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Adventures in O gauge - First Class kits LNER 8 shoe open merchandise wagon


Boris
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1 hour ago, brossard said:

Nice progress.  I agree with your assessment of the hinges and I filed mine down to try to line up the ends.  The bottom hinge is going to be longer than the others.

 

As for soldering, best to start with a series of tacks which are easier to undo than a full bead.

 

I sweated the vents on by tinning both surfaces, fluxing and applying the iron.  This results in a little less excess solder.

 

My fiber pen is indispensable.  I also have an old curved exacto blade for scraping.  I find that if there is a lot of solder, cleaning the iron tip, remelting to spread the solder and scraping/rubbing is effective.

 

You will need to grind off a lot of the roof flange to clear the window openings.

 

The kit has a neat dodge to conceal the gap between end and roof.  This consists of wire that you need to shape to fit under the end lip and soldered on.  Easier to do this after the roof is fixed

 

John

I'm enjoying this kit as its a manufacturer I've not used before and it seems generally well thought out, I noticed the bit about the cornice strip , but to be honest I haven't really got that far yet, although generally I read the instructions all the way through first before starting the kit, but that does make things a bit clearer.  I think reducing the roof flange is a long way off yet, but will only take a few seconds with a grinder, next time I've got one out and I'm using a suitable disc. 

 

I've managed not to get too much solder on the bodyside, it's quite thin, but my iron is about ready for replacement and didn't quite have enough power to sweat the vents properly, hence a little flooding at the top to encourage the tinned surfaces to bond.  No chance of a new iron this side of Xmas with the postal situation so I'll muddle through.

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Yes, I would say you need a good iron.  Perhaps a new bit is in order.  The one I'm using now (Weller 25W) had gone all black and wouldn't melt a snowball.  I changed the bit, tinned it when new and now frequently clean it with brass wool.  The tip needs to be shiny and the new one has stayed good for quite a while now.   I tend to cut off a tiny amount of solder and pick it up with the iron.  I avoid acid flux.

 

John

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  • 1 month later...

I have finally made a little bit of progress with the kit again, a good 6 weeks off railway modelling with a painting commission coming in for a brigade of Austrians.  The floor is quite straight forward, cut it to length and then solder the U-channel to the floor to give the solebars.  Then you add the buffer beam brackets which also provide the jig to drill out the holes for the body brackets, then you can use the completed floor to line up the body mounts, solder on the retaining nuts and fasten the whole lot together with the screw provided.

 

I found that coating the screws in a little bit of 3 in 1 oil and then using them to clamp the nolts in place prior to soldering effected as the oil discourages the solder from fouling the threads.

 

More photos needed but the camera appears to be misbehaving.

 

I suspect the next jobs involved the underneath bits and altering the roof to fit.

 

td.jpg.47b8db25d43fe4d188256acdfb6d74cd.jpg

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I've managed to get to the point where I can fit the roof if I need to and fit glazing.  I think that it might be a good idea (regardless of the instructions) to completely finish the body and I can think about priming it and applying the crimson and even go so far as glazing the body whilst working on the underframe seperately.

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On 12/02/2021 at 13:46, brossard said:

Don't forget to carve away the roof flanges adjacent to the window openings.  <_<

 

John

I cheated and used a grinder on it so its mostly gone, I've reduced the thickness a little in places as well to give me a slot for the glazing to sit behind.  I'm not using the glazing supplied as its ridiculously thick!

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Finally managed to crack on a little bit with the build this afternoon, mainly body detailing - filling the guards door hinge holes, adding the locking bar handles to the relevant doors, some handrails, tail lamp brackets and the coach lighting jumpers.  Really not that exciting, but these are details that can be added prior to painting (LNER luggage van bars are body coloured), just leaving off the brass T handles until the very end.  I have also experimented with some slightly more prominent bump stops as the ones on the kit seem a little too small for me.  The roof has had the torpedo vents fitted and has not been secured to the body in the centre and in each corner.  I have left a slight pocket along the tops of the windows to secure the glazng into for strength, the stuff supplied is 2mm acrylic and looks ridiculous so I am not using it!  20210214_222019.jpg.a6afe54728f844ce50c0e825a69569d9.jpg

 

Currently waiting for some microstrip to be delivered and that will do the rainstrip on the roof and the cornice piece under the roof line, the instructions say to use the 0.7mm wire supplied but by the time that has been fitted into the box for posting shaping it and securing it are going to be a pain of a job.  Besides on examination the microstrip looks better, I just don't have quite enough to do what I want to.

 

The body has had a bath and once the microstrip is fitted it will be primed and I will start the underframe proper.

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All looking good.  I didn't like the jumpers so cobbled mine together.  I did use the base but used wire and plastic rod/tube for the top bit.

 

The roof didn't fit all that well at the ends but the kit supplies wire to solder on to hide the gap.  This needs to happen after the roof is fixed in place.

 

My end looks like this:

 

P1010008a.JPG.2437258303c8c0729bec57dab44e6add.JPG

 

Yes, I did touch up the errant red.  Vacuum and steam pipes are Slaters.

 

John

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Looks good tho.  I need to do a bit of research because it would appear when built these BZs had an extra lamp bracket in what would be the class 2 position on a steam engine (just under the chimney) although later photographs show the bracket as being removed and just a bit of a stump remaining.

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  • 3 weeks later...

A little more steady progress to report, the body has been primed and sprayed in BR coach crimson, awaiting a decent roof colour and the black spray can to finally arrive (Clacton hobbies you know what I mean!).  The underframe has been assembled and the clever bogie pivot system installed and working, it kind of works like a pony truck on a steam loco or a class 40 bogie so the wheelbase is shortened.  I'm not going to go into a huge amount of detail on the underframe as its a basic solder and glue assembly, if a little short on detail, I have stopped at the basic detail for now as I want to be able to spray the moving parts and the frame seperately and without wanting to  get paint on the details wheelsets etc.  I'll add further details to the underframe once I have got some paint onto the basic bits, I'll also add the body brackets, again not wanting to add them because the body is on and off the underframe repeatedly and not wanting to cause damage at the moment.

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Almost there, great.  I used basic grey primer from a rattle can for my roof.  Testors Flat Black for the underframe.  I painted the parts separately with wheels out.  Wheels painted separately too.

 

Mine runs well even through small radius turnouts.  One thing I'm not crazy about is that there are no wheel bearings so mine is squeaky at the moment.  After weathering I will put oil on so that should make things better.

 

John

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12 hours ago, brossard said:

Almost there, great.  I used basic grey primer from a rattle can for my roof.  Testors Flat Black for the underframe.  I painted the parts separately with wheels out.  Wheels painted separately too.

 

Mine runs well even through small radius turnouts.  One thing I'm not crazy about is that there are no wheel bearings so mine is squeaky at the moment.  After weathering I will put oil on so that should make things better.

 

John

Of course, I should have thought of using grey primer I have dozens of them in the cupboard.  I'm using army painter matt black for my black areas, mainly on the grounds that I use it for most of my other projects as well.  i hadn't reallu thought about painting the wheels, I was more inclined to chemically blacken them as my luck with painting wheels in the past has not been good.

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Yes, you can chemically blacken the wheels, then paint over that.  Lately (since I'm too cheap and lazy to buy more chemical blackener), I've been using a Sharpie to blacken metal.  I think it works well and is cheap and non toxic.

 

Wheels are not black, a quick glance at a train will show that they are a grungy black/brown.  I start with a grungy black/brown of my own concoction, then, during weathering apply earth and black powders.

 

John

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  • 1 month later...

After a bit of a break I've got this kit to a point where I am happy with the basic result, it needs weathering to a good degree yet and I want to put some more detail on the underframe at some point, bits of extra rigging, and some more vacuum bits borrowed from my next project.  I think I am also going to drop the wheels out and use my MMP drilling jig to add 4 lifting holes to each wheel, I'm not 100% sure if they had them or not, photos tend to disagree so its getting them whilst i am on with it.  I also need to tame those wheelsets as they are BRIGHT silver and whilst running nicely are a bit loud.  I think I'll start with stock black on them and build up some crud, I fancy using talc and paint mixed to get some texture on the wheel itself and maybe some orange rust or bluing on the brake shoes.

 

Kind of interrupted recently by a painting commission and learning a new cabin at work.

 

Some photos will follow today after work and I will probably detail my ongoing playing with the bottom end here.  Next project is another MMP GUV which I have already covered on here about 10 years ago, the third in my collection, and will be painted in Maroon of some type, I'll probably post brief details on here and random witterings about other silly things I am doing - like some H containers and maybe even a figure or two.

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The running qualities of my van are disappointing.  I will have to file/grind the backs of some of the axleboxes to improve the range of swing.  The lack of axle bearings means a stiff and squeaky vehicle.  I will pull the wheel sets and make some tube bearings for them.

 

John

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1 hour ago, brossard said:

The running qualities of my van are disappointing.  I will have to file/grind the backs of some of the axleboxes to improve the range of swing.  The lack of axle bearings means a stiff and squeaky vehicle.  I will pull the wheel sets and make some tube bearings for them.

 

John

Mine seems to move really well, but I've opened the bearings right out so there's a bit of slop and put a bit of oil in there too, it seems to be ok so far.

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  • Boris changed the title to Adventures in O gauge - LNER J50 "Junkshop Dog"

So, leaping madly into another random project this is an LNER J50/51 I acquired locally for a really bargain price.  I have no idea what the parentage is, its definitely not CCW, it could well be Ardsley but I'm not putting money on it.  The body has spent the night in brake fluid which has loosened all the paint and the superglue so I  can strip parts off it and get it cleaned up with wire wool, a knife blade and a scratch brush.  In all honesty this has at one time been a beautiful loco because under the really nasty and thick black paint it has been lined LNER green and must have looked fabulous when new, at some point somebody decided to overspray the green black and applied way too much, hiding most of the lovely brass detail on the kit.

 

Thanks to jlt trains I have managed to obtain some replacement parts and other parts that I can make do with next job will be to get the rest of the paint off the underside, resolder all the loose brass bits and then start refitting the errant white metal parts, I then want to add some more nice detail bits like a shunters pole over the front, crew, lamps etc.  I really fancy painting it black and doing it up with "BRITISH RAILWAYS" lettering just because most of the ones I see are in LNER black.

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Nice to see that you are rescuing this loco.  Your forensic history is a tragedy - what on earth are people thinking?

 

I have the Fine Scale Brass model it is really good.  I fitted Zimo sound.

 

There were 4 versions of this loco, 2 were RH and 2 were LH drive.  The class was never used for passenger traffic although some locos were fitted with vac brakes for carriage marshalling.  The /4 version had a totally different bunker from the others.  The Isinglass drawing is useful.

 

Good luck with this.

 

John

 

 

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51 minutes ago, brossard said:

Nice to see that you are rescuing this loco.  Your forensic history is a tragedy - what on earth are people thinking?

 

I have the Fine Scale Brass model it is really good.  I fitted Zimo sound.

 

There were 4 versions of this loco, 2 were RH and 2 were LH drive.  The class was never used for passenger traffic although some locos were fitted with vac brakes for carriage marshalling.  The /4 version had a totally different bunker from the others.  The Isinglass drawing is useful.

 

Good luck with this.

 

John

 

 

It is a shame, the lining was beautifully done, and by hand not as a transfer, now, was the /4 the one with the hopper bunker?  It's definitely not one of those, I think this is supposed to be vac fitted and RH drive looking at the small ejector pipe running down the RH side of the boiler, so that must narrow it down a lot.  I confess to knowing absolutely nothing about this class of loco aside from liking the look of it and thinking of it as the LNER equivalent of the Flatiron, there was a plastic floor in the cab which has some fairly grim crew on it, which will be replaced with something a little nicer in the future. 

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Yes, I believe the /4 could be described as a hopper bunker.  Mine is /3 with LH drive.  The model came with a vac pipe but I discarded that (based on the Isinglass notes) leaving it in steam brake only state.  Suitable for mineral traffic I think.

 

Mine just works for my era (1962) as these were withdrawn that year with some being kept on in Departmental service for a few years longer.

 

P1010004.JPG.79b0ec3d350a34dc39e745738dbf813e.JPG

 

Driver is ModelU.

 

John

Edited by brossard
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  • 3 weeks later...

I finally have a little bit of progress to show on the frames, I don't want to do too much to these really as they aren't too bad, they were taken to the club layout a couple of weeks ago and after some fettling and new pick-ups actually ran quite nicely.  Really I have added some brake shoes obtained from ebay and an approximation of brake rigging added and pull rods underneath, they are roughly the right shape and once painted black and running on a layout it will look ok.  The last real job is to add sandboxes under the cab which are totally absent on the kit, a set of B16 sand boxes have been obtained from ebay which look reasonably close to those on the J50, or will give me a base to alter so they look decent, And I've just noticed I haven't terminated the brake pull rods on the shaft under the cab yet, that will be done soon.  Also Ted the cat approves.

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  • 1 year later...

So after spending a week laid up with the plague I finally opened a package from First Class kits.

 

These kits are really nicely presented in brass, white metal and some other bits, and came in at £53 plus £7 postage with decent instructions that include lots of photos.

 

What I really like is that these kits come complete with both wheels and transfers, so you solidly get the complete package, and the transfers even include builders plates and cover most eras.

 

So I've gone for one of the LNER/BR open merchandise wagons which gives plenty of options for loads etc.  they are available with 4  shoe brakes or the 8 shoe brakes which I have gone for, it'll probably end up with more H containers or similar in it.

 

Follow along when I eventually get round to staring it!

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  • Boris changed the title to Adventures in O gauge - First Class kits LNER 8 shoe open merchandise wagon

Feeling a little bit better and I've made a start on the wagon body.  The roundels come already pressed which is a bonus, the first thing is to do some measuring and scoring to make door lines on the outside, or you could do what I did and cheat and just run the knife down the inside of the half etch lines on the inside of the body, it gives the same effect once all the frames etc are in.  We fold the lip at the top next and then make up the wagon body by folding and soldering the inside of the joins.  Finally to give the top some shape 0.7mm wire is run underneath the top lip and soldered in place.  

 

Finally a clean and wash and off for beer.

 

Today accompanied by the Wasteland 3 soundtrack

 

And some reference photos 

 

https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/bropenmerchandisesteel

 

w1.jpg

Edited by Boris
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