Best way to an Accurate ZZA snowplough

[peak experience]

Hello everyone. 

I have both the 'N' gauge society's and Flangeway's flawed Independent snowploughs. I'm looking for any tips from people who've had success correcting the blade shape error. Any help gratefully received. 

Cheers

[Pixie]

Hello Peak,

 

I’ve modelled a pair in 2mm - the bulk of the work was packing out the shape of the blade so the interface with the ‘base’ was a straight line as opposed to a concave arc as produced by Dapol/NGS. In terms of process, it’s just a case of lots of filling and filing really. 
 

 

If there’s anything specific I can help with - please let me know. 
 

Cheers,

Pix

[peak experience]

On 17/01/2020 at 21:09, Pixie said:

Hello Peak,

 

I’ve modelled a pair in 2mm - the bulk of the work was packing out the shape of the blade so the interface with the ‘base’ was a straight line as opposed to a concave arc as produced by Dapol/NGS. In terms of process, it’s just a case of lots of filling and filing really. 
 

 

If there’s anything specific I can help with - please let me know. 
 

Cheers,

Pix

Heh Pix, 

Thank you for your reply. You've done a great job. May I ask some Qs - What did you use for the filler? Did you have to prep the blade surface in any way to make it stick to the model? I'm guessing the filler follows a straight line from the top of the third yellow band (going from yellow bottom, black middle to yellow top) to the tip of the blade? Was it difficult to protect the rest of the model? Did you find needle files or sandpaper to be more useful for shaping or did you use something else entirely? 

What a missed opportunity these models were, and such a fundamental error. I have doubts that any other manufacturer will step up to the plate and make a correct one. It's a niche model and most modellers seem happy to run theirs with the glaring discrepancy. 

[Steadfast]

On 17/01/2020 at 21:09, Pixie said:

Hello Peak,

 

I’ve modelled a pair in 2mm - the bulk of the work was packing out the shape of the blade so the interface with the ‘base’ was a straight line as opposed to a concave arc as produced by Dapol/NGS. In terms of process, it’s just a case of lots of filling and filing really. 
 

 

If there’s anything specific I can help with - please let me know. 
 

Cheers,

Pix

Smart work on the ploughs Steve, also means the insipid lurid yellow can be corrected! That also makes a huge difference. Will have to have a go at my pair at some point, whenever they get to the top of the waiting list!

 

Jo

[D6775]

I've never really looked at the Flangeway Ploughs I built a pair of the Britania Pacific ploughs many years ago, now I don't know how these stack up in terms of shape (or even where they are TBH) but I'll try and find them if its any use?

 

I have since stepped up a scale and finished off a set of 7mm MM1 ploughs last year, they certainly have a presence about them.

 

 

Edited January 24, 2020 by D6775

[peak experience]

On 24/01/2020 at 17:21, D6775 said:

I've never really looked at the Flangeway Ploughs I built a pair of the Britania Pacific ploughs many years ago, now I don't know how these stack up in terms of shape (or even where they are TBH) but I'll try and find them if its any use?

 

I have since stepped up a scale and finished off a set of 7mm MM1 ploughs last year, they certainly have a presence about them.

 

 

 

They look great. I don't know about the Brit Pacific ploughs. Be interested to see them. 

[unsoundmove]

I have a couple of the Britannia Pacific OO gauge ones - photos attached... Definitely good enough for my purposes.

[Pixie]

On ‎23‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 18:14, peak experience said:

Heh Pix, 

Thank you for your reply. You've done a great job. May I ask some Qs - What did you use for the filler? Did you have to prep the blade surface in any way to make it stick to the model? I'm guessing the filler follows a straight line from the top of the third yellow band (going from yellow bottom, black middle to yellow top) to the tip of the blade? Was it difficult to protect the rest of the model? Did you find needle files or sandpaper to be more useful for shaping or did you use something else entirely? 

What a missed opportunity these models were, and such a fundamental error. I have doubts that any other manufacturer will step up to the plate and make a correct one. It's a niche model and most modellers seem happy to run theirs with the glaring discrepancy. 

 

Hello Peak,

 

It's a long time since I did the filling but it probably would have been Holt's Knifing Putty, available from Halfords and the like. I would have stripped the original model of it's factory paint using IPA with a 6% water dilution and the only other preparation of the blade would have been to give it a little rub with fibreglass pencil. I build up a few layers and would have sanded back with fine sandpaper but I could get to the final 'skim' layer (a bit like a plaster) where I would have applied a layer of knifing putty and then used a long knife blade dipped in butanone to smooth it all down. I since found out (by... erm, dropping a plough) that on the 2mm model the blade unclips from the main body which would have made it many, many time easier to work on.  

 

On ‎24‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 16:54, Steadfast said:

Smart work on the ploughs Steve, also means the insipid lurid yellow can be corrected! That also makes a huge difference. Will have to have a go at my pair at some point, whenever they get to the top of the waiting list!

 

Jo

 

Happiness is stripping Dapol paint off...

 

Cheers,

Steve

[peak experience]

thats good to know that the blade unclips. i'm actually surprised someone hasn't produced a 3D print replacement. i would've thought they'd sell rather well.