Back into it

Out in the Man-sion again, and its 4 weeks to go to the convention.

I had been thinking about the edging of the layout. Given my dislike for MDF, and preference for plywood, it might come as some surprise that I have decided to go with MDF. A special on 3mm sheet at Mitre 10 certainly shifted my thinking. So, the first piece is up.

With a bit of thinking and care (traits that I do struggle with) it has gone OK for the first piece. The hills at the back are going to present a bit more of a problem as I'm not really sure how high or long they are going to be, or what the profile will look like. I think it will be time to get more cardboard out.

How good is your wiring??

(I just can't hold this important information back any longer)

Am_Fet scribbles:

Found this on the Interweb Thursday on Makezine (actually linked from an Analog Synth forum I'm a member of).

How-To: Splice Wire to NASA Standards

Some commenters on Friday’s post about using a washer as a soldering aid noticed my sloppy splicing technique and were kind enough to educate me about the so-called “Western Union splice,” aka the “Lineman’s splice,” which is the preferred method for twisting solid-core wire leads together for inline electrical connections.

Developed during the heydey of the telegraph, the Lineman’s splice is designed for connections that will be under tension. It is commonly claimed that, properly made, a Lineman’s splice is stronger than the wires of which it is composed. In any case, it is a time-proven method, and, coolest of all, one of NASA’s Required Workmanship Standards. To wit, in a NASA-approved Lineman’s splice:

1. The conductors shall be pre-tinned.
2. There shall be at least 3 turns around each conductor and the wraps shall be tight with no gaps between adjacent turns.
3. The wraps shall not overlap and the ends of the wrap shall be trimmed flush prior to soldering to prevent protruding ends.
4. Conductors shall not overlap the insulation of the other wire.

Though the Lineman’s splice was originally used without solder, today soldering is common. And NASA insists on it:

1. Solder shall wet all elements of the connection.
2. The solder shall fillet between connection elements over the complete periphery
   of the connection.

This material comes from page 84 of NASA-STD 8739.4, which is a great reference if you’re interested in best practices for interconnecting cables and wires. [Thanks, Alex Barclay!]

NASA-STD 8739.4 (PDF)

Saturday

The lady of the house's recovery goes well, and it looks like I might be able to get back out into the shed. However currently there seems to be a bit of gardening in my way (and more fishing), hopefully by the end of the weekend...

Meanwhile a flurry of postings last night and this morning (and still this afternoon) have come up with a (very) workable mini module standard that looks like it might be a goer. It looks very practical, and there might be 1/2 a chance that we can have some bits on display at the convention, assuming it can be made to work. Its a watch this space, but I think it could be great for those with not that much room who would still like to do a bit of modeling and have the possibility of joining up with other like minded individuals.

The plan is to have the bits laser cut, and possibly preassembled so that anyone can be sure that their ends will connect to everyone elses ends.

(Right, off to bottle some more beer as well)

Mmmmmmmm........

Sorry there has been a lull in posts (there is a post on soldering the NASA way, but I'm saving that for a special occasion).
I would have written something last night about the seeming lack of interest in the convention shown by NZ120 modelers, but was a bit busy in the great outdoors. I was fishing under the Halcome bridge (with the father in law), and was just watching a class 30 haul a freight north over the bridge in the sunset while absent mindedly casting into the river, when this blundered onto my hook. Not quite sure how it managed to get so big, while staying so dumb (a question we could ask of some people around I'm sure).

'There appears to be plenty of beer to go with that'

However I am in the good books at home (a very in that sentence would not be out of place), and he's going to be smoked over Manuka chips for tea tonight.
(hopefully I stay in the good books long enough to get a 100 buck order with North Yard paid for. Guys, if you got Paypal I could hide these things much better)

We now return you to the usual drivel.

40 odd days and counting

Well, with the stunning number of NZ120ers that seem to be going to the convention, I'm not sure my layout will be needed. However, plodding along a minor job was started. I'd had the start of the fueling areas done for a while. Yesterday found me out in the shed working on the oil tanks. I had previously shaped the ends. I gave them a coat of grey acrylic paint and when dry, sanded them down to smooth. I did this twice. next up were the cradles. I made these from 6mm thick balsa wood. I cut out 25mm by 7mm pieces, and marking a center line, then sanded the tank contour into the top. I stopped when they were cut 1/2 way through.
A bit of glue and placing on the layout and we have..





Not much but at least it is a start. I will have to add the control buildings, and I'd love a picture or plan of what the filling stand pipes looked like. I will also have to have a go at the coaling stage end of the fuel point.

UPDATE; I forgot to add that in the middle of all this yesterday, the lady of the house put in an appearance, and the first question was 'So how is this getting to Wellington?'
'An excellent question' I replied.
I've got no ideas at the moment....

Conventioning II

A few thoughts on the special interest group meeting that i assume we will be having.

A couple of things I would like to raise (well, one thing) is the sorting out face to face for modular standards. I can see 2 at the moment,. The first is the ones that have been semi thrashed out over at NZ120.org. this is just about done and really only needs the track connections between the modules sorted.
The second is my personal hobby horse, the mini module.

'Oh, hang on, its an ass...'

At the moment I'm leaning towards something maybe 300 wide, and 600-900 long (or in multiples of this). This would allow people with not too much room or time to build a small home layout to build a small scene that could be brought together to run with others. I see no reason why these could not be attached to converter modules for the larger system as an industrial siding or branch line.

Again there needs to be a sorting out of how the track approaches the ends. I've been thinking along the lines of having computer cut ends in 8-10mm ply with markings in where the rail ends sit. However with personal experience I'm not sure how this can be made to work with low profile wheels without a lot of side-to-side rocking or even derailments

What other topics do people think should be discussed?

Conventioning I

Had a chat with a fellow modeler while waiting for the Lady of the house to visit the vampires for a blood test. I was asked, 'so hows your planning coming along for the convention'. I mentioned the Uga's etc and that was about it. later on I had a bit more of a think about it. So just where am I up to;

-Waiting on the chassis for the J sheep wagons and the tops for the Uga's. This is going to require more wheels, bearings and in the Uga's case, the type 97 bogies. requires money.

-The layout has not been progressed much further due to the lady of the houses recent surgery. hopefully this will move on a bit faster, as I now have a source of extruded polystyrene (at a very reasonable price I think). I scored some of the crap white polystyrene from a packing crate at work which will do for the hills. The plywood is another thing that should work out. I need to make 2 end parts, and while I would like to build a couple of return loops, realistically its not going to happen.
Oh, and did I say I've got no idea about how it will get down there? It might fit into the car but...

-Paying for the convention, plus 4 nights board. The lady of the house is keen to come down for the weekend, and so that's even more money. At least nowhere is particularly far in downtown wellington, which is one of the reasons that I really love it. Another plus is that none of our favorite restaurants were named in the bad restaurants in the Dom Post today. Follow me and I'll show you how to dine well for not too much.....
(Oh, and with a second person in the car, there is no way that the layout will fit as well. It would only just fit in with the drivers seat well forward.)

-North yard has come through with some wheels for the bush tram layout. these are a bit steeper than I was expecting, but Markits stopped making them in 2008, so I'm lucky to get them. Plus the brass bits to make the log bolsters that's even more money.

So, as you can see its getting to be an expensive month. Maybe if I stop eating.....