The Brassgoggles Model Making Club (the second non-SP model making thread).

[James Harrison]

Ooh, I like.  Very nice. 

[novice]

Short clip of running light engine

Well, that is quite fantastic work.

[Ceir]

Ah, model-building. I build and paint things for various non-steamy tabletop games, I build Gundams and adjacent stuff. My latest projects have been some still-nicely-brassy Warhammer40K Necrons, and a couple of Bandai's 30 Minute Missions chaps to join the Robot Shelves.

I've also accidentally sort of rabbit-holed myself. Like many of us here (I'm sure) I had model trains as a young'n, a big HO scale board my dad made for me, and I grew out of it as the years passed. A few years ago as of now, I reignited an interest in trains; thanks mostly to this board, following the restoration of 4014, and some really excellent stuff on the youtubes (a fellow with the channel handle of Hyce is quite good).

I swore I wasn't going to touch model trains again, though. If I ever did, it would be at a smaller scale, where would I set it up, all the things that you know where this story is going. I started reading model railroad forums again, and checked out a couple of swap meets. Went to the local museum. Brought home only books though!

And then the Friendly Local Hobby Shop had a Bachmann N-scale set for 20% off because the box was a little mulched. I picked it up figuring it's the click-together track, I can break it out for Christmas and put the little circle on my table, just run a little train around some decorations. Made sure everything worked. Decided that a consist of two cars and a caboose looked sad even for a little N-scale 0-6-0, and picked up an extra freight car. Started looking at minimal-space track plans and switching puzzle layouts. And it looks like I can squeeze a simple oval with a couple of sidings for Inglenook puzzles into a 2'x4' space.

...d_mnit I'm into model trains again.

Absolutely not going realistic or prototype here, just 'run toy trains in a circle' with the odd rearranging puzzle, and for all I joke I am setting a hard limit of a 2'x4' space in the end, but there's just something about it even with basic-grade Bachmann stock. F'rex, I didn't realize that their N-scale rolling stock has metal wheels, and especially the snap-together track isn't exactly the smoothest - so you get, even vastly scaled down, the click-click click-click of the wheels, and it just made me smile.

[The Bullet]

Absolutely not going realistic or prototype here,...

Whatever it is, feel free to show pictures.

[Madasasteamfish]

...d_mnit I'm into model trains again.

One of us! One of us! One of us!

[Ceir]

Speaking of pictures, what are people using for freebie image hosts the days? Photobucket ate itself years back. Is Imgur still decent and reliable? I remember reading something about them blowing away images uploaded without an account, but I can find neither reference to it, nor the policy in their TOS.

[Madasasteamfish]

Speaking of pictures, what are people using for freebie image hosts the days? Photobucket ate itself years back. Is Imgur still decent and reliable? I remember reading something about them blowing away images uploaded without an account, but I can find neither reference to it, nor the policy in their TOS.

Whilst I can't speak for anyone else I use imgbb for my pictures. It's fairly simple to use and gives you the codes for posting to other sites.

[The Bullet]

I use picr.de
It´s free and works fine.

[James Harrison]

I use flickr myself.

[The Bullet]

Made a new grate with wider spacing for the Brill Tramway loco.

and:

the inevitable has happened: I now have a resin 3D printer

[Madasasteamfish]

Well after beginning the process of relocating I've fiddled with my railway book stack reference library and I've discovered that it now reaches the height of my navel....

I am in serious need of somewhere I can have a dedicated railway room or at the very least some larger book shelves.

[Madasasteamfish]

Well, my to-do list has moved along somewhat. What was last week was 2 sheets of plywood is now a rather sturdy stock box (and planks for another 2).



I admit it's a rather awkward and brutish thing with plenty of room for improvement, but it's helped me clear some space and it's a useful test bed/1st attempt at woodwork since my D&T lessons at school (which are now more years ago that I'd like to admit).

[The Bullet]

Well, my to-do list has moved along somewhat. What was last week was 2 sheets of plywood is now a rather sturdy stock box (and planks for another 2).



I admit it's a rather awkward and brutish thing with plenty of room for improvement, but it's helped me clear some space and it's a useful test bed/1st attempt at woodwork since my D&T lessons at school (which are now more years ago that I'd like to admit).

This is the first step.
Well done.


I have tested the 807 several times now and decided to do the "final" step to improve draughting.
I moved the blastpipe from inside the chimney (usual traction engine position) to half height of the smokebox (usual locomotive position).
Of course Murphy paid a visit.
The pipe olive of the pump feed pipe fell off (was not soldered properly by the original builder, then the pipe came off tha belly tank for the same reason, a few other small mishaps extended this operation to about four times the original estimate.
Next Saturday will be a running session.
This will be the big test.

[James Harrison]

Currently on my dining room table is a Hadfield Kits Dreadnought Tram;

https://www.tramway.co.uk/trams/blackpool-corporation-59/

There's a preserved example at Crich.

Naturally I'm finishing it in the citron and madder lake livery of Rufford Corporation Tramways.

[SeVeNeVeS]

Anyone here used Milliput before?

Any handy hints and potental pitfalls?

Iv'e googled and watched a few youtube videos seems simple enough although a new medium to me.

Many thanks for any replies.

[James Harrison]

I've used it as a filler before.  I think you have to be mindful of which grade and consistency you need; I've had really good results and at the same time I've had some really poor results. 

Generally it's useful, you can sand it, paint over it, brush solvent over it to smooth it down/ work it over.  Problems tend to come if it's a large gap that you're trying to fill, then you do get issues with shrinkage as it cures and the stuff crumbling and falling out. 

[RJBowman]

Anyone here used Milliput before?

Any handy hints and potental pitfalls?

I've built custom action figures with it. It holds detail well.

About 20 minutes after it's mixed, it gets to a "leather hard" stage and can be cut with a hobby knife. After it hardens you can scrape scrape bumps or rough spots off of it with a hobby knife and sand it with emery boards (if you can still find any emery boards). Superglue bonds to it well.

Some people recommend wearing gloves, but I never have, and can't imagine being able to sculpt effectively with gloves. I scrape the excess of my hands with something flat and not too sharp like a putty knife and clean with alcohol and soap and water.

[SeVeNeVeS]

From James' experience a bit hit and miss, Iv'e got some "standard"

Any particular solvent needed........ suggestions?

Will have to experiment me thinks.

Cheers guys.

[The Bullet]

Last Saturday we had a meeting at a friend´s track.
There´s a long incline, quite steep.
While firing up 807 I heard things like "better put her on the mantelpiece" and "never going to pull anything",....
Of course, the blower nozzle went AWOL again, so I had to keep the engine running in order to keep the fire alive.
I started at the station with about 100psi.
Round the curve, avross the level-crossing and into the uphill section.
The pressure gauge was at max and stayed there.
After the lap I noticed that the ashpan damper was completely closed, so the new blastpipe is working really well.
With the old one I could only run with the ashpan taken off  completely.
You should have seen the faces along the track as 807 pulled me uphill.
The 2.5 kgs of lead between the frames really improved traction.
The has now reveiced a new blower nozzle (0.5mm siameter) and is waiting for the next test run.

[James Harrison]

From James' experience a bit hit and miss, Iv'e got some "standard"

Any particular solvent needed........ suggestions?

Will have to experiment me thinks.

Cheers guys.

Humbrol liquid poly cement or similar.

[James Harrison]

And here is that tramcar that I mentioned I was building.  Not much really to say about this - it's a plastic kit, sadly no longer available, it went together with a minimum of fuss or bother and most of my effort on it was spent on the paintwork. 

It's a fairly basic kit - it was originally made to be sold as a cheap souvenir at a certain seaside town - and whilst I could have gone down the rabbit hole of super-detailing it, the list of bits that would have needed replacement would have made a complete scratchbuild exercise look the better option. 

And this really highlights why I'm not going all-out on model making at the moment, because having finished it I struggled to find somewhere I could put it without risk of it getting knocked over or damaged.  One of the pitfalls of living in a half-finished project. 

[Sir Henry]

And this really highlights why I'm not going all-out on model making at the moment, because having finished it I struggled to find somewhere I could put it without risk of it getting knocked over or damaged.  One of the pitfalls of living in a half-finished project.

This is the problem that I have too. I have been avoiding making anything until I've sorted out enough rooms to give me some display/storage space. Though I did start (and later continued) a couple of projects when the withdrawal symptoms became too bad, so they may see the light of day on here before midsummer, hopefully.

Oh, and that tram is wonderful. I'm not sure what is so special about open-topped, double-ended trams but they do give the impression of the perfect public transport. Despite any evidence to the contrary that our climate might provide.

[The Bullet]

Next test run of 807 finished.
Blastpipe is performing better than expected, blower isn´t.
So I replaced the pipe between the two banjo bolts.
The old one had an inner diameter of 0.8mm, the new one has 2mm.
This should improve the flow of steam.
I never thought this would make a difference in a small model, but it does: expansion.
This loco is basically a traction engine. Cylinder and everything else are mounted on the boiler.
I had set the valves on the cold loco using compressed air.
When the loco was running on steam, the timing was slightly off.
So I will re-set the valves when in steam next time.

[Madasasteamfish]

Well most of my modelling recently has been of the "financial" sort (as in buying RTR bits).


I took delivery of these 2 1907 RCH PO open wagons earlier this week (although in my defence I did pre-order them back in January), I've also acquired a few other PO wagons that should help provide a flavour of South Yorkshire & North Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire.

I've also made a proper start on my WD train...

As well as these 2 'Warflat's (I'm not 100% decided on what to do with the loads provided, but they have shown an interesting possibility, I've acquired a kit for a 'Warwell' and, whilst flicking through my reference library found a suitable prototype to "inspire" me:

This was taken some time in late 1944 near Retford. Now, whilst I'm not likely to try and recreate the exact train in the photo, I might look to make something that looks as much like it's involved in the War Effort.

[Cora Courcelle]

I believe the the steampunk weekend in Morecambe (A Splendid Day Out, 7-8 June) is going to have a model railway layout on display but don't know any other details ...
That event is always fun and it's nice to see it back again after a gap of a few years.