S7 scratch building

[MarcD]

If you look on our Shapeways shop there are LYR/LNWR oil axle boxes and round bottom boxes which we use on our LYR kits.

 

Marc

[airnimal]

Thanks for all the input regarding L&Y axleboxes and w-irons. I do have a contact that may have some cast one's but I have not spoke to him for awhile.

Mark how do I access your Shapeways shop ?

[MarcD]

If you go to shapeways and put in pre grouping railways it should bring up the shop. If that doesn't work there are some links from our normall website www.pregroupingrailways dot com

 

Marc

[airnimal]

Thanks Marc, I will have a look.

I have lost my mojo just of late. Not sure if it's the onset of winter or lack of progress on my part but I find I make more mistakes and bad judgments than in the summer.

I went to Slaters the other day to pick up some S7 wheels and when I was there I bought some mouldings for a couple of G.W.R wagons thinking it would speed progress. Coming home I realised I don't have a clue how to kit build. I have been building things my own way for so long I have got out of the habit with kit building. I would have to change the axleboxes and buffers and would I be able to get seem less joints between parts. I could have saved my self some money and done my own thing. They say there's no fool like an old fool.

 

Anyway I have done a bit on the L&Y van but progress is slow. I think I am getting withdrawal symptoms with not doing any cycling.

I know it has only been six months since I came back from Aus but I would love to go somewhere warm again.

I know I won't get any sympathy because most people struggle to get one holiday a year and I have done very well for myself in the past ten years. I wonder how long I can continue to cycle before my old body says enough is enough.

The bike in the photo is my "Airnimal " hence the name.

Edited November 1, 2018 by airnimal

[Western Star]

Mike,

 

What you have is an ex-Coopercraft kit which is supplied now by Slaters.  This link shall help you to understand the mental minefield which is knwon as GWR wagon breaks:-

 

http://www.gwr.org.uk/nowagonbrakes.html

 

The body moudlings are pretty good, the solebars less so if you are thinking about springing the wheels.  What does David supply in the way of buffers and coupling hooks?

 

I suggest that you try to find a copy of one of Jim Russell's photobooks of GWR wagons, maybe from a library.  Or, I can supply scans of the appropriate photos.

 

regards, Graham

Edited November 2, 2018 by Western Star

[wagonman]

Mike,

 

What you have is an ex-Coopercraft kit which nis supplied now by Slaters.  This link shall help you to understand the mental minefield which is knwon as GWR wagon breaks:-

 

http://www.gwr.org.uk/nowagonbrakes.html

 

The body moudlings are pretty good, the solebars less so if you are thinking about springing the wheels.  What does David supply in the way of buffers and coupling hooks?

 

I suggest that you try to find a copy of one of Jim Russell's photobooks of GWR wagons, maybe from a library.  Or, I can supply scans of the appropriate photos.

 

regards, Graham

 

 

 

Another snag is that the 3 plank should be 15ft 6in O/H but the Coopercraft model is 16ft. Brakes, simple double lever on one side only – all the DC1 gubbins can be sliced off.

 

I confess I gave up and scratchbuilt mine – as seen in the last S7 Newsletter as 'work in progress'. What isn't, chez moi.

[Regularity]

I built one of those for a friend, but also to try out 7mm scale back in the early 00s.

I chose it over the Peco (ex-Webster) kit as it seemed a lot cheaper, but once I added in wheels and replacement buffers and couplings, it wasn’t really.

It is compensated using Airnimal’s etched units, fitted between the wheels rather than outside them.

It is fitted with Slater’s S7 wheels, but with the moulded washer on the back removed, to run on 31.2mm gauge track. (Much detailed PO wagon from Slater’s in a fictitious merchant’s livery with it. G1 open lurking in the background.)

[airnimal]

Thanks to everybody for there information about G.W.R wagons, I am out of my comfort zone here. They will be put away untill I have looked into it further.

A little more work on the L&Y van has seen the handrails go on. The handrails are 18thou steel piano wire. I believe Ambis do a etch set of w-irons for this van so I may go to the Wakefield show because Hobby Holidays are there who stock the Ambis range.

[sir douglas]

hope you have a nice day if you do come, i'll be on the second hand magazine stand most of the weekend

[airnimal]

My friend and I come over because he likes fish and chips in that part of the world as well as a good show.

I have put the first of the hinges on with a few square bolts to see how it looks. Still a long way to go.

[ian@stenochs]

Thanks Marc, I will have a look.

I have lost my mojo just of late. Not sure if it's the onset of winter or lack of progress on my part but I find I make more mistakes and bad judgments than in the summer.

I went to Slaters the other day to pick up some S7 wheels and when I was there I bought some mouldings for a couple of G.W.R wagons thinking it would speed progress. Coming home I realised I don't have a clue how to kit build. I have been building things my own way for so long I have got out of the habit with kit building. I would have to change the axleboxes and buffers and would I be able to get seem less joints between parts. I could have saved my self some money and done my own thing. They say there's no fool like an old fool.

Anyway I have done a bit on the L&Y van but progress is slow. I think I am getting withdrawal symptoms with not doing any cycling.

I know it has only been six months since I came back from Aus but I would love to go somewhere warm again.

I know I won't get any sympathy because most people struggle to get one holiday a year and I have done very well for myself in the past ten years. I wonder how long I can continue to cycle before my old body says enough is enough.

The bike in the photo is my "Airnimal " hence the name.

I too have a similar issues with kits, mostly locos in my case but also wagons. I have a few which have stalled again and are back on the shelf while I get back to building from scratch. So much easier!

 

The problem areas are when the kit designer deviates from how I would build the model or they introduce ‘modifications’ usually dimensional, which make an accurate model impossible from their kit. What makes them frustrating is that you seldom find out the faults until you get started on the build and you have parted with your folding money. I see that your GWR kit has dimensional issues, not unusual!

 

I find that keeping the mojo going is facilitated by having periods away from the workshop doing something completely different! Basically get on you bike! though I prefer a good walk preferably ending up in a decent pub.

 

Ian.

[airnimal]

Thanks Ian, I know I am not alone in not getting on with kits.

The L&Y van body is coming on with a few bolts and ironwork. I chamfered the bottom of the body side with a scalpel.

[Compound2632]

Looking forward to seeing how you do the roof door cover. Are you going for the unpainted wood "livery"?

[airnimal]

Compound 2632, it would be nice to do the exterior in bare wood but I don't think my rendition is of wagon interiors is good enough. As for the canvas roof door I will look at tissue with a coating of diluted P.V.A soaked in.

Continuing with the bolt details cut from 10 X 25 thou I was wondering if the bolts were to big.

That works out with bolts that scale out at just over 1"1/6" square. If I go down to using 20 thou it works out at bolts that would be 7/8" square.

I have had a quick look through L & Y wagons but could not find details of bolt size. It may be there but without a long look in depth I couldn't come across it.

[airnimal]

Doncaster, your brake van is a fine piece of work. A couple of questions on your technique on how do you fix the lamp irons and the middle brass footboard.

I have a set of buffers the same as you model but where were the axleboxes from. Not that I am likely to model a G.N.R. brake van but a open wagon might appear one day.

I have put the nuts on one end with the coupling pocket. That's one side and one end done, just got to do it all again on the other side.

[airnimal]

Most of the body is now done with the first attempt at the canvas roof. I have laid a double thickness of tissue paper on and coated it with a mix of resin-w and water and I will let it dry before cutting it to shape over the door. I am not sure this is going to be a successful but untill it dries I will not know.

[Compound2632]

Most of the body is now done with the first attempt at the canvas roof. I have laid a double thickness of tissue paper on and coated it with a mix of resin-w and water and I will let it dry before cutting it to shape over the door. I am not sure this is going to be a successful but untill it dries I will not know.

 

My interpretation of the drawings and photos in Coates' Lancashire & Yorkshire Wagons is that the roof opening and canvas cover is only on one side of the wagon - see Vol. 2 Plate 161. Here's my 4 mm scale narrow-plank D3 at a similar stage in construction, from the David Geen whitemetal kit, alas no longer available:

 

[airnimal]

Compound2632, I have gone with what it says on page 199 of Vol 2 ( However, another possibility is the change from roof openings on both sides of the van, as Drawing 479 implies, to access from one side only , which is definitely the case from Drawing 3003 onwards.)

As I have used drawing No 479 to build my model so I will go with doors both sides.

[Compound2632]

Compound2632, I have gone with what it says on page 199 of Vol 2 ( However, another possibility is the change from roof openings on both sides of the van, as Drawing 479 implies, to access from one side only , which is definitely the case from Drawing 3003 onwards.)

As I have used drawing No 479 to build my model so I will go with doors both sides.

 

You're quite right, of course. I've now read the relevant paragraphs! I have to confess I only had Vol. 1 when I built mine. I think mine is right for the Geen kit, which does have the narrow planking and higher arc roof of Drg. 3003 - these are the wagons seen in the Great Howard Street yard photo, plate 161, and yours is of course right for the earlier wagons.

[airnimal]

With the sunny weather this morning I was able to spray the roof with a rattle can. I then dusted the canvas part with some weathing powders. I will not be able to paint the body because I have not finished the solebar details until I get the etch w-irons.

[airnimal]

Not much progress on the L&Y van untill I get the right w-irons. I have fitted the door chains made from twisted 4 thou brass wire and placed the body on some w-irons that were in my bits box. I am not sure where they originally came from or from what railway.

Also found were some printed number plates made many years ago by Barry Lane. As you can by the spaces in the sheet I have made a fair few L&Y wagons over the years, not sure where they are now.

[airnimal]

I went to the Wakefield exhibition on Saturday and bought the correct w-irons for the L&Y van. I enjoyed the show and met several RM members and stocked up on Evergreen strip and Peco wagon buffers.

[airnimal]

I folded up the Ambis w-irons and inserted the wheels. With the long bearings on 7mm wagons this is not as easy as on 4mm wagons. I find the w-irons never quite go back to pre bent shape. And how does one paint them ? Do you paint first and then assemble ? What does one do about the amount of side play ?

I think the long bearings are a left over from pre etch w-irons days when wagons were made from wood and card and nobody has questioned the reason for such length.

So for ease of painting and assembly I have broken up the parts and I will add a length of angle to the bottom of the w-iron and make a new base plate and keep the parts separate and use my own method of screw in wheels. That way I can take the wheels in and out to paint / adjusts them as many times as I wish.

[airnimal]

I cut a small length of angle and solderd it to both the w-iron and a small off cut of nickel. I just need to drill the fixing holes in the base plate. Just after finishing the cleaning of the parts I dropped it on the floor and managed to crush it flat under my foot ! Oh dear or something like that springs to mind. I have bent it back and hopefully it will not show when painted.

I also filled the bearing hole slightly longer by about 1mm to give a bit of up and down movement.

Shown along side is one of my LNWR w-irons.

[airnimal]

I have now made up the wheel assemblies and by putting them side by side can check they are both the same. There is 1mm up and down movement with out any side play which is ample so these can now be glued to the wagon floor. Once these are in I can add the solebar details and knock up the single sided brake shoe with the one brake lever and rack.

I don't think I will be able to do that tomorrow as we have our little grandson on Wednesdays.

Edited November 20, 2018 by airnimal