Junctionmad

That's an exceptionally neat paint job.

Noel, is nothing, if not precise. I think he'd burn it before he'd allow a wobbly stripe

lovely lovely stuff, Gerry

I know I'm doing a JM on it by responding to me own post, but having read the thread fully, a few pointers are warranted.

 

Tamiya paint has an exceptionally high alcohol content, and if not dry) plasticised) will peel like sunburn skin when the tape comes off.

 

Two ways to absolutely prevent this. Wash the model in fairy liquid etc. Greasy models are a no-go. Even a thin coat of primer is preferred to a factory surface. Key with 0000 wire wool if primers not available.

 

Halfords stuff is appalling. One minute it's misty snow, the next snotty ice cream. Hmg produce a primer for brass, sold by Cork outfit mithril.ie that is exceptional and they provided me with technical specs to back it up.

 

For more standard work, army painter make coloured primers, but their white is a thing of beauty. Sets in about 5 minutes and available from the gaming lads on jervis St in Dublin.

 

If you want to prime white, mask the stripes, and do orange and black later (best method), there is no better alternative IMHO.

 

Cheap compressors from Taiwan are as good as expensive ones. The pulsing myth is just that. When it begins to fail, after about 300 hours, the internal rubber seals loose integrity, and its just a paper weight. Or something you donate to the MRSI... ��

 

There are several low tack tapes available from builders providers etc. After years of use, green frog tape is excellent for large area coverage.

 

All of the above is said only to prevent "the expansion of your vocabulary" as Tony Wright would opine.

 

They are merely tips based on the inordinate amount of mistakes I've made, in the interest that any other punter may avoid. I'm not Martyn Welch or Tim Shackleton, nor claim to be. I'm sure others have their "go to" methods.

 

Looking forward to you getting stuck into washes and powders next noel.

 

R

some very good tips here, Ill be happy when I get to 300 hours of compressor time !!!!

I was 5. That's a hell of a long time ago

I remember it like yesterday

Fully fitted trains can have the brake anywhere.

Im not so sure, there was a requirement to do a brake test , that requires the test to be performed in the last vehicle of a fitted train.

It probably wasn't a good idea starting to work on buildings and structures before dealing with point control but I wanted to look at all the methods of control before I jumped in at the deep end. In order that I connect my points to manual controls I will have to dismantle the baseboards to get underneath them. This is going to mean that great care will be of utmost importance.

 

The method I am going to use is wire running inside flexible curtain wire. It is so smooth in very way and I will be soldering the wire to PCB strips that will throw the point via a piece of 1mm wire. Does anyone know if copper coated wire solders well?

what sort of wire are you using , steel ?

Ah Noel, a Supertrain A with matching Mark IIs would beg to differ for me. It looked superb. I am a fan of the IR era mind you!

go CIE roundel and super train era ......

Re-reading my post above it suggests that that tin vans were a variety of genny vans, which they obviously weren't. I should have added the difference between a steam van, a luggage van and a genny! I was merely trying to suggest what was at the back of the train in the "green silver grey" era and the 60s!

I remember travelling behind all three versions , but wasn't the 6 wheel version the only van of that " general type" that had both the spanner boiler and generator , due to the combined weight

I'm involved in a small projects with a few members in the club ( wexford MRC ) to try and restore a pair of miniature Webb and Thompson ETS machines , once widespread on the railways.

We have three units , but only one is in any way complete. In particular we are missing the galvanometer and the locking coiks from the other two.

I have just received the wiring diagrams etc

I was wondering if any members here could help or might know where I might locate bits and pieces for these machines ( or someone might donate them. )

The idea is too have a fully working pair as a permanent exhibition in the club house

Now if I could find a pair of harpers block instruments !!!!!

Thanks

This thread has been about IFM from the outset. Noel's weathering thread is here: http://irishrailwaymodeller.com/showthread.php/6101-When-it-went-all-wrong-the-rocky-horror-show

So it is , I apologise for the confusion

I was in the cab of a 141 in 1974 , when it collected ballast from queallys quarry at carrolls cross , loads of ballast . no plough van at all !!.

Ive seen several pictures of a single plough van , the double setup seems to be much later in IR days

I have to say that since my house move 4 years ago or so, and the attendant lack of space (downsizing!), the argument is finished for me; if I DID have the space I would constantly sway back and forth from "will I get a big layout with cheap stuff" or "a small layout with detail-perfect and extremely expensive stuff".....

nothing in railway modelling is " cheap" so a " big layout with expensive stuff" or a "small layout .. extremely expensive stuff"

the point is this thread is about weathering not about IFM anyways

Nice , good to see Kingsbridge has staged its own Easter rising !!

Forget the jig , the chassis is lovely

Love the tank wagons

Of course , steam engine life , was very much a triggers brush effect , 50 years old , but only with 5 new handles and 8 new heads sort of thing. The poor service intervals of steam engines meant more was replaced as they went along , and inchicore and elsewhere had the engineering ability to do so then

It's quite remarkable, that given the poor state of inchicore that these engines are still in service, and by comparison very strange that the 201s are in such dilapidated condition ( well the stored ones )

IR are facing a right abyss when the 071s are finally life expired.

If it was mine, being a fictitious layout, I would imagine it wasn't Waterford, but maybe a major container terminal at Mornington (Drogheda), Wicklow or Galway!

Or perhaps greenore , where one could postulate the LNWR lived on, till dieselisation and had the LMS had its way , sure we would have had green and blue diesels running around the midlands !!!

A quick lick of paint on the gantries and a whole pile of Bell containers... whip out the colour lights and replace with semaphores, weather the track some more and we've got a lovely Irish layout incorporating Belview terminal!

Sadly Bell never saw Bellview which is the new port , in Waterford Bell was always known as bell ferry , and it's jetties to the day they failed , were opposite Reginald's tower on the ferrybank side

I had the pleasure as a kid , being taken up into the container crane cabin and watched them upload trains etc. ( the crane drivers, legend had it, were the highest paid men in Waterford )

?....gaudy Disney-esque liveries and multiplicity of railway operators with "makey-up" names like Great Eastern this, or Great Western that......

For a minute there , I thought you were referring to pre-grouping in the U.K. .....

In the US , that basic Diesel loco pattern had killed steam from 45 onwards . I seem to remember getting a cab ride in the 70s , with a driver that had been a fireman , did firemen retrain to be diesel drivers ?

The criticism is not displaced one bit. Dave is a collector and enthusiast of the hobby and has seen every kind of quality in his time, therefore his opinion is sound. The same can be said for Ed's opinion as he has been involved in the hobby for a long time as a modeller and exhibitor at shows on this island and beyond.

 

The OP himself has stated in another thread that he would not want to go down the kit road of non injection moulded plastic models. When he asked the IRM team if there were any intentions of a bullied corrugated model being produced the lads said there were no plans at this time. It was pointed out to him that another manufacturer has produced a fine kit of the wagon, he said himself he would only be interested in injection moulded plastic models. That then blows the availability theory out of the water.

 

I'll take a bet Junctionmad, that if anyone except Noel had started this thread you would not have gotten involved in it.

 

Rich,

I only commented Richie , because I have seen his IFM stock up close and as I commented , I feel the criticisms are misplaced , in so much that there is a wide variety of accuracies on any layout , ranging from track that's 5mm too narrow to all sorts of compromises. Equally there are others kits from others that are, in my opinion, also poorly rendered in certain areas , but if a builder really feels bad about it , he can correct those issues no more then someone with an IFM model could equally do.

I don't think that discrepancies are solely with IFM , many kits and products from smaller and larger suppliers have issues that are either overlooked or fixed depending on the builders skill and interest

As I've said , I've seen them , and I think they are very nice for what they are and add great variety to what would otherwise be a sea of Murphy models and several other posts seem to agree.

We'd all like everything to be perfect, but that's not possible. Taken on an absolute comparison, These IFM coaches aren't perfect, but then many similar small suppliers kits aren't perfect either.

I don't see that they should be particularly singled out from any others , that's all

Did people say that when Lima 33's masquerading as CIE locos were sold?

I presume many were bought , but I can't tell

Equally the various ifm models are considerably better then the Lima case. I've seen them up close , they are " not bad "

Looking forward to mine too. It will spur me on to finish the second plough van ( the remaining gswr one )

Or double headed I can re-live standing by the line as the dolomite trains went by to ballinacourty , I can still them , two baby GMs snaking along by the suir , blowing their horns to warn trackside imps like me

All I need then is an A class an a few oil tankers to complete the memories

I suppose at the end of the day , it boils down to what one thinks is " top dollar " , certainly commissioning a high quality coach is well beyond 100 quid or so ( and likely well beyond 200 )

As for suitability for a given layout. Well I'm sure P4 plank style layouts like Valencia harbour would take an IFM moulding and make great things with it. A large 00 layout like Noels hasn't that luxury of just needing 6 pieces of rolling stock ! Or in tony mills , case, a virtual battilion of helpers.

Equally we see everyday layouts that are full of compromises , highly detailed stock running on PECO 100 , or Scenery that is inexpertly rendered etc. Very few modellers are experts in all forms of the craft. My own view is a layout works best when the " general " level of detail and accuracy is the same across all the crafts that make up railway modelling. Whether that's good , great or extra ordinary accuracy is really up to the layout implementior .

Therefore I think the critism is misplaced somewhat, yes the models have deficiencies and the manufacturing methodology has drawbacks, but right now it's the only rtr available and that floats Noels boat and as we say round here " it's your train set "

yes , but in the absence of alternatives ,,, etc