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//-->N Scale Modellerwww.nscale.org.auIssue 3 ~ February 2010• Perils of the Armchair Modeller• Improving the look of your bridges and trestles• Modelling the TransAdelaide Operations Control Centreon a T-TRAK ModuleN Scale ModellerN Scale is 50 Years OldCommercial N scale is 50 years old in 2010. Arnold of Germany marketed the Arnold Rapido range in 1960. The Arnoldfactory was located in the city of Nürnberg. The following is a brief history of Arnold Rapido.Although trains and accessories of similar gauge and/or scale existed many years earlier, Arnold made the first launch ofmodern commercially produced models in N gauge. Apparently, it was not until the early 1960’s that the term “N scale”came into vogue. According to Riley O’Connor of Atlanta, Georgia USA, there were several distinct phases of Arnold’smodel train production:1960-62: The production of basically unrefined models.1963-67: An emphasis on true scale and the introduction of the Rapido coupler.1968-70: The addition of operational accessories. Also, in a business association with the Revell company, North Americanprototype models were produced.You can read a more complete history at Riley O’Connor’s website:An interesting aspect of the earlier catalogues was the inclusion of a chart of the technical capabilities of locomotivemodels; it even included the pulling capacities for 4-wheel and bogie rolling stock.Perhaps the most commonly known facet of Arnold is the Rapido coupler, often referred to as the universal N scalecoupler. Arnold allowed any N scale manufacturer to use the Rapido coupler on their models. This enabled models fromdifferent manufacturers to work together and this fact probably aided in the rapid expansion of N scale.Although the Rapido coupler is still in use today, it appears that its days are numbered as most manufacturers are nowoffering knuckle couplers as standard on models.Arnold went into bankruptcy in 1995 and was acquired by Rivarossi in 1997. Rivarossi subsequently went bankrupt also,in 2003. All of the assets, in which was included the Arnold brand, were acquired by Hornby in 2004.Hornby has re-launched many of the models under the Arnold brand name. These re-released models are now technicallyimproved with superior motors, LED lights, digital interfaces, etc.You can peruse the current range of the Arnold brand of products at:(NSM team member, Graham Cocks, bought the first of a number of Arnold diesel models, an Alco FA1, in 1976. It wasan all metal body, all wheels powered and all wheels electrical pick-up)Publication TeamGraham CocksTrevor MayDavid BromagePublished by N Scale Modellers AustraliaEmail..............................................nsm@nscale.org.au______________________________Articles may not be copied or reprinted without thepermission of the respective authors. Orginal articles inthis publication may not be copied or reprinted withoutthe permission of the publisher. The publisher accepts noresponsibility for articles submitted by contributors.Modellers wishing to submit articles should take noteof the following technical requirements. Photos must beforwarded as separate items:1. Text may be submitted using Word or plain text by emailif it’s a short item. We can do the formatting.2. Photos to be in JPG (JPEG) format. 300dpi or better. Wecan reduce the size if necessary.3. Text should indicate where a photo should be inserted,eg. (Fig 1 placed here)Assistance with article preparation is available from theTeam if required.While advertising is not accepted as such,N Scale Modellerwelcomes relevant product news from manufacturers.All correspondence and submissions is via the publication’semail address:nsm@nscale.org.auContentsPerils of the Armchair Modeller .........................3Product News ...................................................8Building the TransAdelaide Operations Control Centreon a T-TRAK module .........................................11NSW N Scale Modellers Clinic ..........................14Trestle Tricks ......................................................15Broad Church or Narrow Minded? .....................18Cover:AN and EL class locos haul an intermodal train. (Photo:John Miller)2N Scale ModellerIssue 3 ~ February 2010THE PERILS OF THE ARMCHAIR MODELLERLike most railway modellers, I enjoy the pastime of armchair modelling.By this, I mean thinking about, planning and researching current andfuture modelling projects. Being a prototype modeller, I draw inspirationfrom scenes and photos of the era I model and quite often set myselfgoals in order to create a scene or train I want to replicate.One train I wanted to model was an Australian National super-freighter poweredby AN and EL Class locomotives hauling modern intermodal equipment (see frontcover picture). I particularly wanted to model some articulated well wagons, oneloaded completely with double stacked BOXCAR containers.Sitting in my proverbial armchair, I began to plan how I would achieve this goal.Generally, I tackle the hardest part of a project first and in this case decided tostart by building the locomotives using N-SCALE AUSTRALIA etched brass kitsand ATLAS chassis. Whilst the research and construction of these locomotives wastime consuming, it progressed smoothly without any major problems. See N ScaleModeller, Issue 1, August 2009 for my earlier article describing the construction ofthe EL locomotive.The next item I decided to build was an AQYY five platform articulated well wagon.I obtained plans from INPROTRANS (www.inprotrans.com) and gathered togethera number of photos. I considered kitbashing some US models but settled onscratchbuilding them with styrene. Fig. 1 shows the finished model prior to painting.The model was finished with MODELFLEX paints and MnJ decals (now sold as GRDECALS www.grdecals.com.au).The well wagon proved to be a quick and easy wagon to scratchbuild but thisis where I came to the perilous part of the project. Thinking I had left the easiestbit until last, I started researching the 48-foot BOXCAR containers in earnest andby John Millerwhilst I had the MnJ/GR DECALS to hand, (see Fig. 2) sourcing 48-foot corrugatedcontainers proved problematic and I could not find any commercially available. Thisnecessitated the building of a styrene master (see Fig. 3) and commissioning myfriendly custom caster to produce a batch of urethane castings.Building corrugated containers with styrene is an easy scratchbuilding project if youuse EVERGREEN metal siding sheets. I used #4527 with 60 thou spacing for thesides and #4526 with 40 thou spacing for the roof. As this container was built as aIssue 3 ~ February 2010N Scale Modeller3master, all partswere laminated to40 thou sheet andthe long edgeswere step jointedfor strength. Thecontainer was alsointernally bracedwith three 40 thoucross braces. Allthisadditionalstrengtheningis necessary toensure the masterdoes not self-destruct when placed under vacuum during the mould making process.The first batch of container castings arrived in the post and I thought I could see thelight at the end of the tunnel but I was to be proved wrong. I painted the containerswith MODELFLEX “Insignia Yellow” and masked off the roofs for a coat of TAMIYA“Flat White”. I then attempted to decal the green band around the bottom of thecontainer and ran into problems. The decal refused to conform to the complexcontours of the container despite the use of MICROSCALE Micro Sol decal settingsolution. The decal started to disintegrate under the pressure and the paint softeneddue to the overuse of Micro Sol.At this point, I retreated to my armchair again to decide how to progress. Decaling wasobviously not the solution and painting the green strip appeared to be the only way togo. This presented the dual problems of matching the decal colour and masking thecorrugated sides of the container. Starting with MODELFLEX “Burlington NorthernGreen”, I added small amounts of “Engine Black” with an eyedropper testing eachcolour by painting it onto a scrap of styrene, which had been primed with “InsigniaYellow”. I continued this process until I had a colour that closely matched the Boxcardecals. With the benefit of hindsight, the resultant colour would have benefited fromthe addition of a small amount of blue but I can live with it.I did not look forward to tediously applying masking tape to ten corrugated containersso I decided to construct a masking clamp. This is a simple bar clamp made frommaterials I had to hand. I cut two 130 mm lengths of 18 mm square tube from anold chrome towel rail I had in the shed and cleaned them up with a belt sander.These were then clamped together and the ends drilled with a ¼” bit in the drillpress to take two 60 mm x ¼” roofing bolts and wing nuts. Finally, I faced the jawsof the clamp with 6 mm thick high-density neoprene, which is available from CLARK4RUBBER stores. An 18 mm wide strip of neoprene was cut, taking care to ensurethe cuts were square and a 100 mm length was glued to each bar using contactadhesive. (I prefer the SELLEYS acrylic version as it is water-soluble and has nonoxious fumes). The finished clamp is shown in Fig 4.The ends of the container were masked conventionally using TAMIYA masking tape.I extended the masking around the sides of the container approximately 1 mm toact as reference points for locating the masking clamp. Once the container wasaccurately positioned in the clamp, the wing nuts were tightened until the neoprenewas compressed sufficiently to conform to the surface profile of the container side(see Fig. 5).The green strip was then applied using a number of very light airbrushed coatskeeping the spray pattern parallel to the top of the clamp. The idea is to minimisepaint build-up on the neoprene as much as possible thus avoiding a fillet of paintforming between the neoprene and the container. Once the paint was dry, the clampwas loosened and the container removed. The neoprene pads were then cleaned ofany paint build-up using cotton buds dipped in methylated spirit and allowed to drybefore being used again. This masking clamp will also be useful when I decorate mynext batch of TNT containers with the orange strip around their bases.Prior to decaling, the painted container was given several airbrushed coats ofIssue 3 ~ February 2010N Scale ModellerStarting at the centre of the container the CAR section of the decal was appliedusing MICROSCALE Micro Set. It was worked into the first corrugation using tworound toothpicks then one toothpick was used to hold it in the corrugation whilstthe other was used to work it into the next corrugation. This process was repeatedfor each corrugation until the whole decal was conforming to the container surface.I then went over the decal again with the toothpicks before applying Micro Solsparingly with a soft brush, gently working out any air bubbles present. The righthand arrowhead was applied next followed by the BOX section and the left handarrowhead. The left hand arrow tip was located in the same position on the containerside as the right hand arrow tip leaving a gap between the two decal sections. Thiswas filled with the green strip, previously cut.When the decal had dried any remaining air bubbles were removed by pricking themwith a sharp needle and brushing on more Micro Sol. Any splits or holes in the decalwere touched-up with paint applied with a toothpick. Once I was happy with thedecals, I sealed them with airbrushed TESTORS Dullcote.The final touch was to highlight the door latching rods and handles on the containerdoors. On containers and trailers this hardware is usually galvanised and leftunpainted. To represent this I used the side of a sharpened 2B pencil to lightly rubover the raised details. This highlights only the top of the details making them appeareven finer than they actually are. If you stuff it up just clean it off with a soft eraserand start again. To avoid smudging when handling the pencilling was also sealedwith airbrushed Dullcote.This was followed by a light weathering of medium gray powdered pastel and anairbrushed wash of earth coloured paint sealed with a final coat of Dullcote.Th most challenging part of this project turned out to be what I had presumed to bethe easiest and I hope that my solutions to the problems I encountered are of useto other modellers.This article has previously been published in the newsletter of theVictorian N Scale Collective, Issue No. 101, Jan-Feb 2008TESTORS Glosscote to protect the paint job from being attacked by the decalsetting solutions.The final problem to overcome was the application of the Boxcar decal to thecorrugated container. On the first attempt, I discovered two problems. Firstly, I foundit impossible to apply the decal in one piece and secondly the BOXCAR letteringwas not centred as per the prototype. The arrowhead to the left of the “B” wasshorter than the right hand one.The Boxcar decal was cut into four pieces and a piece of green decal strip cutto the same size as the main decal in order to extend the left hand arrowhead.Issue 3 ~ February 2010N Scale Modeller5 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]