Steph Dale said:
Thanks for the links; that answers all sorts of questions, including the applicability of the standard...
No problem, Steph, as I have a bookmark for the site and it was just a handful of mouse clicks to copy and paste it, but from your perspective a quick Google would have found the site very quickly, (put Scale 7 standards in as your search criteria and the group home page is the first site listed) and involved you with less typing.
However, that would have then denied the larger discussion which is opening up, which I find interesting. In the early years of the decade, I did consider adopting Scale 7 as my modelling scale, even getting as far a building a few wagon kits and scrtachbuilding the basic body of a dumb-buffered PO wagon. Whilst I was a member, I volunteered to act as a clearing house for putting together a list of kits that could be converted to S7 with reasonable facility, and those which required a lot more work. All I wanted was some feedback saying which ranges were more accommodating than others. The response was a deafening silence. It was not intended to be a definitive list, just a brief guide.
Having seen Graham's really useful comments here on brake hangers, I realise my idea was rather naive: I had assumed that all that was basically required was new frame spacers and relocation of splashers. Obviously there is more to it than that, so I am grateful that you did ask, believe me.
You may ask why I did not stick with S7? Well, the answer is threefold.
Firstly, I cam across a certain other Simon with models built to a certain other (larger) scale;
Secondly, I don't bother with things like scale rulers when working in S and One32, and can calculate measurements quickly using mental arithmetic, so I found 7mm scale somewhat difficult - fitting 12 inches into 7mm is not easy, well not for me when I am accustomed to building models in an imperial scale;
Thirdly, and I think this was a real downer for me when I started, one of the attractions was the idea that some models could be built quickly and get me started, things like common wagons especially. Unfortunately, I found some of the much vaunted "easy" kits to be poor: solebars with detail off centre, floors that didn't fit, corners that wouldn't meet easily, no interior detail, and so on. The upshot was that I spent almost as much time adding missing details, filing, filling and making corrections as if I had built from scratch, which rather defeated the one thing I thought 7mm scale had to offer me above S and One32: the ability to get cracking sooner rather than later, and I lost momentum. I should add that my interests in terms of prototype and period were rather specific, and that I am aware that there are many ranges which do not have the problems I encountered.
In a way this is a shame, as 0 gauge models are of a really nice size: a small tank loco feels just right in the hand. They roll well (or should do - this does not seem to be the case on some 0 gauge layouts at exhibitions) and have a good presence without requiring the enormous amounts of space demanded by One32 layouts. I did consider working in 1:48 scale, i.e. Proto:48, using some bits and bobs from the US, but for a British prototype I would have been ploughing a very lone furrow, and not been able to run on other people's layouts.
I suppose ultimately, for me, 7mm was a compromise between S and One32, and for some would therefore be the ideal scale to use. But I don't like compromise: in the end, you get the worst of both options. (I also don't like win-win. Sometimes that is possible, but on times when it isn't, then either win the whole way, or lose the whole way, and learn to live with it!)
I'm rambling again, aren't I?
which is quite a lot in the chassis department
