Warren Branch

[MrWolf]

very nice job! Wasn't there an article published on building that crane tank somewhere?

[Bluemonkey presents....]

11 hours ago, chuffinghell said:

Now I do like that! Fantastic!

 

Did you find the two halves of the jib didn’t quite fit together properly too?.....or was it just me?

Definitely had a lot of work on the jib. Shaving and filling throughout.

[Bluemonkey presents....]

9 hours ago, MrWolf said:

very nice job! Wasn't there an article published on building that crane tank somewhere?

Not sure I researched it loads but only found two other models and a Lego version. Did not see any articles, shame really.

[chuffinghell]

I’ve done a little bit on the actual crane part

 

The instructions say the hook attaches back to the T column but there is nowt to attach it to so I’ve made a lug out of a bit of scrap plastic to attach the hook

 

Also the chain drum is just a plain cylinder but the real thing has flanges so I’ve used the left over buffers on the ends of the drum to form the flanges

 

 

I couldn’t get the cross shafts to line up so I just did my own thang (you can’t really see them anyway)

 

[Stubby47]

2 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

you can’t really see them anyway

 

Says it all

[chuffinghell]

I’m getting there slowly, still quite fragile but I’m going to leave it alone now for the glue to harden (I’ve used solvent cement so the joints are still a little soft)

 

 

[Nile]

Some useful photos in this topic:

 

[MrWolf]

Baaic floor of the match truck built up, bearings and wheels fitted. The floor ends need a little careful filing to ensure that the headstocks fit flush with the ends of the side frames. I find that with plastic wagon kits if those five parts are put together with care, the rest of the wagon will go together and run smoothly.

When it comes to the crane, I expect that some fairly specialized swearing will be necessary.

[chuffinghell]

9 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Baaic floor of the match truck built up, bearings and wheels fitted. The floor ends need a little careful filing to ensure that the headstocks fit flush with the ends of the side frames. I find that with plastic wagon kits if those five parts are put together with care, the rest of the wagon will go together and run smoothly.

When it comes to the crane, I expect that some fairly specialized swearing will be necessary.

Much better than I did

[chuffinghell]

Well it’s in primer

 

 

It’s highlighted a few areas that need a bit of work (as I expected)

 

I’ve cut apart a Hornby decorative three link coupling and used the 'D' shackle part behind the main pulley for somewhere to attach the hook for a double chain lift (purely decorative)

 

 

I’ll hopefully get to do a little more tomorrow, I’m keen to get this finished because it’s not exactly been an enjoyable build and it may have also put me off wagon kits......for the time being at least

[Bluemonkey presents....]

Chris you are doing an excellent job, don't let it put you off. As others have said, give Parkside or Coopercraft kits a chance. They have excellent castings with little flash and the parts fit nicely. May need a little filler as with a lot of things They certainly can be easily enhance with a little scratch build refinement for steps or open doors etc so plenty of scope as well. Ratio minks are good fun as well and then you can add the dart castings extra details/bodies to them and well that's it you are back in the game and going crazy!

[Bluemonkey presents....]

and before you know it you will have brass and whitemetal kits all over the place, whilst scratch bodging like me and adding your own fine details, just like your beautiful signal box.

[MrWolf]

A little more progress (we both suffer from sleep problems but it's getting silly lately!) both chassis assembled, brakes on the crane and toolboxes built up for the match truck. If you are a colossal masochist like me and use three link couplings, do so before adding details to the underframes. Better still, fit them before glueing anything together but after you have satisfied yourself that everything is going to fit.

[chuffinghell]

This is the best I could do

 

 

Hopefully look much better once it’s finished and weathered

[MrWolf]

16 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

This is the best I could do

 

 

Hopefully look much better once it’s finished and weathered

Well I hope that mine manages to look anywhere near as good as that. I think you have done a fantastic job. It might be looked upon as a basic kit by some people, but it is one of the most complex plastic 4 wheeled wagon kits out there. Just remember that most wagon kits are basically a box with details stuck to the outside. The biggest problem that I have found with this kit is the instructions. Whilst detailed and verbose, there is scant information on which part is which. If this kit had an exploded diagram of each assembly stage (a la Airfix) it would pretty much fall together. It's a nice thing to build once you get your head around what goes where (even as a former engineer I had to think about a lot of it) I have to admit that if it wasn't for your and the other contributors photos it would probably have stayed in the doomsday box.

On the the subject of Airfix kits, you have started with a "series 3" and half the instructions, rather than a "series 1" with the step by step drawings.

It's a tribute to both your skills and your tenacity, be proud of it. Then go out and buy Cambrian kit (no. 111 I think) of the GW ex Cambrian Railway open wagon, you will probably have it running and painted whilst cooking breakfast.

[chuffinghell]

Just now, MrWolf said:

Well I hope that mine manages to look anywhere near as good as that. I think you have done a fantastic job.

Thank you

 

2 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

The biggest problem that I have found with this kit is the instructions. Whilst detailed and verbose.....It's a nice thing to build once you get your head around what goes where (even as a former engineer I had to think about a lot of it)

 

Yes the instructions are terrible, my instructions looked like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy, I’m dyslexic so I prefer drawings over written text.

 

As a design engineer myself I produce technical drawings for manufacture and assembly and from Airfix kits in my youth I expected exploded isometric details instead of an over exposed photograph that’s so dark you can’t see any detail

 

I mostly looked at photos of the prototype and other people’s builds

 

Anyway here’s the progress so far, I’ve started to pick out a few details with paint

 

Weathering the cr@p out of it will help hide any errors 

 

[chuffinghell]

I didn’t want to just glue the chain to the lugs

 

having found a decorative coupling in my odds ‘n’ ends box

 

I took it apart

 

drilled a 0.4mm hole to suit 0.35mm wire

 

 

which just fits trough the chain links

 

 

to achieve this

 

 

I’ve bent some wire at the top to simply hook onto the crane jib so the two halves can be separated

 

 

I’ve left enough chain to allow the jib to move when going around curves (the worst being the Y point

 

I still need to weather the chain as it’s a bit too ‘new’

 

Edited June 14, 2020 by chuffinghell

[MrWolf]

Bang on. It looks like a 5 ton D link. Any idea where it came from? Apart from your junk box that is.

[chuffinghell]

17 hours ago, MrWolf said:

.....Any idea where it came from? Apart from your junk box that is.

Unfortunately not, it’s one of those things I saved because I thought it might come in handy one day, I wish I knew where they came from because I can think of a lot of uses for them

 

I’ve given the chain a quick blast of rust

 

 

Looks much better when pulled taught but it wont go around curves pulled tight

 

I’ve caught the tops of the lugs with the airbrush but in reality the paint wouldn’t last long on them anyway so I suppose it was a happy accident

 

And the addition of a lug on the T column has worked out well

 

 

Edited June 15, 2020 by chuffinghell

[MrWolf]

I doubt that the chain was pulled taut on the real thing, it wouldn't permit any articulation over points etc if tight. It's a check chain rather than a restraining chain. There would be a lock of some sort on the crane turntable, that chain is a failsafe to take the strain off the turntable lock and prevent the jib swinging out of gauge.

 

[chuffinghell]

12 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

There would be a lock of some sort on the crane turntable, that chain is a failsafe to take the strain off the turntable lock and prevent the jib swinging out of gauge.

 

Cool! so I’ve done it correctly then by just using a little common sense (it’s a good job I have a little to spare)

 

I assume this is the turntable lock with the flange of the eccentric roller acting as a stop

 

 

Edited June 14, 2020 by chuffinghell

[MrWolf]

I would say so, the cam would perhaps also raise a bolt of some kind into a hole in the turntable, then the lever is secured by the pin on the chain. The ring on the pin would be spring steel wire with its ends set into off centre holes in the end of the pin, it would snap over and secure the pin. That type of pin is still used on farm machinery towing pins.

A proper bit of simple engineering that just works and lasts for years.

Edited June 14, 2020 by MrWolf
missed a bit!

[MrWolf]

I hope you don't mind me hogging the thread a little, but I thought I would post this picture for those who have doubts about building wagons. This is one of Cambrian's more recent offerings. The Midland Railway 10 ton van to diagram D664. Kit ref: C84W. It comes with wheels, bearings and most importantly the floor and solebars are in one piece. Why nobody else does this I don't know! instructions are better and there is livery information for M.R., L.M.S. and B.R.

I have no connection with Cambrian other than I have built quite a few of their kits over the years. To be fair, the crane kit is ancient.

[chuffinghell]

41 minutes ago, MrWolf said:

I hope you don't mind me hogging the thread a little, but I thought I would post this picture for those who have doubts about building wagons. This is one of Cambrian's more recent offerings. The Midland Railway 10 ton van to diagram D664. Kit ref: C84W. It comes with wheels, bearings and most importantly the floor and solebars are in one piece. Why nobody else does this I don't know! instructions are better and there is livery information for M.R., L.M.S. and B.R.

I have no connection with Cambrian other than I have built quite a few of their kits over the years. To be fair, the crane kit is ancient.

I don’t mind at all

 

Having the wheels and bearings included in the kit is a bonus and there appears to be less flashing to deal with

[MrWolf]

Thanks. I find a useful way of getting the bearings pressed into the axleboxes without cracking the plastic, getting the bearings in square first time and stopping them coming loose later is to load your solvent brush with your favourite solvent cement and liberally dose the bore in the axlebox. Then press the bearing in with the flat side of a small screwdriver. Works every time.