Spitfire's Workbench - On3 Obsession

[Spitfire2865]

Well, I never realized I didnt actually post photos of the LNWR open finished.

Livery is a combination of Mike Williams decals, crap waterslides I bought several years ago, and hand painting.

Still doesnt have a wagon plate but one day Ill get around to scratchbuilding one with the right number.

 

 

 

And the van is moving...slowly.

I have discovered the way I am making the walls tends to warp, so I had to remake a couple doors, tear apart the side walls I had already built, and unwarp the doors I didnt feel like rebuilding.

But they are now mounted on hinges.

[Spitfire2865]

Simply far, far too many bolts.

A least it looks like a van now.

Doors are ready to add once the brackets arrive. Then the task of carving the cantrails.

[Spitfire2865]

My order of parts arrived.

I have so far added only the door post framing, which has done a great job to keeping the sides steady.

 

And with one side done, all I need to do is the ironwork.

 

Already looking like a D3.

Edited July 30, 2016 by Spitfire2865

[Spitfire2865]

Making roof ribs. But cant really put them on until I get all the body ironwork complete.

 

[Spitfire2865]

The bit I was fearing has come. The roof.

The one thing I wanted when going into this build was to be able to take it apart if need be. The idea that an entire wagon could be held together with nothing but nuts and bolts.

Now I have taken a few liberties with that idea. The chassis was glued, the wall panels were glued, and the floor planks were glued.

But I could still take it all to bits afterwards, just now into sections and sub assemblies which still bolted together.

 

But the roof was a challenge. How to secure it without removing that option.

But it hit me while fiddling with the roof. It already bolts on.

The roof ribs are all bolted on, and when taken out, forms a panel which I am gluing all the roof planks to. The outermost planks are still up for debate, but I think I have a couple solutions.

 

And Im trying to work with a couple people in the trade to design brass castings for the door hinges as the plastic ones Ive made in hindsight arent up to the task.

[Spitfire2865]

And the roof has been covered.

Some fabric from a broken bag works the treat, and should look good under some white paint.

Just have to work out the rollback, which I want to stitch the battens into.

 

[Twright]

Absolutely fantastic

[LNWR lives on]

Absolutely fantastic

 

Ill second that, absolutely superb workmanship, its really coming together now

[Spitfire2865]

Wow. Its been a month!

Went back to school, got settled in my dorm, and got back to working.

Since my last update, I have had hinges 3D printed, boltwork tightened and trimmed, and a start at painting.

Ive also got the rollback mostly sewn together.

With the roof placed on top.

[Spitfire2865]

While I havent done much the past week, Ive gotten some important bits done.

First, some paint and the handrails. Sadly, each took damn near half an hour, so Im very glad there is only 4 on the van.

The brakes have been fitted, but need painting, so will probably be taken apart again. Ive also discovered an issue with the cams, as releasing the brake levers does not necessarily release the brakes, so I am working on some sort of way to spring back the brakes to the furthest position.

Assorted bits have been added as well, but I need to find about 8 oz of lead to weigh down the springs, as the entire thing is surprisingly light.

 

 

But I have been doing something else as well.

Wargaming figures based on a video game.

Still have a few to finish, but it gives me a nice diversion when everything else is boring.

[richard i]

Railway modelling boring, wash your mouth out with soap and water.

Richard

[Spitfire2865]

A bit of work on the door fittings.

I do like that in this scale, all the fittings can be functional.

[Spitfire2865]

With only a few more bits to make and attach, its almost finished.

The interesting side.

 

Ive gotten quite good at making those wagon door pins quickly.

Though the cruel closeup does show the coarse fabric.

 

 

And the brakes work without the lever bottoming out as on my D9.

 

In hindsight, I probably could have done better on the rollback. Im glad I could sew it together, and its nice its not a fake detail, but its rather crude in certain places. Oh well.

Edited September 23, 2016 by Spitfire2865

[Spitfire2865]

A few weeks and a bunch of different projects.

I got half the livery painted on the D3 and the final fittings.

 

And the door securing hooks.

 

I decided to make stencils for the letters.

 

And some work back in 4mm scale.

One of the last Ratio kits from months ago. Never built this one due to the floor being warped, but with MJT axleguards it doesnt matter.

 

And a recent purchase, a Slaters MR wagon kit from Hattons preowned. Lucky find.

Even came with Maygib wheels.

 

I had issue with how the bearings were sitting in the axleboxes using the kit as supplied, and while trying to remove the bearings they broke apart. Dont even know how as I glued them in with a tiny bit of white glue.

So out with another MJT compensated unit.

 

Im getting some good use out of that wheelbase jig I CNCed last year.

 

 

And onto non railway modeling.

My collection of wargaming figures.

Still slowly finishing some.

[LNWR lives on]

I am exceptionally impressed with the L&Y van, now you have added the final fittings it really does look the part, my apologies for not commenting sooner on this fine van

 

If you have warped plastic again try bending it back while holding in quite warm water, some plastics will give enough for it to become reasonably straight again

 

How did you find the L&NWRs journal?

[Spitfire2865]

I am exceptionally impressed with the L&Y van, now you have added the final fittings it really does look the part, my apologies for not commenting sooner on this fine van

 

If you have warped plastic again try bending it back while holding in quite warm water, some plastics will give enough for it to become reasonably straight again

 

How did you find the L&NWRs journal?

Thanks. I still have to number the van, but other than that Id say its done. I could point out a couple flaws, such as the truss rod mounts arent on the solebar or I forgot the spring stops, but I dont think anyone will notice.

 

I found the journal a very interesting read. Though Im still thinking of how best to do tarpaulins in G3. The fabric I was considering using ended up being the roof of this van.

 

Now Ive started planning my next G3 build, a Midland D299. Got a great scan of the drawing from the Midland Study Center, (62.5MB picture!) and Ive done all the calculation for the wood Ill need.

[Spitfire2865]

Back to 4mm, and soon more to follow.

 

The LNWR wagon received an incredibly dirty and faded diamond only livery.

Probably will play the role of internal stock in a future layout.

 

And the Midland open.

A nice farewell to the Slaters range, as I doubt Ill get my hands on either an unbuilt 10T van or Brake kit.

 

Although if anyones got an extra kit they're willing to sell, Id consider it.

Edited October 26, 2016 by Spitfire2865

[Spitfire2865]

A couple new wagons.

GWR O11 and V16 from parkside.

 

And a little scene

Edited November 11, 2016 by Spitfire2865

[Spitfire2865]

Well, I had a chance to go home this week, so I decided to drop off my L&Y van. Couldnt resist a quick photo of the 2 wagons together.

 

 

But with almost everything coming in the mail, I have decided to jump right back into the tedious and mind-numbing task of tightening small nuts and bolts. This time, it'll end up as a Midland D299.

Already the fruits of a nights work.

 

But for this project, I have had my first experience with laser cutting and etching my own designs.

Perfect parts as above, and also these two drilling stencils which made drilling the solebars and headstocks a breeze.

Parts were made by lasermaster.co.uk. No affiliation. Just a very satisfied customer.

 

Same with the etches.

Done by ppdltd.com. Again, just a satisfied customer.

 

I would highly recommend both. They have made this project possible.

 

And if anyone is in need of custom milled wood to exact sizes, I recommend crowntimberyard.com. While specializing in model ship timber, their custom efforts are very good.

 

Now, Ill shut up about all that. Hope it can help someone else besides me.

 

Next on the D299, I have to finish cutting the frame pieces and start gluing everything together.

Edited November 27, 2016 by Spitfire2865

[Spitfire2865]

Well, the easy work has ended. The hard work has begun.

I have the chassis almost finished. Floors are waiting for walls, walls are waiting for ends, ends are waiting for me to be in a better mood.

But I did get the bottom doors working.

Quite a lot of fiddling to get the hinges to work right. Glad I have extras of some parts.

[thegavs]

 

And if anyone is in need of custom milled wood to exact sizes, I recommend crowntimberyard.com. While specializing in model ship timber, their custom efforts are very good.

 

 

Hi,

 

Would be interested to find out more about this company.  How long does it take to ship from the states?   Am looking for a supplier to make tapered GWR wooden signal posts for Gauge3.

 

Any info you have would be good.

[Spitfire2865]

 

They dont do tapered sections AFAIK. Just normal rectangular sections. Think the expensive wood strips you can get from specialists, except to any rectangular dimension you need.

Lead times is also an unknown, as first time it was quoted a month and took a month, and this time it was quoted 2 months but was ready in one.

Shipping also might be a pain to the UK as they standardize all custom sections to 2' lengths.

 

But if you were to decide to build say a wagon in G3, or even as small as 0, Id say they would be perfect.

 

This Midland D299 cost me about $50 for the wood, which for 38' of hardwood isnt too terrible.

[Spitfire2865]

Sides have been cut, filed, shaped, glued, and trimmed.

Now on to drilling the holes for the strapping.

Much like this first corner.

[Spitfire2865]

Well Ive gotten a lot done.

The whole thing is starting to take shape. All sides on, and one corner plate attached.

Wish I added a half etch line to the corner plates. Folding just one was hard enough...

But I think it has come out ok. Still need to file down the bolts.

 

I do like the inner corner strapping.

 

And because I might actually be insane at this point, Im considering how I can either find or make micro nails to actually nail down the floor...

 

Anyone know if tiny nails 5mm long exist?

[N15class]

Very nice. You got me tempted.

 

I think they used coach screws on the floor nails are very poor fixings.