Loco Weight

Nip down to your local 'Mr Tyre', National Tyres or whatever your retail outlet is called and ask for some of the scrap wheel balancing weights.

They come in all different sizes, shapes and weights and with a bit of a clean up can be stuck to loco's and / or rolling stock using double sided pads.

Remember to add a donation to the workshop tea / coffee fund :-)

You could also use lead from a roofers merchant or a glass manufaturer too.

minted

You can get lead balls which you can pour into suitable spaces and soak with with glue.

Where do i get the lead balls from Arthur?

A fishing supplies shop.

They used to call it split shot. Used for clipping to the line to weigh it down.

These days they might use something environmentally more acceptable, but they'll still be heavy and designed for the same function.

An alternative in the USA is a gun shop. A lot of people pack their own shot gun cartridges. I don't know if they do that in the UK.

Stands at model railway shows selling stuff like tools and electronic components often have it.

The bag I have is called "fluid lead", from Eileen's Emporium.

Obviously you need to be slightly careful with it, as it can get everywhere and it is probably best if the kids don't eat it...

Also "liquid lead" I think Model Rail do it as one of the reader offers. Be careful what you glue it with. I can't remember but I think the moisture in PVA reacts with the lead and the result takes up more volume than the original lead and can cause the model to distort.

In the US, you can buy shot for shotgun shells in various sizes. Don't know if you can in UK or not.

There was also a bismuth compound available that melted at a very low temperature. I don't recall the brand name.

Beware of using PVA; its been in the model press recently where the acidic components of PVA used to fix lead shot causes the oxidisation of the lead over a few years. Lead oxide has a higher volume than lead, so the lump expands and splits the model open.

Melted candle wax was suggested as one method of fixing it.

The other issue to consider is packing density. My friend (maths teacher) did the theory and experiment on packing density of lead balls (ie. how much space is the air gaps between the balls which are touching). The net result is that a given volume is no heavier than solid brass, and there isn't a big advantage in using finer balls, they still have lots of space around them.

- Nigel

Cue the dodecahedron (spelling provisional) lead shot industry - Personally I have had success using crushed air-gun pellets, which I get from the local fishing shop - soft lead(?) you can shape them with a pair of pliers. Mind you I am only using them to weight N Gauge wagons, so I usually only need a couple for the job.

Regards

Mike

Could "liquid" and "fluid" be careful skirting around brand name laws for whichever came second?

One of my aeroplanes has burst its nose, so something happens. Also some glues can themselves do Bad Things to plastic.

There must be some Russians around who could do a deal on pre-owned depleted uranium?

Glow in the dark model railway ?

I know some people like to be as close as possible to their prototype, but modelling DRS flask trains with real uranium is going too far.

Can you get a 4mm Geiger counter?

Adrian

With DCC sound?

"Can you get a 4mm Geiger counter? "

"With DCC sound? "

Yes you can but apparently the batteries are hard to find and a bit fiddley to fit :-

At least your DRS flask trains would not need any extra ballast, even empty !

Chris