Yr Hen Felin & Yr Orsaf Newydd

[gilfachphil]

Thanks Philip,

Interesting to read about your use of foamboard outside. I've never played with SBR though I know a man that uses it. I assume Postcrete is just a sand/cement mix, is it spread dry onto the wet SBR?

On another happier note:-

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I have lusted after a set of the WLLR Pickering coaches and last Saturday at Stoneleigh I succumbed to temptation and bought these from GRS. Unfortunately they only have the 45mm wheel sets and I need the 32mm ones however I have a possible source of the 32mm version, shoud know in a day or two whether they are available and alternatively an engineering friend well known to this forum has offered to help.

The same friend has insisted I now need a live steam Earl or Countess to pull them! I thought I'd just pose them with one of the locos I have built to have a look.

Phil

[FWLR]

Those coaches are very very nice Phil. Yep a live steamer pulling them would look great, but what you have looks the part I think, but what do I know, others with far more experience in these things might suggest something else, who knows.

But remember Rule 1 Phil, (it's your line and if it's ok for you it's ok for others....)

[gilfachphil]

Thanks Rod,

I thought the loco was not too dissimilar to Earl at a quick glance. She’ll certainly do for now.

Phil

[philipy]

Interesting to read about your use of foamboard outside. I've never played with SBR though I know a man that uses it. I assume Postcrete is just a sand/cement mix, is it spread dry onto the wet SBR?

Phil,
Sorry, I forgot to reply. Yes, "Postcrete" is a proprietery readymix sand & cement product. It must also contain accelerants of some sort as well. To use it for it's intended purpos you simply dig a hole, put the bag of dry mix in and then position your post, then pour water in and it sets in about 20 mins! I've used it fairly extensively for raised trackbed legs. The same type of product is available in own-brand versions from Wickes, etc.

So for platform tops I spread it dry on to wet SBR, but you have to be careful that it doesn't ball and stick and give raised lumps. If I were to do it again, I think I'd spread it dry then add the SBR, as in track ballasting.

[Peter Butler]

From my experience with any mix using SBR I have found that it doesn't like being applied directly to a wooden base. The wood will expand and contract causing cracks in the material mix, eventually leading to detachment from the baseboard.
I now use a strip of roofing felt in the area before applying the mix. The same applies to track ballast using SBR, and possibly cement too?

[gilfachphil]

I have family visiting at the moment. A running day was held in mostly sunshine today with much of my stock in action:-

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Given a good ration of hot sun on the platform surface it was found that the 2mm gaps I had left for expansion were not enough so further thin slices were excised. The black foam board was curling away from the glue so it was replaced with the original piece of recycled plastic. I think this may now work as, so long as the gaps are big enough that they ends do not meet when hot the material will probably stay fairly flat. The gaps do not detract too much from the appearance as far as I am concerned.

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Phil

[FWLR]

Can I make a suggestion Phil. Why don't you try with some 3 or 5 ply full length, you then can put wood screws countersunk every few inches or so and then fill in the small gaps with wood filler or something that will be ok to use outside. For the ramps at the end I would score the underneath about 2mm deep and about 4 to 5mm, then you would be able to bend the ends to what you need them to be. It wouldn't do any harm to get a short scrap piece and try the underneath first to see if it works and how much you would need to score. I am fairly positive that it would work Phil, until you give it a try you will never know if it works.
In fact I have some ply in my shed and I will try it for you..

[gilfachphil]

Hi Rod,

Thanks for your suggestion. I think it would need a very special grade of plywood to survive outside in the climate of West Wales. I know that there is a totally waterproof form of MDF but it is very expensive.

At the moment what I am doing seems to be OK. It has been hot and sunny today and the material does appear to have stayed flat mostly so I think I will persevere with it as it is inherently waterproof and here!

Best wishes,

Phil

[gilfachphil]

Two wagon kits bought at Stoneleigh taking shape.

Plateways Fish van and 16 Mills brakevan.

Phil

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[Old Man Aaron]

Some really nice kits from both manufacturers, them.

[Peter Butler]

No personal experience of Plateways kits, but 16 Mills kits are always a treat to build.

[Preseli Chris]

Hi Phil
Re platform. Have you tried making one using upvc facia board ? It's cheap enough and will take an etched primer with it being approx 11mm thick so correct platform height and won't crack or warp in the rain and sun, my platform has survived two winters now with out issue .

[gilfachphil]

good to see you yesterday. I have a base layer of fascia board under the awkward plastic stuff, I had not realised you could paint fascia board.

Further update on wagon building:-

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The structure of the 16mills brakevan is more or less complete and it had had several coats of grey primer, which I will leave as the final colour. The under side has had a coat of matt black before adding further ironwork detailing, wheels and axles boxes and running boards.

As can be seen I have added some handrails. The kit has four more holes each side but I could not see what obvious arrangement was intended, they are not shown in the picture in the instructions and making four handrails per side is twice as much of a pain as two. I have masked the side before gluing the rails in so I can get black paint where intended more easily. They will need a second coat of matt black because it is very difficult to see any misses whilst the paint is wet.

Phil.

[gilfachphil]

Wheels added. I normally use crocodile clips to hold the axle boxes firmly to the frames when gluing but the wheels on this one turned more freely when the axle boxes were loose than when held in place with clips so I tried putting glue on the mating surfaces and just placing the wheels in their axle boxes in place. I only did one end at first but quickly found that the gleu had set and the wheels were free running. I did the other end with the same results. The glue was a cyanoacrylate.

I have been adding the ironwork detail to one side. it is supplied on a fibre sheet of some sort, grey in colour. I added nail art rivets then sprayed the whole black. Here is the remains of the sheet having done one side`:-

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I attached them with Deluxe Materials Speed Bond which comes in a bottle with fine nozzle so was easy to apply sufficiently little to the back of each piece. Time for a break!

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Phil

[philipy]

Thats looking really good, Phil.

Re your earlier comment about 4 handrails, it was pretty normal for there to be vertical handrails both sides of the guards entrance to the veranda. Is that what you were referring to?

[gilfachphil]

That’s not what I was referring to Philip,

if you look closely at the photo you can make out where I have filled holes, level with half way up the hand rails I have fitted, on the four vertical frame members,

Phil

[philipy]

if you look closely at the photo you can make out where I have filled holes, level with half way up the hand rails I have fitted, on the four vertical frame members,

Yes, I can see now, sorry.
However sometimes there are horizontal handrails at about that position, although normally with full length footboards. Maybe your kit is available with two options?

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[FWLR]

Very nice that Phil nicely built too.

I’am just starting another small scratch build of a brake van with wood again, but it maybe a month or two before it’s finished the speed I work at….

[gilfachphil]

Thanks Philip,

I can see the value of a handrail on the end post but had not considered adding one there. Drilling into thin MDF edgewise is worrying. I guess with the existing holes in the kit one can do as one wishes so a horizontal rail across the cab would be an option.

Phil

[gilfachphil]

Yr Hen Felin shunting puzzle will be at the West Wales Railway Modellers show next Saturday, June 1st from 10 am. It is in Bronwydd Arms Village Hall. Come and say hello if you are in the area,

Phil