Last night I finally finished my first B7 P4 Track Company point kit. I'm really pleased with the result and the crossing V seems to be OK. Ran a couple of wagons through the crossing V with no problems, nice and smooth. I still feel the V is out of specification but this does show that there are some tolerences within P4. Next test will be a six coupled loco.
I only broke one fishplate and lost one very small part chair component from the switch assembly. I also seemed to be two slide chairs and three S1 chairs short. Replaced most with spares that come on the sprues but had to resort to some C & L S1 chairs to finish the job. There are a few chairs that may need tweaking in the future but at the moment I am just pleased I've got this far.
Next task it to work out how to weather the sleepers to match the wooden ones I'm producing for the plain track. My first attempt is not good need to rethink colours and how to apply the paint. I also need to think about how to operate the point. Tortoise motors seem to be the favoured option and I've purchased a pack of P4 Track Companies base plates. Just need to purchased some motors.
Overall I think these kits are superb and more will be purchased, just a shame that the sleepers are plastic and not wooden.
6 comments:
That looks like you've done a very good job with it!
One thing which may be worth thinking about, to help match the plastic sleepers to the wooden one you’re using elsewhere, would be priming the units with Halfords grey or white primer and then paint the bearers with thin washes building the colour up much like water colour washes. Varying the colour and tones of the washes could help add variety and produce a pleasing effect. I’ve not done this with plastic sleepers before but have had success with this method with other applications such as wagon interiors and a few bits of buildings.
One other option for future pointwork would be to use just the rails and chairs on wooden sleepers. Although you would lose the location aids moulded on the sleepers, you’d have preformed switches and crossings, along with all specific chairs, which would speed up construction and allow use of your preferred materials. It might even be worth asking if Exactoscale/The P4 Track Company if they could supply kits minus the sleeper/bearer mouldings.
James
Looks good to me too. It works that's the most important thing.
Thanks guys....
I'm contemplating your suggestion to replace the plastic sleepers with wooden ones on the next kit. This is an A7 purchase for the Wharf siding on the Boscarne layout. Possibly going build it over a templot template using the kit instructions as a guide. The other two points on the layout will have to be modified kits anyway so might as well start pushing myself with an easy one.....
Very nice...
You wouldn't consider doing a write-up for Scalefour News of your first experiences of building a P4Track Company kit? I'm sure that Editorjohn would be very happy to receive something, and after all - by writing your blog you're halfway there!
Not sure that a write up on my experience would be right for the hallowed pages of Scalefour News. Once you get over the daunting look of the contents of the package and read the instructions a few times they are straight forward kits. For a beginner in P4 they are an excellent introduction to point construction.
"Not sure that a write up on my experience would be right for the hallowed pages of Scalefour News."
Well, I think that there would be much snorting of coffee in the next Committee meeting if the line was trotted out about the sacred nature of S4news!
Seriously, EditorJohn said that there was no point in being hallowed, as he has a lot of white pages to fill... Bear it in mind in future - what you're writing about your experiences discovering P4 is exactly what all of us have, or will, go through as well.
As it happens, I know that SN163 will contain someone else's first experience of building trackwork, so no worries if you feel suitably modest :-)
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