Green Paint!

I never thought that I would be happy to see a bottle of green acrylic paint. But there you go strange things happen in the model railway world.
Why was I so happy to see such an insignificant thing?
Well, over the past couple of weeks I've been doing a bit here, a bit there on the Wills tin chapel kit. Steady progress in small increments barely worth reporting until the kit was finished. It is such a simple kit. "I'll have it finished in no time."
Or so I thought. I reckoned without the purchase of some green acrylic paint to do the outside of the structure.
It seems that there are still hobby shops that persist in the misguided ideal that enamel paints are the only sort of paints. They've never heard of acrylics. Even in shops that do stock acrylics, the water based paint is outnumbered 3:1 by the oil based stuff.
Acrylics are so easy to work with. Barely ever needing thinning in my experience, a bit of water does the job. They brush on so easily (spraying is a topic for another day) . Enamels you always have to thin, If you don't it's like painting with treacle.
Don't get me started on clean up. Water people! That's all you need...
So all in all it took about 3 weeks to find a colour of paint that I thought would be suitable. I hope to gosh it is suitable because the lighting in the paint aisle was so poor it was difficult to tell. Even looking in the daylight was risky as it was a very overcast , grey day. I'd paint the structure tonight except the "new" series of Top Gear starts on BBCAmerica.
So there you go "4mm scale agonies" come in all forms

p.s. The episode of Top Gear concerned the race between Tornado, a Jag and the Vincent motor cycle

Ice to see you...

Some of you will have seen this already if you're on your toes.
Otherwise http://railwayeye.blogspot.com/2010/01/ice-to-see-you-to-see-you-ice.html
What I find fascinating is that the icicle is pretty much shaped to the loading gauge...

The Proof

Here we go then following requests for a picture (usual apologies for the wallpaper). A straight out of the box Bachmann 08 converted to P4. Yes, the tension lock couplers are still there. But look, you can barely see the wheel flanges as it should be.

So after a bit of weathering, some detailing and some new couplings. I'll have a very nice P4 loco.

First P4 Loco!

Yes that's right.

I now have my first P4 converted locomotive. My Bachmann 08.

I've had the Ultrascale wheels for long enough and there was nothing on the TV so, spurred on by Yans progress with his first P4 conversion with the thought that my 6 coupled 08 couldn't be any more difficult than his 6 coupled Pannier Tank. I pulled the model out of the box.

The P4 wheels are just a straight replacement for the old ones. It's as simple as that. You don't have to do any major disassembly of the chassis. Just pop out the plastic strip that holds the brake gear in place and unscrew the keeper plate that hold the wheels in place. Take the old wheels out. Put the new ones in and swap over the connecting rods. Though you do have to drill the crank pin holes out to 2.1mm to fit over the new crank pins. Not a difficult task just be careful. Pop the keeper plate back in place and the brake gear strip and put it on the track turn on the power and...

Oh.

It doesn't go.

Why?

DOH!

Because these wheels are narrower and further apart than the old ones the contacts on the backs of the wheels for current collection don't. Contact the wheels that is. So you have to undo everything you just did. Remove the wheels bend the contacts so that they touch the back of the wheels.

Reassemble everything.

Pop it on the track. Turn the control and...

BINGO!

It works! it runs just as smoothly as before.

Got to admit to feeling pretty pleased with myself tonight.

Interesting video

The following video at the link below came to my attention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7KHkp0oJd4
For those of you who think that P4 layouts are slow running terminus to fiddle yard layouts that have trouble with stock staying on the track.
This video of the "Mostyn" P4 layout disproves all that.
The trackwork is excellent and the running is outstanding.
There is nothing more to say.
Enjoy.

The Rev. Peter Denny

I'd thought that the first post of the new year on here would be about some modelling. But alas no. I am saddenned to report the passing of the Rev. Peter Denny age 92. Railway modeller and pioneer of finescale railway modelling.
His EM gauge Buckingham Great Central layout was an inspiration to us all. He was a founder member of the EM Gauge Society.
I can still remember how taken I was by the pictures of his Buckingham Great Central in one of my first issues of Railway modeller that I bought in the late 70's. The layout had everything, detail and atmosphere.
Reflections of the man and his legend will fill the model railwaying internet soon from people more knowledgeable about him than I.
I'm just going to remember a huge influence.