Giles

Here's my latest lasering with the Emblazer - an expansion link in .028" nickel-silver. Well, almost..... a slight cheat.... I laser the expansion link in 2mm MDF twice full size as a template And then mill it out with my little Proxxon pantograph engraver, modified to light milling.

I ordered some 1mm MDF yesterday from The Modelshop, which was delivered this morning - I phoned first to check that it was laser grade (which it was) - and on delivery, duly cut it up into A4 pieces. This afternoon did some test cutting, which did not to well! Basically I can hardly cut it, and certainly not any detail holes. I then did the same job with some of my stock 2mm, which was fine...... I contacted the Modelshop, who promptly asked for photos and information, and did their own test cutting , which worked fine. The upshot of this is that we think the resin in the 1mm is of necessity different to that of the thicker boards, and in consequence, a diode laser just can't cope. Something that the shop hadn't come across before, as they use a large CO2 Laser. The shop have been brilliant about it, but for Emblazer owners - don't think you can use 1mm just because you can work the heavier stuff!

With the motor held in with blutack, you can see the very simple compensation bar at the front, and also the tabs silver soldered into the front bearings, which stop them rotating.

I should have said that I've made a new chassis by laser cutting templates in MDF, twice the size, and cutting them out using my little Proxxon pantograph engraver (adapted to light milling)

.....you lucky, lucky man...... no not at all!

Good stuff!

I bought set of Romford 20:1 gear and worm, shortened the worm, and bored it out to 3mm, giving this is the result. The (5:1) motor gearbox plus worm is 36mm long, 10 x 12mm, and gives 100:1 total reduction.

I had one failure at RAILEX , and that was the Bagnall, whose pickups were unreliable, and now isn't running well at all...... I'm making a new chassis, by laser cutting templates in MDF, and then pantograph milling them out will my little modified Proxxon pantograph engraver, but actually, I've decided to make a complete new loco, and I'll make new coupling rods for the original Bagnall I've started building one of my Wrightlines Bagnalls to sit on this chassis. It means that the only part of the kit for the chassis I get to use will be the cylinder castings, as I can't bring myself use the solid pretend expansion link/motion bracket supplied for use with the Dapol chassis. I'm also going to try to make this integration controlled, but this rather depends on whether the motor gearbox and other bits I've ordered prove suitable. I've ordered a 6v 5:1 Polulu, which i hope to then drive a 20:1 worm and gear. These are very economical power wise, and the combination should give me a maximum of about 150rpm at the wheels. Because it's intended for hard exhibition use, long battery life is a must, and i can just get a 650mAh battery into the boiler, which I'm hoping will last a full exhibition day (The mobile crane did 6 1/2 hours with an identical battery, with motors running constantly, whereas this will run more intermittantly. I don't know the history of the Wrightlines Bagnall, but to me, it looks like it might be Roy Link's workmanship- not wishing to cause anyone any offence - certainly the quality is very good....

We are doing the Farnham and District show at Aldershot, 14 and 15th Oct, and the Uckfield show in West Sussex. Do make yourself known and come and have a play! Look forward to seeing you

I'm also extremely fond of Eric Bottomley's work - he is technically very good, and deals with light very nicely. I have one small painting of his (it was all I could afford) - an S&D 2-8-0 in the snow. Jonathan Clay also does extremely nice loco portraits.... both these Gentlemen are the nicest people you could care to meet as well!

Plus one for 'The Fighting Temeraire'!

Well..... Finally had our first show at RAILEX - entirely enabled by Martin and Ken, without whom it would simply not be possible (or probably any fun, but I wouldn't dream of mentioning that...) It was a first class show, without a single duff layout, and of course it was Pempoul's swan song. We managed to bring everything, and even got the whole lot in and on the car - which was an achievement in itself. I found Saturday extremely stressful, as the layout had never been fully assembled before, due to space constraints - but we got away with it. For a layout with only an 8' scenic area it proved an extremely labour-intensive operation. Ideally, four operators are required (not counting spares), but three is manageable, which makes it very hard work for a team of four. We may need to move up to a team of five! However it proved very popular, with audience several rows deep pretty constantly. Ironically, the two cranes and the lorries probably created the most interest, and I don't think anyone even spotted the birds on the fence...! Di isn't asleep, but attending to something EXTREMLY IMPORTANT or something.

Guard Irons are now available - £4 plus £1 P&P (up to six etches) I've fitted a set to a Dapol 08 I just 'happened' to have lying around, and they fit fine. The Rear irons need a typical 'set' bending in to bring them over the rail head. The front pair need a curve bending in to wrap them around the mis-placed cylinder that is otherwise obstructing them, before bringing back over the rail head. There is sufficient length in the etch to take this into account. SEE PHOTOs I use 90 second epoxy to fix the Irons, but anything appropriate will do. The scrap part of the etch is neatly 90 degrees, and can be used as squares for assembling kits or what-have-you, or for any other purposes..... If you'd like some, please Paypal me at giles@gilesfavell.com with the correct total, including your address (Paypal does not always include this) Best Giles ]

I've just received the etches for the guard irons. I won't have a chance to even look at them till after the weekend (Railex!) At which time I will test fit a set on a loco to make sure they're right. Assuming they are, I'll THEN take orders Best Giles

One thing, (and easily fixed!) The angle of the return crank is too extreme (should be more like 15 degrees or so from the vertical) leading to the expansion link being pushed (and pulled) far too far, as can be seen on your model. It is showing at a more extreme angle than the real thing can ever go. The return crank will typically scribe a circle somewhere around the wheel boss - whereas as shown at the moment it is set at a much wider angle. It is also set BEHIND of the wheel centre, whereas it must be set in FRONT, as is correct with the porting of these locos. Best, Giles

You can also run the Green Scenes Flockit from a 12v wall wart, which boosts its performance a bit more (without risk to the electronics). I actually run mine from 15v which is even better, but I can't recommend that with a clear conscience!

Good luck with that - I hope it sorts the Problems!

Plus 1 for that - I use the same and very good they are. They are steel, and solder well. I solder end plates on as well as downpipes, and I made gutter brackets to fit them as well.

Likewise, the shape has to be right.... I've ordered one, but I should of course cancel it if the the body shape is incorrect. Meanwhile, i'm all for being as constructive as possible!

Dermatitis is no fun - I had it for a couple of years after a major building project (I think cement dust exacerbated the problem). Most of the creams prescribed by the hospital did little until they gave me a couple of square inches of gauze impregnated with something special which I had to cut to the exact size required and tape on. It was apparently very expensive -hence only ever giving me such a limited amount - however, it did the trick and eventually all the Dermatitis went. This was 15 years ago. Sadly, I can't remember what this stuff was, but it can be sorted. Good luck!

I lie a lot..... it comes with living a breathing 08's Now corrected!

Headphones - and also that 'bone' gadget are bad news when driving or riding....... A study was done by Anne Minors or AMPC (actually from the other direction - to see what people looked at when listening to music - first via speakers and then via head phones) This study was done using computer eye tracking, and a large range of subjects, and the point of interest is that specifically (and only) when listening via headsets, the user ceased to scan the extremes of their outer vision. Effectively they blinded themselves by either 15 or 25% (forgive me, I can't recall which..). Obviously when sat at a desk this is neither here nor there - but when cycling, riding or driving this is extremely significant. I for one will never have music in my crash helmet, no matter how nice the thought is.

This is the Heljan outline IN RED overlaid on 60800's drawing. The red outline was accurately traced on AutoCAD and then overlaid, so there may be a 1% size difference, but the shape and proportion is bang on to the pictures posted by Hatton's)

Superb job on that hut! Absolutely lovely paint job - both timber and brickwork. I'll send you my address and you can just pop it in the post......

Thank you All! A fortnight ago I gave my Ixion Hudswell Clarke to my latest grand-nephew, who will be brought up properly. His older brother was given my ex W & U tram loco, so it's only right that they have a loco each. This Hudswell Clarke is the black one that saw service on The End of THE Line, and I was really quite fond of it. Some years ago I got a basket case of Ebay - a red lined one - so I thought I would build it up, and paint it Garratt colour for service on Denton Brook. This involved filing the tank smooth, and sanding the existing paint off. It was then primed in black to get the deeper colour.