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S7 scratch building


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I am glad I am not on my own dropping changers but as you said, easily fixed.

I still haven't found the retaining straps or the axleboxes so I have made my own straps.  I tried soldering 4 strips  of nickel together and cutting them out as one without success.

Then I tried filing them up individually but that was even more problematic. 

So I have bent a strip of nickel with some half round and half flat pliers. This deforms the strip in all sorts of shapes before I put it in the vice to flattend it. I then had to dress it with with files and wet and dry before embossing the couple of rivets in it. 

Now where did I put those axleboxes......

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Having pick up some milled brake handle from Dave at JPL at the Leigh show last week I thought I would clean up a couple to put on the pair of small ballast wagons.

I made the pattern for the longer wheelbase wagons, rather than make two different lengths patterns.  It was just a small job to cut them down to the smaller size. 

These toggled handles also come in handy for other LNWR wagons.

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Edited by airnimal
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Having done the brake handles on the small ballast wagons I added the longer version to the larger one. 

I also replaced the drop door bangers with slimmer versions because the ones I originally made were to wide.

There is still lots to do on these ballast wagons to finish them off before I can paint them,  not my strong point.

When looking for these handles I have now found the axleboxes for the L&Y wagon that I lost last week. I found them on my workbench in a box of parts right under my nose....! 

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Now I have found the axleboxes for the L&Y steel underframe wagon I set about cutting all the cast w-iron off just leaving the box and springs. I had to open out the bearing hole into a slot to go with my own etched w-irons.

That only leaves the label clip and then the painting.

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 I know I should'nt but start anything new with so many things nearly finished but ......

I have always been intrigued by the early cattle wagons when I came across a photo on the LNWR forum which has 2 cattle wagons taken in a Coventy goods yard. This is the clearest photo of a roofless cattle wagon I have seen, so along with the drawing published in the LNWR society journal of a similar wagon I just had to make another.

So a start has been made and progress has reached the stage shown here. I will trim the uprights later.

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I have trimmed the uprights to length and set about making the bars that help strengthen the sides. 

There is a photo which can be seen in Vol 3 of the LNWR wagons on page 203 which clearly shows this.

 They were made from a couple of small piece brass U shaped channel and some .9 nickel rod.

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Soon after my last post I keep looking and realised that the bottom rail was wrong and the planks should be between the uprights and not behind them. So these parts were cut out or modified and new parts made. I also forgot to drill the uprights for the safety bars. The outer ones were easy to drill but the inboard ones were a bit more of a problem. So I filed the .7mm nickel wire to a point and past this through the outer upright and up to the inner ones and placed my soldering iron on it and pushed in to the second upright taking care not to melt any of the plastic. 

The etched bars have been in my box of wagon parts for over 20 years and were given to me by the late Peter Korrison. I have been waiting to use them for soon time. Peter was a brilliant engineer and artist in more than one field and a true gentleman. I had the pleasure of staying at Peter and his wife Rita's bungalow on several occasions and enjoyed Rita's amazing home cooking. 

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A little more progress on this cattle wagon as well as doing some decorating to keep in the good books with the boss. There are a lot of straight lines on this wagon so I have been checking every time I put a new piece on to make sure it all lines up. So far I think I have managed keep  everything straight.

 

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Nearly all the structural work done with just the upper doors needing to be a double thickness and the safety bars inserting between the two. 

Wagonman, sorry I will not be entering the wagon building competition at the AGM. I don't have a very good track record with competitions.  I am not even sure I will be attending this year.

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I have now done one side of the door safety bars by melting the .7mm nickel rod in to the back of the doors to half depth. I then did the same to some more 30 X 80 thou plastic strip. With all the burrs cleaned off it was a simple matter to clue them in trapping the .7mm rod in place. 

Just the other side to do now.

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I am about to start on the detail work, but first I have made some inserts to sit between the framework. These are just bits of nickel that don't need to be to precise. The framework is marked with a pencil mark and a small nic cut in to it. The blade of the scalpel is then drawn along at 45 degrees while resting the tip on the nickel. I count the number of passes I make to make them all bevel edges even. That's the theory anyway. Anybody contemplating trying is method I would advise to make up some bits to practice on first before ruining a good model.

I will not doing the cutting of the chamfer today as we have our 18 month old grandson all day.

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With a steady hand and good light a start has been made putting the chamfer on the framework. I have only done a quarter of the lower side and I am having to take a break. This is not a job after being in the pub !

I am not sure if they can be seen in the photos.

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There is not a lot more to see for 4 hours work and I am being to wonder is it all worth it ?

i still have all the bolts to do on this side as well other little bits before I even start on the other side.

When I did a demo stand a couple of weeks ago at Leigh a gentleman sat down and said how nice he thought the models were before asking where he could get the kits from.

i explained that they were all scratched built when he asked again who's make of kits they were ! 

After telling him I cut out every part by hand he asked again where he could buy these kits as he had not seen them on the market.

I then gave him a A4 sheet of white plastic and told him that most model shops sell them but they don't come with instructions. He didn't stay long after that.

 

 

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Edited by airnimal
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2 hours ago, airnimal said:

There is not a lot more to see for 4 hours work and I am being to wonder is it all worth it ?

Of course it is, otherwise you would become a “box-opener” rather than a builder.

 

Sharing on here is activity for our benefit, not yours - and we are all extremely grateful for the insight into your thinking as much as for the techniques we learn from you.

 

But the building of things, you do that because the process is as enjoyable (or maybe more so) as the finished project.

 

If that’s not the case, then the psychiatrist will see you soon...

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Regularity,  many thanks for your input. I do enjoy sharing with others that is why I demo stands at Northern shows and it does work both ways. Many times people bring along models that they have made and discuss there techniques together.

I have now completed the side with the single brake shoe with the other side still to do.

The brake handle was cut out and bent to shape and the square fixing shaft made from a .9mm square brass rod turned to size in my mini drill. Once it was soldered in place it was cut to size and cleaned up. 

 

MRJ and the S7 newsletter both came this morning with lots of good reading as well as all the news about forthcoming exhibitions. 

My wife goes to Australia next week to see our new grandson so I will take advantage and go to a couple of far flung exhibitions and stay with our daughter in Swindon. So I plan to go to Railex which I haven't been to before and the Warminster show which I have been before. 

Does anybody know which day is the best at Railex ?

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17 hours ago, airnimal said: So I plan to go to Railex which I haven't been to before and the Warminster show which I have been before. 

Does anybody know which day is the best at Railex ?

Sunday is quieter, but it's easier to get there by public transport on Saturday. The normal buses from Aylesbury are only hourly on Sunday. There's a free (vintage) bus from Aylesbury for the show, but I can't see its schedule anywhere. I find it easiest to drive. The parking by the venue fills very early, but there's usually overflow parking available half a mile away.

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Lovely detailed modelling as ever, Mike. Thanks for the tip re: making the chamfers using nickel silver guards inside the frame voids. I hope to make Railex on the Saturday to see the Cameo layouts amongst other things. I will also be at Warminster with Alma Street Quay. Please stop by and say hello. It will be good to meet you.

Best wishes

Rich

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John, thank you for your endorsements. I do try my best as I am sure everyone else does in our hobby.

Rich, I will look forward to seeing your layout again and meeting you. I did see your layout at Swindon last year and was impressed. 

I made up the couplings from parts from my box of assorted bits accumulated over many years from various sources. The hooks were from an etch that came via an exchange for some wagon parts and the top link is from Exactoscale and is a GWR D link. The other links were acquired at the Telford show from Ron Chaplin who I believe has stopped trading. I have made them up and soldered the gap in the bottom 2 links then dipped in Birchwood Super Blue.

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Superb work, as ever. There are only a few kits that get near this standard, and still fewer for the earlier periods. I sort of understand the bloke in Leigh, as there is so little scratch-built stuff exhibited these days, and much of that little is of the locomotive nature. It's very rare to see scratch built wagons and even rarer to see them to this standard. Long may this inspiring thread continue.

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On 16/05/2019 at 14:46, airnimal said:

There is not a lot more to see for 4 hours work and I am being to wonder is it all worth it ?

i still have all the bolts to do on this side as well other little bits before I even start on the other side.

When I did a demo stand a couple of weeks ago at Leigh a gentleman sat down and said how nice he thought the models were before asking where he could get the kits from.

i explained that they were all scratched built when he asked again who's make of kits they were ! 

After telling him I cut out every part by hand he asked again where he could buy these kits as he had not seen them on the market.

I then gave him a A4 sheet of white plastic and told him that most model shops sell them but they don't come with instructions. He didn't stay long after that.

 

 

 

 

I had something similar, last year. I wasn't exhibiting but had taken one of my scratch built locos to an exhibition to show to some friends. Whilst one of them was photographing it a chap came over and asked who's it was. I said that it was mine and he replied "Sorry, I mean who's kit is it?". I told him that it wasn't a kit and was scratch built but again he asked who made the kit. :unsure:

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