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Richrua's workbench

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richrua

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I cannot take credit for the one on the left. It is just bachmann The Ould house pub renamed . The other one I built myself to go with it. Many thanks. I do a lot of my railway stuff on the kitchen table, the layout is in the attic, so no good light. The kitchen table has been spared a hammering by that mat!

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Alphagraphix do some nice Irish buildings, I think they do a model of O'Brien's Bakery, Ennistymon, very much in the style of the right-hand building there.

 

blue-facade-of-obriens-bakery-ennistymon-county-clare-ireland-europe-BH11DA.jpg

 

▲ That's the real one, I can't find a picture of the model version, but I'm fairly sure that I made one for somebody once....

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I had a little fun with LEDs tonight. These little yokes are right up there with the invention of the wheel. Almost unbreakable long lasting tiny bulbs that only need a smidgen of power. I wired some in parallel to fit under my little street.

image.jpg

 

Then I had a stab at planting an led in a C class silver fox. Here it is below working off the chip as a "headlight" on my NCE powercab system. I might just have it as a cab light for now before I drill tiny holes in the body there. Very pleased it actually worked!!!

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Alphagraphix do some nice Irish buildings, I think they do a model of O'Brien's Bakery, Ennistymon, very much in the style of the right-hand building there.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]19222[/ATTACH]

 

▲ That's the real one, I can't find a picture of the model version, but I'm fairly sure that I made one for somebody once....

 

They do, it's F539. Alphagraphics don't advertise on the web which is a shame, as their list of Irish building card kits is nothing short of substantive.

They are lovely little kits...and the several I bought are still remaining to be built! I had proposed to do the window detailing and other fine detail of the Foynes Signal box in brass, and still hope to get around to it someday.

 

I did up a list of them sometime ago and put it under the links section

http://www.studio-scale-models.com/Alpha.html

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  • 1 month later...

image.jpg

image.jpg

 

I finally got to put together Provincial Models bulleid beet wagon kit from Leslie. What a kit! Marvellous. I will be putting together a little rake of these to serve with the gypsum wagons, another of their uses.

 

I think the colour is a little light. I used a spray called pewter to try to get that dipped steel look.

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Thanks k and thump. How do you make a wash ? Is it just diluted acrylic?

 

A wash is basically very thin paint usually mixed around 10:1 with water in the case of acrylics and thinner or white spirits with enamels. The purpose of the wash is to tone down the base colour and for the paint to pool in recesses and around other small details to make them stand out and to give the impression of accumulated dirt in the details.

When making an acrylic wash you also need to add something to break the surface tension and make the paint flow more freely.

 

Some people use matte medium or a TINY amount of washing up liquid. I find enamel washes flow much better due to the fact that the paint is oil based. I make mine with mainly Humbrol paints thinned with ordinary white spirits.

 

Humbrol also make washes which work well but I find them a little strong and thin them down further before using them.

 

Another member on the site (Glenderg I think, sorry if I got the name wrong!) uses Gouache which is also water based and he gets some lovely results.

The advantage of using a water based is that it can be removed easily if you don't like the result without damaging the underlying paint. Enamel washes have to be removed with

thinners which can damage the base coat if you're not careful.

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Another member on the site (Glenderg I think, sorry if I got the name wrong!) uses Gouache which is also water based and he gets some lovely results.

The advantage of using a water based is that it can be removed easily if you don't like the result without damaging the underlying paint.

 

Cheers Thump, twas me :) For the novice and those scared of ruining their precious babies, this method is idiot proof. It takes a clean month for the stuff to dry fully, so you can tart about with the finish for ages. And as thump says, don't like it, wash it off. The military and aircraft modellers have been at this for longer than we have, and if you check out some of their methods on YouTube, you'll be in for a rare treat. Enamels have a lower surface tension than acrylics and tend to run into joints quicker than a scanger on the quays. Always keep a bit of tissue handy, in both cases......

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Both irish thump and Glenderg thank both for the advice.

 

Glenderg, the bit about the scanger on the quays ? Poetry. I was born and brought up in Dublin and there are some things I miss. The wit is one. I am no where near as sharp as I once was.

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I have been messing about with adding a cheapish Digitrax sound chip and speaker to my 141. The sound chip i chose has the sounds of an american SD38 loco preloaded . This loco has the same innards as some irish locos - an EMD 645 i think. not perfect but i hope to get a digitrax decoder programmer and try building a more accurate sound with correct horn etc. I forgot to fit a baffle so i will do that before i upload a recording. Here is a short vid of how i fitted the decoder anyways :

 

Fitting Digitrax sound to Murphy Models: https://youtu.be/wTZ7SxqlZr8

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had a problemo with point motors. I picked up a load of the SEEP type gaugemaster motors. Only afterwards I realised that by bad luck some of my points are directly over the battons, making them impossible to fit below the baseboard. So I will need to fit three surface mounted. I decided for reasons of cost I was not happy to buy three more of the hornby surface type motors. instead, I decided to use the gaugemaster point motor and mount it on the surface. Required a little thought. I clipped off the bar, used a thick piece of plastic strip to operate the point. Then i mounted the motor upside down atop a couple of pieces of Balsa. It works!!! I will cover it with a signal box i think.

 

20150823_030705.jpg

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10 out of 10 for ingenuity. I have used similar methods for mounting point motors in awkward locations over the years, although not Seep motors. My only concern would be the strength of the plastic link bar where the hole is at the point end. Repeated use may cause the bar to fracture at the hole. A better option would be to use brass strip. However, in your installation, it would be a simple task to fit a new link bar at a later date, should the plastic one fail.

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thanks for that dhu varren . I watched the plastic strip carefully while changing the point and you are right. It actually comes under considerable pressure/force when about to change. I ll grab a nice bit of brass when i get a chance . thanks for the advice!

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20150825_235528.jpg

Ok, ok, I know these type of cottage can be considered a little "Oirish" as it were. However, they really are an element of the Irish rural landscape .Also i spent a large amount of my youth staying with my great Aunty in Galway in a cottage like this. great memories. So, why not build one ? I have a few wills windows that will suit nicely.

20150825_235958.jpg

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hi Kirley. It will have a slate roof. hi Sulzer, I would consider myself a novice really or not that past it! I only got back into the hobby of my youth a couple of years ago. I just try things - best way to learn - and I pester these guys with questions too!!

 

Undercoat: image.jpg

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I have been messing about with adding a cheapish Digitrax sound chip and speaker to my 141. The sound chip i chose has the sounds of an american SD38 loco preloaded . This loco has the same innards as some irish locos - an EMD 645 i think. not perfect but i hope to get a digitrax decoder programmer and try building a more accurate sound with correct horn etc. I forgot to fit a baffle so i will do that before i upload a recording. Here is a short vid of how i fitted the decoder anyways :

 

Fitting Digitrax sound to Murphy Models: https://youtu.be/wTZ7SxqlZr8

 

If you want to go down the route of programming your own sounds you shoulf look at the ESU Lokprogrammer. I got one myself last year and now programme all of my own decoders. Engine sounds which are accurate for Irish locos are free to download from the ESU website and you can mix and match sounds as you like.

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20150830_231054.jpg

managed a bit more on the cottage. If I make another I think i will try a double layer of card to attempt a more realistic wall width. The back wall of my Great Aunt Mary's house was about 4 ft thick. Nobody knew how old it was. The front wall was rebuilt in the 'newer' style sometime after 1911. I have gone for this version. I might try the older version next but the thatch would be tricky. The windows dont match up either, a rather haphazard design back then. have a really old pic somewhere.

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