2mmMark

Tim came down from his garret long enough for me to photograph a freshly sand-blasted P2. Here's a taster. The blasting has evened out a lot of the witness marks which were evident in the close-up shots. It also made the loco easier to photograph. Not quite "workshop grey" but pretty close to it. Mark

That looks very nice Jerry. The sweeping view across the running lines to the colliery is lovely. I like the contrast between the well-maintained running lines and the colliery. For not a huge increase in size, you've got a nicely balanced mainline scene. My condolences on the death of your brother-in-law. Cancer is a cruel disease. Mark

Sounds tasty. http://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/away_with_words/2013/07/word-of-the-week-frissant.html "Frissant: A hybrid pastry invented and named by Swiss Bakery (“artisan bread specialist”) in Vancouver, British Columbia. Frissant is a portmanteau of fritter (a small cake that’s sautéed or deep-fried) and croissant (a buttery, crescent-shaped baked pastry)."

I expect some the costumes worn by the actors were made quite recently and don't actually date from 1968. That sort of thing can ruin a good programme. Unless, of course, you're relaxed enough to see it simply as storytelling where the producers have to take some pragmatic decisions to portray the era as best as they can with available resources and budget. Mark

This should help! https://www.pendonmuseum.com/jahern/mar1946.html

If you or anyone else is considering building the semi-'fonly on page 23 of the Feb/March 2018 magazine or even an actual 'fonly, it's worth noting that motor/chuck/mounting bracket combinations are available on ebay. Searching for "Mini Hand Drill DIY Lathe" should show up a range of options. Some seem more robust than others, with a choice of 5-12v and 12-24v motors. Mark

Sometimes there are news items that badly need an adequate separation!

I haven't yet ordered one but intend to. Adding tailstock chuck also occured to me. There are a couple of options. Something like a Dremel 4486 chuck would be about the right size but would require an adapter to fit in the tailstock. The adapter shaft could made to be a sliding fit in the tailstock bearing so that could be locked in place while drilling. Alternatively, a pin chuck with a non-knurled shaft could be used. Might need a sleeve to match the bearing size. Mark

Only for use by groan-ups.

Had to call my energy supplier today and was put in a queue to be answered. Instead of the expected "greensleeves" tune, I was treated to a recorded lecture on the various types of zinc alloys. I was obviously listening to the hold mazak.

Orthochromatic film reproduces red as dark grey so it's possible the buffer beams were indeed red but tonally rendered very close to the adjacent metalwork. In any case, the trams look pretty with brown bodywork, black metalwork and red buffer beams. That's how I've finished my 2mm model. It's important to use dull red as it looks more natural. I've got a can of Humbrol "signal red" which is close to a brick red. Nothing like what I'd call signal red but perfect for buffer beams. Things like this highlight the urgent need for a backwards facing time machine.

"Dear Sir, the instructions for your kit were not entirely clear..."

Always nice to see the twiddly bits. A loco seems to come to life once these start going on.

I would recommend an image search on Google for "Ynysarwed Sidings" which is a very inspirational 2mm finescale layout along the same theme and era as Twll Cach. Here's a taster:

If you really want to wind up supercar owners...

Liking this a lot. It's a neat prototype for a small yet credible layout. It's tempted me from time to time but it would mean a diversion away from my main interests. British Railway Journal issue 40 covered the location in detail, with some very good photos. The article was by Roger Carpenter, so he may well have copies of photos in his stock. Mark

Looking around on that online auction site, I've seen a few of these pop-up: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-24V-100W-Mini-Lathe-Beads-Machine-Woodwork-DIY-Lathe-Standard-Set-Rotary-Tool/152526444106 Just to recap, here's a link to a 2-part article on Peter Clark's original 'fonly. http://www.2mm.org.uk/articles/fonly/fonlypt1.htm They look like having potential for the small hand turning jobs (chimneys, domes, whistles etc.) for which the 'fonly was intended. A Jacobs-type chuck like the one fitted to this lathe can be very accurate. As it comes, it's got a 7 step speed control but coupled with a suitable PWM speed controller (again from ebay) to give finer control, this could make a useful addition to a 2mm modellers workshop. 24V at 100W suggests a minimum of a 5 amp controller but I'd suggest 6 to 10amps to be on the safe side. This would be my choice: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-40V-PWM-Motor-Speed-Controller-10-Amp-Suit-All-DC-MOTORS-up-to-10A/142684977183 Judging by the photos, the tool rest looks to be further away from the chuck than is ideal but the design is such that it could easily be modified to improve this. Possibly simply reversing the rest would do the job. There some videos on youtube showing the lathe in use for wood turning. Here's one that's pretty informative Used for wood turning, it does appear to need clamping down but for gentler turning of items like chimneys where one would be starting with round brass rod, a heavy wood base ought to be suitable. I'm seriously tempted to get one to see what can be made of it. As always with machine tools, proceed with caution & safety. Even a small tool like this could launch the chuck key most vigorously. Some of the processes shown in the auction photos are definitely questionable! Mark

A long article but an interesting insight into how the phone scammers operate. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jan/02/the-scammers-gaming-indias-overcrowded-job-market Like Dave above, I've been known to string the windows technical support scammers along. Now knowing the pressure that they are working under, it's easy to see why they often get irate, particularly when they see what was a promising sucker desperately in need of technical support turn into someone who knows exactly what they are trying to do. Do I feel guilty? Nope. Call it a little bit of revenge for all the UK IT jobs that have gone overseas. Mark

I prefer to cut with scissors which don't seem to deform the foil too much and it can always be reformed using the coffee jar lids. Sticking - Evostick works quite well and so does PVA. It is a somewhat fragile material and possibly best suited to represent less well maintained structures. Mark

On Copenhagen Fields, there is a model of a collapsed building with timber baulks holding up the adjacent structure. As the layout is set in the inter-war period, people often ask if that was the result of a WW1 Zepplin raid. It wasn't and the supposed reason for the model is that a lot of London's 18th & 19th century spec-built housing did not have adequate foundations. It wasn't unknown for skimpily built structures to just collapse. The real reason behind the model is that there is an inconveniently placed baseboard joint and it was a good way of avoiding the need for a loose building to cover the gap. There was an episode of Grand Designs where a property in Hackney was being redeveloped and the foundations were found to be only a couple of feet deep at most, needing substantial underpinning before any work could proceed above ground. So what might be a "bombsite" could have an entirely different reason - Georgian/Victorian cowboy builders!

I see he comes from the Michael O'Leary school of photographic posing.

Just this evening, I received an email from Camden Miniature Steam Services, part of which read: "Lots More Secondhand books for you to Browse...... Now that the pre Christmas pandemonium is behind us, we have had time to add a lot more books to the Secondhand section, mainly railway linked books from around the world, as well as the UK. Doing this, we realised that even fairly recent, but now Out of Print books, seem to be climbing in value; I suppose this reflects the fact that many specialist publishers worldwide are going out of business, or not producing new books. Our secondhand book prices are set by reference to what others are asking and setting a lesser price, so if there is something you want amongst our selection, act now, or loose the chance...." Mark

One of the things I need to do regularly to ensure reliable running of my Z gauge mechs is remove the dust/fluff/crud buildup around crankpins and pickups. The graphalloy solution looks like it'll be less prone to collecting this buildup than the ball bearing option and easier to clean when its present. It will build up, that's inevitable. Pickup adjustment is also critical to good running. If this can be dialled out of the equation so much the better. The Marklin gear train is all steel. Robust but dependent on lubrication to avoid wear. Acetal gears are a good choice as they are self-lubricating to a large extent. However plastic gears on N scale models do have a reputation for splitting which I believe to be a result of incorrect tolerances. Mark.