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Rookie Workbench (Slater's Lowfit)


commsbloke
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I guess that many of you will have done this many times but this is the first time for me.
I have built plastic tanks before but this will be my first 7mm kit.
To start me off I have chosen a Slater's Vanwide.
First thing that I found is that there is quite a lot in the box.


P1183213.jpg.7072fbececff41404ce74cc7a1d55237.jpg

 

I think that I may have some questions on the way.

I plan to take thing slow so don't expect it finished in a week
 

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Not too much done in my first session although most time was spent finding my Tamiya Extra Thin
Sides, ends, floor, chassis frame and solebars removed from sprues and cleaned up.
Holes drilled following instructions in ends, solebars and van sides.
Slots opened up in solebars.
Chassis frame glued to floor with Extra Thin, correct location assisted by rectangular raised area on floor.
Chassis and floor left to set under weights on a mirror to keep flat.


P1183228.jpg.6490759d8f200e19b416dad7290a8c1c.jpg

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Just now, WM183 said:

Do Slaters wagons offer any sort of compensation?  That looks like a fun kit!

 

Just now, commsbloke said:

From the instructions, I don't believe that this one does.

 

You can get sprung W-irons as an add-on kit. Slaters sell them. There are also a few 3rd party suppliers.

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7 hours ago, hartleymartin said:

 

 

You can get sprung W-irons as an add-on kit. Slaters sell them. There are also a few 3rd party suppliers.

 

Here's another option as I used on my (unpainted) vanwide:

 

1734109673_2020-01-19002.JPG.14985f7d958881850a8bacec8118a7d5.JPG

 

It's the etched brass compensation unit on the near axle which allows this axle to pivot from side-to-side. The far axle is glued solid to make a 3-point compensation system.

 

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This is where I started, just floor, main chassis members and solebars.P1193229.jpg.e6a1dbaf4a91a10cf34150850c418ac3.jpg

 

Then body sides and ends fitted using Tamiya extra thin.
An extra pair of hands or two would have proved useful here,
P1193230.jpg.a399802600e804a2b75894cc551bc7db.jpg

 

....and on to the buffer guides? These needed a little work with a file to get the ends a little more round.
The instructions don't say that they also need to be drilled. I used a 1.5mm drill in a pin vise.

P1193237.jpg.7e90c2d05cb229d8956b5470321350e1.jpg

 

Finally for today the buffer guides were fixed using Gorilla two part epoxy.

P1193238.jpg.d59741d889aadc1c15877b76ddd158c8.jpg

 

Perhaps the buffer guides should have been fitted before the body was assembled.
Getting those little nuts on is going to be fun.

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10 hours ago, Fastdax said:

 

Here's another option as I used on my (unpainted) vanwide:

 

1734109673_2020-01-19002.JPG.14985f7d958881850a8bacec8118a7d5.JPG

 

It's the etched brass compensation unit on the near axle which allows this axle to pivot from side-to-side. The far axle is glued solid to make a 3-point compensation system.

 

 

Delighted to see that you have done the safety loops and vacuum pipe.  These are things I always do but are often ignored by the kit manufacturers.

 

The other sprung W iron add on is from Bill Bedford, available from Eileen's Emporium.  They are quite good but sometimes suffer from rusty spring wire.

 

Funnily enough I spent some time today prepping a set of Slaters oleo buffers.  These are great but the inside should be cleaned out of the white powder and the buffers confirmed to fit and slide freely.

 

John

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13 minutes ago, commsbloke said:

Perhaps the buffer guides should have been fitted before the body was assembled.
Getting those little nuts on is going to be fun.

 

I made a 'spanner' from plasticard and a piece of scrap sprue for just such a purpose... 

Thought I had a pic but can't find it, but basically I melted one of the nuts into a thickish piece of plaslticard, cut round the resulting hole and then attached it to the piece of sprue.

Will add a pic if that's not clear enough...

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I find a lot of vans get "side suck" where the sides curve inwards after a few years. I started putting 6.4x3.2mm styrene strips on the inside of the van and a couple of cross-struts, usually one either side of the doors. This gives a bit of extra structural rigidity to the body and prevents the sides from bowing inwards over time.

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I've normally started with the floor then add the sides/ends before the underframe but found need to add 10th strip to lengthen the floor. Found it easier to clean out the buffers whilst still on the sprue. I add the heads on last holding the nut with tweezers. For holding the sides out I use a spare part of a sprue.

As using oleo buffers, don't forget to use the piece that goes where the coupling hook that's on the underframe trussing mould.

 

Michael

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1 hour ago, mike hughes said:

......

As using oleo buffers, don't forget to use the piece that goes where the coupling hook that's on the underframe trussing mould.

.....

 

Thanks Michael, sorry I don't know what Oleo buffers are and I am not sure what " the piece that goes where the coupling hook" refers to.
Do you have a picture?

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9 hours ago, commsbloke said:

Thanks Michael, sorry I don't know what Oleo buffers are and I am not sure what " the piece that goes where the coupling hook" refers to.
Do you have a picture?

The buffers you are using are oleos - easy to spot with two diameters of shank. The bit referred to is a small square with 4 bolts and a slot, fitted to the buffer beam where the coupling hook goes through - visible in Fastdax's photo further up.

 

My mistake, sorry!

Edited by Hal Nail
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4 minutes ago, Hal Nail said:

The buffers you are using are oleos - easy to spot with two diameters of shank. The bit referred to is a small square with 4 bolts and a slot, fitted to the buffer beam where the coupling hook goes through - visible in Fastdax's photo further up.

 

Got it,

Thanks Hal.

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24 minutes ago, Hal Nail said:

The buffers you are using are oleos - easy to spot with two diameters of shank. The bit referred to is a small square with 4 bolts and a slot, fitted to the buffer beam where the coupling hook goes through - visible in Fastdax's photo further up.

 

Be aware here that the bit you are referring to - the coupling mounting plate - is something I added to the Slaters kit in order to locate my Dingham auto-coupler more accurately than allowed by the rather big slot in the plastic buffer beam. It's a nickel-silver etching provided by Dingham for this purpose (although I use the 4mm version rather than the 7mm version as explained here).

 

I don't think there's a coupling mounting plate provided in the kit as a separate item. It's cast into the buffer beam.

 

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