Steel 13T PO Wagon - the practicals

[Dog Star]

... I'm going to have to make up something suitable for the 7mm one, I think gluing a couple of strips of 2.5 x 2.5 angle together, then putting a thin layer of plasticard with the rivets over the join will create something good enough.

Please give us best words and music for the solebar construction, I like the idea of using extruded angle (Evergreen possibly, for sharp corners) and if there are a few sizes then maybe could produce the different sections which abound on GWR wagon prototypes.

regards, Graham

 

[Dikitriki]

Blimey, you're not hanging around Steve!

My efforts this evening saw the fixed end rivetted and the first of the strengtheners added.





I've got a misplaced rivet on the right plate, but the angle and enlargement make it look worse that it really is. If I get really excited, I can file it off and replace it with a Scale Hardware example, or even a rounded piece of wire.

Richard

 

[Dikitriki]

OK, I'll admit it, it bugged me.

Now sorted.

 

[Steve Cook]

Its just an illusion Richard, plasticard boxes can be stuck together very quickly

Just a few riveted strips formed from 10 x 80 thou Evergreen strip and glued into place on the 7mm body for tonight.



No major cock-ups yet although the strips on the left hand corner as you look at the wagon could have been better aligned - I'm hoping some subtle shaping tomorrow will fix it.
Steve

 

[40126]

Yes...

...at the back of the class .

Not back here.... We are too busy talking

Steve

 

[Dikitriki]

Hi

I've now finished off the fixed end, other than the top strip which I shall attach once the sides and ends are together.





The side strips I made proud of the ends so they would make a good corner with the sides. It will also make it easier to attach the sides to the end.




Richard

 

[Steve Cook]

A little more progress this weekend. The three strips for the door end were riveted up and glued into place whilst cooking dinner tonight.



I've also made a start on the solebars. The starting point is two lengths of 2.5 x 2.5mm Evergreen angle



When placed together to create a solebar channel, they read a little under the desired size of 5.25mm. Rather than risk having parts of the inner chassis showing beneath the solebars, I'm gluing a thin strip between the mounting faces.



I use the edge of my cutting mat to rest the angle on, I can then clamp the strip to the angle using a ruler and run some glue between the two pieces. The surface of the mat keeps the front face of the angle and the strip aligned.



Its left to harden for a while (I started making the second set of bits) then the excess strip is removed from the rear face of the angle using a chisel blade



Holding the blade vertically and dragging it across the front face ensures that the strip is flush on the front side too. A make-shift jig from a bit of wood and two rulers allows both pieces of angle to be clamped together whilst I hold them firmly against the wood and run glue down the joint.



Running the calipers over the channel section shows the effort to be worth it, a snifter oversize



I'll leave the pair of them to dry overnight now, then they can be glued into place. Its a simple matter to then cut two inserts to become the face of the solebar with all of the rivets in place - maybe I'll get round to that tomorrow. The main purpose of doing the solebars now is so they can protect the rest of the strips as they are fixed and overhang the sides - the plasticard is too fragile on its own.

Steve

 

[Dikitriki]

Hi

I've now completed the door end.





I've deviated from Fraser's build, principally because I didn't reckon I could do tidily what he appeared to do! I made the 'middle' of the strengtheners as follows:

The bottom strip was rivetted.
The strip was doubled in thickness both ends - a small piece with a chevron filed into it, like a distant signal, and scribed down the middle was added.
2 vertical pieces were bent at both ends to fit in the chevrons and soldered on top of the strip.
The ends of the vertical strip were filed at an angle to represent the fold over.
Only then was this assembly soldered to the end.
Locking stud and washer and 'chain' from twisted soft brass wire were added.

It's a bit representational, and I used Paul Bartlett's 2 photos as a guide. It's about this stage that someone turns up with a crystal clear photo showing where I've gone wrong!

Richard

 

[Dog Star]

... I made the 'middle' of the strengtheners as follows...

One day you shall be pleased that you have made these items... round about the time when you realise that the angle trussing of Gresley carriages is a b****r in respect of the supports for the battery boxes (1.75mm x 1.75mm angle with the outer 5mm or so of one side smithed down to double the thickness where the hanging bolts pass through.

 

[Steve Cook]

Can't get into it today so have just spent 15 minutes doing something - in this case the inserts for the solebars.



The insert is a length of 0.25mm plasticard, cut to the correct width, then marked up and riveted as per the strips. I've decided to do the buffer beams next, trimming the solebars to suit and then installing the inserts.
Off to try and find those photos on Paul Bartlett's site now.
Steve

 

[Dikitriki]

Hi,

Having mulled over Fraser's recent post, and looked at the link he provided, I decided that my door end wasn't good enough. Out with the microflame and we now have a kit of components.



And that's the beauty of scratchbuilding. I have rescued and will be able to reuse all the components, with the exception of the door plate which was the incorrect piece anyway.

So what have I lost? A small piece of nickel silver and and 2-3 hours to rebuild. All part of the learning curve.

Richard

 

[Steve Cook]

That is one of the advantages of building in metal I think Richard, you can take yours apart if required Deciding at the same point on a plasticard construction would mean putting it straight in the bin. I have to be honest, having looked at the photos last night (why didn't I think of that before) it will look better with the outer set of rivets on the door more inboard, but I don't fancy scrapping what I've done so far so I'll have to live with it.

Good timing though, it made me assess where I had got to and how much it was going to cost to finish - that was a bit of an eye opener really. Chassis, brake gear, buffers, wheels, axles boxes and springs, coupling hooks and I'd sailed clean past £40. I suppose the next best option was to buy a kit from Parkside with all the right bits in it - that would be @ £33 or so. I had a mooch through one of my boxes of stuff and found a pair of spoked wheels, a Parkside NER wagon kit with RCH style buffer housings and a Coopercraft GWR 5 plank kits with a 9' wheelbase and steel solebars. I've ordered replacement buffers for the Parkside kit at £7.10 and will phone up Slaters this week and see if I can get a pair of replacement sprues for the GWR wagon - hopefully they will be able to sort me out. That makes the cost much more bearable, so I've got on with it again.
All the components laid out



I can use some of the brake gear on the sprue, but will have to fabricate Vee hangers and brake handles - nothing too major. The solebars have had all the detail removed ready for the inserts I had made yesterday. The new solebars have been glued to a piece of plasticard to create a sub chassis. It is a little short, but I can hide the filler pieces behind the inserts. One of the old solebars will be used to create the buffer beams so my wasted material is just one solebar.



Steve

 

[Dikitriki]

Hi

Door end take 2.

I cut a new end piece and rivetted it in light of the photos, and then cleaned up and reassembled the detail from the previous door. I added the handrails and securing chain as before, and this door bears more resemblance to the prototype!





On the reverse, I added the hinge straps and hinge bar. I didn't need to make the straps full depth as my wagon will be coaled.



I've now got the second side to detail, and then the hinge straps and catches on both sides.

Cheers

Richard

 

[Steve Cook]

Thats a lovely piece of work Richard
Is the nickel strip just wrapped around the hinge bar with a pair of pliers, or do you form it another way?
Steve

 

[Buckjumper]

Thats a lovely piece of work Richard

It certainly is, and he's using that invisible solder again

 

[Dikitriki]

Thats a lovely piece of work Richard
Is the nickel strip just wrapped around the hinge bar with a pair of pliers, or do you form it another way?
Steve

Thanks Steve,

That's pretty much it. The hinge strap is over-length, and I annealed the last 5mm or so. The strap was bent round the bar to about 180 degrees and the end cut to length and tidied up. The bend was then finished with a pair of smooth nosed pliers. I ran a rat tailed file through so the hinge bar did not have to be forced in and then soldered them in place.

Richard

 

[Dog Star]

Richard, your work on something as humble as a mineral wagon is superb. I feel despondent at achieving anything as good so please take the next photos with the cover on the lens or at least with a soft focus filter.

 

[AJC]

It's always good to see something in the "loco builders'" scale, other than a loco, done to the same sort of standard. Richard's work is still more exceptional in this regard than it should be, given the possibilities inherent in the more manageable size. That's not meant as a dig, btw, the issue of more or less ignoring what happens behind the loco drawhook is just as prevalent in 4mm, it's just that there are more 4mm modellers and the likes of Geoff Kent offset the balance somewhat!

When I'm next back in Somerset I shall have to dig out dad's 1970's version of the same thing in 4mm, in plastic, on an Airfix mineral underframe by means of comparison. It won't be in the same league - I don't remember it having many rivets for one thing - but he did do the full Butterley lettering by hand...

Adam

 

[Dikitriki]

Hi

A quiet couple of hours this evening saw the side door hinges formed:



Richard

 

[Dikitriki]

A bit of spare time at the weekend.....makes a change.

I made the hinge brackets for the side doors and attached the hinges and central strengthener.



Then set about fabricating the latches which are just filed from solid.



I have to say that went better than I feared. It was more difficult to take photos of the pesky things.

Richard