This is a warning to all who have 'old' kits...
To quote Tolkein "All that glitters is not gold" from the Lord of the rings.
As you know, work has recommenced on the Grange. So while I gave thought to the bogie and how to engage the springing on it. I remembered that I had some washers with a one-eighth hole but were 10 mm in overall diameter...stick with me - but no memory of where I put them. My study (work room) has 4 possible landing sites for things that, that are modelling oriented. So, I started to dig thru the piles. While I was digging, I came across an old WM kit from ABS - who are still around - a kit that I've had for over 25 years. In fact the kit was in a plastic bag and the see thru plastic had clouded so badly I couldn't see the castings. The kit was for a Barry Railway 10t van. I have the book for the Barry railway (Oakwood Press) this is full of line drawings for some of their stock.
You know what comes next...
Took the package to my desk, opened it and spilled the castings onto the desk and the first thing that hit me was the quality of the castings, really good. Yes, they needed more work to fit cleanly. The brakes were cast as was the brake handle and locking mech. I had spares of a 9" etch for the brakes and spare brake handles and locking mech. And just as happen stance would have it, I had discovered some Masokits sprung W irons some days earlier. All this was going on while the Grange wheeled chassis was starring me in the face, daring me to fit the pick-ups and chip. I ignored the look.
It'll only take a couple of hours to get this together, famous last thoughts!
And so commenced the comedy of errors...
Having got the body into a box, but with no roof in the kit or floor, easy enough I'll cut some spare brass to size for those items. Attention turned to the W irons. Soldered these up and the wheels spun - great this isn't going to take too long after all. This was the first error. I didn't check the fit between the sole bars. So then I built the etches for the brakes - from the Bill Bedford range, something else that you can no longer get. They were available from Wizard models but just about everything that Bill designed, is out of stock - it'll come as no surprise that they wouldn't fit. But not by a lot. Ok, a little filing with a bastard file should see me through this. After 10 mins of filing, I was no where. Time for the big guns. Out with the dremmel drill and an attachment that still makes my blood run cold. But violence was needed. Error number 2 & 3 coming up.
A couple of minutes later the W irons fitted, at an expense. I'd had to sweep away most of the floor support. And my floor, my chair and trousers were now fully covered in shards of WM! Not so bad, until I realised that the springs and oil boxes had taken a turn for the worse - these were cast directly onto the sole bar. 3 of them were now hanging on by a thread. The fourth was on the floor...somewhere.
Also, the carefully soldered box was now back to four constituent parts.
Bored of this yet - I wouldn't blame you...
Re-soldered the sides, cut the floor to size and soldered that in. Next was to repair and re-site the springs and oil boxes - which were considerably thinner than they were. Some very delicate soldering and breath holding went on. Soldered the W irons in place. Put the wheels in and gave it a push, only to find that it started to turn a corner and didn't run straight. Un-soldered the W irons, and while doing that, the floor fell out. Gotta love modeling...
Re-soldered the floor, used the Brassmasters jig to keep the wheels in true alignment, only to find I need to take more out of the casting, so that they'd fit properly...out with the floor - again. More shards to join those already around the place!
Back in with the floor and back in with the W irons. Now a trial fit of the brakes, they were too low on the wheels! Various thicknesses of plastic card were used to get the right height for the brakes. The brake blocks needed filing for the wheels to run properly when the springs took the weight of the van.
By now I was really beginning to take all these problems personally. By now time was ticking away, that couple of hours had passed 6 hours ago.
And so to the roof, bent a piece of thin plastic card over the end and marked where the ends met the card. In case you're wondering, 33mm in width and 62 mm long. Now the fun of bending to shape. It didn't take as long as I feared to get a good fit. Soldered the roof in, then the buffers and finally the brake handles and mech. I have to admit to using the WM stuff for these parts, because after 10 hours at it, I was knackered.
Ladies and Gentlemen a Barry Railway 10t ventilated van, with the Grange chassis glaring at it.
Just to top things off, I never did find the washer...so, if you are tempted to build an ancient kit, don't, just don't!
Stay safe
Mike
The WM parts are separate (oil box from spring) this did not suit me as the bearings in the W irons were wider than the hole in the back of oil box. This meant I had to open out the back of the oil box and then solder the oil box to the spring. If I did not have a temp controlled solder iron I'd have been completely screwed. I added an additional 40 gms of lead, this has certainly affected the van's running, just wanders off the bench of it's own accord.
