Night Train Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 It would appear that I may have taken steps down a slippery road of no return by buying my one of Jim's excellent brass wagon kits. I was never planning to model in O gauge and I'm not convinced I have space to do it either. But hey ho. I should also point out that I have never built a brass model before and any critique, criticism or tips are gratefully received. After a day of reasonably successful metal bending, rivet punching and soldering, I have folded the platform and fixed the main frames. So far, I am reasonably content, but I'm not totally happy with the soldering finish. I guess more practice is needed here. My biggest issue is cleaning off excess solder residue. I spent the best part of a day using a chisel bladed knife to scrape off the excess. And have obviously scratched the brass. Judicious use of a fibreglass brush has helped. I am hoping the small scratches will disappear when primed. Is there an easier way to remove solder, or is it a case of practice and leave less mess? I see the dreaded photo enlargements have made everything look even worse than I thought it was. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted May 25, 2014 Share Posted May 25, 2014 Welcome to the world of fun that is 7mm modelling. Jim's kits, especially the 'Skill Builder' ones, are a particularly good place to start. For cleaning up I find the Garyflex Abrasive Blocks very handy. I remove excess solder with a blade and polish up with one of the blocks. They come in four different grits, but the medium 120 grit block seems to work well on most jobs and should remove a lot of those scratches. They are much easier than a fibreglass scratch pen and you don't end up with shards in your fingers! With practice you will learn the right amount of solder to use and cleaning up will become minimal. Best of luck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flexible_coupling Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 You should find most minor scuffs and scratches will disappear with primer. I've been slowly battling along with a MMP 16t mineral - my first brass kit in many years (and first in 'O' - and with this kind of intensity of construction!) and I've been using a flat-blade screwdriver as an effective chisel... my model is going to be beaten/worn/weathered to represent one right at the end of it's life so a few scratches weren't going to be a problem!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted May 26, 2014 Share Posted May 26, 2014 Don't worry too much over the soldering - everyone starts out using too much of the stuff - I guess it is a fear of everything coming apart along with a new technique. Keeping soldering to hidden sides where possible will help. Anything flat on the brass will disappear eventually under primer so also is nothing to worry about. Just keep telling yourself to use less and eventually you will find you have less to clean-up afterwards. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted May 27, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 27, 2014 Best advice I can give as another convert to 7mm and building stuff (rather than opening boxes), is to just keep trying. Mistakes will be made (and everyone makes them) but you'll learn and the more you learn the better you get and the more you'll enjoy. Keep going! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Train Posted May 29, 2014 Author Share Posted May 29, 2014 One observation, did you punch out the row of rivets in the plate frames before assembly? Yes I did. Unfortunately, I didnt read the instructions properly and missed fitting the spring stops or the axle box keeper plates. I had to fit these next and was a lot more awkward than it needed to be. I have also fitted the kerb rails. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 The joints for the curb rails look very neat. I have taken to using a pencil to tick off instructions in order to keep track of where I am. Me too. It is always interesting to see how the ticks seem to go down in an order quite differentv to that anticipated by the instructions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Neat soldering work. Shame about the rivets but these things happen - I'd like to say you learn by mistakes, hopefully small and insignificant ones, but it will happen again. Sometimes it is caused by over-enthusiasm, sometimes in the blind belief that you know different, but most of the times because the instructions are written by someone with the first two attributes and they simply forgot to include them. We've all done it and learned how to dismantle work already done to put things right - or just ignored it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted May 29, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 29, 2014 And sometimes the order of the instructions seems to make no sense....until you realise yourself why Step B came before Step A (generally when Step B can't be done after Step A)! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 And sometimes the order of the instructions seems to make no sense....until you realise yourself why Step B came before Step A (generally when Step B can't be done after Step A)! Mind you, I remember building Airfix kits of World War 2 aircraft during the "Battle of Britain" film crase in 1968. My approach was to crack on with the kit and only look at the instructions when I got stuck. This caused a big problem with the B25 Mitchell because I didn't realise it needed a weight in the nose to make the plane stand on the nose wheel of its trycycle undercarriage and by the time I did, it was too late. Thereafter, a crew access ladder was attahec to the rear of the fuselage to hold the tail up. These days, I read the instructions of any kit carefully before starting work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kickstart Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 Hi Your soldering is certainly far cleaner than mine when I first did one of Jims kits. Not built that model, but are the large holes towards the end for the top hat wheel bearings? If so then possibly the bearings and wheels need to be fitted before the frames are soldered in place. All the best Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 Based on my experience with the LNER lowmac from the same stable, there's enough clearance and spring in the frames to get the wheelsets in with the top-hat bearings on the ends of the axles. Once the bearings ae soldered in, though, they're in there for good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Train Posted June 5, 2014 Author Share Posted June 5, 2014 Based on my experience with the LNER lowmac from the same stable, there's enough clearance and spring in the frames to get the wheelsets in with the top-hat bearings on the ends of the axles. Yes. I did check that very carefully as I progressed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Boucher Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 It would appear that I may have taken steps down a slippery road of no return by buying my one of Jim's excellent brass wagon kits. I was never planning to model in O gauge and I'm not convinced I have space to do it either. But hey ho. I should also point out that I have never built a brass model before and any critique, criticism or tips are gratefully received. After a day of reasonably successful metal bending, rivet punching and soldering, I have folded the platform and fixed the main frames. So far, I am reasonably content, but I'm not totally happy with the soldering finish. I guess more practice is needed here. My biggest issue is cleaning off excess solder residue. I spent the best part of a day using a chisel bladed knife to scrape off the excess. And have obviously scratched the brass. Judicious use of a fibreglass brush has helped. I am hoping the small scratches will disappear when primed. Is there an easier way to remove solder, or is it a case of practice and leave less mess? I see the dreaded photo enlargements have made everything look even worse than I thought it was. Looking good so far. That was my first foray into etched brass kit building, and I really enjoyed it. Came out quite nice, to which I credit the kit and instructions rather than my skill! Keep up the good work! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Train Posted September 14, 2014 Author Share Posted September 14, 2014 Apologies for the delay in updating this project. Had to put things to one side for a while, but got back into it this weekend. Managed to fit all the white metal parts and wheels. I'm glad Jim provides extra cast parts, as two axle boxes and a buffer melted before I got the hang of soldering these. The brake gear also isn't quite correct as these castings were particularly fragile as well. The model has also been lightly sand blasted to clean it. Next step to apply some paint. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev_Lewis Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 Very tidy work. But you might want to have another look at the break lever. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Train Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 Err umm yes Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Couple of thoughts re soldering: Clean everything - I use power flow flux which isn't everyone's cuppa, but it find it very good. For kits like this, use a whopping great iron. I've got a 100W beastie with a 3/8ths bit on it. Solder flows... But do be careful of the white metal! Cleaning up after every session helps - tesco's el cheapo cream cleanser and the wife's (old) toothbrush. Shiny Sinks is also excellent. For cleaning up, try filing a thickish bit of brass to a very steep chisel-edge, it'll scrape solder, but not engrave your brass. Another useful thing for the armoury is un soldering braid. This is like the woven outside conductor in TV aerial cable, pre-fluxed, and it will pull excess solder out of a joint. You can also "wipe" excess solder onto a fluxed bit of scrap etch. And as Chaz of this parish remarks "use less"! His suggestion of putting a tiny offcut of solder onto a fluxed joint and flashing the blowtorch over it is good advice. Solder paint can be used with a blowtorch or resistance solder probe. Having said this, from your photos, I don't think your soldering is far from excellent! I suspect it took me a good while to get to that standard. HTH Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
garrettman Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Apologies for the delay in updating this project. Had to put things to one side for a while, but got back into it this weekend. Managed to fit all the white metal parts and wheels. I'm glad Jim provides extra cast parts, as two axle boxes and a buffer melted before I got the hang of soldering these. The brake gear also isn't quite correct as these castings were particularly fragile as well. The model has also been lightly sand blasted to clean it. Next step to apply some paint. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
garrettman Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Hi guys myself is also a novice o gauger !! First kit from jim.mcgowen was a shunter loco came on not to bad really also just done a loriot,nearly ready for paint i too missed some bits !!similar instruction blankout!! Its really good though,me being retired now even more time 4 modelling :keep up the good work : Regards. Garrettman: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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