Operation Metcalfe

[Clement Matchett]

More than luck! What you are proposing is a breach of copyright! I hope you don’t get sued! smiley

[Silver Fox 17]

More than luck! What you are proposing is a breach of copyright! I hope you don’t get sued! smiley

 

 

Not really, you can do anything for yourself, copyright only applies when you try to make money from it by advertising/selling.

[Hobby11]

If you have purchased N Gauge Metcalf buildings you will find they are actually more suited to TT than n gauge as they are slightly overscale for N .

 

 

Does anyone have one to hand and could measure the door height on the N scale ones?

[Dodge1965]

18mm on the one i have here.

[Hobby11]

18mm on the one i have here.

 

 

Sorry, my fault for not specifying! What kit is the door on?

[Dodge1965]

Double opening doors, then has the light above both doors, but i just measured the doors.

[Hobby11]

Thanks!

[Peachy]

More than luck! What you are proposing is a breach of copyright! I hope you don’t get sued! smiley

 

 

 

 

I very much doubt that.

1. I’ve bought and paid for the kit from them.
2. They actively support and even promote customers re-working their kits.
3. It’s been done before, plenty of older OO kits have been reproduced in N this way
4. Last but not least, I won’t be financially gaining in anyway, in fact it could be argued that it might promote further sales of OO products.

 

 

But, after saying all that, I do honestly appreciate your concern 😁

[Fishmanoz]

Which is why I said Luck.

Copyright only applies if you are advertising and making money - that is simple not true!

Given copyright is statute law, it may well be different in Oz to UK but in Oz, about the only exception is for study.

[Clement Matchett]

Quite right, Fishmanoz!

And in this case, by building a second engine shed by deliberately photocopying one which was paid for, a pecuniary advantage would be obtained.

To do so is an infringement of copyright in the UK too.

The moderators will say this is off topic. But if we are to persuade Metcalfe to do TT120 stuff, which I would welcome too, I wouldn’t start by publicising an intention to infringe their copyright.

PS I practised in intellectual property for 33 years before my retirement.

[Peachy]

Quite right, Fishmanoz!

And in this case, by building a second engine shed by deliberately photocopying one which was paid for, a pecuniary advantage would be obtained.

To do so is an infringement of copyright in the UK too.

The moderators will say this is off topic. But if we are to persuade Metcalfe to do TT120 stuff, which I would welcome too, I wouldn’t start by publicising an intention to infringe their copyright.

PS I practised in intellectual property for 33 years before my retirement.

 

 

I’ve sent them a message asking for permission.

 

 

BTW there’s a post on their own Facebook private club page by a customer explaining how and what he did to get Metcalfe kits for his O gauge.

Up until now they haven’t put him up against a wall to be shot.

[Rallymatt]

Anything involving layers will be expensive, very not straight forward, probably wearing tights and inconclusive 🤣 all more the reason we need Metcalfe to join the TT120 party! I really love their kits and spent many hours making them. Later ones are so well engineered.

[Too Tall]

I have just started on an N gauge Metcalf engine shed, normal printed door is 16mm tall.

That equates to 1.92m in TT. My front door measures 1.96, so it may well not look too out of place slightly_smiling_face

[Hobby11]

That sounds about right, as someone else said they seem to be slightly over scale, though their website says 2mm/ft 1:152. Most doors are around 6ft6ins to 7ft which would be 16.5mm to 18mm so not far out. I will give one a try and see how it looks. I was going to put them at the back anyhow. I may also look again at Auhagen and see if there's anything there in their TT section.

Thanks everyone.

[LY shunter]

If you want to print your own models why not use Scalescenes or Smart Models self print models which are designed to be printed yourself.

Smart models actually tell you to rescale the print for different scales

[intlx1]

I’ve started working on scale scenes items and scaling them up from N. The laser cutter makes short work of the heavy card!

[OldSeaDog 1707821252]

@intlx1 Laser cutter? Laser cutter! Want one! How much? Where from? Do you still have all your fingers? Just having a bit of a Goldfinger moment when I think about this.

Seriously, I'm not finding it too difficult to cut out Scalescenes or Smart Model kits as I tend to use 1000 micron board for heavy and 500 for medium when scaling down to TT; these thicknesses give the best allowances for the wrap round building style that both these designers use. Occasionally you have to use 1250 or 1500 but it's pretty rare. Obviously you need to change your knife blade every five minutes or so it seems.

I'd wondered from the start whether to scale up from N or down from OO. I'd assumed that the N versions were simplified but that doesn't seem to be the case when you compare the Smart Models freebie signal box to its OO big brother. Does the N version print ok when you scale up? Reducing OO to 63% then printing out isn't terribly economical as I use A4 labels, and they're not exactly cheap!

[Mr Quint]

If you want some cheap generic buildings you could try the Warlord Games Epic Battles scenery. Its all laser cut mdf made by Sarissa. Their Waterloo sets are huge, particularly Hogoumont and its modular so you can place individual buildings from the sets around a layout. This set can be found for £36 if you shop around

[D9020 Nimbus]

I'd wondered from the start whether to scale up from N or down from OO. I'd assumed that the N versions were simplified but that doesn't seem to be the case when you compare the Smart Models freebie signal box to its OO big brother. Does the N version print ok when you scale up? Reducing OO to 63% then printing out isn't terribly economical as I use A4 labels, and they're not exactly cheap!

 

 

I can't see how it makes any difference to the cost of printing which way you go. If the files are bitmap graphics, then I'd have thought downsizing from OO would be best. In any case I suspect the labels work out a lot less than the printer ink…

[OldSeaDog 1707821252]

See what you mean. But when Smart Models scale down to N they move the OO elements around so that, where you'd had have 7 sheets in OO there are only, say, four in N. If you then scale this up to TT, you'd need something bigger than A4 to print on. Maybe.

Anyway, the N and OO downloads cost the same, so it's no big deal. Either way works.

[Too Tall]

One Metcalfe N gauge engine shed (still needs finishing (painting card corners/edges) but perfect for the space I had.

It houses the 4-6-2's and just needs a height extension, shown here with 10x10mm balsa as a temporary lift kit slightly_smiling_face

[Peachy]

One Metcalfe N gauge engine shed (still needs finishing (painting card corners/edges) but perfect for the space I had.

It houses the 4-6-2's and just needs a height extension, shown here with 10x10mm balsa as a temporary lift kit slightly_smiling_face

 

 

I missed this TT well done!

 

 

NB I was trying to guess how many A1/A3/A4’s in TT120 are out there?

 

 

If the reported number of over 15’000 people have signed up to the rewards club is correct and if a fair amount have ordered at least 1 starter set let alone further individual locos, that must mean surely there are more than 10’000 long steam locos requiring a shed?

If I were Mr Metcalfe I’d test the market with a long double shed.

[Artyp]

I've been using the Wordsworth OO and printing at 63% straight onto card where card is required rather than gluing onto card. It produces a better finished model. Yes it does involve duplicating some pages where there is a mix of card & not card but I think it is worth it.

[Peachy]

I’ve just downloaded & printed my first scale scene kit (00>63%)

all looks sharp so fingers crossed it goes ok. Not sure if my little printer can print onto card? I’ve done mine on a quality thick-ish Matt photo paper.

[OldSeaDog 1707821252]

@Peachy Try printing on to an A4 sticky label, works brilliantly and you don't have to wait hours for the glue to dry.

You can get them on next day delivery from a company who I shan't name but sound like they're based on a South American river.