Ian M's 7mm workbench - Back to the MACAW B.

[101]

You're making a really good job of that, so I hope you dont take it as a criticism if point out it really should have a long tie bar between the axleguards.

[Ian Major]

Hi 101,

 

I take all comments as positive and appreciate the input.

 

The kit supplies pieces of microstrip to make the tie bar. The  problem I see with it is that the tie bar and the retaining bars across the bottom of the "W" irons on the prototype are one piece. The Slater's approach (which uses generic mouldings) will not replicate that. I am trying to decide the best way around this so any suggestions would be gratefully received.

 

Ian.

 

 

[Marshall5]

I usually make new tie-bars from scrap etch and drill small holes near the ends at the same spacings as the moulded rivets on the axlebox keeps.  I then remove the moulded keeps and use the holes in the new tie-bars as a jig to drill holes in the bottom of the W irons. Short lengths of wire are soldered into the holes in the tie-bars and given a coat of gun blue. A drop of superglue will secure the new tie-bars to the W irons while the pins give the joint strength. Hope this helps.

Ray.

[101]

I use brass angle for long tie bars, either 1x1mm or 1x1.5mm if you put the rear part of the angle at the bottom it's not visible normally, but it gives a lot more strength than flat brass strip or microstrip which always seems to bend all by itself.

You will have to file off the existing tie bars and put some cosmetic bolt heads on.

 

Edit to add just noticed the reply from Ray above and his idea to use wire through the tiebar and axleguards, combined with using brass angle would make it all pretty bombproof

Edited March 27, 2019 by 101

[Ian Major]

My thanks to Ray and 101 for their input. In the event I went for a variation on their suggestions for the tie bar.

 

But first I considered the safety loops which were very fragile. A decided to make replacements out of 1.0 x 0.3mm nickle silver strip. To make sure the four loops were the same size I milled up a jig from some scrap aluminium. The loops are 2.8mm across with legs 18mm long. The end 5mm of each leg I twisted through 90 degrees (as per prototype) to ensure they attached securely to the chassis members.

 

 

When I came to fit the loops I found the large mounting blocks on the top of the brake hangers fouled the position of one leg on each loop. So I drilled a 1.5mm hole in the blocks to accept the legs. This oops actually resulted in a very strong mounting.

 

Returning to the tie bars, I made these from 1.5 x 0.3mm nickle silver strip 80.3mm long. Rather than drill the holes in the ends (as per Ray's idea) I used my rivet press to simulate bolt heads 1.8mm and 9.0mm from each end. I would still be able to use these as guides to drill holes if required.

 

I filed of the detail off the existing tie bars then filed them flush with the "w" irons. This gave a good foundation on which 
to glue the new tie bars.

 

The rest of the detail was fitted more or less as per the instructions as shown in the next photo. My open now has just few left over  bits. It is waiting for the next project although I really should paint it first.

 

 

With all the parts fitted I weighed the van. It came out at 101gms. The G0G manual recommends 125gms for a wagon this size. So I created a sealed box containing lead shot from scrap plastikard in the central compartment. This brought the wagon weight up to 128gms.

 

Now for the worst part for me. Time to get the paint pots out.

[mike hughes]

On 25/03/2019 at 18:22, Ian Major said:

Many thanks for all the likes. 

 

Michael, 

I would be very interested in more on your experiences with mould making.  I looked up the Tiranti spec and its RTV 101 appears to have roughly the same temperature tolerance as the Hobbytime RTV/HB that I am using. The Tiranti number 3 metal that you use has a similar melting point to the Prince August "Standard" metal. So my experiences should be similar to yours. I suspect I am getting the metal too hot. I am not impressed with the melting pot that I have. I decided to get a small electric ring and heat the ladles directly which I have done before.

 

I let George T have three castings for his walrus. He liked the detail but felt that the dome was too shallow. The dome on the pattern is OK. The problem seems to be that the feed going on to the top of the dome makes it difficult to clean it up without flattening it. So I am making fresh moulds with a pair of feeds straddling the peak of the dome. I will need more domes for other vehicles that are in the pipeline.

 

Iain,

 

Good to hear from you. I was at High Lane on Friday for all but the last hour. Progress, not a single electrical fault (well at least whilst I was there). We had some good DCC running.       

 

I am struggling to get my feet back on to the ground after riding the "The Bard of Avon" steam special. It took me around lines that I was familiar with in my youth. I am a dyed in the wool GWR loco fan but have to admit that Tornado is an amazing machine. On the return via Shrewsbury we were routed in to the Cosford goods loop for an unscheduled stop to allow a service train to pass. This meant we ended up 20 minutes down. Setting off from Shrewsbury we negotiated the sharp curve on to the Crewe line nice and steadily and then the driver opened up. It was an exciting run to Crewe where we arrived 5 minutes early. Brilliant.
  
Well I have made steady progress on the fruit van. The dome of the vacuum cylinder is hidden on this wagon so I was happy to use one of the castings. The kit supplies 0.5mm plastic rod for the connection to the train pipe. This was to be in the form of a simple "U" shape. I decided to use brass wire.

 

To make a representation of the relief valve I drilled a hole 2mm from the end of some 1mm brass tube. In this hole I soldered a length of 0.5mm wire (to fit in to the cylinder). I rounded the end of the tube then sawed off the tube near to the 0.5mm rod. Some more 0.5mm rod was soldered in to the tube and the first 0.5mm rod was cut back to 3mm long.

 

The next photo shows the completed item along with the castings of the trunions and cylinder (which is not as rough as it looks!).

 

 

I glued the trunions in place, pivoting the cylinder between them. I shortened and shaped the long tail on the relief valve and soldered it to the train pipe. The short brass rod on the
relief valve was glued in to the hole in the cylinder.

 

I soldered the supplied etched actuating rod to the cross shaft. I replaced the supplied plastic "T" actuating rod with one made from 1mm brass rod.

 

The photo shows these in place. The train pipe is now permanently fitted but the "T" piece and cross beam will remain loose until the brake push rods are fitted. The cylinder rocks on the trunions in a most satisfying way.

 

 

Time to fit some wheels methinks.
 

Thought I’d wait to reply till I was going to do a whitemetal mould

I’ve poured the first part of rubber, all done different was added bit of white spirit to thin the rubber a bit, will help the air bubbles come up. Then added 12 drops of the hardener per 100 grams of rubber as needs to be between 8-16. Tonight is doing the other half of mould, using a white spirit and Vaseline mix as release agent 

 

michael 

[Ian Major]

Michael,

 

Thanks for your input. The base layer is very colourful - are you using plasticine? I found the brown modelling clay heavy to use, plasticine seems to be an easier proposition.

 

What put you on to using white spirit to thin the rubber? It would not have occured to me in a lifetime!

 

Ian.

[mike hughes]

20 hours ago, Ian Major said:

Michael,

 

Thanks for your input. The base layer is very colourful - are you using plasticine? I found the brown modelling clay heavy to use, plasticine seems to be an easier proposition.

 

What put you on to using white spirit to thin the rubber? It would not have occured to me in a lifetime!

 

Ian.

Yes it’s plasticine, used it a few times before, does go harder eventually 

Had the Tiranti book on Silicone rubber and it says about using it to wash brushes out after been in the rubber, so done that and worked out it thinned the rubber. Tiranti sell a rubber thinner. 

This is the result of the moulds. Used a knife to cut the reservoir in the rubber and then used a tool to create the channel for the metal to go in and air to get out. Then it’s test and modify the channels if required. I use a ladle to heat the metal up till it melts and hold the mould together between couple bits of wood and a G clamp. 

[Ian Major]

Thanks for that Michael. 

 

The background to your photos look like the same carpet that I have in my workshop. It has proved perfect to enable small parts to hide from me. 

 

BTW I am "in the paint shop" at the moment trying not to make too much of a mess of various mechanically completed projects.

 

Ian. 

[mike hughes]

I’ve found any carpet is good at hiding things

 

michael 

[Ian Major]

A quick update. The Fruit Van has moved in to the paint shop. I decided that it was time to actually do some painting. The van is partly done but the GWR Open has popped off the end of the pipeline.

The lettering is left over Parkside with some characters hand painted. Here are some photos.

 

 

 

 

It scrubbed up fairly well. The Tare should have been nearer to 5-16. Doh!

 

I have still got to varnish it. Looking at the photos I may stipple some rust mix on the corner plates. Never satisfied......

 

On the construction front I have started on a Connoisseur MACAW H. I intended it to be a quick job but I can't leave anything unmodified so I will keep it under wraps for now in case it turns in to a complete disaster.

 

Ian.

 

   

 

 

Edited May 16, 2019 by Ian Major

[Ian Major]

Before I launch in to the MACAW, a further thought on the Slater's axleboxes. I said earlier that I could not see any of the supplied boxes that looked like the open type. Recently I saw Pete Hutch’s rendition of a Slater’s BR Lowfit on the G0G forum which has open front axleboxes fitted. It finally dawned on me that each open front axlebox is made from TWO parts (not mentioned in the instructions). In the photo below part A is stuck on the front of part B to get what Pete produced. The detail on part A is on the side facing away from the camera. Obvious really – when someone points it out. 

 

 

 

Ian.

[Ian Major]

Whilst the Fruit Van is crawling through my paint shop it is time to start the MACAW H.

 

I treated myself to a Connoisseur kit at the Leigh Show. After seeing Raymond Whalley’s build of MACAW B  (see here)  I fancied building one. When I got it home, I realised that I had acquired the MACAW H, which is a shorter version of the MACAW B. Hey, ho. A slight change of plan! First thing was to look in my copy of Atkins, Beard and Tourret (hereafter referred to as ABT). From ABT I gleaned the following.

 

The MACAW H were built under two diagrams from 1927 to 1943 when they were recoded BOGIE BOLSTER A. They were 35ft over headstocks, 20-ton (later 25 ton) rail and timber wagons.

 

Dia J25

Built 1927 to 1936. Typical Tare 14-3.  Total 285.

They had end curb rails, DC brakes with off centre brake lever and intermediate shaft on separate V-hangars.

 

A diagram is on page 207, Fig 178.

 

Photo on page 206, plate 243 show No 107361, built L1189 in 1937 with disc wheels.

On page 206, plate 244 shows No 107285 with spoked wheels.

 

Dia J30

Built 1940 to 1941. Typical Tare 14-6. Total 20. 

No end curb rails. Rachet lever brakes.  

 

A diagram is on p213 Fig 186. Dated April 1941.

 

A photo on p214 Plate 255 shows No 32728 with disc wheels.

 

The MACAW H and MACAW B wagons made during the second war had no end curb rails. Cost reduction/reduce amount of steel required? Make them easily end loadable?

 

The kit.

 

Now it gets interesting. The kit instructions say it makes a Dia J30 wagon. However, the kit has pin down brake levers and end curb rails, which makes it a hybrid of the two diagrams. I could see my piercing saw waving at me from its hook!

 

I looked at doing a Dia J25. This would involve making DC brakes (no problem) but it would make the rivet pattern on the solebar overlays completely wrong. I opted to do the Dia J30 and remove the end curb rails.

 

Resources on the Web.

 

As usual I looked at Paul Bartlett’s collection.  <link>. There are many photos of bolster wagons. Quite a few show them converted as crane match trucks/runners or modified for private use eg at steelworks.

 

Another site I used was “UK Preserved Railway Stock List” link. <link> . It doesn’t appear to have any of its own photos but does point to plenty. I did found quite a few errors in its text. Some photos linked from this list:

 

No 107328. Dia 25, L1189. At Winchcombe, Glouc and War Rly.  Excellent photo taken from above from a passing train. Useful for MACAW B as well. Self-contained buffers. Spoked wheels. End curb rails. DC brakes centrally mounted. <Link>

 

The bolsters are missing so all the brackets on the inside of the curb rails used to secure the bolsters can be seen. These are not modelled in the kit.

 

It also shows the position of the various sheet(?) hooks and eyes for the stanchion chain attachment, although some are missing.

 

Worth noting is that it is hump backed so that as it is loaded it flattens out. My Russell GWR Carriage Appendix 1 has photos of carriage frames prior to the bodies being fitted showing the same characteristic.

 

Number Unknown. Actually a MACAW B(?) at Chipping Ongar Rly. Appears to be Dia J28. Good photo showing end profile of the side curb rail with no end curb rail fitted and exposed floor. The end bolster retaining bracket can be seen, with what appears to be a substandard bolster in place. <Link>

This is interesting because the kit produces curb rails as channel whereas the full-size wagons have “bulb” shaped curb rails.  

 

Worth a look!

 

Renderosity Web site sells a 3D virtual reality model of MACAW B No 70335 by "DryJack". Although this is “virtual” it looks a very accurate rendition including views of the underside.

It also has images of a class 37 and other items! <link>

 

Useful images

 

The smugmug site has loads of interesting photos (and some not so interesting ones). I did a search for “Gloucester+Warwickshire+Railway” and got these <link> . Included are photos of some interesting wagons stored in Hunting Butts tunnel.  Put the names of other heritage railways in the search field and get loads more.

 

 

I have no connection with any of these sites.

 

Ian.

[Ian Major]

Time to start brass bashing.

 

I detached and cleaned up the basic parts.

 

 

Next, I used my Hold and Fold to bend the end curb rails back and forth until they fractured. I did the same for parts that would have made the upper part of the channel on the side curb rails. The side curb rails were folded up. The ends and edges needed tidying up.

 

This is the point where I usually think “what have I done”! Perhaps I should call this thread “How to ruin a perfectly good kit”.  

 

 

I decided to try making a small mock up from some scrap brass. I used a length of 0.7mm rod to represent the bulb shape and a piece of 40thou Plastikard to represent the floor. I temporarily mounted it on the kits buffer beam, photographed it and compared it with a detail view taken from the Ongar photo. Looks reasonable.

 

 

So, I added the 0.7mm rod to the actual model. I used wooden pegs to hold most of the length of wire but used metal grips where I was spot soldering. The square section steel block was held in the position shown to stop the rod from rolling over the top of the curb rail.

 

 

The rod was soldered using 188 degree solder. A check was done with buffer beam in place to see that all was well. When the bolster brackets are fitted I will run some low melt solder along the top edges and sand it to the final shape.

 

I have only formed four rivets around the coupling area rather than the six indicated by the etch since the prototype end views that I have seen match this. Around the buffers I have not formed the rivets since I intend to make some overlays with the rivet detail on.

 

 

In parallel I worked my way through the stanchion brackets drilling them out. To hold them whilst doing this I went high tech. One part was a lollypop stick with a hole drilled in it.  The other was half a wooden peg with the slot enlarged where its spring used to sit to clear the body of the bracket.

 

 

The next photo shows this contraption in use. The peg does not press on the hollow part of the bracket so wont crush it.

 

 

 

Ian.

[Ian Major]

Time for an update. I have been working on the models - honest.

 

I temporarily assembled the bogies and put them under the body to check for ride height. It looks a little low compared with some of my other wagons, but the kit includes packing washers to address this.

 

 

Next was to make the bolster retaining brackets. For these I milled up some 2 x 2mm brass angle. This I cut to 5mm lengths, gave them some rivet detail and shaped the top corner. To help align these parts when soldering I milled up a dummy wooden bolster 6 x 7mm cross section.

I had made a 40thou Plastikard floor which was scribed to represent the planking. The bolster brackets cut in to the floor. So when I fitted each pair I pushed the floor down on the brackets. This left a mark that showed me where to cut the slots for the brackets.

 The next photo shows some of the brackets solder in, with the dummy bolster holding some of the brackets in place ready for soldering. There is one of the stanchion holders pushed in to its hole to align the dummy bolster.

 

 

When I had fitted the end pair of brackets, I took a photo of the end of the wagon, temporarily on its bogies, to see how the brackets looked. They appear a little bit well fed. The 2mm angle is approx. a scale 4 inches. I guess the prototype used 2.5 inch angle. If I get around to making a MACAW B I will use 1.5mm angle and reduce the bracket height to 4.5mm. I compared the following photo with the prototype picture in the previous entry.

 

 

I completed fitting the brackets on one side and test fitted the false floor. Where I have wire along the top of the side curb rail it has a grove where the solder is drawn in to the joint. To fill this groove, I used 70 degree solder, which bonds with the higher melting point solder but fills any grooves nicely. Using high temp solder for this resulted in the solder being drawn into the lower side of the wire. I will dress this when the rest of the soldering is completed. Again, on any latter MACAWs I make, I may use 1mm half round brass wire for this lip.

 

 

Now for the brackets on the other side.

 

Edit. Forgot to mention that I made and fitted some reinforcing plates around the buffer holes as per the prototype photos that I have seen. I also added the clips for the laden bills(?) made from small rectangles of 0.5mm nickle silver, with a "U" shaped piece of 0.3mm brass wire. The other items were the brackets on the solebars behind the buffer beams that I also added.

 

Ian.

Edited June 24, 2019 by Ian Major

[Ian Major]

I have had a three month break from working on my projects due to other activities including rewiring the NECG0G test track. 

 

My youngest grandson wanted a train set so I had a very pleasant few weeks making the board with legs and fitting the track. Some of the track was new, the rest was refurbished track that had 
been my son's. Also refurbished were some of my son's wagons and four wheel coaches. We bought my grandson a new Hornby 0-6-0 loco which we gave to him on his birthday. Talk about a dog with two tails. Everyone was very happy.

  

Back to the MACAW.

 

The result of my removing the lip around the sides was the supplied bolster castings were now too short. I made a master to cast longer replacements. I then made molds and cast replacement bolsters. The picture shows the length of the master compared with the original.  

 

 

I cast a couple and tried them out. They just needed a little fettling to fit. 

 

 

The kit supplies 6BA screws for bogie pivots. These screw upwards in to 6BA nuts which are themselves soldered in to a box that fits on the underside of the body. I prefer to have non-threaded bearing 
surfaces. I turned a pivot as shown in the next photo. The photo shows the box, spacer washer (to adjust ride height), spring, washer for the spring to bear on and nut. Below is one of the turned pivots. 

 

The 6BA brass washer sits on a shoulder at the end of the pivot thread so the nut locks on to it without totally crushing the spring.

 

BTW - the buffer at the top is a spare from a Connoisseur LOMAC. The hole in the underside is tapped (as are those fitted to to my LOMAC) so that I can make them self contained.  

  

 

The following is a scan of my chicken scratchings with the pivot details and a few other things. I notice my spelling is awful in these notes. (Can't get the staff these days!)

 

 

I fitted the pivots, trussing and brake "V's". I designed the pivots to be fixed to the body and mounted pointing downwards so that if the nut comes adrift when thrashing around the track the
bogie won't become detached.  

 

 

The brake handle guards supplied with the kit are of the pin down variety. All the photos that I have seen of these wagons in GWR service show the ratchet type. The guard from the kit has gone in to my 
spares box to go on to another wagon. I made a pair of ratchet type guards with a length of 2x2mm angle and some 1.5mm brass strip. I should have used 1.5x1.5mm angle but had none. I reduced the 
angle to match the strip. Basically I filed up a 14mm length of angle to represent the teeth. I used high temperature solder to attach the strip to the bottom of this then folded the strip around to make the guard.

 

The photo shows a trial fixing of this on to the wagon.

 

 

... and my construction notes. I took dimensions from the kit parts which is the upper of the two diagrams.

 

 

To reduce any tremble I made what is in effect a top hat bearing with an open end. The central bore of this is a close sliding fit on the pivot. I fitted one bogie with one of these which allows no fore 
and aft or sided to side rocking. The other bogie is not so fitted so gives plenty of compensation.

 

The photo shows the under side of the bogie thus fitted....

 

 

....and the top view. The "rim" of the top hat replaces the spacer washer.

 

 

My dimensioned notes.

 

 

The next photo shows the brake guards permanently fitted. The bogies are attached for now. The nearest is the one that is top hat fitted. I have also added Slater's cast wagon couplings. 

 

 

Finally the wagon on its feet (shame I left the coupling links knotted. What was that about getting staff?)

 

The plastic false floor is removed whilst I am soldering parts on.

 

 

Next up will be finishing off the brake rigging, then detailing the sides and fitting the buffers. Hopefully
these won't wait another three months.

 

Ian.

 

[georgeT]

Hello lan, You need to find time to do your own thing, l know its hard when you have so many over things to do at the moment, nice work on the flat bed buddy...

[Ian Major]

My thanks to George for his kind words and also to Adrian for his like. Actually I was stood next to you two gents at Telford when we were discussing George's latest kit acquisition but I am such a quiet person that you wouldn't know that I was there.

 

Glory, glory, some more progress.

 

I completed the brake rigging. The kit supplies 1mm copper wire for the cross shafts but they looked a bit underfed to me. So I sheathed them in lengths of 1.5mm OD thin walled brass tube. The kit also supplies 0.7mm brass wire for the pull rods but no cranks. The instructions say to bend the pull rod in to a "L" shaped and solder this directly on to the cross shaft. I decided to make a couple of cranks out of scrap etch brass. These were sandwiched between two of the pieces of tube which makes a better looking job. (Interestingly, the MACAW B comes with etched cranks, 1.5mm wire for the cross shaft and some, not all, components to make DC brake gear. Excellent.) 

 

The other end of the pull rods I supported with loops of 0.5mm brass wire rather than have them rub on top of one of the axles as per the instructions.

 

I also fitted the brake levers using short lengths of the tube for spacers and to represent the nut holding the lever on. The handle should point more upwards rather than horizontal, but I found it fouled the nearby lashing ring. So the lever is actually on back to front. Hopefully not too many people will notice.

 

The next photo shows these in place.

 

<

 

The photo also shows the 0.5mm holes that I have drilled which will take the sheet hooks and the stanchion retaining chains.

 

Next photo is a side view at rail level of the wagon on some track. It is just possible to see the brake gear. Well I know it is there!

 

The bolsters are sitting a trifle low but that will be corrected when the plastic false floor is finally fitted.

 

<

 

I turned to the buffers - literally. The kit supplies white metal rams but I prefer steel ones. So I turned a set. For springing I used 3 x 4mm steel springs which I got from Eileen's Emporium. The tails are threaded 8BA and held in place by 8BA nuts.

 

I have a Connoisseur MACAW B kit and I will be semi scratch building a MACAW B in parallel. Whilst making the buffers for the "H" I will make a further 8 for the two "Bs". When (if?) I finish three wagons they will extend to 3ft or more when coupled together. 

 

The photo shows the buffers completed but only temporarily pushed in to the buffer beams.

 

<

 

The next photo is a comparison of the buffer components for the "H" and "Bs" (on the left) and the components for a spare buffer of the type I made for my Connoisseur LORIOT M. I couldn't get enough clearance behind the buffer beam for springing on the LORIOT so I opted for genuine self contained buffers. Basically the underside of the buffer body is drilled and tapped 14BA to take a 14BA grub screw. The base of the body is blind. The ram is turned without a tail. Instead the the ram has a slot milled in to its side and a fairly shallow hole drilled in to the rear. The hole keeps the spring in line and is just deep enough to contain the spring when it is totally compressed. The grub screw engages the slot and stops the ram falling out.

 

This sort of thing has been done many times before but this is my way of doing it.

 

<

 

I have ordered my Xmas and next Birthday present from my wife. Well she is giving it to me, not making it - well you know what I mean. I am upgrading from a micro lathe to a mini lathe. I will leave turning the remaining 8 buffer rams until I get my hands on it. It should make the work a lot easier and much more accurate (no flexing etc). When I first got my micro lathe I was discussing my acquisition with a fellow G0G member whilst we were waiting to get into the Telford exhibition (after a fire alarm). He told me that what I had bought was "crap". Rather put a dampener on the proceedings. So this time I am keeping the detail to myself and only sharing the results.

 

Onward and upward.

 

Ian.     

 

[Ian Major]

Thank you for the likes. I greatly appreciate them.

 

I gave it a run on the High Lane test track behind one of George T's locos. I was very pleased that it displayed no sign of wobble and it happily stayed firmly on the track.

 

Construction work has moved on. I made a set of sheet hooks from 0.5mm brass wire. I used a pair of circlip pliers to shape them. To make sure I didn't snap the fine points off the pliers I annealed the wire. This did mean that on completion the hooks required a good burnishing to remove the glazed effect left by the annealing and to harden the brass. I then soldered them in to pre-drilled holes in the solebars.

 

 

I soldered some short lengths of 0.7mm brass wire in to holes in the side raves to represent the loops to which security chains are attached.

 

I decided to attach the buffers and stanchion pockets using super glue rather than solder them as I usually do.

 

 

The bolster being in place shows slight doming in the floor over the pivot. The wagon originally sat slightly off centre on the bogie. So I removed the pivot support and re-positioned it. It took a fair bit of heat to release it and I have probably warped the floor a little in the process. Jim does warn about this in his instructions. The plastic false floor should mask this.

 

The MACAW will now join the queue for my paint shop after which the false floor will be permanently fitted and stanchions added.

 

Then - it is on to the next one.

 

Ian.

 

[Adrian Stevenson]

Very nice indeed.

 

Cheers, Ade.

[Ian Major]

Thanks Ade. George (T) is convinced that I am obsessed with MACAWs. I am not really. I meant to get a MACAW B but bought a MACAW H by mistake. So now I have got a MACAW B to make as well. My ending up with several MACAWs is a bit of a cock up on my part - but an enjoyable one! 

 

Ian.

[Ian Major]

Well the paint queue is getting ever longer. I do my spray painting in the garage. It has been too cold and damp to do any. I have also had other distractions. One of the main ones being getting to grips with 
graphics packages so that I can produce designs to make coach, wagon etc parts on my newly acquired Silhouette cutter.

 

In the meantime I decided to pull the MACAW H back from the paint queue to make the stantions for it. I am glad that I did. I found that one of the brake racks had been knocked off and is probably now resident in the in'ards
of the carpet monster. I will be making a pair of MACAW Bs one of which will be WW2 period. So when I get geared up I will make three racks, 2 for the MACAW B and one for the H.

 

I made up the stantions following Raymond Whalley’s method (see here) .One difference - looking at all the photos of wagons with stantions fitted I could see that they were tapered. After fitting the ring of 0.5mm wire and cross drilling it 0.5mm for the retaining chain I put them in the lathe and tapered the 1.6mm rod down to 1.4mm. I did this with files and fine wet&dry paper. I made sufficient stantions for 3 MACAWs plus a few extra to allow for cock ups.

 

The following photo shows them fitted. The chains will be added after painting.

 

<

 

It shows up that the one of the stantions is at a strange angle. It is probably due to the hole in the pocket being skewed. I may get away with just redrilling it. In the flesh it actually looks OK. Nothing like a photo to highlight any errors.

 
The plastic floor is not yet glued down - fortunate since I have some unexpected soldering to do.

 

The next shot is from above. The wonky stantion doesn't look quite so bad from here.

 

 

I have done initial work for the two MACAW Bs. The stantions and their pockets are prepared. I have nearly turned all the buffer head/rams. One wagon will be a modified Connoisseur kit the other will  be a scratch build using Jim's bogies and left over castings. 

 

The kit will be made as a pre WW2 wagon. Jim includes within the etches parts to make up the DC brake gear for this period. However the solebar detail overlays would not be correct for this. Soooo, I have produced a cutting file to produce replacement overlays for the DC version. The cutter will not cut through the brass sheet but I am hoping that it will save me a lot of marking out and be more accurate than my efforts. Here is a print of the resultant graphics file.

 

 

The cutter can be fitted with pens to make it a graph plotter. I will use this to draw out full size versions on paper to check they are correct before committing to expensive materials. The runs of red dots indicate where I will press out rivets. The individual dots along the centre lines mark the position of holes for sheet hooks and chain rings.

 

Will it work? Who knows?

 

I may be some time.

 

Ian.     

 

Edited February 20, 2020 by Ian Major

[Ian Major]

Now - where did I get up to...?

 

The MACAW H has had a basic paint job. Next up was to be some lettering using transfers. I was intending to get these from Fox on my annual trip to Telford. The plague put paid to that trip, so I will be getting these on line. To keep the postage down I am moving other projects to a similar stage and batch up all the transfer requirements.

 

I started work on the MACAW B. Since I am going to fit it with DC brakes, I produced replacement solebar overlays (as per my previous entry). General construction will be similar to the H. At this point I need to cut out the false floor in plastic card. I bought a "deep cutting" blade for my Silhouette cutter. These were a new release. Sadly, there is a software error that results in a spurious cut appearing on the work. I am registered for their Beta testing so I raised 4 (four) software error reports with Silhouette supplying loads of evidence. I waited...and waited. Eventually I got a response saying "Thank you for your error report. Unfortunately all your evidence has been deleted. If it is still a problem please resubmit." This was followed with the cancellation of Beta testing, meaning submitting evidence became that much more difficult. I will carry on trying to get a fix to this problem.

 

I the meantime I have put the B on hold. Instead I am firing up the paint shop. I hate painting 'cos I am no good at it! I have a few finished locos resplendent in not so shiny brass effect. These will need transfers which means I will order them at the same time as those for the wagons.

 

A few photos of MACAW progress.

 

The first couple are the painted H awaiting its lettering posed alongside the beginnings of the B.

 

 

 

The next shows one of the completed B solebars with the replacement overlay fitted.

 

 

The last is the B etch. The red outline highlights the components to make pin rack/lever type brake. The green outlines the parts to use on the DC brake. Amongst the latter, the part that looks like a quarter of a gear wheel and the part immediately below (which looks like a swan with a hole in its shoulder) are not suitable for the B. They are the shape used on earlier double ended DC brakes. I will scratch the correct version of these. I will also create a representation of a Hayward slack adjuster which is very visible on Bs and Hs when viewed from the side.

 

 

 

Now I'm off to the paint shop. First up will be a Painted Lady.

 

Ian.

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 2020 by Ian Major

[Ian Major]

Jane (the Painted Lady)

 

Part 1

 

One of the first locos to start moving in my paint shop is my Wantage Railway No 5 ("Jane").

 

Some of its history. 

 

I made it about 18 years ago using the Model Railway Journal articles (1999/2000) written by Laurie Griffin. Volumes 114 to 122 have parts  1 to 9 cover construction. In Vol 123 is part 10 which is written by Martyn Welch dealing with painting the model. They are excellent articles describing scratch building techniques and include plenty of photos of the prototype, plans and 
templates for cutting out platework.

 

For additional material I bought a copy of Branch Line to Wantage by Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith.

 

I modelled "Jane" as it was from 1936 to the closure of the line in 1945. During this time it only had one lamp bracket on its front bufferbeam. The other, I suspect, was knocked off during one of its trips off the track as it did on 8th Jan 1936, where ran across Grove Street and went left had buffer first in to a nearby solid brick wall.

 

There are plenty of images of "Jane" on the Web. My favourite is a delightful clip from a British Pathe film. It shows No 5 in action and some useful shots in the cab. Towards the end of the clip it shows her taking the route to the Lower Yard at Wantage. It is a miracle how it stayed on the track . See here:

 

 

 

I made most of the plate work out of nickle silver. The photo shows it at an early stage of construction. I made the inside valve gear working - an interesting challange squeezing it in gaps between the frames and the well tank. Part of the valve gear can be seen through the frame cutout. When the brake gear etc were added to the chassis the valve gear
became pretty well hidden!

 

 

A photo of the loco with a couple of wagons to give an idea of its size.

 

 

Probably the hardest part of the build was creating the concentric circles of rivets which are on the rear of the smoke box and the front flange of the boiler. I used a GW rivet tool. The X/Y co-ordinates of each rivet being worked out using an Excel table with formulae. The photo shows the result. The rear of the smoke box and the boiler flange are separate pieces.

 

 

Clearances around the leading wheels is very tight. The Slaters wheels showing rust already.

 

 

On Laurie's model he did not include the front glands on the steam chests. I decided to add these. They consist of thin walled brass tube which extend right through the valve chest and protrude about 1.5mm at the front. On each extension are two diamond shaped pieces of brass to represent the flanges with short lengths of 0.5mm wire represent the bolts. The valve spindles pass right through and waggle back and forth a small amount when the engine is running - great fun, though you would hardly notice!

 

The buffer beam is basewood covered top, bottom, front and rear with N/S platework.

 

I used Slater's GWR tapered buffers which I converted to self be contained. 

 

 

The plate on to which the buffers are attached does not have a hole in it. So the buffer body is modified by cutting the rear extension off. The central hole can then be bored throughout with a reamer or a single diameter drill.

 

A hole is drilled in the underside and tapped 14BA. This takes a 14BA grub screw which retains the buffer ram.

 

The supplied springs were cut in half since they are contained completely inside the buffer body.

 

Converting the Slater's rams -  this consisted of turning a brass bush 0.5mm thick with a diameter slightly larger than the hole in the centre of the buffer body. This bush was drilled to be a sliding fit on the ram. The bush was soldered on to the ram 3mm behind the existing wide part (not the head). The threaded part of the ram was put in the lathe chuck and the bush turned
down to be a sliding fit in the body. Then the threaded part was cut off immediately behind the bush. Hopefully the following photo makes this clear. (Self contained buffers in model form are not my invention. )
  

 

... and a copy of my construction notes including dimensions - if you can read them!

 

 

Before I started to paint the loco I tried running the chassis on my rolling road. When built it had run nicely. After greater than 16 years without turning a wheel it would barely move despite fresh oiling. I cleaned it up, re-oiled it then it ran much better but is still very stiff. I fear to get it running freely again I will have to strip the chassis to give it a thorough service. That will have to wait for another time.

 

Now if we get some sunshine I will photo the Painted Lady outside.

 

Ian.
  

[Ian Major]

Jane

 

Part 2

 

To complete the loco I will (try to) make some lettering transfers. I have some Hannants Xtradecal (blank) for this. Obviously I will be trying test pieces first. Then satin varnish and finally glazing. 

 

Some photos of the painted loco.

 

The chassis has no paint on it. This was chemically blackened as per Martyn Welch's MRJ article. I did this at the time of construction. In the intervening years the black has tended towards a dark grey/brown.

 

 

We actually had a bit of sunshine. So I managed to bang off a few piccies in the garden before it rained on me.

 

 

 

 

Then the rain came and I had to rush indoors. Fortunately Jane and the wagons seems water proof.

 

 

I took this low level shot to show the condenser tucked up under the roof. It was a nightmare to fit. This is also the only view where the steam brake cylinder is visible under the cab floor. It also  reveals the heads of the screws that retain the tool box and the removable cab sides.

 

One thing I need to address. The buffer bodies have to be on raised plates since the main bufferbeams are below standard height (as they were on the prototype). The extra plate packs the buffers out which results in the Standard Slater's chain links being too short.   

 

 

I couldn't resist a sepia photo. The bufferbeam needs toning down!

 

 

So - now it is on to the next paint job. In the meantime Jane will return to the display case. 

 

I have scanned all my notes in, so will publish them here.

 

Ian.