54Strat's 2mm Workbench - 16T, 24.5T and 21T Unfitted Minerals

[54Strat]

Been six months since I got some decent modelling in. Hopefully I'll keep the momentum up.
 

 
Carrying on from my first attempt at the Association's Sample kit (previous thread here) I've had a bash at doing another five 16t unfitted minerals. This time round I used the white metal axle boxes instead of the laminated ones that come with the chassis etch. Much much easier and well worth the extra pennies.
 
So I found out a few things;
 
Don't cut the sole bars out individually. I had previously folded each solebar laminate, a natural conclusion as that's the technique suggested for the axle boxes and there's a hint of it on the assembly instructions. The absence of any fold lines on the tags between the cosmetic and the blank laminate should have given me a clue that I was doing it wrong. The way I did it is to cut them from the etch in pairs and then laminate the two pairs together, much easier and presumably the correct way to do it.
 
And don't trim the cross shaft until you've soldered on the brake levers. I had fun before I worked that out.
 
The decals are Modelmasters from the NGS, and all sort's of cr@p was thrown at them to weather them.
 


I've a few 21t and 24.5t wagon kits to look at next and then more 16ts, Stephen Harris ones this time.

Paul

[2mm Andy]

Nice work Paul - you'll find the Stephen Harris kits an absolute joy to build.

 

The solebars are designed to be folded-over if you want to (there really isn't a right or a wrong way - it's a case of what you find works for you). There aren't any fold lines on the tags because they're already half-etched, so what I usually do is estimate where the middle is and gently press a craft knife blade into the tag to form a sort of fold line.

 

I'd agree with you about trimming the cross shaft - it also pays to open out the holes in the brake levers before removing them from the main etch. Folding the brake levers is one of my least favourite jobs when building wagons.

 

Andy

[54Strat]

I'm with you on the folding brake levers comment, however once they're all painted thank goodness the wonky nature of my modelling isn't too apparent.

I did try folding the solebars, similar to your suggestion, where I tried to put a crease in the middle of the tag. I think the mistake I made was to open them up again to tin them, and the tags broke and created more faff than necessary.

Happy that I'm learning as I go, and seem to be getting better at this soldering lark.

The Fences House's chassis (2-351) for the 21 and 24.5 ton minerals (click for pic) looks pretty straight forward What's the suggestion for the door bangers? Just make then out of scrap etch?

Paul
 

[2mm Andy]

 

The Fences House's chassis (2-351) for the 21 and 24.5 ton minerals (click for pic) looks pretty straight forward What's the suggestion for the door bangers? Just make then out of scrap etch?

 

Paul

 

 

Yes - there is usually a bit of etch border that is the right size. Be aware though that those chassis etches don't come with axleboxes/springs, so you need to order those separately (either the cast ones (2-460 to 2-483) or the etched ones(2-308 to 2-313)). I've got two of the Stephen Harris 21 ton minerals to finish off soon - very nice kits, and very similar in design to his 16 ton minerals.

 

Andy

[54Strat]

Thanks Andy. Fortunately I had the foresight to order the cast springs and some axleboxes, roller bearing ones iirc. 

 

I'm looking forward to Mr Harris's kits, though I did try one a while back when Bryn had a thread going, but the whole thing de-laminated and fell apart. Must remember to return to that thread when I start them again. I've got six to do.

 

Paul

[Eric & Gripper]

Excellent work sir.

 

My optivisor arrived today so maybe i'll be tackling 2mm soon.........Whats this 8.5x magnification.I might tackle Z gauge weathering yet.

 

 

Beautiful weathering,well and truly captured.

 

Best regards

 

Eric & Gripper

[craigwelsh]

Nice minerals but I would suggest fixing the white diagonals if you do any more. They should go to the top of the opening end door not the top of the panel. Those particular ones also seem massively too thick.

 

See the prototype here:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/foxfield/BR_16ton_vacfitted_Mineral_wagon_as_built.jpg

 

Also as originally built all 16 tonners were 'handed' with the door on one end relative to the brake shoes (dont ask me which at the moment!), this doesnt apply to rebodies though.

 

The Stephen Harris kits go together superbly once you've got the gist of them. I've got the various varieties of minerals and the more complex ones and all are superbly thought out kits.

[54Strat]

Thanks for the kind words Eric. I must admit my eyes are right on the limit with these, hope the optivisor works out for you.

 

Craig, despite studying quite a few pictures I completely missed both the stripe location details and the handedness of the brakes. Thanks for pointing that out, the next batch will be better. In the meantime the chassis and body for each should easily come apart so fixing the brake orientation should be easy. Looking at some more pictures, I only need to fix two. It seems thaton the side of the wagon that has the brakes, the end door is to the left.

 

I agree, the stripe is a bit thick. Maybe painting them would have been more accurate than the transfers. I might see if I can fix it.

 

Really appreciate the feedback, thanks.

 

Paul

[Nig H]

 

Thanks for the kind words Eric. I must admit my eyes are right on the limit with these, hope the optivisor works out for you.

 

Craig, despite studying quite a few pictures I completely missed both the stripe location details and the handedness of the brakes. Thanks for pointing that out, the next batch will be better. In the meantime the chassis and body for each should easily come apart so fixing the brake orientation should be easy. Looking at some more pictures, I only need to fix two. It seems thaton the side of the wagon that has the brakes, the end door is to the left.

 

I agree, the stripe is a bit thick. Maybe painting them would have been more accurate than the transfers. I might see if I can fix it.

 

Really appreciate the feedback, thanks.

 

Paul

Hi Paul,

 

Further to Craig's comments, I think the black patches from Model Masters are a bit oversize too. You can easily cut a bit of the black away from two sides when preparing the transfers for application. Woodhead (if you can get them), or Fox, are alternatives providing better sized white diagonals. Nice wagons you've done though.

 

Someone recently told me that 16T minerals rarely ran in trains with 21T/24.5T wagons, these latter being more specialised.

 

Nig H

[Fat Controller]

16 tonners were often to be seen along 21 tonners (of both flat-bottomed and hopper types) in the coal trains I remember from the 1960s and 1970s; the 24.5t wagons did tend to stay on separate flows however. This was probably because they could only be unloaded easily by tipplers. The flows with which I was most familiar were those of the western end of the South Wales coalfield:-

Domestic coal to destinations throughout the UK - 16t/21t minerals, 21t hoppers

'Shipping' coal to Swansea Docks - 21t/16t minerals

Power station coal to Carmarthen Bay - 21t/24.5t minerals (the latter as block trains from Brynlliw)

On moving to the North-East in the early 1980s, domestic flows were in 16t/21t minerals and 21t hoppers, whilst shipping and power-station coal was in 21t hoppers.

Both 16t and 21t minerals could be found in scrap traffic, if they were on hand empty near a scrapyard; from personal experience, the 16 tonners loaded about 25t of baled scrap, and the 21tonners over 30t.

[54Strat]

 Hi Paul,

 

Further to Craig's comments, I think the black patches from Model Masters are a bit oversize too. You can easily cut a bit of the black away from two sides when preparing the transfers for application. Woodhead (if you can get them), or Fox, are alternatives providing better sized white diagonals. Nice wagons you've done though.

 

Someone recently told me that 16T minerals rarely ran in trains with 21T/24.5T wagons, these latter being more specialised.

 

Nig H

 

 

Thanks Nig. They are too big, after I fixed the first one I noticed how oversize the transfers were. You can see this on the first pic in my first post, applied to the wagon on the top right. On subsequent wagons I tried trimming them, probably not enough though. I'll follow your lead about Fox transfers and see if there's something a little better. On the next batch I'll try careful masking and painting the stripes before I buy some more

 

 

16 tonners were often to be seen along 21 tonners (of both flat-bottomed and hopper types) in the coal trains I remember from the 1960s and 1970s; the 24.5t wagons did tend to stay on separate flows however. This was probably because they could only be unloaded easily by tipplers. The flows with which I was most familiar were those of the western end of the South Wales coalfield:-

Domestic coal to destinations throughout the UK - 16t/21t minerals, 21t hoppers

'Shipping' coal to Swansea Docks - 21t/16t minerals

Power station coal to Carmarthen Bay - 21t/24.5t minerals (the latter as block trains from Brynlliw)

On moving to the North-East in the early 1980s, domestic flows were in 16t/21t minerals and 21t hoppers, whilst shipping and power-station coal was in 21t hoppers.

Both 16t and 21t minerals could be found in scrap traffic, if they were on hand empty near a scrapyard; from personal experience, the 16 tonners loaded about 25t of baled scrap, and the 21tonners over 30t.

 

 

Thanks for the information, I was intending to run them altogether, 16t, 21t and 24.5t, preferring the visual aesthetic of differing heights and textures over prototype practice. However, since learning more about the trains rather than the wagons themselves, I find myself getting sucked into the finer details of how these were operated. I've also got to order some correct chassis replacements for the 21t wagons (see previous post) leaving me a a couple spare chassis for another pair of 24.5t wagons. Question is, do I just order a dozen 24.5t and have a rake of just them?

 

Slippery slopes indeed,

 

Paul

 

[54Strat]

Has it been that long?

 

A couple more 16T wagons, missing the coupling hooks.

 

 

Some 24.5Ts, need to add the door bangers and coupling hooks.

 

 

And some 21T bodies, I'm just about to start the chassis.

 

This time I used paint for the white stripes instead of decals as per previous advice, and although I may have got one or two a bit thick, I think they look much better as do the trimmed down decals.

 

And just seen I've not painted the brake lever handles white.

 

Paul

 

 

[iak]

Very very tasty beasties Mon.

Mr Harris kits make up so well and these look it too.

I really must get some 2mm stuff on the go now my health is a bit more stable.