Ernie

Hi Ian, There is an excellent source of both soldering stuff, and advice called DCC concepts. They are really model railway suppliers, but their materials and supplies are second to none ernie

Just about anywhere in France is better than the UK Its all about the gallic attitude ernie

Moving to a foreign country certainly pushes the comfort zone. Mon dieu, the french have the 'gaz' on the other side, as I found out when Jean Jaques handed me the tranny ernie

A sport...mon dieu, As someone very famous said, "If you train for it it's a sport, if you practice it's a game, or a passtime or whatever" ernie

It really isn't necessary to buy a sophisticated balancing system. Here's my system that has served me well over the years. Buy a couple of bottles of decent French wine (a chateau bottled burgandy works very well) Drink every last drop. Now, cut a slot across the top of each cork. Insert a coin in each slot so that you have a vertical sharp edge. Put the corks back in the bottles. The model can now be balanced on the edges of the coins. WARNING Inaccuracies, can creep in from time to time, due to double vision, or other alcohol related problems ernie

It used to be so much fun. To start with, you had to find a penny, or even two if it was to be a long distance call. Then go to the nearest shop that had a phone. There was a wee handle thing that you had to whirl round, and......magic there was a lady speaking....you gave her a mix of letters and numbers POL3848 comes to mind....then you put the penny in the slot beside the phone, and more magic, there was aunty jean talking. If it all went pear shape, you pressed a button, and voila, the penny shot back out Now, those were the days, when guys even could make up a wire undercarriage ernie

The solution is obvious..get Beth Ashby onto it. She's fixed every problem That I've had ernie

It seems pretty clear to anyone who has even a basic understanding of IT protocol that this is a backend issue, and the vendors server has a frequency block imposed on this particular website. I learned as long ago as 1965 that the easy remedy for most such problems is to re establish a hyperlink with the appropriate server, so that the frontend of the positronic path is effectively bypassed, and we can all get back to normal...Problem solved ernie

Thanks all, just been to the" fishing shop, what a source of interesting wee bits. Highly recommended ernie

Merci to you all, et excuser moi M De Tourtoulon ernie de la smith

Well Ken that's a fine idea, and there's a fishing shop just up the road. Now what's french for 'fishing line crimps?' Bonjour M Tourtoulon ernie

Good afternoon, and a great new year to you all. I have some very fine copper tubing (it's 1.5mm outside dia.) The problem is that I need to cut it into 10mm lengths (many many of them) I have one of these dinky little tube cutters, but it's not capable of cutting such a small tube. I've tried rolling the tube under a knife, but it really doesn't work. Any ideas? ernie

Seems like a job for the RCM&E forumites.......Just needs co-ordinating......Don't suppose mine is of much interest...It's a salt marsh in France, with only me and the storks. ernie

One day, not so long ago, there I was tootling around over the marshes, watched by only the storks, when the gendarms arrived. The got out of the Peugeot that slow way that they do, and pointed at my slowly circling glider. Always fancied one of these, (in french of course) I gave him a wee try. No problems after that ernie

I learned to fly on a flair cub. A fine trainer. It was dark blue. Everytime I repaired it, I finished it with green solartex. When eventually, I binned it. It was a green cub ernie

I think it was Danny Fenton who suggested an excellent method. Make a short length of balsa (say 6") that is a bit like a wee rain gutter, but with the inside shaped to match the required LE. Now glue in a bit of fine sandpaper, and you have a perfect tool for the job ernie

Hi Guys A wee box arrived this morning from Prime Miniatures.... Tiny brass nuts and bolts, exactly what I needed, and fast too (4 days.. Im in the South of France. They have a super range of very small stuff......Highly recommended Thanks for the help ernie

That is exactly the information that I need, now to go through it all. I do use the forum quite a bit for stuff like this. I try to help where I can too. It really is an extremely valuable resource ernie

Hi All the model BUILDERS out there. Can anyone advise? I need some very small nuts and bolts. Ideally 2mm and around 10mm long. To add to the difficulty, brass, with a hex head. Now, I'm not a lazy sod, I've tried all the usual suspects, Modelfixings, Mick Reeves, even Amazon, but to no avail. Any ideas ernie

I think SWIMBO comes from the fact that you can't pronounce SWMBO.....So, you can't grumble to the guys about SWMBO, well you could, but you'd sound a bit daft. SWIMBO solves all that, and its a very picturesque word ernie

SWIMBO was having a sneaky look in my workshop. "well she said, thats a nice wing, it'll fit fine onto the car" How can I ever tell her, it was the tail for my Keil Kraft falcon ernie

via the charger. I think theres an electronic gizmo in the Spektrum TX that means that only Spektrum chargers will work ernie

It's good, I think, maybe, very good I put it on charge as far away from anything that could concievably ignite, but close enough that I could hear the wee bleeper, and BINGO, a whopping 8.1V shows on the tranny Thanks all ernie

That's the usual way. Use aliphatic glue, because it sands better, and gives you some sliding time. Also, a long flat weight to give an even pressure ernie

OK guys, I'm onto it. And thanks for all the help ernie