Steve Cook
Flying Squad
Shepshed was rather fruitful if your bent is Brake Vans in Gauge 3 Mike (Williams Models) actually had a GER Brake Van in stock at the same time as I had a cheque book, its only taken three attempts! Slaters had also brought along some of their new MR Brake Van kits - one of them joined the GER van in my shopping pile behind Arty's demonstration table whilst he just threw in the fact that he has drawings for the Kipps Incline brake van too...
Bodies decanted and mocked up, Slaters on the left, Williams Models on the right (its an A3 cutting mat if you're trying to work out the size)
Both bodies needed a good scrub to get rid of the release agent - my preferred method is warm water, Jif and a toothbrush. It doesn't take too long, but whilst everything was out the other G3 resin body kits came out of storage so they could be done at the same time. Dried off and ready for packing away again, we have Slaters on the left, the MR van at the back and the brake at the front, Williams Models on the right with a GER Van at the back right and the Brake Van at the front, all led by a WM LNWR D1 wagon to replace the one I sold.
The problem with having five of the things out is it seems a shame not to start one The GER Brake Van won the toss so all of its bits were laid out for the customary photo
I like to try and get most of the prep work done up front, leaving the final fettling (if required) just prior to fitting, I find the build flows better for me that way. The W iron assemblies have had the V hangers removed and all the of the laser cut steel parts have had the edges filed and the small bump at the laser end point removed. The whitemetal springs had a quick swipe with a file whilst the buffer housings have had drills passed through to ensure smooth buffer operation. The three links and coupling hooks all met the file, then I got distracted by the hand wheels. The kit supplies the centre 'spider' and an outer rim as two etched parts to be soldered together. Getting an even radius on those bits by filing is the kind of thing I'm not very good at so I resolved to make a new outer rim from copper wire and solder in the kits spider. The thought was it would end up being quicker...
Well, lots of scrap bin use later and I finally ended up with a pair of reasonable wheels I started out by stripping lengths of twin and earth cable, using the thicker of the two wires and winding it around a socket. It took a couple of go's to get the right combination of socket, then I changed my mind and used the earth wire as it looked more in keeping size wise (neither were right, it was a choice of thicker or thinner). Some careful trimming of the spider took place before it was soldered into place - bit of a juggle but I'm quite pleased, its the first time I've made a set of wheels
A bit of 0.7mm wire was soldered into a hole drilled through the rim to represent the handle, I think I might sleeve it up as it looks a bit undersized. Everything was scrubbed up and dunked in some chemical black.
The next distraction was the extra rings supplied in the kit to represent the additional fixing between spoke and rims that was present on some vans. I punched the rivets out, but decided I wasn't happy with the visible method fixing them into place. I used the same idea, but substituted L shaped pieces of 0.5mm brass wire instead, the aim is to araldite these into place.
Original on left, alternative on right
On location
Its a small change and will probably be barely noticeable behind the running boards, and not at all when its moving, but I think it looks a little cleaner. The only tricky bit was making sure that the wire was not too close to the rivet, thus preventing the latter from lining up with the centre of the spoke. As luck would have it, just scribing in line with the half etched mark gave a 'no closer than this' reference so it was all plain sailing (as long as I remembered to solder on the inner edge)
Part way through showing the ring clamped in place using the original mechanical fixings
Blackened up and mocked up (albeit not yet central)
I normally hate blackening up wheels axles and buffers but today I used scotchbrite and mounted everything in the lathe - 35 minutes for the lot, magic The buffers have the outer edge rounded off and the turning pip removed with a file before they were polished up with the scotchbrite and blackening. The same routine was used on the wheels, they were just mounted on one slave axle so I could get through all four quickly before doing both axles.
The axle boxes have been drilled out to clear the lost wax residue from the axle running surface and the coil spring mounting, I've finished filing them down and cleaning them up so my hands are killing me - hence the long post The last few castings and the body next...
Steve
Bodies decanted and mocked up, Slaters on the left, Williams Models on the right (its an A3 cutting mat if you're trying to work out the size)
Both bodies needed a good scrub to get rid of the release agent - my preferred method is warm water, Jif and a toothbrush. It doesn't take too long, but whilst everything was out the other G3 resin body kits came out of storage so they could be done at the same time. Dried off and ready for packing away again, we have Slaters on the left, the MR van at the back and the brake at the front, Williams Models on the right with a GER Van at the back right and the Brake Van at the front, all led by a WM LNWR D1 wagon to replace the one I sold.
The problem with having five of the things out is it seems a shame not to start one The GER Brake Van won the toss so all of its bits were laid out for the customary photo
I like to try and get most of the prep work done up front, leaving the final fettling (if required) just prior to fitting, I find the build flows better for me that way. The W iron assemblies have had the V hangers removed and all the of the laser cut steel parts have had the edges filed and the small bump at the laser end point removed. The whitemetal springs had a quick swipe with a file whilst the buffer housings have had drills passed through to ensure smooth buffer operation. The three links and coupling hooks all met the file, then I got distracted by the hand wheels. The kit supplies the centre 'spider' and an outer rim as two etched parts to be soldered together. Getting an even radius on those bits by filing is the kind of thing I'm not very good at so I resolved to make a new outer rim from copper wire and solder in the kits spider. The thought was it would end up being quicker...
Well, lots of scrap bin use later and I finally ended up with a pair of reasonable wheels I started out by stripping lengths of twin and earth cable, using the thicker of the two wires and winding it around a socket. It took a couple of go's to get the right combination of socket, then I changed my mind and used the earth wire as it looked more in keeping size wise (neither were right, it was a choice of thicker or thinner). Some careful trimming of the spider took place before it was soldered into place - bit of a juggle but I'm quite pleased, its the first time I've made a set of wheels
A bit of 0.7mm wire was soldered into a hole drilled through the rim to represent the handle, I think I might sleeve it up as it looks a bit undersized. Everything was scrubbed up and dunked in some chemical black.
The next distraction was the extra rings supplied in the kit to represent the additional fixing between spoke and rims that was present on some vans. I punched the rivets out, but decided I wasn't happy with the visible method fixing them into place. I used the same idea, but substituted L shaped pieces of 0.5mm brass wire instead, the aim is to araldite these into place.
Original on left, alternative on right
On location
Its a small change and will probably be barely noticeable behind the running boards, and not at all when its moving, but I think it looks a little cleaner. The only tricky bit was making sure that the wire was not too close to the rivet, thus preventing the latter from lining up with the centre of the spoke. As luck would have it, just scribing in line with the half etched mark gave a 'no closer than this' reference so it was all plain sailing (as long as I remembered to solder on the inner edge)
Part way through showing the ring clamped in place using the original mechanical fixings
Blackened up and mocked up (albeit not yet central)
I normally hate blackening up wheels axles and buffers but today I used scotchbrite and mounted everything in the lathe - 35 minutes for the lot, magic The buffers have the outer edge rounded off and the turning pip removed with a file before they were polished up with the scotchbrite and blackening. The same routine was used on the wheels, they were just mounted on one slave axle so I could get through all four quickly before doing both axles.
The axle boxes have been drilled out to clear the lost wax residue from the axle running surface and the coil spring mounting, I've finished filing them down and cleaning them up so my hands are killing me - hence the long post The last few castings and the body next...
Steve
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