The Bigbee Line Posted March 12, 2020 Author Share Posted March 12, 2020 I’ve not fitted all safety loops, door bangers. Thought it was just the brake cylinder, suddenly realised I’d not fitted the tie bar between the axle guards. Searching the odds and ends I came across a fret for some class 40/70 bogie etches. The waste seemed spot on, so a length was cut off. Fixed with Super Glue. Here with a first coat of paint. Here in brutal close up... 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 13, 2020 Author Share Posted March 13, 2020 I was having a sort out ready for the weekend. The works pilot has been busy and another batch of minerals have been collected ready for shops.... Next to the Morton 4 Block Minfit is another Palbrick conversion, then three 9' wheelbase with 2 blocks. Hopefully batch production will be quicker... 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sf315 Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Keep at it Ernie. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 Afternoon , Looking at some bits in the spares box I’ve got 2 sets of sides and ends for the Slater’s ex CC Match wagon. It has spindly buffers and the ironwork on the sides goes straight down to level with the bottom of the sole bar. However looking through the Russel books I can’t find a good match. The nearest one seems to be in the picture of 32128. But it has the bent under iron work (easy to do) and self contained buffers (my preference) Any comment or suggestions please. Ironwork buffers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 14, 2020 Author Share Posted March 14, 2020 Having spent some time this afternoon looking through books and the new, I think there is a slight mix up of pictures / captions in the Jim Russell book, GWR Freight wagons and loads in service on the Great Western Railway and British Rail, Western Region'. The pages are not numbered, but one page has: Figure 173 - Match Truck 32432, with lots of RCH features - This I think is an L23 Match Truck Figure 174 - Match Truck 32128, with lots of pure GWR features, not sure what diagram, but there are numerous pictures. So I will copy figure 174..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 The Match Truck it is. I’ve a couple of bodies to use up. Thought it would be really easy. Wrong again. The iron work on the side is not only the wrong style, it’s in the wrong place, .... it should line up with the inner spring shoes..... So out with the knife and file.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 I’ve cemented the underframe along one edge. Then use a couple of miniature screws to secure the other half, before slitting to separate the halves. I can then change the wheels to the more appropriate spoked variation. I have beefed up the solebar ironwork. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 (edited) Underframe cemented on the left hand side. Then slit into Two.... This enables a wheelset change in seconds. Three hole disc out, spoked in. Now to sort the blocks and some DC3 brakes. Edited March 15, 2020 by The Bigbee Line 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 Masochistic tendencies.... Starting to set up DC3 brakes.... This will be the ratchet at one end... The pull to the brake shaft uses this lever... There is a rod to that lever and a connection to the handle at the other end..... Plus I would like to keep the two halves of the underframe separate to facilitate maintenance. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 16, 2020 Author Share Posted March 16, 2020 Tonight Matthew I’m making headstocks....... I had a niggling thought about the cooper craft underframe. Couldn’t put my finger on it. Then I went to fit the buffers... The underframe gets in the way...... Solution is to use some buffers with minimal protrusion at the rear. To get a good hold on the buffer I’m making the headstocks out of fairly thick styrene. So while watching Only Connect I whiled away the time when I couldn’t answer questions to drill holes and then open them up in stages.... Starting with the marking out and pricking holes.... Completed so far... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 18, 2020 Author Share Posted March 18, 2020 (edited) Additional layers of styrene added, They will form the buffer bases.... Edited March 18, 2020 by The Bigbee Line Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 19, 2020 Author Share Posted March 19, 2020 (edited) The test headstocks are on now... The function of the buffers is OK. There is no need to blacken the buffers.... Edited March 19, 2020 by The Bigbee Line 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 The headstocks were fitted with some extra depth an the holes for the buffers were almost the full width, so were in danger of falling apart before assembly. So once in place I trimmed them up. Here with a quick grey wash to see how they look.... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 The Match Truck continues, The corners of the body sides were opened with a razor saw cut to allow a piece of cup lid to be cemented in place to ensure no gaps at all. might even add an overlay wrapping around the corner... Some more cup lid has been added to represent the bodyside ironwork. I've made it a bit wide, but will put that down to the wagon shop using up some spare material on a Friday afternoon. You will note my thumb has a protective kitchen roll shroud. That's to protect it after if tried to commit hari kari with a crafy knife...... As previously mentioned the Cooper Craft solebars obstructed the buffers, so in my delicate fashion, I hacked off a length to fit the working buffers 'Function over Form' every time for me. So now cosmetic solebar infils have been added... This is the back of the headstock showing the void space required.... Here is stage 1 of my not so invisible mending, as my dad would have said "a blind man would like to see it..... I find it quire bizarre, that it looks Ok to the naked eye, then pictures show all the errors and make it look crap. Good for quality control though..... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 The wagon has developed a slight twist. I have a cunning plan to use a steel weight from an HO caboose underneath. I can clamp it square and weight it up to run empty. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 21, 2020 Author Share Posted March 21, 2020 Before the weight is added I need to fit the RCH drawhooks. The bodyside ironwork also gets a fettling. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 I normally work from home, but today self isolated in the car for 8 hours and had a solo 2 hour walk around some new wagons. The A11 was like a Saturday still quite a few cars. M25 was amazing, not the usual slog. Past Stonehenge, that looked quite surreal. Hopefully no more visits until the hopper wagons arrive. Till then back into solitary. So I was determined to get some modelling done tonight. I dropped something on the floor and looked like the carpet monster had regurgitated a few lost parts. I redrilled the vee hangers to eliminate the blob. Then started setting them up A piece of rod helps the alignment. Finally I filled a couple of holes in the floor so I will be able to run empty. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 (edited) The last post duplicated itself..... Edited March 24, 2020 by The Bigbee Line Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 25, 2020 Author Share Posted March 25, 2020 Brake work being completed. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 25, 2020 Author Share Posted March 25, 2020 Tonight was bending up a brake lever. Because clearances were tight on the prototype it was quite tricky to get a lever would function. The proportions are not quite correct but look the part. Here is the trial lever in the released position. Here shown applied. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 26, 2020 Author Share Posted March 26, 2020 The Match Truck has been a learning experience for me, mainly the replication of the DCIII brake. The mistake was trying to add the brakes at too late a stage in the construction. I have another body to use up, this holefully will be easier because of my return of experience with this one.... My brake handles seem quite vulnerable to snagging, so may have an extra mounting 'pin' hidden behind the round guard of the hand grip, this will secure through the solebar, giving a two point fixing. The V hangers on the ends of the wagon have the angles leg bolted to the underneath of the headstock. So this will be on the 'to do' list for No.2.... The safety loops on the CooperCraft/Slaters Sprue are the right shape, but I'm not sure how your meant to add them, as I cannot thread then around the brakework as moulded... This picture shows the rods the 1) pull onto the cross shaft and 2) that join the shafts at either end. It is interesting the note the development of the DC brake through to the DCIII and why it evolved as a result of slight rule changes by the BoT (Board of Trade). Apparently the DCIII was disliked because you could apply the brake on one side of the wagon and somebody else could take it off from the other side. The last picture is a crane at Didcot that looks like an interesting future project, to use up the second Match Truck... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 Marvellous pics as usual Ernie. I guess, when I did the Slaters Cattle wagon (also ex Coopercraft I think) I didn't like the safety loops either and made some from scrap brass: I cobbled up a lot of the brake links from scrap brass too. Trying to work out how DCIII works was quite a challenge to my little grey cells. John 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 26, 2020 Author Share Posted March 26, 2020 Busy with real wagons today. So had a go at some safety loops. Here’s the first one.......... Not perfect, but with a coat of paint should be OK. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 28, 2020 Author Share Posted March 28, 2020 (edited) Nearly there. Just a few bits to do.... So this one came back into the shops on the 14-03. So it’s been 14 days. Quite fast for me.... Edited March 28, 2020 by The Bigbee Line 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bigbee Line Posted March 29, 2020 Author Share Posted March 29, 2020 (edited) I’d forgotten a gusset plate. So one was added..... Edited March 29, 2020 by The Bigbee Line Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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