Farewell then . . . . . .

No the blog is not going anywhere! On Thursday the DEAG bid farewell to Nick Mitchell who is moving to foreign parts, well the Lancashire / Yorkshire borders to be precise. Nick came to the DEAG a novice scratch builder and I think it is fair to say we have all been impressed with the quality of his 2mm modelling, see elsewhere on this blog.

He brought along and was working on his 2mm Scale Association's 08 kit which is posed on 'Clive Road Sidings'. It runs very smoothly even without the weight of a body, a testament to both Nick's skills and to the quality of the kit.

David Eveleigh is currently working on making a mould to produce pantiles for a row of buildings which will appear on his layout Cley Harbour. He has made a grooved roller which he drags across a sheet of rolled out FIMO to form a positive moulding which is then fired in the oven. RTV silicone mould making and casting rubber will then be poured over this to make the final mould from which resin castings will be produced. In the photo, David is cutting the FIMO into strips so that they can be laid on plastic card, each strip slightly angled upwards to give the effect of tiles overlapping.

Stuart Bailey was working on a model of Lambourne goods shed. It is built using Evergreen 'siding' board and plastic card strips, the contruction mimicking how the original shed was built.

David Short has been building the point work for his Golden Jubilee Challenge layout based on Goathland, and the photo shows a single slip and point being constructed using the Versaline track building system (other systems are available). The layout of the track work was created using Templot (c). The chairs are soldered to the sleepers which are stuck onto the plan using a water soluble glue for easy removal when finished. The next step will be soldering the rail on.

It may look chaotic but room on the modelling table is at a premium, still it makes for a cosy atmosphere.

As for me I was adding grab handles to my GWR four wheeled coaches, built from Worsley Works aid to scratch building kits. The handle etch is an Ultima Model's one which I bought many years ago. A handle is laid in position on some solder paint, held lightly in place with a cocktail stick and I use a resistance soldering iron to complete the attachment. A fibre glass brush will remove the surplus solder.


Footnote:
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June Meeting

I think that sums up our hobby and I hope you agree?

In the background you can see some of David Eveleigh's sheeted wagons which he was preparing for Expo2mm. I think you will agree that they look very good.

Some time ago David produced a clamping system based on a board with holes in, a small diameter dowel and half a cloths peg. The peg also has a hole drilled in it which is a sliding fit over the dowel. By placing the work piece under the end of the peg and pressing the peg downwards, it grips the dowel and clamps the work to the board.

Here you see Nigel's modified version with additional dowel at an angle through the peg, which is useful for holding small items.

In this picture you can see a cutting mat fitted to a board with various pieces of aluminium angle attached to the board. These allow nice straight cuts to be made in plastic card, card, paper or even thin sheet wood. The straight edge to the board allows a set square to be used when right angle cuts are required, as here, cutting out window apertures.

Finally for this posting, is a picture showing two of my four GWR wheel coaches to which I have added grab handles. The handles are from an etch produced by Ultimar which has been in my gloat box for many years. I am pleased with the results.

April Meeting

A good turn out this month with lots of modelling taking place.

Firstly a photo of various models, Nigel Cliffe's fine scaled 04, Nick Mitchell's LMS vented van(2mm Assoc. body kit), two chassis and Nick's LMS Van (N Gauge Society body). In the foreground is a Peco N-6.5 wagon on Microtrain wheels.

A close up of the 04 and Nick's LMS vented van shows what can be achieved in 2mm, firstly by fitting fine scale wheels to a Farish 04 loco, see the 24 March 2008 blog for further information. Secondly by a well painted 2mm Association body kit on an Assoc. chassis.

This picture shows Nick hard at work on a Chriss Higgs etched chassis which is being prepared to fit under the N Gauge Society LMS van body seen in the top photograph.

This beautifully curved handbuilt point is by David S for his layout based on Goathland station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. Here you can see four track gauges being used to hold one of the switch rails to gauge prior to the soldering iron being applied. This layout is one which is being prepared for the Golden Jubilee Challenge. More information about the Challenge can be found at the 2mm Scale Association's web site and also other blogs, links to the right of this item.

Nigel spent the evening carefully cutting out a card building side onto which he stuck the photo reduced, 4mm scale to 2mm scale, building paper. Here we see the window/door chads being pushed back into place to hold the paper folded over into the reveals, whilst the adhesive dries.

The final photograph shows my progress on laying in some narrow gauge track to Marks Quay, here working on the point where the dual gauge track diverges into separate tracks. The roller gauge to the right was an Association 9.42mm track gauge but I shortened it in the lathe by first drilling a hole right through to take a 12BA bolt, then parting the gauge off in the middle and reducing its length until it was 6.5mm gauge. The bolt then holds it together.

It would have been easier had I planned this at the start of the layout instead of some time after all the standard gauge track was already laid. Never mind I feel it will be worth it in the end.

Details of the next meeting can be found to the right, or on the 2mm Scale Association website calender.

March 2008 Meeting

Very quiet meeting this month, only three members modelling. David (S) was working on the first piece of point work for his layout based on Goathland station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, see post below (28 Feb.'08). Using the Versaline Track system (available through the 2mm Scale Assoc. shop) of etched chairs, it is a curved point which was drawn up using TEMPLOT.


David (E) was laying track insitu on his Golden Jubilee Challenge Layout and Stuart was working on some etched windows

Nigel demonstrated his and Nick's DCC controller, see post below (21 Feb.'08)

We shall convene again on the 17 April, and if you would like to join us contact David (E) for further information.

February 2008 Meeting

February's meeting was, as one of our number commented, a lively and productive evening.

I continued to build wagon chassis, not very exiting, and Bill brought along a rake of goods vans which he has built for Long Melford.

Both the David's where building track work, David S is using the easiline system utilising Bill Blackburn's jigs to construct track for his planned layout of Ongar, Essex. He plans to enter this for the Golden Jubilee Challenge. David Es' track building utilises bullhead rail soldered direct to the sleepers using his own jig which I think I am right in saying is designed to give a slightly wider sleeper spacing for his layout Framsden, also an entry in the Golden Jubilee Challenge.

Finally a couple of photos of the Framsden baseboard and embryo layout.

Our next meeting will take place on 27 March, if you would like to join in contact details can be found in the 06/07 Yearbook.

January 2008 Meeting

Happy New Year from DEAG.

Seven of us met up on Thursday 17 Jan at our secret base in Darkest Essex, the hot topic this time being the Golden Jubilee Challenge. Several of us are going to enter and some have made a start whilst others are still in the planning stage. More information will follow as to our progress.

David (S) proudly produced his Assoc. 08 kit which had recently arrived and made a start, putting the chassis jig together, see below.


Nick was working on some 'Electra' couplings for his rolling stock which as usual looks so neat, he rarely gets blobs of solder on things, I'm jealous!


Bill was working on some wagon chassis for his Long Melford layout, too big for the Challenge unless he enters one baseboard on its own. I was also finishing some wagon chassis to go under more (7 plank) coal wagons for my planned Forest of Dean Layout.

Stewart showed us how to make three link couplings, two brass links and one steel, for his automatic coupling system. So far he has been able to pull six wagons without them coming apart so the system looks promising. Uncoupling has still to be perfected but several ideas are being tried and Stewart has promised to put something on the blog soon. The picture on the left shows his link winding jig made from an aluminium hair clip and the other picture shows the links being fitted together. Takes patience this hobby!


The final photograph shows two whistles that Nick has turned out of brass rod for Stewart, I think they are about 3mm long!


Our next meeting will take place on 21 February, if you would like to join in, contact details can be found in the 06/07 Yearbook.