Llwyndrissi Halt.

[Strider]

It is interesting!

Looking forward to seeing how this progresses - I admire your ingenuity.

[Daniel]

For sure it's interesting!

I don't know which type of clay you use but my experience with DAS clay is it tend to shrink if you just let it dry in normal temperatures and more if you are heating it. Anyway, it won't expand so much couldn't happen.

Daniel

[Strider]

For sure it's interesting!

I don't know which type of clay you use but my experience with DAS clay is it tend to shrink if you just let it dry in normal temperatures and more if you are heating it. Anyway, it won't expand so much couldn't happen.

Daniel

That's sound advice. I've yet to use DAS, but most other fillers are best applied in thin layers and air dried, or using indirect heat.

[Mountain]

So far all is going good. I was sanding the clay and when I had the rough shape I added a layer or two of thin runny superglue to add some strength.
I decided to file off the "Feet" so I will need to make some sort of cradle to mount onto the chassis. I wasn't sure if it would work so it is plan B without feet instead.

[Strider]

So far all is going good. I was sanding the clay and when I had the rough shape I added a layer or two of thin runny superglue to add some strength.
I decided to file off the "Feet" so I will need to make some sort of cradle to mount onto the chassis. I wasn't sure if it would work so it is plan B without feet instead.

Clever stuff! Coming on nicely.

[Mountain]

My modelling has been in little bits lately, but I will share some plans. I have plenty of projects to finish like making the chassis/frame structures for those tanks to sit on and many other projects of various stages of completion from the planning in my head stage, to just needing the finishing touch. There is no hurry... But it's nice to push on ahead when I am ready, and can overcome the mental walls which can come and go and delay me a little.

But here is a start of a project that I don't think I have shared.

This started out with a coach like this... From a kiddies toy pushalong train... (I believe you have seen this bit before earlier in this thread).

[Mountain]

And now the coach has been disaasembled and worked on and been cut in half and cut again and had its roof details filed off, and... and...
Well, it looks like this...

I initially was thinking of making little workmans coaches for the workers on my railway as I prefer to make little 4 wheel coaches. I only have one bogie coach which is not quite finished which was made from the same toy coach like I have shown above, though somehow, I prefer to make 4 wheel coaches as they seem more appropiate for my little railway.

Now there is a feature about these slices of carriage! They are small. Shorter and they will be lower then Peco and Smallbrook coaches. Actually quite a bit shorter! Hence why thoughts turned to make them into workmens coaches.

But I have another idea for them which is just as unique and interesting, so watch this space for future progress!

[Daniel]

Great to see you back on track, Mountain!

I like this project and can't wait to see every step.

Daniel

[Strider]

Looking forward to seeing how this progresses.

[PinkNosedPenguin]

We're watching

[Mountain]

I thought I would share some interesting information.

The first is in regards to working with tinplate. Take a look at this link:-

https://youtu.be/4SSGohkErZc

I have not soldered my tinplate items yet as I have carefully designed waggon bodies that rely on them being cut and folded in the right places to eliminate sharp edges, but soldering is a good method of joining tinplate so the link is worth a look. She also has other links to look at and learn from.

And this is another example of working with tinplate where this gentleman makes himself some 0 gauge "Merry-go-round" wagons.

https://youtu.be/NPqPpRJEkOA

Another bit of information I would like to share is one my Dad taught me from when I was a child, and that is how to repair or join those plastics that glue just will not adhere or bond to, and that is to use heat. Soldering iron will do the job though one is going to need to clean the tip after such use! Do not apply the heat for that long as plastic will melt quite quickly. Well now you know how to solder tinplate, and do minor repairs to "Difficult" plastics where one can't see any other way.

[Bufferstop]

I wish you luck with heat joining those plastics. Back in the mid sixties GPO Telephones was trying to find a really moistureproof way of joining polythene covered cables, and the only things that got anywhere near to effective were all mechanical and suffered creep, where the moisture got through eventually. Solvent welding was out, the solvent came in polythene bottles, so no point trying really. So we tried to bond poly to poly with "soldering techniques". You can probably guess how much success we had by the fact that we installed compresors to blow dried air into the cables, and pressure sensors to warn if there wasn't enough pressure to keep the moisture out.
Some you can solvent weld, some you can glue with Araldite, but Polythene just can't be stuck!

[Ex-Pat]

I imagine there must be some similarity to: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=50348#p617225 (bottom photo and the following post)

Perhaps you wouldn't need to clean your tip so much if you used an add-on piece of metal?

[Mountain]

Thanks for the replies. I do read them even if I forget to comment on them.

Recent developments have been interesting as I have bought a secondhand donor loco in H0 gauge made by Aristrocraft under the name "New One". It is heavy and solid! It is only a little 0-4-0 shunter, and yet it weighs about the same as a Wrenn class 08 and that is pretty weighty but noticeably larger.

[Ammended. I am making a plan to work out what is best to do as I have discovered that this locomotive is rather rare so I am a little reluctant to adapt it into a 7mm narrow gauge loco.
Instead, I am having thoughts about changing it into a half size loco and building a tender for the driver to sit in to drive the thing. That way I do not have to alter the loco, though I may take advantage of adding extra pickups on the tender to help with current collection.]

[Mountain]

Not a lot to report except a few unfinished projects, and this new idea... I had bought an old Lima J50 chassis for a low price at a toy and train fair several years ago and I was thinking that if I convert it to an 0-4-0 it would be useful. Ideally to do this it would be best if a new chassis could be made, so I decided to make a start to see if this was possible. Here is work done so far using a short length of aluminium U channel. I had tried to see if I could bolt this on the other end of the motor hence the wierd shape at one ed of the U section, but I decided that it is best to just go ahead and put the work into mounting the motor into the new frame. It will need a fair amount of material to be removed. It is all an experiment. I have not decided yet if I can shorten the wheelbase or not. It depends how much room there is after making new motor brackets. If successful then I will have an improved Lima chassis. If not then I still have the old chassis and I may work on that. We shall see. It is just an experiment on an old chassis I picked up cheap.

Oh. And there is more news which will have me busy for some time to come (I am not able to do much at the moment so it will be a bit at a time but there is no hurry). This news comes in the form of a dedicated room for my trains. It is an old shed which was used as a workshop, but it will need cleaning out and converting, and I need to reduce my clutter from inside the barn so the things cluttering up this shed can go into the barn instead. It is all a bit at a time... But I will need to downsize my bicycle collection of various project bicycles and bits... I have already scrapped many and have saved the valueable ones, but with the issues I had I have not been able to do much so the majority of the enthusiastic renovation projects will be abandoned.
At least in the long run this will give me a dedicated railway shed for me to work on my various projects etc, as using my now cluttered bedroom is far from ideal!