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S7 scratch building


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I just need to weather the small bolster wagon and find a suitable  load for this pair.

 

I don't have any NSR locos but that could change in the future. But having built 4 NSR wagons I am going to build a brake van to go with them. I have built 3 in the past from Meteor resin kits for various friends which I modified to upgrade them. I changed the white metal brake gear to hand made brass items to make them stronger.  I would also like to model a couple of NSR cattle wagons as well.

 

So I have started by cutting out the basic sides. This will be a model of No 459 with 2 windows in the sides and the unusual  brake fixings. Instead of V hangers there is a bar bolted to between the W-irons which holds the brake tumbler. 

 

I think this is going to be a long job so I may count the hours on how long it takes me. I think this may be quite frightening. 

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I have managed to get a coat of Matt varnish on the bolster wagon while the weather was bright and sunny. We also had a couple of miles walk to stretch our legs. 

 

I am surprised how long it takes me to make a wagon because I am logging the hours spent on this one. This will be quite a complex build with all that  framing and brake gear. 

But it has taken me 4 hours to cut 2 sides and the floor out. Thinking how which way to build things takes time even when I have made hundreds of wagons. 

I have cut the window openings over size so when the top panel goes over the top there will be a rebate for the glass panels to sit in. ,

 

 

 

 

 

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Another 2 hours work and the basic underframe has been put together after making it to long. I had to take it apart and start again but I think I have now gotten it right.  

I have cut out one end and started on the windows. I have made it over wide to cut back when I come to assemble the body together. I know some people build up all the framing before glueing the body but I prefer to make the basic body and apply the framing afterwards.  

I have found a pre curved roof in my bits box to the right radius so I will use the same method as I used on the cattle wagon.

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Now I have come to the crossroads. Do I go forwards or start again ?

The time taken so far has risen to 11.5 hours. 

But I have tried something  new on this wagon. I have held the Olfa cutter that I scribe the plank lines at a 45 degree angle to give me a beveled edge. On all other wagons I just hold the blade at 90 degrees and cut the same number of cuts  which is usually just twice. 

What I should of done was a test piece and then painted that and then compare with my normal method. 

So I have scribed a scrap bit of plastic and given it a quick spray of red oxide.  This shows me that with the blade held at 45 degrees the test piece highlights any unevenness of the lines. 

Looking at the parts already cut out I can see a difference between the first pair of sides and the ends.

My dear wife says I am being  to critical of myself, but how does one get better if you are not ?

 

The 2 end's certainly show a difference in the plank lines with one being deeper than the other. 

Consistency is the key and can I maintain it. 

Thinking about this I have gone back and had a look at my unpainted cattle wagon and I can see a rogue plank.  Perhaps I should have just done my normal  90 degrees cut and not tried to be too clever.

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6 minutes ago, airnimal said:

Now I have come to the crossroads. Do I go forwards or start again ?

The time taken so far has risen to 11.5 hours. 

But I have tried something  new on this wagon. I have held the Olfa cutter that I scribe the plank lines at a 45 degree angle to give me a beveled edge. On all other wagons I just hold the blade at 90 degrees and cut the same number of cuts  which is usually just twice. 

What I should of done was a test piece and then painted that and then compare with my normal method. 

So I have scribed a scrap bit of plastic and given it a quick spray of red oxide.  This shows me that with the blade held at 45 degrees the test piece highlights any unevenness of the lines. 

Looking at the parts already cut out I can see a difference between the first pair of sides and the ends.

My dear wife says I am being  to critical of myself, but how does one get better if you are not ?

 

The 2 end's certainly show a difference in the plank lines with one being deeper than the other. 

Consistency is the key and can I maintain it. 

Thinking about this I have gone back and had a look at my unpainted cattle wagon and I can see a rogue plank.  Perhaps I should have just done my normal  90 degrees cut and not tried to be too clever.

 

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That cattle wagon end looks the business to me. One can clearly see that there is a 45 degree chamfer on the top edge of each plank, as there should be, not the amorphous "groove" one often sees. 

 

I see no rogue plank.

 

But you're the one it has to satisfy!

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Consistency of the "plank line" is - in my opinion - one of the most difficult tasks in making models of wagons from plastic sheet (or when working on the inside of Slater's 7mm PO wagons).  I think that you are correct when you wrote, some time back, "the lighest of cuts.." and "multiple passes..." (both my words rather than yours).  Like you, I have tried to tilt the edge of the scribing tool so as to chamfer only the lower plank and, like you, I noticed that the result was not always a straight line - in my case I put the wander down to the way that the tool would occasionally catch on the edge of the steel ruler.

 

regards, Graham

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I have spent about 4 hours messing about deciding if I should start again but in the end I have made a new panel at the veranda end. All the body panel are fairly close match regarding the plank lines in consistency so I will continue. 

 

I was going to make the top part where the side windows are from one piece but I now think it would be better to make in individual parts, and yes I am making this up as I go along.

 

Time taken so far 15.5 hours. It could still go in the bin.

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Well that didn't take long. Having glued the body together, the penny dropped  !

I have made a fundamental mistake in the fact that the none verandah end is also inset and I had made it flush. Plonker. 

 

Occasionally I start a wagon thats not going anywhere. I think this is like a British Leyland Friday afternoon car. O well as Peter Greene would say.

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After yesterday's disastrous attempt at building  this NSR brake van I decided  I would rescue the frame and make new sides and ends and have another go. 

This time I abandoned holding the Olfa cutter at 45 degrees and just cut the plank lines as normal.  

I have spent about 7 hours today building this to the stage you see here. 

I also helped with domestic duties to keep in the good books. 

 

The frames look heavy without the chamfer but there is a long way to go before I get to that stage.  

One benefit of yesterday's disastrous attempt was I looked very hard at the photographs and noticed a few things I hadn't being aware of. The panels on the door being one of them, the frames are not as heavy as the other frames. 

 

Sorry  the photographs are not very good I have tried playing around with different setting but the flash is a bit harsh.

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Would a modified scrawker blade help with the 45 degree cut? Regular blades cut a trench with two 90 degree corners... would the ‘cut’ still work if you file /grind one of the corners to 45 degrees, you might need to start with a thicker blade....

 

regards

Andy

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Andy , yes a blade probably would be better ground as you say but I don't have the facility here.  That is one of the thing I miss about work, having a fully equipped engineering workshop at my disposal. 

 

I have finally managed to find the off switch for the flash so hopefully I can get better photographs. 

 

I couldn't sleep last night so I can down and did 3 hours work and made a start on the side panels as well as the interior partition. I went looking for a bit of scrap plastic to make a floor insert and found a bit of old wagon already painted. So I cut a small portion that fitted perfectly that I will fit after I have painted the rest of the body. Why did I never think of that before !

 

The reason I needed a floor is because when I pulled the wagon apart the first time I rebuilt the new body  the wrong way round and the planks I had scribed were at the other end.  So something good has come from something bad. Instant karma.

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5 hours ago, andyfoulger said:

Would a modified scrawker blade help with the 45 degree cut? Regular blades cut a trench with two 90 degree corners... would the ‘cut’ still work if you file /grind one of the corners to 45 degrees, you might need to start with a thicker blade....

 

regards

Andy

 

Even at 7mm/ft scale the plank lines are small in width. I wonder if it would not be possible after etching the lines in with the knife blade to produce the bevelled edge by burnishing with a smooth edged metal tool.

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Only a small amount of work today. I have fitted the door on one side and I have been adding the small fillets of wood to drain water from the framing. This includes  the longer pieces on the bottom of the frames. 

 

Another hour to add to the total.

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I have done an hour tonight and started on the other panels. I am well on the way now getting the other side together before I start to chamfer the framing and putting on the ironwork.

 

But I think I will have a bottle of Belgium beer and watch the snooker.

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Lying in bed this morning I was thinking about the little fillets to prevent rain water collecting between the frames. I had filed the ones on the first side from 60 thou square Evergreen strip. But I found it hard to hold and file accurately. Light bulb moment and bingo !

Hold it steady in a length of milled brass angle and file and scrape it with a scalpel blade. 

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