Buckjumper
Flying Squad
Fantastic!
So remind me again, how many of these wagons are you batch building?
So remind me again, how many of these wagons are you batch building?
Steel 13T PO Wagon - the practicals
- Thread starter Dikitriki
- Start date
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
I had a go last night at forming the brackets for the catches. After several abortive attempts, I gave up.
After mulling it round, a mk4 approach was developed, so I snuck away into the workshop (the perils of having a home office
) to try it out.
Success
I filed a tongue on some scrap brass deeper than the filed away section of the catch, annealed some N/S strip, and on a hard flat surface, pushed a couple of small screwdrivers hard down either side of the strip while it was held over the tongue. It took a bit of manipulation afterwards to straighten everything out, and the bracket was then rivetted and cut to length.
I departed from Fraser's method as the bracket seemed to be quite bulky, so I cut another strip onto which I soldered the catch and bracket, after which the backing piece was cut to the same size as the bracket. The finished item is top left after cleaning up. I'm going to solder it to the wagon now before I knock it on the floor. I don't fancy my chances of finding it if I do!
Richard
After mulling it round, a mk4 approach was developed, so I snuck away into the workshop (the perils of having a home office
) to try it out.Success
I filed a tongue on some scrap brass deeper than the filed away section of the catch, annealed some N/S strip, and on a hard flat surface, pushed a couple of small screwdrivers hard down either side of the strip while it was held over the tongue. It took a bit of manipulation afterwards to straighten everything out, and the bracket was then rivetted and cut to length.
I departed from Fraser's method as the bracket seemed to be quite bulky, so I cut another strip onto which I soldered the catch and bracket, after which the backing piece was cut to the same size as the bracket. The finished item is top left after cleaning up. I'm going to solder it to the wagon now before I knock it on the floor. I don't fancy my chances of finding it if I do!
Richard
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
Hi,
I've finished one of the sides, adding the second catch and top strip.
On the back, there is the top rivetted strip, while at the bottom, there is a 1.5mm strip all the way along. This is because I shall be mating my body with a Parkside chassis. The nickel silver floor will sit on top of the strips, and I shall be able to use the Parkside floor which is 1.5mm thick to build the chassis on.
The second side is quite well advanced and I can start to think about making the box - perhaps over the weekend.
Richard
I've finished one of the sides, adding the second catch and top strip.
On the back, there is the top rivetted strip, while at the bottom, there is a 1.5mm strip all the way along. This is because I shall be mating my body with a Parkside chassis. The nickel silver floor will sit on top of the strips, and I shall be able to use the Parkside floor which is 1.5mm thick to build the chassis on.
The second side is quite well advanced and I can start to think about making the box - perhaps over the weekend.
Richard
adrian
Flying Squad
That's a great bit of scratch building - it looks very impressive. So in no small way I'm very reticent to suggest it but it's too clean!!! Dare I suggest a few judicious strikes with a blunt chisel from the rear to give it that well used in service look, something which I think would be a lot easier to achieve with a metal body rather than a plastic body.
flexible_coupling
Western Thunderer
I dropped an old screwdriver vertically a number of times randomly over the inner sides and end of my MMP 16t wagon before I built it up. I'm not sure mine's really beaten up enough for one late in service!
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
You're right of course. It had crossed my mind that if I was ever going to try that, this is the ideal opportunity as the metal sides are so thin. I just don't know whether I dare do it
I might just try it on the fixed end, in that that's the one with the minimum rebuild time. On the other hand, I could just argue that it's only been recently replated by BR. I'll have a think for a while.
Richard
Simon
Flying Squad
I'd be loth to distress that metalwork.
I think painting and weathering will make it look sufficiently "in service" without the distress of blunt chisels
A great bit of scratchbuilding either way.
I'm off the models at the moment, trying to get figures and paperwork ready for my accountant at this busy time of year
Simon
I think painting and weathering will make it look sufficiently "in service" without the distress of blunt chisels
A great bit of scratchbuilding either way.
I'm off the models at the moment, trying to get figures and paperwork ready for my accountant at this busy time of year
Simon
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
Yippee The body's done
It's just come out of the sonic bath....
A bit of guesswork here. There's little evidence of how the hinge rod at the door end is attached to the sides. Nothing is visible on the outside. but there is a plate of some sort attached to the top. I assumed it is a bracket, and made a pair up as shown below:
Finally, I have begun the task of adapting the Parkside chassis to fit. Since it's designed for plastic sides, the floor is too narrow, so plastic card strips were glued to each side of the floor. I have cut off the end above the buffer beam (what do you call that on a wagon? Draw beam?), and attached the remainder to one end. Once that has truly gone off, I shall tailor it to fit one end of the body and then fit the other end once I am satisfied I have got the length just so.
Cheers
Richard
The body's done It's just come out of the sonic bath....
A bit of guesswork here. There's little evidence of how the hinge rod at the door end is attached to the sides. Nothing is visible on the outside. but there is a plate of some sort attached to the top. I assumed it is a bracket, and made a pair up as shown below:
Finally, I have begun the task of adapting the Parkside chassis to fit. Since it's designed for plastic sides, the floor is too narrow, so plastic card strips were glued to each side of the floor. I have cut off the end above the buffer beam (what do you call that on a wagon? Draw beam?), and attached the remainder to one end. Once that has truly gone off, I shall tailor it to fit one end of the body and then fit the other end once I am satisfied I have got the length just so.
Cheers
Richard
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
Right or wrong, those brackets look the bees knees - a pity that you did not photograph the production of the two parts.
Your model is brilliant.
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
Thank you Graham,
The brackets are simply L shaped pieces of nickel silver sheet. Three rivets (maybe bolts on the real thing) were formed along the longer arm of the L. The smaller arm of the L is bent down at 90 degrees (I filed a groove on the underside to assist in folding) and a hole drilled for the hinge bar. A 16 BA washer is added to provide a bit of a 'bearing'. The washer also assists in hiding the fact that the hole in the bracket may be in slightly the wrong place......if necessary
Richard
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
Back on the wagon - or the men in white coats are coming.....
I've put together the Parkside floor, solebars and buffer beams and fettled them to fit the body. That's fine, except that all the rivet detail on the solebars was in the wrong place, as was the makers plate and document plate and spring, which were far too bulky in any event. All the detail was filed/cut/sanded off the solebars and thoughts turned to replacing it.
Rivets - some sort of overlay, Scale Hardware or make your own. At the risk of being labelled a nutcase, I elected to (sort of) make my own. I have some Grandt Line small bolts in stock, and I reckoned that I could use those, slightly melt them with the solvent, and rub them over with a fibreglass brush to represent rivets.
The heads were cut from the stalks:
One sneeze and you've lost them
They were picked up with very fine nosed tweezers and attached to the solebar with a drop of MEK. Most had to be nudged to the correct location and once ok, MEK was brushed across the lot. A few hours later, a good fibre glass brush left me with this:
The document plate and clip is scavenged from a Slater's solebar from my spares box.
Richard
I've put together the Parkside floor, solebars and buffer beams and fettled them to fit the body. That's fine, except that all the rivet detail on the solebars was in the wrong place, as was the makers plate and document plate and spring, which were far too bulky in any event. All the detail was filed/cut/sanded off the solebars and thoughts turned to replacing it.
Rivets - some sort of overlay, Scale Hardware or make your own. At the risk of being labelled a nutcase, I elected to (sort of) make my own. I have some Grandt Line small bolts in stock, and I reckoned that I could use those, slightly melt them with the solvent, and rub them over with a fibreglass brush to represent rivets.
The heads were cut from the stalks:
One sneeze and you've lost them
They were picked up with very fine nosed tweezers and attached to the solebar with a drop of MEK. Most had to be nudged to the correct location and once ok, MEK was brushed across the lot. A few hours later, a good fibre glass brush left me with this:
The document plate and clip is scavenged from a Slater's solebar from my spares box.
Richard
S-Club-7
Western Thunderer
A short length of double-sided tape stuck to the worktop, cutting mat or even the drawing can be used to provide anti-sneeze measures for small components like this.One sneeze and you've lost them
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
Hi
I've been busy building the chassis, which wasn't really worth any reports as it's standard stuff, although I did add some brackets, rivetted strip, brake handle guide stays. You can work out the extras from the following photos.
In the second photo, you can see the strip to extend the width of the floor, and also the relieving of the top of the buffer beam so that the floor drops inside the body end. It came as a surprise to see that Parkside's coupling links are now in brass, but since they will be blackened, that's not really an issue. It did make it easier to solder the gap in the links. I have made provision for the chassis to screw to the body to make painting easier.
This pic shows the 1.5mm raising of the floor in the body to allow for the Parkside plastic floor to be used.
The 8BA nuts are on the topside of the floor, and they will be covered with a false floor and then a coal load. If I was building the wagon empty, I'd just have glued floor to body after painting.
And now.....ta daa...., it is finished
The first thing I have scratchbuilt, and I am very pleased to have done so.
I have learned a lot - the making of long rivetted strips and L and T section stanchions; making strap hinges, and filing catches from solid. Not least that I actually can scratchbuild. It's one thing believing that you can, it's another actually doing it.
So, thanks to Fraser for kick-starting it, making his research available, and demonstrating his model. It did take a long time - 1 1/2 months of spare time, but then I wasn't rushing it. I now need to know how to turn domes and chimneys, learn how to use the pantograph miller, and there must be a loco in there somewhere.
Cheers,
Richard
I've been busy building the chassis, which wasn't really worth any reports as it's standard stuff, although I did add some brackets, rivetted strip, brake handle guide stays. You can work out the extras from the following photos.
In the second photo, you can see the strip to extend the width of the floor, and also the relieving of the top of the buffer beam so that the floor drops inside the body end. It came as a surprise to see that Parkside's coupling links are now in brass, but since they will be blackened, that's not really an issue. It did make it easier to solder the gap in the links. I have made provision for the chassis to screw to the body to make painting easier.
This pic shows the 1.5mm raising of the floor in the body to allow for the Parkside plastic floor to be used.
The 8BA nuts are on the topside of the floor, and they will be covered with a false floor and then a coal load. If I was building the wagon empty, I'd just have glued floor to body after painting.
And now.....ta daa...., it is finished
The first thing I have scratchbuilt, and I am very pleased to have done so.
I have learned a lot - the making of long rivetted strips and L and T section stanchions; making strap hinges, and filing catches from solid. Not least that I actually can scratchbuild. It's one thing believing that you can, it's another actually doing it.
So, thanks to Fraser for kick-starting it, making his research available, and demonstrating his model. It did take a long time - 1 1/2 months of spare time, but then I wasn't rushing it. I now need to know how to turn domes and chimneys, learn how to use the pantograph miller, and there must be a loco in there somewhere.
Cheers,
Richard
Ressaldar
Western Thunderer
A really great looking result, I shall look out for it in the yard when I'm next trainspotting at Heyside
Simon
....................with another half dozen or so
. Great work Richard
cheers
Mike
Len Cattley
Western Thunderer
That's a great looking build Richard, I'll bet your really happy with that 
Len
Len
