exactly as it should and, because it's etched in Nickel Silver, nice to solder, too. There's an account of an build if this same kit on the other channel: 100 hp Sentinel from RT Models Kit - UK Standard Gauge Industrial Modelling
I'll be basing it on one of the Roads Reconstruction (1934) fleet used in the precursor to the massive Whatley Quarry. There are plenty of pictures of these about so here's my personal favourite collection, from 1967: Vallis Vale Somerset
The chassis unit is mostly invisible and folded up without fuss. The gearbox and swinging gear train was a mite fiddly, but results in a smooth and very slow-running loco (but the real thing is only capable of 13 mph). Despite this, the flywheel does have some effect and once fully weighted, I'm hopeful that the thing will be relatively powerful - unweighted trials had it pushing 8 wagons perfectly happily.
Thus far the only alteration I've made has been a cosmetic one. Sentinel made their loco steps from Durbar plating so I've added an overlay to represent this (the etch came from Intercity Models, I think Shawplan may do something similar). These Mendip locos only had steps at the rear...
So here's the body assembly thus far:
And finally, for now, body popped on chassis to check clearances. What this demonstrates is that there's plenty of room for adhesive weight when the time comes. The coupling hooks are from AMBIS - I think they are slightly overscale for usability, but the tininess of the loco accentuates this a bit (nothing wrong with the hooks supplied on the etch, by the way, it's just that I had these made up and ready to go!).
Adam
Anyhow, another year, another Sentinel. You may recall my - rather involved - conversion of a pre-war 200HP loco built for the S&DJR into a post-war machine (here's the finished result if your memory need jogging: 4mm - The Sentinel (and derivatives) in EM - overdue update). This one is the smaller brother, a post-war 100HP loco from RT Models (with drive unit from High Level) and has, so far, been a complete delight to build with every part fitting exactly as it should and, because it's etched in Nickel Silver, nice to solder, too. There's an account of an build if this same kit on the other channel: 100 hp Sentinel from RT Models Kit - UK Standard Gauge Industrial Modelling
I'll be basing it on one of the Roads Reconstruction (1934) fleet used in the precursor to the massive Whatley Quarry. There are plenty of pictures of these about so here's my personal favourite collection, from 1967: Vallis Vale Somerset
The chassis unit is mostly invisible and folded up without fuss. The gearbox and swinging gear train was a mite fiddly, but results in a smooth and very slow-running loco (but the real thing is only capable of 13 mph). Despite this, the flywheel does have some effect and once fully weighted, I'm hopeful that the thing will be relatively powerful - unweighted trials had it pushing 8 wagons perfectly happily.
Thus far the only alteration I've made has been a cosmetic one. Sentinel made their loco steps from Durbar plating so I've added an overlay to represent this (the etch came from Intercity Models, I think Shawplan may do something similar). These Mendip locos only had steps at the rear...
So here's the body assembly thus far:
And finally, for now, body popped on chassis to check clearances. What this demonstrates is that there's plenty of room for adhesive weight when the time comes. The coupling hooks are from AMBIS - I think they are slightly overscale for usability, but the tininess of the loco accentuates this a bit (nothing wrong with the hooks supplied on the etch, by the way, it's just that I had these made up and ready to go!).
Adam
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100HP Sentinel
AJC
Western Thunderer
A bit more work and a couple of minor issues I was able to solder in all the panels from behind which makes for a nice neat job. The holes etched for the catches and handrails are a bit large for what, on the real thing, are quite dainty fittings (I'll be using parts intended for N gauge and 0.3mm wire rather than 0.45 as I did for the 200HP version).
Perhaps more of a concern is the cab cut-out which I think is a smidge shallow. Compare it to this side on shot: Abandoned Sentinel at Vallis Vale - I'll need to roll up a roof - two are supplied - to check...
Adam
Perhaps more of a concern is the cab cut-out which I think is a smidge shallow. Compare it to this side on shot: Abandoned Sentinel at Vallis Vale - I'll need to roll up a roof - two are supplied - to check...
Adam
100HP Sentinel
AJC
Western Thunderer
I'm not at the point where I'm running out of bits on the fret but, before I embark on detailing - loads of handrails, castings, buffers and so on - I'll need to sort the cab roof which turns out is probably a bit wide and needs trimming back before detailing and fixing from above by means of a long screw into the top of the boiler, I think. That will also hold the thing flat, with any luck!
In between the soldering stuff, I picked up the most recent copy of one of the popular modelling mags only really because the editorial team have had themselves scanned and rendered in plastic. A fiver for some decent figures and a paintbrush (just as the flux brush is on its last bristles) seems a reasonable deal to me, and the magazine will make good dividers for the stock box; there's not a whole lot of content, though your mileage may vary.*
Anyhow, to the figures. There's an immediate problem:
For those of you rusty in 4mm scale arithmetic, 27mm scales out at a Joel Garner-esque, door frame and ceiling troubling, 6' 9". Now with the best will in the world, Andy York and chums are somewhat diminutive in comparison to Big Bird and needed cutting down to size. The surgery was swift, somewhat brutal and non-reversible and a couple of mil' were removed from the gentlemens' legs. The legs were drilled, 0.5mm wire let into the bottoms and their feet pinned back on. This has done nothing for their BMI, sadly, but with a modicum of restyling of clothing and adjustment of waistlines they still look more or less right and scale up to somewhere in the region of 6' apiece which is a bit more like it, if still a bit tall for some contexts. They're all too tall for the Sentinel, for example!
Next up, painting 'em.
Adam
* Some reasonable layouts, a very brief guide to applying lining, even with a bow pen(!) and Tony Wright knocking up yet another LNER machine but nothing that makes it worth retaining for future reference, unfortunately.
In between the soldering stuff, I picked up the most recent copy of one of the popular modelling mags only really because the editorial team have had themselves scanned and rendered in plastic. A fiver for some decent figures and a paintbrush (just as the flux brush is on its last bristles) seems a reasonable deal to me, and the magazine will make good dividers for the stock box; there's not a whole lot of content, though your mileage may vary.*
Anyhow, to the figures. There's an immediate problem:
For those of you rusty in 4mm scale arithmetic, 27mm scales out at a Joel Garner-esque, door frame and ceiling troubling, 6' 9". Now with the best will in the world, Andy York and chums are somewhat diminutive in comparison to Big Bird and needed cutting down to size. The surgery was swift, somewhat brutal and non-reversible and a couple of mil' were removed from the gentlemens' legs. The legs were drilled, 0.5mm wire let into the bottoms and their feet pinned back on. This has done nothing for their BMI, sadly, but with a modicum of restyling of clothing and adjustment of waistlines they still look more or less right and scale up to somewhere in the region of 6' apiece which is a bit more like it, if still a bit tall for some contexts. They're all too tall for the Sentinel, for example!
Next up, painting 'em.
Adam
* Some reasonable layouts, a very brief guide to applying lining, even with a bow pen(!) and Tony Wright knocking up yet another LNER machine but nothing that makes it worth retaining for future reference, unfortunately.
Lyndhurstman
Western Thunderer
It looks the part, Adam. I do like these particular Sentinels - there’s something about that angled bonnet that appeals. And that is captured nicely by your rendition of kit.
Ah... I also thought the mag might be worth a punt for the addition of the figures and the brush, but I’m not going to bother if extreme plastic surgery (that you’ve done so well) is required. Unless....
Cheers
Jan
Ah... I also thought the mag might be worth a punt for the addition of the figures and the brush, but I’m not going to bother if extreme plastic surgery (that you’ve done so well) is required. Unless....
Cheers
Jan
AJC
Western Thunderer
Hehe. It's not so difficult - chop the feet off, drill a 0.5 mm hole through the heels. Chop a couple of mill off the bottom on the legs and drill up the middle - there's plenty of meat there and superglue some wire up the hole, thread the feet back on the same wire, more superglue, job done. About five minutes per figure, more if their feet vanish into the ether!
I actually think the loco crew pair are more in proportion afterwards and that's all they've had done to them. Andy Y (second left) now has something that looks like a duffle coat that a backside coverer which isn't so implausible for an enthusiast on a brakevan special which will, I think, be his fate. Equally, a bit of forced perspective could be engineered using them as supplied.
Dad looked longingly at the Impetus version of this Sentinel, all those years back, and having walked the abandoned trackbed of the old route up Murdercombe (and, er, strayed onto the new line for a closer look one Sunday after RailWells perhaps 20 years ago...) where these things worked, who could resist?
Adam
I actually think the loco crew pair are more in proportion afterwards and that's all they've had done to them. Andy Y (second left) now has something that looks like a duffle coat that a backside coverer which isn't so implausible for an enthusiast on a brakevan special which will, I think, be his fate. Equally, a bit of forced perspective could be engineered using them as supplied.
Dad looked longingly at the Impetus version of this Sentinel, all those years back, and having walked the abandoned trackbed of the old route up Murdercombe (and, er, strayed onto the new line for a closer look one Sunday after RailWells perhaps 20 years ago...) where these things worked, who could resist?
Adam
