albergman

Glad you like my efforts Teuchter. I too went to DHS till '51 (and the "wee" school and the "big" school next to Alexander's Bus depot.) and recall the sports field and an abandoned building called the Pavillion (Pavvy) on the school grounds. I lived on the top floor (of 3) of a tenement on St. Leonards street from where we could see that railway line ... still remember the excitement every time I'd hear an A4 chime whistle. Sadly those homes are all gone and just a green space remains but amazingly the old Rex park is still there just as it was in my day! Frank

Bit of an update. Haven't been getting much time at the bench as RL gets in the way. What time I have had was spent trying to align the De Dion tube on my work jig so I could start to fasten all the other parts to it. I'd been gluing (CA) it to blocks of scrap and hoping everything was in the right attitude ... it never was! Today I got medieval on it and drilled and bolted it to the jig. It's perfectly placed now ... right height, left-right etc so now it won't move!! Looks crude but it's effective. Almost all of it disappears under the body when it gets dropped on. Temporary wheels standing in place. Now I need to reshape the body around this but that's easy stuff. Glad to have it locked down at last. Frank

Thanks Chris. Very kind. I wish I had your skills in weathering after looking at City of Truro! I'd love to try weathering some of my stuff but painting is a bit of a black art to me and I'm afraid of ruining a model. I'd encourage you to try making a few bits to get a feel for scratch building. I only took up this hobby after I retired and my previous life (computers) had nothing to build on. Just took a few pics of my Scotsman yesterday and it keeps reminding me I've GOT to find time to finish it up. The paint around the front is definitely looking a bit tatty and nicked and I've still got a little box of parts to be added on. Right now I'm consumed with scratch building the Lancia D50 though. I wanted to make it look like the engine is in a siding as a stand-by and I made the buffers from some weathered (not by me) wood. Found some appropriately shaped aluminum scraps that look (to me) like strong braces for the woodwork. "Bolted" in place with straight pins. I see the long "bolt" that hinges the boiler door has gone amiss too! Missing a buffer and 2 lanterns. Frank

I grew up in Dunfermline, just across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh so I never saw anything but LNER locos. That has left me totally uninterested in any of the other lines. Cromwell is a fine looking engine no doubt but A3's and A4's are the only ones that matter to me I've been following the running of FS all summer on YouTube. Seems Ian Riley really understoood what was needed and has done a fine job in getting her back on the rails. It's almost enough of a draw to come back over just to see it one more time. Frank

Thanks BarSide. I guess she is pretty much as the Museum has her. I didn't really give a lot of thought to what exact era I wanted to represent. In my day (late 40's to '51 when we emigrated to Canada) I used to see lots of A3's in Scotland with these smoke deflectors and I like the look of them. I've followed endless discussions on railway sites about what colour and what era FS should have been restored to and there's really no correct answer. I'm 78 now and I just wanted an A3 model that gives me great pleasure to look at and that's what she is. Thanks for the comment though. Frank

Bit of a teaser for those who are following the build. I've pretty much finished all the bodywork ... except for a small matter of applying 5 or 600 rivets! Still trying to source an appropriate supply. Well on the way with the rear suspension. All the parts fabricated from scrap brass and aluminium and fitted together. Still in unfinished state so they look rough. Here's a sample ... the aluminium piece is only 1.5 mm diameter so go easy on me!! It's attached by a straight pin to a tiny bracket temporarily glued to a piece of brass standing in for the DeDion tube. It was machined from an aluminium nail. Anyway, I wanted a coat of paint on the body to get a sense of how she was going to look so I'll share these with you. Only red paint I had. Not the final colour. Scrap wheels in place for scale. Yes, as I handled the right-side tank I broke the thin material at the back!! Aaargh! Later Frank

Hello Taffy I'd say you've captured his likeness very effectively. Body proportions look properly humanesque (is there such a word?) Not sure what medium you're developing him with ... software of some sort? I take it this is/will be a clay sculpture? Don't wait any longer ... do it! Frank

Thanks guys. Caterhamnut ... I just went back and found your BT52 and now I'm impressed! I've never built a kit and I certainly couldn't do the kind of detailing that so many of you are capable of. I like making bits but I really struggle with finishes ... something most of you handle with ease. I'd love to see your half-hull as I've built quite a few myself. We saw a J-boat in New York harbour when we passed through there on our own boat. Lines to die for. Sharknose ... no, these aren't wheels from a VCR! I actually had to go and buy a couple of feet of aluminium rod for these. I'm gradually getting more accomplished with the lathe and it's a ton 'o fun! Haven't used one since I was in high school back in '51 but it's pretty easy to learn if you've been around tools enough. Go for it! Spent all afternoon making another steering wheel. A few steps forward and a few back.

Yes, I make my own wheels and tires. Used to do it on a cobbled together machine but all much easier now that I have a real metal lathe!! Still experimenting to find the best procedure and the best spoke material. Some wheels are laced with a continuous "thread" around a central hub. I'm experimenting with a "wiring loom" I designed that is having nice results too I fasten a hub into this then I wire it ... looks clunky here as the wire was too thick but you get the idea. Only the lower level of spokes is done in this shot. Next I cap it with a separate piece to make the outer rim (this one not wired yet) Makes a tidy combination I'm not into the exact number of spokes and perfect reproduction of spokes ... a worthwhile goal mind you but not for me. I just want a wheel that looks OK. Frank

That's an amazing stash of add-on material there! Good luck to you on what seems to me a daunting task. Glad you're finally able to realize a long-held ambition. I'll be watching this one ... and thinking to myself "glad it's not me!" Frank

Thank you Sharknose and Crazy Crank Yes indeed, cocobolo is very hard and dense and that is why it is a good choice for this purpose. The resulting rim is just under 2 mm wide and the denseness of the wood is what keeps it intact. C/C ... I'm not familiar with peerwood (pearwood?) so I can't comment on its suitability. I suspect that any wood that is "softer" or with an open grain might not survive the machining down to this size. Best way to find out of course is to try it!! This is my second wheel and I'm going to do another and try to improve on the aluminium core. What diameter will the wheel be for the Bugatti and what thickness will the rim be? Probably thicker than the D50 so that will help. The core is visible between the wood surfaces and NO I won't be putting nails/rivets through the rims I don't have anything small enough and I'd be pushing my luck to try drilling through them. Re the 9 1/2 limit ... about 40 years ago I bought a block of padauk which is another rare wood. I wanted to make something nice with it and decided on a Ferrari GTO and I was determined not to waste a single millimetre of the block. It was 9 1/2" long. Since then all my cars are the same size. You can see it on this forum ... http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234991814-some-artsy-fartsy-wooden-cars/ Frank

Thanks for the encouragement gents. Much appreciated. This next installment is a diversion of sorts. I sometimes like to put the larger parts aside and get into fabricating some of the more intricate details. The steering wheel. This should be a 3 part piece ... aluminium core with separate wood rims on either side. I mentioned above (I think ... maybe not) that I recently purchased a hobbyist machine lathe so it was easy to turn a disk down to the outer diameter needed. Here it's glued to a block of scrap for that purpose. Once that's done I draw the pattern on it and drill/Dremel out the 3 spokes. The wood rims will be similarly machined from a couple of slices of cocobolo (an exotic wood) that I cut on my bandsaw and glued to a work-block. Next I machine the middle out and reduce what's left down to the size needed. This wood takes a beautiful sheen when wet sanded with 1000 grit then add a bit of wax. CAREFULLY remove it from the block, glue to the centre core. Job done.

Hello again This isn't my first attempt at a D50 ... in fact it's not my second, third or even fourth!! Yep, fifth. This was one of my very first scratch builds back in 2002 when I first started this hobby. Not knowing any better I carved it in balsa and quickly found that doesn’t accept detailing. I was also experimenting with silicon molds so I cast it in urethane because that does take better detailing. Soon realized the model was too small (6" long) so I’ll make a bigger one! By this time (2003) I had sourced some free Renshape (a synthetic compound made for pattern-making) and decided on a fresh and larger start so off I went again. I guess I was still lacking a decent set of plans because at some point I decided it was horribly wrong(!) and scrapped it. I’ll skip what happened to #4 and move along to this year when I recently acquired a large supply of Renshape and began yet another. “Fifth times a charm” don’t they say? By now I had found an excellent set of plans so no more excuses!! Sized my plans on the computer and off we go ... this one will be 9 1/2" long. Note: I don't build to any particular scale and all my cars are about 9 1/2" long ... there's a story there but that's for another day. Trace the shapes onto the block and into the bandsaw. Out comes the angle grinder and my palm sander with coarse paper and in a half hour we're down to the essentials. Rough cut a headrest shape, glue on then fair with body filler. As you can see the cockpit has been hacked out and some other details. Side tanks are very basic shapes with only a slight rise at either end. Some careful work with a Dremel and an appropriate tool hollows out the cavities required. I initially made the nose scoop out of aluminium as it's very fine/delicate at the leading edge. Later decided that my newest Renshape is very hard and probably strong enough so ... made another. Made a few of the metal bits to hold the tanks to the body and also the windshield mounts. These bits are all formed from scrap aluminium that I collect (old VCR's, camera bodies, computer hard drives etc) and pore over looking for the piece that contains the shape I need. These bits are still in need of refining so don't judge them too harshly. Remember, those windshield brackets are about 1/8" wide. I'll leave it off there and let you peruse the process. Fire away with questions about anything at all. Thanks for looking. Frank

Thank you Morty. Natural wood finished cars have a nice appeal don't they? Right now I'm putting the finishing touches to the bodywork of a '55 Lancia D50 but I'm using synthetic "wood". BTW I like your interpretation of Morse's Jag. One of the reasons I used to watch that show. Never cared for Morse as he was too grumpy and disrespectful of Lewis .. I thought. Anyway, I see he's returned in younger form with Endeavour and the Jag is back ... but now in black. Cheers Frank

Mostly making this entry just to get familiar with the new image posting procedure. I recently treated myself to a hobbyist's machine lathe and have been enjoying learning how to turn small pieces in aluminium and brass. My first objective was to finally have aluminium rims for my wooden GTO. After turning a dozen or so to finally develop an acceptable wheel (to me anyway) I've made a set! Well, that was easy! Thanks for looking. I'll be starting a build log soon on my current passion ... a scratchbuild of a '55 Lancia D50 Grand Prix car. Frank http://www.britmodel...flying-scotsman http://www.britmodel...ilt-triumph-tr6 http://www.britmodel...tsy-wooden-cars http://www.britmodel...uilt-half-hulls http://www.britmodel...rt-fishing-boat http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234992373-another-scratch-build-lola-t70/ http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234991575-billings-dragon-tarted-up/

Outstanding builds of both ships enhanced by the "difficult to get it right" seas. Very believable setting. Frank

Been at this one off and on over several years (Sept 2013 to be precise) but persevered with it and recently handed it over to its new owner who used to have the real thing. The model is entirely scratch built and the hull was fashioned from Renshape (mostly) and generous applications of fiberglass paste and Bondo ... needs must. It is "close" to 1/2":1' scale but definitely built to scale. I don't have many shots of it in final stages so these will have to do. Frank Build log at http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234995195-scratch-build-of-beneteau-51-idylle-sailboat-half-hull Other builds ... http://www.britmodel...flying-scotsman http://www.britmodel...ilt-triumph-tr6 http://www.britmodel...tsy-wooden-cars http://www.britmodel...uilt-half-hulls http://www.britmodel...rt-fishing-boat http://www.britmodel...build-lola-t70/ http://www.britmodel...agon-tarted-up/

Hello Again Been a bit remiss about this build and now it's finished and given to its new owner yesterday. If anyone is still interested in the build process I'll get back to it. Meanwhile here's where she finished up. Actually it's on a crap backing board as I've invited her new owner to source and finish a backing board of his choice ... Frank

Wow, what a masterpiece. You should do a tutorial on seascapes. Brilliant. Frank

Congrats!! Very effective and imaginative. Frank

Almost enough to retire on from the scrap value Kev!! I can't resist taking old electronics apart (VCR's, old 35 mm film cameras ... for the tiny bolts!, computers etc) as you never know what you'll find that will come in handy someday. As a scratch-builder you can never have enough "scrap" . I've got separate bins of aluminium, brass, tin, plastics, small bits of wood and all the off cuts from Renshape, urethane castings and a misc bin! Cheers Frank

Not a lot done today. Decided to add a couple of deck fittings that the rigging attaches to. From the aluminium parts bin I selected this heat sink because it has parts cast at right angles so I won't have to deal with soldering or other forms of "glue". So, sawed out a corner piece. I'm going to use the second fin in from the right and part of the base. Snapped off the 2 outer fins with pliers as a start. I'll spare you all the hacksawing and filing so I hope you can see how I got from the above to this. Only took about half an hour. Another piece from the heat sink was enough for the other fitting ... this is only about 1/8" across!! Made a start on a couple of ventilators but I'll save that for another time. Thanks for looking in. Frank

Could call this "Much Ado about Nothing" but I think someone used that title before. Some of you guys seem interested in the process of making parts from scratch so here's another tidbit. I need to make a couple of fairleads which are used to run dock lines from a cleat on deck to shore. There will be one at the bow and a matching one at the stern. You can maybe pick them out in this shot ... like a large letter "C" lying on its back I'll need a chunk of aluminium that's fairly thick as these are substantial fittings so from my parts bin I've selected the "chassis" from an old computer hard drive that I dismantled. These are made of a nice alloy and have many thicknesses. I'll be using a section of the side wall in the foreground. I'm hacking it out with one of these surplus bits from (I think) the electronics industry. They're great for lateral cutting. Using the tool mounted to a flexible shaft on my (Chinese) Dremel. Tidy up the gap with a small square section file ... Hacksaw the rough-shaped piece out. Lots of filing to narrow the piece down. Aluminiium takes a nice smooth shape when sanded with 800 or 1000 grit wet sand paper. Here's the pair. Remember these are less than 1/4" long so they look pretty clunky here!! Still in its unsanded condition but you get the idea? Thanks for watching. Frank

WOW!! That is fabulous. Very professional I must say. Your studies (of the sea) have paid off in spades. So you're not only a first class scratch-builder but a damn fine painter as well. Frank

Hi Seadog Just found your latest work and truly impressed. Well done. You have a wonderful ability to fabricate realistic water which I also commented on in Scottish Maid. I see many paintings of ships at sea and it's a difficult subject to capture correctly (this coming from a lifetime sailor). Anyway, your 3d rendition of the sea is quite something. The boat of course is the main subject and likewise impressive. I find myself wondering how these poor crewmen stayed aboard without some semblance of a perimeter lifeline. Cheers Frank