I am sorry, but I am having to give priority to the writing side at the moment - after all, it pays me! - and the model railway work has taken a back seat. I have actually made progress with the wagons and (I think) there are several that look quite respectable. I will try to get around to posting a pic. However they all, or nearly all, need proper brake gear adding, and at the moment I haven't the time or energy to fire up the soldering iron.
The next phase will be to build one or two from
The photos show some of the progress described in the last post.
Another advantage of using these for new build is it's possible to give them a thorough clean while still in the flat. I was having some trouble getting the brass-blackening chemicals to work properly on the retro jobs. Then it dawned on me (it should have been obvious!) that they weren't clean enough. It's not impossible, but a lot harder, to clean the interior of a completed wagon with a fibre glass brush.
The Evo-stick t
I have now started my first attempt at using the MMP etched interiors are they were intended, for new construction. Unsurprisingly perhaps I find it is a lot easier to use them this way. I would go so far as to say that instead of trying to retrofit them it's probably a better policy to sell your old wagons on Ebay (or here) and use the proceeds to fund new kits. It might cost a few bob along the way but it will save on frustration and produce (I strongly suspect) better models.
The first w
This is one of my first attempts and it taught me a few things. One is that these etches are really best used for new construction. With retro fitting there are all sorts of difficulties to overcome and any slight fault in the original construction - for example if it has been assembled out of square - are cruelly highlighted. In this particular case the etches project ever so slightly above the wagon sides, and they should not. I hope to disguise this once the capping pieces are in place.
R
This is what the MMP etches look like before anyone has had a chance to spoil them. They include not just the (interior) floor, sides and ends but also capping pieces and the tiny capping brackets, wagon label holders and so on.
There is an awful lot of punching out of bolt heads to be done. Whether you find this frustrating or relaxing is down to you.
This will be a slow blog, because I am a slow worker. There are all sorts of reasons for this, health mostly. Any road, I am trying to improve my stock of wagons. Some will be sold on (some already have been) to make room as I don't have nearly enough siding space. (My ideal layout would probably be a model of Dewsnap, except I'd need arms like a gibbon to reach over it, since no one has yet invented a 7mm scale working shunter.)
One of my first jobs is to make use of the etched brass wagon