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4mm Hfirrs3 Cargowaggon IWA twin van kit - now with single van version as well!


jonhall
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As some of you may have picked up elsewhere, I have my first full kit under development, for the Cargowaggon Hfirrs3 Twin vans.

 

 

 

The master of the body shell has been with CMA for about 8 weeks now (9-12 week delivery was estimated) so I thought I should get on with the etch to go with it. This is the etch, rocking style w irons with attached clasp brakes and various versions of hoop and anchor fittings.

 

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Jon

Edited by jonhall
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By way of some instructions

 

Step one clean any tarnish off the brass with either a glass fibre stick (yuk - I hate those fibres) or a Garyflex abrasive rubber block.

 

I've then separated one of the axle units from the etch and then separated the brake shoes from that

post-336-0-70779400-1482002693.jpg

 

Everyone will have their preferred folding method - I've never understood the hold and folds, but if it it works for you, then go for it, I use either a small vice

 

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or a pair of large pliers to fold up the sides and ends - note: all folds to the inside except where noted.

 

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On the non-rocking end you have 4 'ears' that now protrude from the unit these will mark floor height.

 

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On the rocking end these need to be folded out of the way.

 

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Mistake number one! - the axle keeps should have required a couple of rivets punching out, before folding over, except I got the half etched holes on the wrong side of the etch! the fold is on the OUTSIDE if this bit - fold them back over onto themselves.

 

post-336-0-74762600-1482002698.jpg

 

The half etch gives some impression of the holding bolts, but it was not quite how I intended them to be.

 

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Fit the bearings next - I've used 'waisted' on the test build as I don't seem to have any top hat in stock. I use a square wooden dowel held in a vice and then put the bearing face down, and let the w iron hang from it.

 

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A drop of Carrs green label flux and a quick wipe of solder to keep it in place.

 

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Now for the brake shoes - I've half etched a grove that more or less represents the correct tread spacing for scale or 00 wheelsets, however 1) I use Hornby 12.6mm wheels as my standard 'fleet' wheel so they are a shade larger than a conventional 12mm wheel, and 2) I really don't want short circuits across these brakes, so I have mounted them a shade beyond the scale location just to be sure of clearance. It might also be sensible to add a little bit of insulating tape to the rear face of the shoe to reduce the risk of accidental shorts.

 

Here I've dry fitted one

 

post-336-0-35697900-1482002700.jpg

 

I think a little tack of solder on the outside edge is probably all that's required - only do one set of shoes for now!

 

 

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Then remove the brake yoke from the etch (keeping the long feed at the 'shoe ends'  its NOT a tag, and hold the V of one yoke with a set of wide pliers and the H frame in the middle with another

 

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and twist to 90 degrees, then repeat for the other side.

 

 

 

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You can then feed the yokes into the holes in the brake shoes that have been attached to the rocking unit, and then feed in the other set of brake shoes.

 

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You will probably find it easier to have a set of wheels in place to work our where the correct point is to mount them

 

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Then you need the rocking mount, only one end of the wagon needs to rock so that you get 3 point suspension - I do not know if there will turn out a right way or a wrong way to build the twin coupled van - will it work better with the rocking units as inners, outers, or alternating across the coupling?

 

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The two hinges are folded to 90 degrees with a pair of pliers

 

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However this is where I discovered the most significant fault - I have not drawn the stand-off correctly - this unit doesn't have a high point across which the unit can rock! Disaster! I've fixed this by adding a short length of handrail wire soldered between the two hinges. It's too late to fix for the first run of kits - I already have 50 of them.

 

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And this is the finished rocking end.

 

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The non-rocking end obviously just doesn't have the rocking plate, it is spaced from the floor with the etched ears.

 

Jon

Edited by jonhall
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Great Work

 

Looking to get some of these off you if your planning to sell a few?

 

I've initially ordered 50 body mouldings so 25 twin sets, I'll keep a handful for myself, and then the rest will be available, I suspect most of the first batch might go to friends and acquaintances - I won't take any orders or even expressions of interest until both the bodies are here, and I have the whitemetal castings. Martin McDermott is reducing his 7mm springs/axleboxes/buffers etc for me to use as masters for whitemetal.

 

Depending on the interest further batches of 25 pairs are possible, but wouldn't be entertained until there were firm orders for at least half, not least because I don't have much space to store the unsold, and on the understanding that the resin casting lead time is potentially 3 months!.

 

Jon

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  • 4 weeks later...

The twin van 'approval' castings arrived today, needless to say I approve! so they should start on production soon. I'll have these with me at the CMRA show at Stevenage* this weekend if anyone wants a look.

 

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Jon

( *Demonstrating resin casting whilst simultaneously getting it done by someone else commercially because I can't be bothered! )

Edited by jonhall
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Wow they look good, as above, have you got the details on price yet.

 

 By the way those etches would be very useful if you sold them on there own, I have several projects I could do with those for, just a thought

Edited by tamperman36
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Those look very nice, Jon. Any idea how much you'll be selling them for?

 

Likely to be about £50 +p&p a pair with bodyshells in resin, etched suspension, laser cut acrylic floor and body spacers and whitemetal castings (which are the final 'unknown' that isn't quite ready).

 

Wow they look good, as above, have you got the details on price yet.

 

 By the way those etches would be very useful if you sold them on there own, I have several projects I could do with those for, just a thought

 

Yes, I'd realised that - once the production batch of vans is out of the way I'll work out a price and maybe pack some.

 

Jon

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I have picked up some Bachmann buffers as spares, from the twin container wagon. Would these be useful for these wagons instead of the white metal versions?

 

I'm not sure what the container flat's buffer looks like - I haven't seen mine for quite a while, I sold most and the few I retain are in safe store 'somewhere' - the masters are well underway and should be with me in a few days, and with the caster for mould making a few days after that. CMA tell me the bodyshells will now take about 4 weeks from my authorisation to proceed, but that any future re-run batches shouldn't take as long.

 

I laser cut some floors and spacers last night, which worked ok, I just need the springs and axleboxes to work out the exact ride height required, before cutting those x50, but my experiment with a laser cut NEM pocket 'dovetail' wasn't a great success.

 

Jon

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I have picked up some Bachmann buffers as spares, from the twin container wagon. Would these be useful for these wagons instead of the white metal versions?

I'm pretty certain the container flat uses 'normal' rectangular-headed buffers (https://ukrailwaypics.smugmug.com/UKRailRollingstock/F/FIA-intermodal-flats-Sfggmrrss/i-hgm24Lt/A ) , whilst the Cargowaggons use 'Ringfelder' ones  (http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/twinvan/h3ac8c277#h3ac8c277 )where the section of stock behind the buffer head is of larger diameter than the part nearest the buffer beam.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Masters for the whitemetal have been passed to my intermeadiary who was going to pass them to the caster, but I don't know how long that will take - until then the rest of the bits are taking up a lot of space in my workshop that I'd like to get back, so I'll be chasing them up when I see him, hopefully next week.

 

Jon

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

So I'm delighted to report I've taken delivery of the whitemetal castings, and that therefore the first batch is available for sale.

 

But first a bit more instructions:

 

I'm supplying a laser cut floor and spacers, the idea is that an M2.5 or M3 nut (not supplied and I need to check which size is right) will fit into the cross of the 't' that is cut in the spacer, and can be secured in place with a small drop of rapid epoxy applied with a cocktail stick. These spacers can then be glued into the bodyshell, and provided no glue gets on the chassis, it can still be removable. In practice the prototype pair of vans did not seem to need the spacers glued in, but it might make the whole wagon more stable in the long run if they are.

 

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The spacers and floor are clear acrylic, with a protective film on both sides, this is intended to be peeled off, but as it photographs a bit better with it present, I have left it on.

 

The location of the air cyilnder is engraved onto the floor, the ends of the actuation arms should be more or less on the centerline of the wagon.

 

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and these are a cruel close up of the whitemetal springs, based on 3d prints from Martin McDermott.

 

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The price is £50 per pair, for 2x bodyshells, acrylic floors & spacers, whitemetal springs, axleboxes, buffers and brake equipment, and etched W irons and ferry fittings. please contact me by pm to find out about payment and postage options. The first batch is only 22 pairs of which a number have already gone.

 

Jon

Edited by jonhall
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  • 3 weeks later...

All the sets ordered have now been posted, you should mostly have received them about the end of last week.

 

Only 3 pairs left now, of which I think two are spoken for, these haven't rushed off the shelves, but I will probably do another batch, please send me a pm to discuss ordering the last set, or pre-ordering one from the second (and final? ) batch.

 

Thanks,

 

Jon

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