pwr Posted July 3, 2021 Author Share Posted July 3, 2021 (edited) Not much to report today but I have glued in the angled brass that forms the start of the underfrtame trussing. The actual truss assemblies which are the castings seen in earlier photos don't actually fit and will have to be just down. This is largely because the sole bar is made from solid strip and not a U shape channel. Still I don't think this will be apparent when they are glued in. Once these are dry and cleaned up I will start to glue in the trusses and then I will need to form the remainder which may involve a degree of soldering. Paul R Edited April 2, 2022 by pwr Load photos 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 Well nothing done yesterday but on Saturday I tried to fit the castings to the affixed angle iron having trimmed them to fit the sole bars. The problem is that they simply don't fit and there is no way I can fettle them to get them to fir as I would need to file too much away. I even cut away some of the angle iron to no avail so I now have that to repair too. The only option I think is to scratch build some of my own. I'll check what brass strip I have and report back. Thats a bit of a set back as I was getting on rather well. If I don't have the right brass I'll have to pop an order in to Eileens as we no longer have a local model shop. However there is some good news in that the roof vents came today as did the door bump stops although I think I have been sent the 4mm version of the door stops as they are too small and I have had to query. As soon as the wheels come - hopefully tomorrow - I will put the bogies together - probably low melt solder. More photos if I get anything done later. but we have to go out to the Oak furniture shop as we need a chest of drawers. Paul R 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Hal Nail Posted July 5, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 5, 2021 22 minutes ago, pwr said: we have to go out to the Oak furniture shop as we need a chest of drawers. Ouch! How about argos and a new loco? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 Yes quite! Its not may idea! Paul R 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 (edited) Well there was an ouch moment yesterday and we came away with a dressing table, bedside table and a small table to put the printer on which is what we went for in the first place!. Hopefully that is the last of the furniture purchases. I did let slip that there were several locos arriving in this shore soon Ha ha! Anyhow I got the vents fitted yesterday to the BG. These are superglued in. I've placed an order with Eileen's for some T and L section brass to help advance the under frame. I guess that will be a few days yet as I only ordered last night. The wheels I know are on the way as Slaters called as I had put the wrong CVC number in the order! Thats what happens when your card expires! I think the next part its to start marking up to drill holes for the door handles, door hinges and bump stops. I am not going to fit the remaining window frames until these are done for fear of knocking them off and damaging them. More later I hope Paul R Edited April 2, 2022 by pwr Load photos 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 Well, that is all coming along swimmingly. Looking at the sides which seem smooth, I wonder if there is a plan to scribe the door joins etc. When my card expired recently I was taken a bit aback to discover that Paypal already had my new card details. John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 John The doors are already scribed by the kit manufacturer although I shall probably take a scriber to them to add a it more depth. The PayPal thing seems scary! Paul R Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 (edited) Ok so with Slaters having delivered today tanks to Royal Mail I have made a start on the bogies. These are from GJH Plant and I am afraid are a poor choice. The castings are not great and the bearings do not fit. That is to say there is not enough depth in the axle box to seat the bearings correctly. I have drilled them out to an inch of their lives and the photo shows 4 of them glued in. I will be highly surprised if these are as free running as the Freightliner bogies. In fact fact the axles may be too long for the space between the frames and may have to be shortened. It makes you wonder if the manufacturer actually builds them first. I shall not be using them again. In fact the B4's which are currently sitting under a Lima MK1 and hijacked from a Big Big Mk2 (well sort of MK2) may actually be better bogies and there are some 3D printed ones on eBay that look a whole lot better. Invertrain who supplied them did have some more expensive ones but I opted to save £4 - mistake! I shall not be using them again (GJH I mean not Invertrain whom I have high regards for). Still got to work out a way to mount them on the coach as there are no parts for that in the kit - unsurprisingly!. However I will wait until I have built the under frame trussing. I hope the brass comes tomorrow having paid £4 for next day delivery. The abscess of a local model shop where you could just pop down and get these bits is really frustrating as however well you make a list for shows there is always something you need meantime and can't get or have to pay through the nose for postage. Well I am now going to glue the other bearing in and start to solder them together. I will report back! Paul R Edited April 2, 2022 by pwr Load photos 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 20 minutes ago, pwr said: John The doors are already scribed by the kit manufacturer although I shall probably take a scriber to them to add a it more depth. The PayPal thing seems scary! Paul R Ah, yes, they are not that visible so extra scribing seems in order. The bogies seem disappointing. I will watch with interest as you wrassle with them. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 20 minutes ago, brossard said: Ah, yes, they are not that visible so extra scribing seems in order. The bogies seem disappointing. I will watch with interest as you wrassle with them. John I suppose the consolation is they are no worse than the other castings in the kit! Eilleens have confirmed shipping of the brass sections so I may be able to resume underframe construction tomorrow. Paul R 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 (edited) Ok well afternoon of soldering these bogies have gone together relatively easily. Some adjustments may be needed to the ends that don't seem to seat well but they roll well enough and are dead level on a sheet of glass. They are still poor kits I have managed to get a result. Still to fit the brakes. I use a 12v iron linked to a gaugemaster controller for low melt work with the dial on this one set to 6 as the castings are chunkier needing more heat to get a satisfactory joint. Carrs red labile flux and 70 degree solder. The beauty of low melt solder of course is if you louse it up you can put the kit in boiling water and it will fall apart. John - you can see the door scribing in these photos Paul R Edited April 2, 2022 by pwr Load photos 2 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted July 6, 2021 Share Posted July 6, 2021 Good job Paul, a proverbial silk purse from a sows ear. Yes, the door scribing is more visible. John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 (edited) By way of contrast I have retrieved the Traing Big Big bogies off a Lima MK1. Close inspection shows that they are not that bad. Brakes are under nourished and in the wrong place and I clearly had similar problems with bearings!. Still I can fill these and sort out the brakes so I am going to save these for another project. I have a Westdale BCK to build and that has no bogies in the box. The wheels are one of O gauge steel versions and this picture shows precisely why I don't like steel wheels - they rust! Still I can change these for Slaters and they will be no worse than these GJH versions. All for now Paul R Edited April 2, 2022 by pwr Load photos 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 That bogie doesn't look at all bad. When I first saw it I thought "wow those wheels are nicely weathered!", then I read the text. Slaters wheels are steel and I always try to keep them away from water because they rust in a trice. I really haven't had any issues with rusting Slaters wheels though. I always paint them but the tyres are bare of paint. They don't get much use. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 7, 2021 Author Share Posted July 7, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, brossard said: That bogie doesn't look at all bad. When I first saw it I thought "wow those wheels are nicely weathered!", then I read the text. Slaters wheels are steel and I always try to keep them away from water because they rust in a trice. I really haven't had any issues with rusting Slaters wheels though. I always paint them but the tyres are bare of paint. They don't get much use. John Like you I have never had an issue with Slaters wheels. I usually give the tyres a once over with a permanent marker pen to remove the steel look. For steam loco wheels I use metal black to take way the shiny look. I don't like steel tyres on steam locos as they never look real. Today has been spent marking out holes for door handles and door hinges. I've drilled the door handles and now need to drill those for the hinges. They will be superglued in and filed down according to location. Door handles will be fitted after painting and lining. I'll probably do the drilling tomorrow. Paul R Edited July 7, 2021 by pwr grammar Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted July 7, 2021 Share Posted July 7, 2021 I used to use chemical black to darken metal parts. I find this pretty expensive and tedious so lately I just use a Sharpie. I paint over the Sharpied parts and use a fiber glass pen to polish the tyres. Sounds like a plan for handles. John 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 8, 2021 Author Share Posted July 8, 2021 (edited) OK so I haven't done much to the BG today but I have been working on the APT project. I am seeing my friend with the cutter next week so have been working on some cutting templates for the plasticard sheets. The bottom one is a cross section of the power car that I am using as a master. The top one is a cross section of what the trailers will be. The thinking is that I can laminate 5 cuts of 20thou to get a frame. As the cars are modular there will be 7 of these plus some slightly different end sections that have the bottom bit removed where the bogies are. These all be joined with strip to form a carcass that I will then clad. I can place a floor in and use that to further strengthen and then the interior detail will be fixed to a false floor and slid in before its closed up. I should also be able to get a bit of weight in at the bottom which will make the centre of gravity very low which may help if I can work out a way to make these tilt without using the cams system Hornby used for their model of the P train which means the train will tilt on a curve irrespective of whether it is moving. In fact I am not that bothered if the thing doesn't tilt as I doubt it will run anywhere that will make it worthwhile although I would like to see it going round an O gauge test track. So we will see how the cutter works. I am assured it will cut 20thou pkasticard and I am hoping it could stretch to 30 as this will mean fewer templates having to be laminated. I am fortunate to have a 7mm set of drawings scaled from original blueprints. I have reduced the size of these to allow for the skin of the coach. but not by much. More details on this next week. Paul R Edited April 2, 2022 by pwr 5 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 14, 2021 Author Share Posted July 14, 2021 (edited) Not much progress to report I'm afraid. I've drilled all the holes in the BG sides for the door hinges, bump stops and door handles and started to fi the hinges which then have to be filed down so they sit in the same plane vertically. I have also worked out a simple way to fix the chassis to the body using some brass strips and I'll post photos of those when I get to it. Went to my friend with the cutter yesterday and we successfully cut both 20 thou and 30 thou plastic although the definition of the corners is not great and the shape not perfect largely because I drew the template with a black marker. I am told if I use pencil it will still scan successfully and the lines will be more accurate. She has lent me the machine so I can have a go at my leisure. In the meantime this came from Rails and a superb piece of engineering it is. Gold plated with neodynium magnets. Superb piece of engineering and something I have wanted for ages. Not cheap but like all tools you gets what you pays for. Right back to those door hinges. Paul R Edited April 2, 2022 by pwr 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 14, 2021 Author Share Posted July 14, 2021 (edited) Here are the first complete set of doors with hinges. They still need fettling up Paul R Edited April 2, 2022 by pwr 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 15, 2021 Author Share Posted July 15, 2021 I was hoping to post some picture of the new 50 today but I am sad to say it has to go back because one of the bogie chains is broken. This is frustrating as they won't send a new one out until this is back with them and presumably if they have sold out I will be offered a refund or alternative - its the large logo with grey roof which is in high demand and short supply. As I have remarked before if retailers were to inspect these things before despatch much of these problems could be done away with but manufacturers also need to up their game on quality control Paul R 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Hal Nail Posted July 15, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 15, 2021 11 hours ago, pwr said: As I have remarked before if retailers were to inspect these things before despatch much of these problems could be done away with but manufacturers also need to up their game on quality control They will if you ask them. At least Tower have done for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 17, 2021 Author Share Posted July 17, 2021 On 15/07/2021 at 21:58, Hal Nail said: They will if you ask them. At least Tower have done for me. I think Tower are probably the exception. I have never had a duff model from them Paul R 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted July 17, 2021 Share Posted July 17, 2021 I don't know for sure but I think Tower are not that big. For them opening and inspecting stock may be a policy for the sake of customer satisfaction. For the big stores, like Hatton's, they will likely have done the calculation and decided that the risk and cost of returns is low with respect to opening and inspecting each and every loco sold (all scales). You need staff that knows what they are looking for too. Besides, just the act of opening the box and extracting the model for inspection increases risk of damage. My 2 cents. John 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 18, 2021 Author Share Posted July 18, 2021 23 hours ago, brossard said: I don't know for sure but I think Tower are not that big. For them opening and inspecting stock may be a policy for the sake of customer satisfaction. For the big stores, like Hatton's, they will likely have done the calculation and decided that the risk and cost of returns is low with respect to opening and inspecting each and every loco sold (all scales). You need staff that knows what they are looking for too. Besides, just the act of opening the box and extracting the model for inspection increases risk of damage. My 2 cents. John Certainly makes sense! Paul R 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted July 19, 2021 Author Share Posted July 19, 2021 (edited) I thought I would try out the new 50 on the rolling road. This is a short video which isn't particularly exciting but it shows the principle. Edited July 19, 2021 by pwr embed video Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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