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S7 scratch building


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I was not convinced I had the ends of this wagon correct, so I went back to the photos on the Warwickshire Railway web site and had another look. This is of the accident at Leek Wooton where a freight train fell through a unstable bridge. I have based this model on one of the wagons in this set of photographs. 

I had originally just used the side views in the recently published book on thr diary of Thomas Baron.

But when I went back to the web site there was a better shot showing the ends with a clearer view.. This shows the corner plates curved around the ends rather than bent at a right angle. 

So I decided to take all the details off both ends and started again.

I am not sure if I have got all this 100% correct nor do I believe any body will know any different. 

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Edited by airnimal
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I have added the leather buffer heads from 60 thou plastikard stuck on with superglue and when set, turned in a mini drill. I have also started to apply the rivets to the corner plates from .4 mm MasterClub rivets. These are tiny and trying to them in line is a nightmare. Even though I have drawn lines to follow with a pencil I have still managed to get one out of line. And drilling with a 12 thou drill without breaking any is a heart in the mouth job.

There is still lots to do but I am already thinking about some more wagons. I would like to do some more wagons from the 1860's or 1870's. I know there are kits from Parliamentary Trains but I tend to make a hash out of kit building. It must be me because other people make excellent models from them.

I need to drill the  holes for the fixing bolts in the buffer heads. I have done it before but I can't remember how I did to get the holes in the right place. The joys of old age.

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John, 

They are PECO  GWR wagon buffers from there 7mm range. I file the bolt heads off the base plate and replace them with Masterclub .9mm hexagonal bolts.

I then stick a piece of 60 thou to the buffer face and let it dry before turning it in a mini drill to the required diameter.

I hope this helps.

Mike

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On the photos I am working from there appears to have 6 pegs spaced under the sides I am assuming were for anchor points for ropes to tie down loads. I marked them equally and drilled the 6 holes to accept .45mm nickel wire. I left the wire slightly long to trim them back later. I drilled a piece of 40 thou plastikard and slipped it over the holes one at a time and filed them to size. This way they are all the same length.

The photos don't appear to show them as hooks just length of metal rods.

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Edited by airnimal
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Marc, I was lucky enough to be given a lot of HMRS meth fix transfers many years ago when a friend gave up building models. Being meth fix they still work after all this time and I have enough for my needs.

What I am running out of is casting for LNWR wagons but I still have lots of castings for other companies.

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I was convinced I had finished this wagon but something didn't look right but I couldn't put my finger on it.

I had to go back to the photographs and look again. What I had done was bend the brake handle to clear the axleboxes which would have been correct for 99% of wagons, but this one was different because it had a straight handle without any bends. Because I had made so many wagons I had allowed myself to assume they were all the same and acted accordingly, so a new handle has been made and fitted. I have checked that the handle will clear the axleboxes which it does.

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Edited by airnimal
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Guy, the axleboxes are the same but the brake lever is spaced off solebar which I hadn't noticed when I first built it. I also used the wrong section of brass when I made the spindle that goes to the brake shoe. This has now been corrected with a smaller piece of brass. 

 

One problem i find scratch building is that I am not very organised. I have boxes of parts scattered everywhere along with materials. So sometimes I pick up a bit of brass to make a part that looks right with out checking it with the callipers and get it wrong. I try to have discipline as well as a tidy workbench but it never lasts for long.

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After finishing the last wagon I have not done a lot of modelling.  I finished a couple of old builds that had been hanging around for some time but family matters have been taken priority over modelling.

I have decided to wait until spring before doing anything about building or buying baseboards to start the layout, So having boxes of wagon bits I will build some more stock. 

This one is a 4 plank  private owner wagon base on a photo of Oldham Glegg Street  taken in 1879.

I have based the size on a drawing of a similar wagon in Len Tavender book on railway equipment drawings. 

The basic parts have even cut out and the frame made. The sides have had the door scribed on but the ends have yet to be shaped with the curved corners.

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The ends were cut to size and glued on the frame and left to set. Them the first side was glued on and trimmed to the correct length before the second side was glued on and clamped in place with a spacing piece in between the sides and left to go hard. This second side will then be trimmed back to size.

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I am going to use Slaters Midland W -irons on this wagon for no better reason than I have half a dozen in stock. Because the photo is of a wagon is so distant I am not sure how close they are to the prototype but I am going to use them anyway.

When I have used them in the past I have cut off the fixing tags and let them into slots in the solebars.

This time I wanted to be able to screw them into the floor.  Slaters supply them with self tapping screws which may be fine with kit built wagons with solid plastic floors but would not work with my method of floors made from 60 thou plastkard.

I wanted to use my own method of using 12 BA nuts melted in a second piece of 60 thou plastikard and then the W-irons screwed in to that.

So I have modified the W-irons by soldering a length of 3mm X 3mm T section obrass on the back of each one.

I then drilled through fixing tags before removing the same tags. 

I made a couple base plates out of 60 thou plastikard and melted the 12 BA nuts in pre drilled holes with the tip of the soldering iron and cleaned everything up before glueing both units to the floor.

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Edited by airnimal
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The penultimate photo seems out of place in your most recent post....  black floor whereas the Wigan model has a white floor...  slot in solebar for the axleguard rather than the 12BA nuts in a 60th layer.

 

So what is the next delight for us?

 

regards, Graham

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19 hours ago, airnimal said:

I am going to use Slaters Midland W -irons on this wagon for no better reason than I have half a dozen in stock. Because the photo is of a wagon is so distant I am not sure how close they are to the prototype but I am going to use them anyway.

When I have used them in the past I have cut of the fixing tags and let them into slots in the solebars.

This time I wanted to be able to screw them into the floor.  Slaters supply them with self tapping screws which may be fine with kit built wagons with solid plastic floors but would not work with my method of floors made from 60 thou plastkard.

I wanted to use my own method of using 12 BA nuts melted in a second piece of 60 thou plastikard and then the W-irons screwed in to that.

So I have modified the W-irons by soldering a length of 3mm X 3mm T section obrass on the back of each one.

I then drilled through fixing tags before removing the same tags. 

I made a couple base plates out of 60 thou plastikard and melted the 12 BA nuts in pre drilled holes with the tip of the soldering iron and cleaned everything up before glueing both units to the floor.

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Mike,

That is a very neat idea which I must try on my next wagon build. I have a few wagons with the self tappers showing through the floor, easily hidden by a load but not all wagons run loaded!

In the past I have soldered the w-irons onto a piece of brass which I have then glued under the body but I have usually left the under frame timbers off the model.

Ian.

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Graham, the frame you mention was one of many that don't get any further for one reason or another. I would rather terminate something early on than waste more hours only to be disappointed later on.

Tricky, I always blacken the brass parts after polishing to make sure the axleboxes slide properly. Time spent early on pays dividends later, especially with Slaters W-irons. I make sure there isn't any side play but tight enough to allow the wheels to spin freely.

I also pre bend the sides before assembly and then place packing blocks inside to help keep the shape while handling. It is one of my pet hates to see lines of coal wagons at exhibitions with the sides bowing inwards

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I have done a bit more to this old dumb buffer wagon. I am not claiming this to be an accurate model because I am only working from one side view. So there is going to be a fair bit of guess work involved but using examples and drawings of other wagons from the same era I am hoping it will not be to far out. 

The brake gear is of course on the opposite side of the photo but appears to show one brake block only. 

So I have cut down one of my own castings from my brake van kit ( if any body wants these 8' 6" brass castings PM me ) and modified it to a single shoe.

i have started to detail the body but there is still along way to go. Included on the body is a board that acts as a label clip, which is the biggest I have seen on any wagon. 

The wagon appears to be painted grey with black iron work and has two large letters T and L painted on the sides with M&SL rly in small letters. This is one of the reasons that I choose this model to build because I thought it would be easier to letter by hand.

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 Before I get to far with the details I have drawn the lettering on the side to see I have I can do the painted letters. 

It looks  reasonable but there will have to be some tweaking. 

Rubbing out the pencil marks has left the wagon looking very grubby and it will need a good wash before painting 

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