OCA, HAA, PVA wagon kit build

[TT-Pete]

Today I have decided to put this period of enforced isolation to good use and to make an inroad into my kit stockpile -  selecting an OCA open, HAA MGR hopper and a PVA curtain-sided wagon;

 

 

I have chosen to do three kits simultaneously as I have this dreadful habit of impatient fiddling with things before the glue, paint, varnish or whatever has properly set/dried and thereby ruining them. With 3 on the go at the same time I can put one down and work on the other two, giving enough time for the first one to dry before I am tempted to pick it up again. Or such is the theory.

 

The OCA is the 3mm Society Cambrian kit and is an absolute doddle to put together. The HAA is the Andy Shillito kit and I find the instructions somehwat impenetrable, a picture or diagram says a thousand words but instructions like "assemble the basic chassis" without saying what goes where and "this stage is much assisted if you can grow a third hand" are not exactly helpful. I think I've got it right, but the fact that I had to slice quite a bit of plastic off a couple of parts to get them to fit and that they had notches in the ends that didn't seem to correlate to anything else, suggests not. We'll see when I try fitting the W irons and wheels tomorrow. The PVA will be a the real challenge; it has the 3mm Society air-braked chassis and floor with 2 etched brass sides, but no ends or roof.

 

 

Well tomorrow is another day and in the meantime, NO FIDDLING! :^)

 

[Robert Shrives]

Hi  I have built 10 or so of the MGR wagon and the chassis is a pain to get square - I will be reworking some at some point in the future I found I was unable to keep wheels in the axle boxes and intend to go for a fold up etched W iron. I was gifted one a while ago and nothing was square.  

 

I have seen several built by Andrew and very good they are too so it is possible. 

The etched sides I used as templates for a 60th thou body and used another end to cut out blanks for the end. Currently the roof has an off cut of wood roof profile in and filler to sand back as a base for a plasticard roof. 

 

The OCA as you have found is a pleasure to put together. 

Have fun and I look forward to reading how easy you find the MGR!

Robert  

[TT-Pete]

Hi Robert, I must admit that after reading your post I approached the HAA with some trepidation, but it went together surprisingly easily and with constant checking with an engineer's square and ruler during assembly it's all together ok and runs smoothly without dropping the wheelsets. And I now know where I went wrong during the initial chassis assembly which is about 1mm narrower than it should be, when glueing the W irons I had an "ohh I see" moment - I think that once you've worked it out on the first one all subsequent builds should be easier. The coal load is cut down from a 4mm scale MGR insert.

 

 

The PVA has been a pleasure to build once I figured out that my approach would be to have ends scratchbuilt from plastikard and the roof rolled from brass strip (having a set of rolling bars makes this a doddle).

 

 

Nothing further to report on the OCA, final painting, transfers and weathering to follow on all three.

 

[Robert Shrives]

Hi They look really good!   Any chance of a pic of the underside of the MGR to see if I have messed up - I have 10 or so but the one I have to hand was a gifted one. 

for  transfers  it might be worth seeing if Steve at Railtec could  do some 3mm versions of his 4mm wagonry.

Robert 

[TT-Pete]

Hi Robert, as requested a picture of the underside:

 

(The "5" in the middle is a car wheel balancing weight.)

 

I still have a few sheets of the now unavailable 3mm Society "Modern Image" Woodhead transfers so will be using those, but I see Railtec do some 3mm loco transfers that will come in useful for other projects, so thanks for the tip. :^)

 

Peter.

[03060]

Hello Peter,

 

Interested to see that I'm not the only one using the smaller type of OO couplings, I've managed to screw and then pinned most of mine on so far but am I correct in thinking that yours are stuck on with adhesive, if so what type are you using to get a hopefully permanent joint, please ?

 

Regards,

Ian.

[TT-Pete]

Hi Ian,

 

The ones I use are the Bachmann 36-061"Short Straight" type (there also being Long and Cranked permutations). I banned Superglue from my workbench years ago as I very often found it was neither as things either wouldn't stick to start with or fell off when in traffic as the glue seems to crystallise/become brittle over time. Horrid stuff, fogs window inserts and sticks fingers together (and things to fingers) too.  :^)

 

Now I only use 2-part Araldite epoxy, sticks like whossit to a blanket, acts like a filler if there are gaps and can be filed/sanded and drilled when set. Having said that however I have found that it can have problems bonding to shiny plastic surfaces, so I roughen the surface with a file to key it, pic below shows a coupling out of the bag and one prepared for fitting.

 

Peter.

 

[cheesysmith]

love a good kit build. Pity we cannot get those HAA in OO gauge lol

[03060]

Thanks for the reply Peter, I'll give it a go, it was the shiny plastic bit that bothered me. Admittedly the last ones that I fitted I did use superglue and a trackpin but they were a rush job to get me through a two day exhibition and expect them to fall off at some point. The ones I use I've screwed on but don't particularly care for this method, I've also used Super Steel but I think they also fell off after a while.

 

Regards,

Ian.

[TT-Pete]

3 hours ago, 03060 said:

 it was the shiny plastic bit that bothered me.

 

Ian, not had one with a roughened surface fall off, yet. Have however got several secondhand kitbuilt wagons sitting here awaiting attention that had conventional Tria-ang couplings superglued on and that have all fallen off...

 

Cheers,

Peter.

[TT-Pete]

4 hours ago, cheesysmith said:

love a good kit build.

 

Then convert to TT and you will get your heart's desire. Go on, you know it makes sense... ;^)

[Robert Shrives]

Hi Thanks for that, as it happens my MGR also gave the small Bachmann coupler  works well. Mine have been "superglued and now  epoxied as well, same problem!  I have fitted weights to most of my parkside wagons.   I cannot see anything diff on this to my wagon but will look more closely later.   Good idea on the coal load cutting a 4mm version will borrow  for some point in the future.  Tucked away I have presfix wagon nos as well, I am sure an opportunity will occur sooner than later now! 

 

Happy and stay safe modelling!

Robert        

[NCB]

Sticking a pin through the base may improve things. To attach B&B couplings to my Parkside wagons, I glue a plasticard platform  onto the wagon using Mekpak or similar, drill a 1.2mm hole through it and glue  a 1.2mm nickel silver peg  into it using superglue. Then place the coupling base over the peg onto the platform using superglue, finally slide a small square of plasticard with a 1.2mm hole in it onto the peg, pushing it up hard against coupling base to which more superglue had been added. Basically it's the peg plus the locking piece of square plasticard which ensures everything stays in place. Never failed yet.

 

If the Bachmann coupling base is plastic, can it be glued using Mekpak?

[TT-Pete]

1 hour ago, NCB said:

If the Bachmann coupling base is plastic, can it be glued using Mekpak?

 

Unfortunately it is some kind of nylon plastic rather than styrene and so is impervious to solvent type glue.

[TT-Pete]

Ok, so I admit I got a bit carried away. I was just finishing up the HAA when I thought "So why not do another one?" Then coming to the end of that one I thought "hang on, whilst we're at it there are still another 3 of them in the kits stash..."

 

 

Same thing happened with the PVA van (although I have left an unmade one in the stash for later as I couldn't face making yet another two of those blinkin' fiddly body ends):

 

 

The OCA just got a bit dirty:

 

 

 

And finally I get to take the shot I've been wanting to for years, a class 58 with an MGR:

 

 

Well, sort of, I will have to build a good few more if it's not always going to be using a tunnel for cover... :^)