fighting procrastination fifteen minutes at a time

Switch build 03

First attempt at N scale #6 curved pointAs Kenney Rodgers once said “You gotta know when to hold and when to fold” or words to that effect. But as it’s been some years since I’ve built handlay and that shows with this first attempt. It works in a fashion but it’s no oil painting and I was told some time ago by a friend that it usually takes a couple of goes to get it right and then it’s like falling off a bike. It’s definitely been good to treat this build as a sacrificial and not get too worked up about it being perfect from the start and as would will see I have left flux and a number of joints unsoldered joints knowing that this would not be laid to a baseboard.

So what did I learn from this experience? Firstly get some liquid flux as using the current one is a bit of a pain and liquid flux is much more manageable. I know having the right tools for the job but I also am trying to embrace the just do it mantra and not trying to procrastinate or indulge in analysis paralysis. Second check the rail; not all rail is created equal. Well they are just I didn’t expect there to be different codes mixed up and selecting a slightly smaller rail in crucial places caused major obstructions to the wheel sets. Finally the old adage measure twice cut once.much of the mistakes I made didn’t look right even though they seemed to be gauged right, but the eye is one of the most accurate measuring devices and so with a mixture of eyes and a mirror and trusting to instinct gets results.

But it’s not all bad news as you can see from below excluding the minor mishap. With this info it’s time to move on to the next one.

Until next time..

2 Comments

  1. Chris Mears

    This is exciting progress.

    As much or as many turnouts as I’ve managed to put together, each one is different in terms of a personal goal I set for myself. It’s a sort of evolution that’s inspired by the previous one and a curiousity: I wonder if I tried that next time?

    For me, I’m focussing my approach to tighten up the gap from the closure rails to the frog points. Then of course, like any N or 2mm modeller, fussing around with the latest brilliant theory on throwbar to points connections.

    Chris

    • 15minutemodeller

      These are somewhat of an oddity in that they are 150mm radius so pretty tight by any standards so not the usual N or 2FS minimums. I think we all go through the same evolutions and once you’ve built a number you settle in to your style of build. But it’s good to test that method once in a while as there maybe better ways and hence the calliper method. Yes the throwbar comment made me laugh as I still struggle with this.

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