sulzerstu

Ah hello! Well it is a WEP kit, I built it for a friend who is away for a holiday for few weeks so I can't ask him where he got it. Stu

Hello again! This WEP kit was the second brass kit I attempted to build, my first WEP kit and third overall. I have to say that I found this WEP kit excellent, its instructions were comprehensive (although I made a few glaring mistakes!) and the kit went together very well although I have to say that at times it was a bit complicated - which tested my patience more than once, this was purely down to the fact that I was new to brass kit building and hadn't yet figured out the best ways of making things. I will try and add the photos of the wagon as it progresses and I hope that you will be able to follow the text and the images ok. The wagon chassis and body were two separate items that were built; that is the body consisted of the floor (brass but simulated wooden planks), the sole bars and the end stocks (forgive me if I have terminology wrong). The chassis consisted of the 'under' frame so to speak with the wheel w hangers, the brake v hangers and all the other additional items which made up the comprehensive brake linkage system; also the axle compensation unit. The first image shows the wagon floor, headstock and sole bar angled on one of my wooden blocks. The first thing to note is, if you look VERY closely at picture 2, you will see the thinnest of solder seams on the edge of the wagon floor boards. The floor was made of two separate pieces, the 'top upper floorboard piece' and an 'underneath floor'. The wooden boards should and were made to match and I would hope that it would be almost impossible to see apart from the picture being much bigger than life size. I pre soldered the edges of both pieces and also soldered part of the middle. The two pieces were matched together and then held with wooden clothes pegs while I heated the whole with a small gas torch, they then sweated together uniformly and all I had to do was render the wagon floor edge with a small smooth file. As you can see the lower most frame on which the gas tanks sits is already attached. At this point I had no idea that I would ever be writing about building the kit hence the missing steps of photos... At this point I was ready to fit the small hand rails, made of brass wire, to the lower tank frame. Mass production, albeit in a small quantity(!), works well in doing these kind of items. I made all the brass wire hand rails at the same time using a small jig so that they were all exactly the same width, the 'depth' wasn't so crucial because they were fitting in to small holes on the tank frame. Once I was ready to secure them in place I used two pieces of thicker wire to space them out from the frame so that each one was exactly the same distance out and also that they were all parallel with the frame as you can maybe see in the third picture (which is out of sequence but shows all hand rails in situ). Also, to note, are the small vertical pins at the end of the lower tank frames, these are the locators for the middle and upper tank frame pieces, the end of which fold at 90deg with a small hole. Also in the middle of the upper frame is, what I can only call a lifting eye(?). Lastly, rivets have been punched with my rivet tool according to the diagram on the plans. One of the most vexing and time consuming part of making this kit was the fabrication of the middle and upper tank frames. You can see the lower, middle and upper completed and fitted as one unit in photo 3 (and to say that there are three complete units in total, the two outside ones and the center). Both the middle and upper tank frames were constructed using two separate pieces... I am doing my best to describe this so forgive me; if you imagine the middle and upper frames being made each of two 90deg 'L' folded pieces of brass so that one part will be a side and then either the upper or lower horizontal face and the other matching part the opposite, ie side then lower or upper. It was essential here to make sure that the pieces were accurately folded at 90degrees and also that, once folded, the pieces mated perfectly together. The most awkward aspect of the making of each was actually soldering them together... I first fluxed then tinned each edge that was to be soldered, then using a piece of wood made to the exact inner size of the finished part, I spaced the two together, holding them firmly this time with metal folding clips. Only once I was perfectly happy that the two parts were aligned and all the pre tinned edges were touching did I heat the parts until they soldered together, the pre tinning joining them together without the need to apply a solder (gas torch used). After the three upper and middle parts were complete I mated them together to form the two side and center frames. You can see a small drilled hole in the uppermost part, this is a frame spacing strengthening piece, in a later picture it will be more evident. Photo 4 shows the whole in a better perspective. You can see the solder on the inside of the middle and upper parts and also the wire spacer holes at the top. Photo 5 shows the gas tanks fitted and the gas valves and also tank retainers in place. Both brass wire strengtheners are now fitted. Photo 6 jumps onto the start of the construction of the underframe, brake rigging etc. The WEP kit was enjoyable to make and seemed quite comprehensive in detail, safety loops for brake gear an example. Photo 7 shows the start of insertion of components, in this case the vacuum cylinder and my most glaring of mistakes... Photo 8 now shows the compensation unit, fitted only at one end from memory but what I do remember is that, the unit being wholly of brass material, had a very sound and heavy footprint, the compensation unit worked extremely well. Photo 9 both axles now fitted and most of the brake gear done. Photo 10 more detail Photo 11 the finished wagon ready to return to the owner. The reason a lot of detail is missing is twofold... I didn't actually have some of the items but primarily here the reason was my being uneasy with tackling such fiddly detail as drilling and threading fine wire for the gas tank pipework and also the secure of white metal castings to the wagon chassis. This was my third wagon built! The owner completed the wagon and has painted and lettered it I believe. Stu

Hello, This was the second kit I built, my first plastic one; a Parkside Dundas LMS ventilated van. I was pleased with the kit as it went together well with only very minor fettling of parts, from memory the axle boxes slide up and down for some compensation. The paint and transfers have been done by the owner as, then, I had not any experience of painting or lettering models. I had a very nice arrangement with my friend who I built these kits for; I built the kits and got a OO gauge engine in return. Thankfully my experience in building, brass and plastic kits has now grown some and I have also taken to painting and lettering myself, more of which you will see later once I post 'my' stock 8)

Thanks! It was handed over to the owner completely scrubbed by FG pencil, nothing quite looks like polished brass. I will ask the owner if there are any painted photos available. Thanks once again Stu

Hello, Welcome to my blog in which I hope to share my previous, current and future model building projects with you. I am not intent on offending anyone or expressing in anyway 'this is how it should be done', I just hope that my building experiences and the products thereof might inspire others to have a go. I have a busy life thankfully but yet I still manage to have time to 'escape' into railway mode, which is very relaxing when it is going well... The subject picture here is my very first attempt at model railway kit building and indeed 'o' gauge building; and if I can add one more, brass kit building. The subject being a four wheel Taff Valley Railway Guards van. I offered to build a kit for a good friend of mine and this is what was proffered. The kit was very enjoyable to build and built my own confidence up no end with the result. Particularly enjoyable was the curved tumble home on the coach side, especially the guards ducket. In building this coach I quickly learned the use of small square wooden blocks, which I still have and still use, for making and fixing brass pieces too to solder together. I must add that wooden clothes pegs were and are a God send 8) Anyway, painting awaits my current project - an O gauge GWR siphon (six wheel). Cheers! Stu