Slow Train Coming

Ouch! No posts in September (not by me anyway)!

A wee bit of progress on Brafferton; mainly getting trackwork underway. James and I had a grand day out at Shipley; played with Alan's and Edward's trainsets and made several purchases, mainly for James' N Gauge layout.

I also succeeded in blowing the chip on the N8. Don't ask how, 'cos I don't know. Anyhow that loco is now chez Sissling for a partial stripdown of paintwork; the area around the cab roof was especially prone to damage. Once back home it will have to be rechipped...

I won't be able to make the meeting tomorrow, but bits of Brafferton will be at Bolton for those interested; whether I can make anything run is another matter!

Through the Wires

As promised, here are some pics of the N8 showing the chip installation.

i. General arrangement. The wires have been tweaked a bit more now, so that the front of the chip is higher.



ii. Front view showing the various bits of wiring. There is very little room either side of the motor and none on top where the rear spectacle plate actually touches the top of the motor. In comparison to find space for the wires, getting space for the chip was relatively easy.

iii. As such the wires are visible along the inside of the footplate; being orange doesn't help either! A touch of dark grey should render these much less obtrusive; the light grey one on the other side is less obvious even in its original state.

iv. The chip nestles nicely in the roof space and from all but the lowest viewpoints is invisible. A relative success and fairly quick and easy.

Lets Get Digital

As I mentioned in the VAG, my Lenz system is now up and running. I have also successfully chipped the N8.

I thought the chip would fit in the tank area, but it soon became apparent that I would need to remove some of the boiler, and associated weight, to get sufficient space above the wheels. The cab area was the backup and I initially decided that I could stick it to the motor with some of the double sticky foam that comes with the chip. This proved to be too obtrusive; the chip and foam were very visible astride the motor.

By then, I'd wired the chip in as per instructions and it became apparent that the wires were sufficiently stiff to carry the chip. I therefore removed the foam and allowed the chip to float free. By tweaking the wires, the chip sits snugly inside the roof area and is substantially less visible. As recommended, I insulated the inside of the body against potential shorts; sellotape worked fine for this.

If I were building the N8 now, I'd allow space to mount the chip in the tanks. The result I have is the best, I think for a loco not built with DCC in mind. Here, with the help of my daughter, are my first tentative steps into DCC;

I'll post some close-ups of the loco in the next day or so.

And Now For Something Completely Different

Mmmm. Definitely all quiet on the North Eastern front. What about all you chaps who said you could post something now you've moved house/done the ironing/walked the dog (delete as appropriate)?





Anyhow. I've been mainly busy with the American N Scale; getting James doing some scenic work etc. As I've no current 2mm layout, I installed a 2mm test track at the front of the N layout. It seemed a good idea to scenicise this somewhat, delineate it from the N Scale and give a backdrop for any photos I might want to take. I'd been playing with the Scalescene printed papers on the American layout with some success and now I've adapted the concrete retaining wall for use with the 2mm track. The results are reasonable and it was nice to work with printed paper and card again. I'm interested as to the durability of inkjet printed papers; we'll see how these stand up.





The N8 was finally finished and I'm pleased I entered it at the AGM. Whilst it was always going to struggle against Bob's exquisite 9F, I feel it performed well on the day and acquitted itself with dignity. If anything the weathering lets the loco down; this was the last minute rush following the lining nightmare and when viewed in bright light, it looks a bit overdone/heavyhanded. I might revisit and repaint the N8 at some point, but now I'm back concentrating on the D49 locowise so it must wait...





A couple of photos showing the loco and the wall:

And one of just the wall:

Inside Out

Okay. Who spotted that the lining on the N8 was inside out? And didn't tell me?

I didn't until I'd started applying the black inner bead that seperates the red and white bands. I then thought, "that doesn't look right." Of course it didn't! By then though, I was becoming increasingly concerned at the robustness (or otherwise) of the paintwork. So start again was the order of the day. No wonder it takes me so b*&^dy long to do anything...

Right loco, wrong lining...

...wrong loco, right lining!

Stupid boy.

A Bad Day in the Office

The Fat Controller sat in his office and mopped his brow. He had not had a good day. "Bother Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs," he grumbled and polished off the hot buttered teacake that had previously sat with three others on his plate. His back was playing him up again and he didn't have the enthusiasm to deal with the papers on his desk.

"Surely the role of a Controller is to play trains and not to deal with every tuppenny-bit pettyfogging official that cares to come knocking," he mused to himself. "What I need are some more locomotives! When you're down, a new locomotive always helps; look at Percy and Toby and why even a diesel like Mavis!" He rumaged in his lower drawer and brought out the new N8. "Yes, you need your lining finishing," he thought, "but otherwise I think you will do very nicely."

"Do you have a name?" he kindly asked the train as he took out his decals and MicroSol.

The Fat Controller's wife stood at the doorway and shook her head. "I really must take him out more," she thought to herself as she quietly closed the door.

Hold the Line...

More work on the N8. To the detriment of the D49 it has to be said, although some progress is evident on the loco chassis. I'll tell you about that later...

Now back to the N8 and the thorny issue of lining. You will recall how I, not without mishap, got the totem and numbering in place. I then went to look for the lining in my decal box. Without success! I'm sure I had some somewhere; no doubt it will show up when I don't want it.

So off goes the order to Fox Transfers and with all due haste a set of decals comes back to me in the post. It's at this point that I realise why I really, really, really wanted an unlined loco. If this is Mr Fox's day-to-day business there's no wonder he had a heart attack! The tiniest fragments of lining floating about to try and make up the reverse curve in front of the cab. Long straights of lining that stretch when you don't want them to and when you need that fraction of a millimetre extra, refuse to budge! Everything is so tiny and fragile; then when its all in place, looks like it was painted with a 1/2" brush. GGGRRRRRR!!!!!!

The results are below. If I said I was happy, it would be a lie. I just hope the weathering will help!

Don't Give Up

Well I've spent the evening pushing small numbers round in ever decreasing circles. The kids are in bed, the missus has a whisky and a good book, and I'm here going mad!



Anyhow, the ferret, the dartboard and the numbers are in place. I think I'll have that whisky now...

You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)

A week or so of little modelling due to VAT returns, business planning etc.

Anyway I've started decalling the N8. The locomotive will be 69394.

Two problems have reared their ugly heads:

1. I started applying the number with the wrong size numerals. Careless, I know, but when you've not done any numbering for a while the different sizes of numerals becomes almost unnoticable. So I started to remove the "9" and the "4" which I'd applied and let dry. Unfortunately, the Microsol started to soften the paintwork! As a result, I've had to touch the paintwork in with a brush after removing the offending decals. I just hope that the new numerals with hide the irregularities...
2. I've just found out that post '51/'52, this loco carried lining. I was hoping to avoid this and had chosen a loco where I could see it was unlined. The photo must have been taken a day or two before it went into the paintshop. Arrrrgh!!!

I'll stick with this loco and persevere with the lining. Maybe some photos next time. Maybe.

Paint it Black (Well Almost!)

If you read the comments on my last post, you'd know that the N8 is currently in the paintshop.



A little while ago Mark Fielder posted about Vallejo acrylic paints on the VAG. I made a note of the supplier http://www.modelsforsale.com/ and last week got round to placing an order. I have also struggled to get reasonable results with primers sold through the model railway trade eg Precision and so I thought I'd try some Tamiya Metal Primer sold in a 100ml aerosol.



The primer went on very nicely, but I was a bit surprised to find that it was clear! Having left that in the airing cupboard to dry last night, I applied the top coat this morning. The Vallejo acrylics come in 17ml bottles with a pipette type top; very easy to dispense into the airbrush. Eschewing black, I opted for No 056 black/grey which is also labelled as "Panzer" on the bottle. I thought I'd made a mistake as I started spraying; the grey was really quite light. Then I remembered a conversation with a wise old man (Mike Raithby actually) who told me that acrylics actually dry darker rather than the inverse with say enamels or watercolours.



I'm quite pleased with the outcome. Some areas will need brushing in when the body is thoroughly dry and I notice from the photos a few strands of glass brush lurking under the paint. But I feel happier with the result than with sprayed enamels. It will be interesting to see how robust the finish is.