Tullygrainey

To add to Galteemore's list: Hobby Holidays https://www.hobbyholidays.co.uk/ A terrific selection of brass sheet, section, tubing and rod. Also tools and drill bits and, in my experience, a really prompt service. Recommended.

No need for apologies Metrovic. To my mind, one of the fundamental purposes of this forum is for us to learn from one another. I’ve certainly benefited from the collective expertise here. It depends a lot on what you want to do but here are some of the things I’ve relied on when working in plastic, card and metal, modifying ready-to-run stuff, building kits and scratch building. For marking and cutting: Stanley Knife Swann Morton scalpel handle and no.11 blades Steel ruler(s) Razor saw Centre punch/scriber For making holes: Selection of twist drills in sizes 0.5mm, 0.7mm, 1mm, 1.5mm with some pin vices to hold them Set of 6 cutting broaches, 0.6mm to 2.0mm Set of 6 cutting broaches, 1.2 to 3.0mm Cutting broach 4.0mm All of these for making holes and progressively enlarging them. The broaches make sure the holes stay round and where you want them. For shaping and fettling: Small pliers - needle nose and flat jaw Set of needle files - various profiles Fine emery paper For holding and assembling things: Small bench vice (good ones are hard to come by in my experience), preferably with bench clamp and adjustable head. Selection of small clamps (including hair clips and clothes pegs) Selection of good quality tweezers Set of small screwdrivers For soldering: Antex 25W soldering iron and stand 145 degree solder Slater’s Phosphoric acid flux Fibreglass pencil For building etched kits and especially for scratch-building, I’ve also relied heavily the following: Chassis jig (I use a Poppy Woodtech one) GW Models wheel-quartering jig Vertical bench drill (I have a Proxxon) Antex temperature controlled soldering iron Piercing saw and a selection of blades I found that I built up this stock of tools very gradually, buying things as it became clear that I needed them for the job in hand. My bench drill only arrived when I started to scratch-build. It’s good advice to buy the best quality you can afford. Very cheap tools, as almost everyone has probably discovered, are nearly always a waste of money. I treated myself to a few proper Vallorbe Swiss needle files and haven’t regretted it. I'm sure that as soon as I post this, I’ll think of more tools I can’t do without. I’m sure too that others will chip in here with their own lists. I hope so. When all’s said and done, the item I’ve found the most useful is patience. It’s versatile, can be applied to any task and usually improves the outcome. I just wish I could find a reliable supplier. I keep running out. Very best wishes for your modelling and if in doubt, post a question on this forum. It’s certain that someone will have the answer. Cheers Alan

That is a very clever arrangement!

Thanks for this David. All grist to the mill. I'm assuming the 2 longitudinal rods running through the 3 separate bits are there to align them, whilst allowing for different wheelbases? As an aside, leafing through your workbench entries I'm reminded just how much valuable information and insight is tucked away in this forum's back-pages. Finding what you need is the tricky bit! Cheers, Alan

Thanks everyone. The etches are excellent but there are still a few mystery bits on there! The etches I'm using resided in Patrick Davey's future projects drawer for some time before migrating to mine. They're still available through Mousa Models and may come with some fittings - sprung buffers are mentioned - but not wheels. There's a choice of three variants, 6 Compartment 3rd, 5 Compartment 3rd and Brake 3rd, all Oldbury. Ah, the wheels David... that's a bridge still to be crossed (not to mention curves negotiated). From the people I've talked to, it's clear there are lots of ways to tackle this, from grinding off the wheel flanges on the centre axle to replacing the centre axle with a length of 2mm tube sliding from side to side on a rod fixed between the bearings. I know there are also some good approaches to this in KMCE's workbench and I need to have another look at those too. The current range of 6-wheelers from Hattons use a clever sliding cradle for the centre axle which seems to work well but might be difficult to build from scratch. I'm still wrestling with door handles

Now that BCDR diesel electric No.2 is up and running, it really needs something more appropriate to haul than a couple of box vans so I'm hoping to have a go at modelling a typical passenger formation from the Ballynahinch branch where No.2 worked for so much of its life. To that end, I've acquired some Bill Bedford etches for BCDR Oldbury 6-wheelers (thank you Patrick) No castings and, more to the point, no instructions so something of a Chinese puzzle on first sight. However, sound advice and some very useful photographs from folk who know about these things (thank you Richard, thank you Kieran, thank you Colm) have pointed me in the right direction. A visit to the Downpatrick open day at the weekend also helped and Desmond Coakham's peerless work is, as always, an invaluable source of information. So, I've made a start on an Oldbury Brake Third.The fitters are confident there will be hardly any bits left over when the job's finished. Knee-deep in door handles Alan

Go for it Patrick! Sight AND sound. No point in half-measures. Follow your instincts (and have you given any thought to how a Clogherhead sea breeze smells?)

Ah, working now I think Thank you. The little Peckett runs like a sewing machine. I'm well pleased with it

Whoops. Sorry JB, not sure what's wrong. It's playing ok for me but that doesn't mean anything. It's an mp4 file

Some activity at the narrow gauge stone yard, somewhere in County Down/Antrim. Locomotives at work, including a recently arrived Peckett, already earning its keep bringing stone from the quarries and shuttling empties back. The Stone Yard.mp4

Peckett has emerged from the paint shop at long last. There were a few hiccups with the job (of course there were) not to mention a colour change along the way but I think it's about finished. It's had a little weathering to take the shine off it. It also has a cheap chip from Hatton's and some lead in the tanks so it shuffles along in a satisfying narrow-gaugey sort of way. It will make an appearance at the O:16.5 narrow gauge stone yard in due course. Meet Pete, the Peckett pilot.

Beautiful paint finish on the loco Ken. Looks really well and a great lineup of loco plus coaches

That weathering is spot-on. Subtle and totally believable. Lovely work.

It was the micro-organisms in that Clogherhead sand you collected Patrick. They were elbowing their way out to escape the glue.

Commiserations Patrick. That's a great shame, and a bit of a puzzle. Hope you can salvage something from the wreck. At least the other wagon survived. Hang in there!

A dusting of etch primer and a nasty outbreak of pimples? For such a small loco, Peckett has an awful lot of rivets. 3D transfers by Micromark, courtesy the 7mm Narrow Gauge Association.

Looking suitably three-dimensional Patrick. Good stuff!

A trial fitting together of the various Peckettbits, prior to me making a meal of trying to paint the thing (it's traditional). The dome is an Alan Gibson 4mm casting (4M616 Midland Railway) with some cosmetic surgery. The ex-brass wood screw chimney isn't attached since it's still Plan B.

Thanks for this Leslie

Escaping Loughan Quay for the day, No.2 runs into Donaghadee with a trainload of Comber spuds for onward transit to GB. With thanks to the Ulster Model Railway Club for a great show, Belfast 19-20 August 2023, and with special thanks to Gordon Hunt for the great pleasure and privilege of running BCDR Nos 2 and 29 on his exceptional model of Donaghadee Station. Alan IMG_8189.MOV

Thanks for the opportunity to be part of Brookhall Mill's debut Patrick. Really enjoyed my day. Here's to more appearances in the future (Mr Weaver permitting, of course. Why was he hiding in the signal box all day?) Alan

For my next trick... The statue of David holding an NCE PowerCab, from a chair leg. Thanks everyone

Impatience got the better of me (again) and I had another go at a chimney for Peckett using a big brass wood screw, two sizes of brass tube and a suitable washer. It took a fair bit of grinding in the trusty Black & Decker but I've managed to get a bit of a taper on it and I now have something useable if nothing better turns up. Knee deep in brass filings, Alan

To clarify what I posted on 13.08, Smallbrook Studio does indeed sell individual parts from its ranges of kits. An email specifying your needs is all that's required to initiate an order. Alan

Beautiful! The shot of 170 on the bridge with her reflection in the water is just perfect.