irishthump

DCC decoders generally don't even supply a full 12v to the loco's motor. The track voltage with various DCC systems can vary widly but the decoder regulates the voltage supplied to the motor.

Some nice work there, Noel. Just wondering, do you have any issues when mixing and matching NEM Kadees with the regular draft box Kadees such as the 146's? I found that sometimes the two different types didn't "play nice" when pushing stock over points and tight curves and especially when using delayed uncoupling. Crossovers in particular can be a nightmare! I also tried using neodymium magnets instead of Kadee's magnets but also encountered problems where the neodymium magnets where too strong and would pull the couplers too far to the side so the couplers heads would miss each other when trying to shunt. Again, this is mainly a problem with propelling stock into sidings etc. To be honest I'm tending to pull away from using the NEM Kaddes, preferring to body mount the draft box type where possible. I'm working on a way to fit the draft box to MM 141's but it may involve a lot of surgery!

New Jim from MM. A gentlemen and always a great help. RIP

One small thing, you know you need to make cuts in the copper clad strips to isolate the tracks and prevent a short circuit.

I have some 90% iso which is the same stuff they mention in MR. It doesn’t damage plastic but will strip acrylic paint from models if you soak them.

It’s odd, I’ve read a lot of articles in Model Railroader where they describe thinning their acrylic paints with alcohol. Obviously their popular brands don’t give them trouble but I find that Vallejo and Games Workshop acrylics turn to a gritty sludge...

One thing about surgical spirits/isopropyl alcohol. I’ve noticed that it can cause a funny reaction with certain brands of acrylic paints where the paint clumps and clogs the brush like bejeezus.

That little spanner they include with the airbrush should carry a health warning! You may need to use it to remove the spray tip, but nothing more than finger pressure should be enough to secure it. The threads are too easily stripped regardless of the quality of the brush.

These generic airbrushes all suffer from the same issue: poor finish due to there low cost. They look the part but rough internal finishing, coarse screw threads and poorly fitting parts let them down. Like I said they are fine for spraying a general coat of paint but can't cope with finer work. I've relegated mine to spraying coats of auto primer on models.

No it doesn't have a trigger limiter, but to be honest that's not really an issue.

The old adage of “you get what you pay for” really does apply here. Lots of people get could results with the cheaper models (myself included) but I got increasingly frustrated with problems with cleaning and paint drying during painting and clogging the brush. By the way I also have a badger single action brush which give far less trouble. I ended up getting an Iwata Neo and it was a great investment. Careful cleaning is still essential but I have far less issues.

I rarely use the Luas myself but it's an excellent service, and if it reduces congestion in the city then more power to it. But until the public transport system is of an appropriate standard I think the removal of cars from the city is a pipe dream at the moment and not something I'd like to see to be honest. There's a small percentage who will want/need to drive there own cars for work or whatever purposes.

Noel, am I right in assuming these are budget airbrushes? If so then cleaning is even more important. The cheaper models, while serviceable, tend to not be as well finished as more expensive models. This becomes a problem as the roughter finish on internal parts makes it much easier for paint to accumulate and harden. I have a couple of cheaper brushes that came with my compressor and while they work ok they are a bi*ch to keep clean and are really only suitable for applying coats when respraying. They're not good for detail work. As Eoin said, cellulose thinners is yer only man for cleaning away paint deposits and sometimes an overnight soak is the only way to get it completely clean.

Not around as much lately but Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to one and all.....

Or maybe they could just treat us to a look at their own scratch-building/modifying skills?

Steam vs. Diesel? No contest!

Thought so. The 071 has a different pcb to the 201.

Does that give you directional headlights or do still have to turn them on and off at each end yourself?

Whoa! And the Lazarus award for thread necromancy goes to.....

Ya gets what ya pays or and all that!

Just to clarify, did that change I suggested move the other light to F3? The problem is the MM chip (ESU Lokpilot) is higher spec than the Lais or Bachmann which are budget decoders (fine for normal use but lacking extra features). Having said that the Lais have a lot of programming options for lighting effects like gyro lights, dimming and strobes but these are aimed at US modellers.

Yeah the TCS looks the same too. The Lais manual is a carbon copy of the Gaugemaster DCC25. It looks like Dave's problem is actually the controller's F2 not being a latching function.

Not sure about the function mapping on the Bachmann, have to look into it. The Lais works fine on the 141 because there's only 2 lighting functions to be mapped, the 071/201's have 4.

I don't think there's way to get them to change directionally with that decoder. You'll have to settle for turning them on and off at each end.

Try changing CV 36 to 16. That should move that headlight to F3 instead.