S7 scratch building

[Regularity]

5 minutes ago, airnimal said:

Not bad for someone written off at school as being thick and going nowhere. 

Schools generally focus on the academic exam-passing kind of intelligence: the advent of “league tables” only exacerbates this, sadly.

Yet there are so many different forms of “intelligence”, including the practical.

[airnimal]

Here is the base plate with the 12BA nuts and screws protruding through before I place the soldiering iron on top and sink the nuts into the plastic. When I take the screws out I run a 12BA tap through to clear the hole out and dress with a file. When turned over and glued to the underframe I can remove the W-irons at will. 

I have started to detail the body with rivets and bolts both inside and out. I drilled a few in the wrong place a couple of times but when rubbed down and filled they will disappear under the paint. The start of the single shoe brake has been cut from one of my spare castings.

 

The door in the bedroom is to be painted this morning which finishes the dec...............

 

[airnimal]

 I am now free from the dreaded dec...................

The single brake block has had the push rod soldered on from various bits of etch and square rod. 

 A piece of 3.5 X 3.5mm brass angle was soldered to this so I could screw it to the floor my usual way. 

I will add a bolt to look as though the push rod is bolted to the brake block. 

 

I had a good weekend which included going to the show at Buxton on Saturday  and I went cycling on Sunday.  The show was in a great venue at Buxton Pavilion and had a good mixture of trades and layouts. I must thank one of the demonstrators for a very kind gesture.  This was David White from Slater's whom I mentioned that I had lost a couple of the square brass bearings out of one of his sprung W-irons and did he have any with him. After a lengthy search he couldn't find any so he pulled apart a set he had on his stand and gave me them. I have spent a considerable amount of money with Slaters over the years and he didn't need to do that it it was much appreciated.  

 

On Sunday we only went out in Cheshire on the bikes doing about 40 miles.  They say Cheshire is flat but there are still a few hills for a old bloke like me. I don't know how long I can keep going because I can't keep up with my friends.  I will keep going but I think the writing is on the wall.

[airnimal]

Close up's can be cruel but it's the best I can do with what I have. Will anybody see it when it's on a layout  ?

[Regularity]

9 minutes ago, airnimal said:

Close up's can be cruel but it's the best I can do with what I have. Will anybody see it when it's on a layout  ?

Ah, but you will know it’s there, and this level of detail and craftsmanship whilst subtle, does “lift” the layout - as long as that is done to the same standard… ;)

[airnimal]

The brake gear is done so I am going to have a rest for a few days. We have one of the grandsons tomorrow which is always fun but exhausting. 

[airnimal]

I did have the day off yesterday with one of my grandsons.  Nana wasn't very well so it was left to me for most of the day. We painted and played board games and generally had a good time. He is learning fast because he has learnt how to cheat at the age of 2. 

 

I have put the Park Lane private owner wagon to one side while I start on a Dia 53 10 ton coal wagon after seeing the photograph in the last issue of the LNWR society journal.  This is a official photograph taken of Warwick road coal depot just before the great war. It shows 4 similar wagons but to different diagrams all with different loads with one being unloaded by a man with a shovel.  

The striking feature on all the wagon is how smooth both the inside and outside of the planks are. 

For a wagon nut like myself this photograph is pure heaven with so much detail of wagons in service.  

With having the lettering in my collection of old tranfers I just had to make one to see if I could reproduce one of these in the condition complete with faded letters and chalk mark's. This is the issue the photograph is in so if you see the society stand at an exhibition it is worth going and having a look.

 

I made the basic underframe last week so I got up early this morning and built the body taking care to scribe the sides and ends very lightly. I nearly always try to put some texture in the wood when building wagons but for this one I have made it completely smooth although the inside floor is done to my usual method.  I have placed inside the body a large piece of perspex to keep the body from bowing in while the glue hardens.

[airnimal]

After the dec............ I was assured I could have 2 days in the workshop.  Well first thing this morning came  the words .........can we just empty  the built in wardrobes and clean everything  before the new carpet comes on Tuesday.  And then............ anything to please. 

 

Anyway I found an etch for a 9 foot wheelbase wagon. This is a fold up etch of clever design that I have used in the past because it can be modified to meet my needs. The brake blocks are meant for hanging from both top or bottom. I modified these by removing the bottom fixing holes. I am also going to cut them in half and lengthen them to accommodate S7 wheels. Because of this I haven't soldered the middle tumbler until I have modified them to be closer to the wheels.

[airnimal]

The brake gear has been stretched to fit the wheels and a mounting plate glued to the floor. The safety loops and the V-irons are still to be made but I hope to be on the right track. Photographed with a 

Dia 4 which is a similar wagon.

[airnimal]

A bit of old fashion scratch building with the brake handle cut from 16 thou nickel silver. I have never seen any etch of this shape so it was out with the fret saw and home made fret table. I usually leave the brake gear till after I have completed the bodywork but I thought I would have a change. 

 

 When we went to the show at Buxton on Saturday I had a look at the Grange and Hodder stand with all the baseboards options. I just need to draw up a track plan so I can finally order the boards that will fit my small workshop space. I don't have any ideas really what I want or even if I want a layout or just a diorama. 

[NeilHB]

The new wagons are coming along a treat Mike, they look great. 

 

I can thoroughly recommend the boards from Grainge & Hodder, having used them for a couple of projects now. 

[airnimal]

Neil, thanks you for recommendations.  The baseboards look really good even though my good friend has a complete woodworking shop in his garage we both agreed that at our time of life it would be easier to buy them in.

 

After making the brake handle I look at my box of etched bits and couldn't find a suitable brake rack. 

I did think about using a cast one from ABS which are very good but I have a dislike of parts that are vulnerable to damage.  So I cut out a new one from some scrap etch and soldered on top a part of another etch to use as a drilling jig.  I then drilled the necessary holes before removing this extra top etch before cleaning everything up.  The result is a very strong set of brakegear which hopefully will stand up to some rough handling. 

[kitpw]

...masterful.

 

 

[Compound2632]

I do like a curved brake lever.

[airnimal]

Thank you for the thumbs up.  I am building this wagon because of the photograph in the society journal.  The brake lever wasn't hard to make especially with a new blade in the saw. The brake rack was a bit more difficult and I had to make 2 before I hopefully got it right.  Looking at the photographs I had to go back and take about 20 thou out of the length before I was satisfied with it.

The drawing show a square end but the photographs show a round end which I have modelled.

Edited July 8, 2022 by airnimal

[airnimal]

Some of the ironwork has been made and applied.  The corner plates were pre bent in the small hand vice. I rounded the corners of the wagon before glueing them on trying very hard not to let them crack on the edge. The straps on the door have been added from overscale thickness and will be tapered once the glue hardens off. 

Other models to be tackled are 4 Modelu figures which I have sprayed matt black. I can't remember where I read this using the black as a undercoat and painting the top coat before removing some with a piece of tissue or cloth leaving shadows in the creases. This is a experiment for me so I don't know if it will work but nothing ventured as they say .....

I went out again on my bike yesterday and did about 40 miles in Cheshire.  It was hot but that's the way I like it. Reminds me of cycling in India and Cuba but which I would like to again but 3 of my cycling chums are now 74 and and are grumbling about all the problems with the travel industry.  I keep telling them if we don't go soon we will all become incapable. 

 

[airnimal]

The end stanchions have been made and shaped together in my mini vice and fixed to the ends of the body using my locating jig. This is more of less finished with the bodywork in qbut without all the nuts and bolts. The top was capped with an iron strip which according to Vol 1 of the wagon book are D shaped which are 2.5 inches wide and 5/8 th thick. This represents 14.35 thou thick which seems a bit thick so I am going to experiment with a bit of old scrap and see what it looks like.

[airnimal]

After rounding the top of some 15 X 60 thou plastic strip, I applied  it to a scrap piece of old wagon side and was quite pleased with the result.  It is not perfect but it was better than I expected.  I find I make a better job when I have a good photograph to work from. I have made the door retaining pins by twisting some 3 thou brass wire around offcuts of 18 thou nickel wire. The door chains have yet to be made. 

 

I have got to go and empty the bedroom before the carpet fitters arrive this morning.  

[airnimal]

Nothing new on my latest build because I have been out for the day to my friends layout. I was invited to go with a couple of far flung chums to go again because one of them left something behind last time we went there. So we had a very good lunch at a pleasant pub before going to see the layout. I took along a few models so I could photograph them In a fabulous setting instead of my living room table. 

But the highlight of the day for me was playing with some of the finest models of museum quality that I have seen. 

 

[Dave John]

Really top notch modelmaking. 

 

Please tell you friend that along with the superb locomotives and stock there are some of us that noted the use of wider sleepers and opposite keying at rail joints. 

 

Yes, we do look that closely at track . 

[airnimal]

I have been very busy lately with family and friends.  There has  not been a lot of time to get in the workshop but by getting up early has given some extra hours. 

This coal wagon has had a few changes since I last posted because I spent more time looking at photographs and the drawings. It is amazing how every long you look I still miss things in plain sight or presume that this item must be there because it is always on other similar wagons. 

The brake handle I made originally with a round boss when the drawings showed a square one.

I did this because one photograph clearly has round boss but when I looked again at the one in the society journal that had the square one. So either would be right but I am building this as one in the journal I had to change it. It also showed a large round centre pin holding in place. 

Another difference was the coupling plate. I modelled it like the majority of other LNWR wagons using drawings from  Vol 1 of the wagon book but looking again revealed that this wagon had a larger 4 bolt plate. There are still more details to add on the solebar's including the label clips and horse hooks. 

And then there is the painting ! 

In the photograph I am working from there are 4 wagons all the same but with 3 different liveries all carrying different loads. As there were over 3000 built I would expect there would be more variety's than Heinz soup.

I would like to try and finish this wagon very soon because the Australian clan are coming shortly as well as the clan from Swindon. As the third daughter only lives fairly close and they haven't seen each other for awile, I can't expect to get into the workshop with all the merrymaking that will be going on.

[airnimal]

Up early again. The bottom door release handle has been made from a small etch and a bent pin. I don't have any idea of the etch origins other than I found it amongst my bits of etch parts that I never throw away.  

[Caley Jim]

That close up photo just shows the superb quality of Mike's work.  I could never achieve anything that would stand up to as close examination as that!

 

Jim

[airnimal]

I took advantage of the early morning sunshine and gave the body a quick coat of Halfords grey primer.  All the other parts hopefully will get done today because the planned outing to Cheshire Oaks retail park has been abandoned because my wife doesn't want to catch covid before the girls arrive. 

I will try hard to appear to be disappointed.  

 

Thanks Jim but it easier in 7mm than the tiny size that you model. I could never see the parts that you make never mind trying to hold and assemble them.

[Caley Jim]

3 hours ago, airnimal said:

Thanks Jim but it easier in 7mm than the tiny size that you model. I could never see the parts that you make never mind trying to hold and assemble them.

Thanks, Mike.  After nearly 55 years I've kinda got into the way of it!😉

 

Jim