Administrators AY Mod Posted April 24, 2020 Administrators Share Posted April 24, 2020 We couldn't hold our annual Members' Day event in Taunton this year, scheduled for Sunday 26th April but what we are doing is bringing you that plus much, much more in virtual form. This topic is for the demonstrator (not) attending and will open up for set-up on Sunday morning at 7.30am. I know there is some great content to appear. This will be a time to enjoy, so much ahead of the day has focussed upon the fundraiser for NHS Charities Together which has had a phenomenal response from the modellers and trade. You can still purchase draw tickets up until midnight tonight and the draw will be held on Monday 27 April. I shall not be there bright and early on Sunday! (Topic will be unlocked at 7.30 on Sunday) 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post Mick Bonwick Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted April 26, 2020 WEATHERING TECHNIQUES There are many ways of weathering things and no two people will do everything the same way. Favoured materials and tools will differ from person to person, some will want “used but clean” and others might favour “nearly condemned”. One common factor, though, is that a mental image exists of what the subject needs to look like when finished. For modellers who don’t really know where to start, or those who have an idea, but can’t choose from the confusingly vast array of Youtube videos and RMweb posts, let me offer a few suggestions. 1. Start simple. Try a couple of things to see if they suit your temperament, ability, eyesight, dexterity, toolkit, patience, workspace and timeframe. 2. Use a reliable reference. Work from photographs rather than imagination or memory. If you weather something by thinking that it should like this because of that, then you will end up with something that looks as if you imagined it. Practice applying a wash, try a couple of pigments. 3. Develop skills by practising on small items. These are usually cheaper to buy in the first place and quicker to clean up if you make an absolute mess. Don’t worry about ruining something, be aware of the properties of the materials you are using and have the necessary clean-up stuff beside you just in case. 4. Keep a record. Make a note of what you use for each subject and take a photograph or two while you work. You will need to remind yourself, at some stage, how you did that. 5. Create a basic palette. Select a few colours that suit you and use just those to begin with. Avoid collecting! One way of eliminating confusion about beginnings is to find a video clip, magazine article or book that shows a result that you like and then follow that author/poster and their choice of materials, tools and techniques. If you still can’t decide then I suggest you seek out material by Martyn Welch, Tim Shackleton or George Dent in publications, or KNP and NHY581 on RMweb. There are many others, but these few will restrict your choice and still provide inspiration. Examples to follow . . . . . . . . 22 1 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony Teague Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 16 minutes ago, Mick Bonwick said: WEATHERING TECHNIQUES One way of eliminating confusion about beginnings is to find a video clip, magazine article or book that shows a result that you like and then follow that author/poster and their choice of materials, tools and techniques. If you still can’t decide then I suggest you seek out material by Martyn Welch, Tim Shackleton or George Dent in publications, or KNP and NHY581 on RMweb. There are many others, but these few will restrict your choice and still provide inspiration. Examples to follow . . . . . . . . Never too early to talk about weathering! One might add to the para above - "or look at Mick Bonwick's excellent weathering thread on RM Web", but I know that modesty forbids! 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 I’ve set up the P4 stand. And have my mug ready. I will post some bits in a little while 12 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 All set up and ready to talk b..........! CK is doing a marvelous Tommy Cooper impression! The 2mm locos demo is from a few years ago Jerry, back later when its time for cake! 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post Mick Bonwick Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted April 26, 2020 Her: Will you be in front of that screen all day? Him: Yes, I expect so. Her: Will you be wanting coffee? Him: Yes, please. Her: Well , it won't be all day, will it? 1 17 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 15 minutes ago, Brinkly said: I’ve set up the P4 stand. I will post some bits in a little while No rush, we realise it takes time to get the hair shirt on, along with the jacket with leather elbow patches and time to fire up the pipe! Mike. Mike. 1 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators AY Mod Posted April 26, 2020 Author Administrators Share Posted April 26, 2020 2 minutes ago, Mick Bonwick said: Her: Will you be in front of that screen all day? Him: Yes, I expect so. Her: Will you be wanting coffee? Very much a similar version here earlier this morning: Her: Will you be in front of that screen all day? Him: Yes, I expect so. Her: I'm going back to sleep. 14 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Mike Bellamy Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 26, 2020 12 minutes ago, AY Mod said: Her: I'm going back to sleep. Sleep !! You can't let her do that, there's a load of washing up in the kitchen waiting for the ladies to arrive . . . . . . 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 OXFORD RAIL JANUS GRILLES Tools Rigger brush – long bristles to hold plenty of fluid and sharp point to place the fluid accurately. Glass dish – won’t be attacked by solvent and used to hold clean white spirit. Paper towels – to clean up the mess. Materials MIG Productions Dark Wash – my favourite, but any dark coloured wash will do the job. I favour enamel washes as they always seem to work well, but you may prefer to use acrylic washes. If using acrylics, then any mention of white spirit should be read as acrylic thinners. Even though a wash is, essentially, a ready-thinned paint, it can be thinned even further to allow it to be used to highlight detail using capillary action. In the case of the Janus, the grille detail on this bright yellow example can be made more prominent by adding a dark coloured wash to the appropriate areas. Start by dipping the rigger brush into clean white spirit before just touching the tip of the bristles into the wash. Touch the tip of the brush to any corner of detail and watch the fluid flow along the edges and corners. In this picture, the tip of the brush has been touched to the top right-hand corner of the grille and then moved downwards one slat at a time. In this example the wash is too thick, and hasn’t flowed very well, so the tip of the brush needs to be dipped into the white spirit again, to thin it out a little more. Once the grilles were all completed, attention turned to the panel edges and other detail lines. There are many blobs! There will be blobs, it is inevitable, but don’t worry about them because they can be dealt with later. The wash has been allowed to run into all the crooks and nannies moulded into the bonnet area. You should be able to identify all the places where the tip of the brush was placed against the detail. If the wash does not run far enough, just leave the tip of the brush in place for a bit longer. In some cases, the wash will not run far enough, even though the tip of the brush has been left in place for longer. When this happens the tip of the brush can be placed appropriately to add more fluid to the detail. The three white arrowheads show where this has been done in this example. 7 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony Teague Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 9 minutes ago, Mick Bonwick said: OXFORD RAIL JANUS GRILLES Tools Rigger brush – long bristles to hold plenty of fluid and sharp point to place the fluid accurately. Glass dish – won’t be attacked by solvent and used to hold clean white spirit. Paper towels – to clean up the mess. Materials MIG Productions Dark Wash – my favourite, but any dark coloured wash will do the job. I favour enamel washes as they always seem to work well, but you may prefer to use acrylic washes. If using acrylics, then any mention of white spirit should be read as acrylic thinners. The wash has been allowed to run into all the crooks and nannies moulded into the bonnet area. You should be able to identify all the places where the tip of the brush was placed against the detail. If the wash does not run far enough, just leave the tip of the brush in place for a bit longer. In some cases, the wash will not run far enough, even though the tip of the brush has been left in place for longer. When this happens the tip of the brush can be placed appropriately to add more fluid to the detail. The three white arrowheads show where this has been done in this example. I used to know a girl named Janus Grilles Serious question Mick - If I have already painted a wagon in Humbrol enamels, can I still use the wash in this way or will the enamel paint cause it to run to places where I don't want it? Second question - and what if I have not only pained the model but also sprayed it with Dullcote? Tony 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 1 minute ago, Tony Teague said: Serious question Mick - If I have already painted a wagon in Humbrol enamels, can I still use the wash in this way or will the enamel paint cause it to run to places where I don't want it? Second question - and what if I have not only pained the model but also sprayed it with Dullcote? First answer: You probably could, but only if the surface is perfectly smooth. If there are any brush marks or small pieces of dust you may well find the wash in places you don't want it. Try it and see - you can always clean it up from the wrong places with some white spirit on a cotton bud or follow the blob removal process, yet to be posted. Second answer: A wash will not work as well on top of Dullcote, because the uneven nature of the surface may attract the wash into the wrong places. I have successfully applied a capillary action wash over Dullcote surfaces, though, and one of the results can be seen in Step 4 here: https://accurascale.co.uk/blogs/lets-get-involved/wagon-weathering-with-mick-bonwick-lets-get-involved 1 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post Brinkly Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted April 26, 2020 (edited) Building Wagons in P4 - but a lot of equally applicable tips for 00 and EM! Before I start, I don’t claim to be an expert in this field! This is purely my own discoveries, most discovered through trial and error! Currently, all the P4 modelling I do is geared up for Rod and John’s Ouse Valley Empire! I don’t plan to build my own P4 layout. My experience isn’t that extensive! I’ve converted a couple of RTR diesel locomotives and part-built a sprung 57xx chassis (it still isn’t quite finished after 6 years!). However, I have built and converted a fair number of wagons. Before we start, it is worth mentioning that a hairshirt (see below) is essential when modelling in P4! I'm sure a member of the Provisional Wing of the society will be along at some point to correct me! Toolkit wise, you don’t need anything out of the ordinary and all of the items below are equally applicable in any of the 4mm scales – 00, EM & P4. The only ‘P4’ item that is essential is a decent back-to-back gauge and my advice is get one and set all your wagon’s wheels to this gauge. There are quite a few back-to-back gauges available and their standards do vary slightly. The key weapons in my arsenal are as follows; · Three Swan Morton no.3 scalpels, fitted with 10, 10A and 15A blades, · Stanley knife (other generic versions are available!), · A selection of flat, half-round, mouse-tail and square swiss files (0, 2 & 4 cut – I have one of each for each set), · Flexible sanding sticks (selection of sizes and grades), · 4mm scale metal ruler, · Pair of brace of ‘normal!’ rulers to quote a child I once taught, · Digital caliper, · Fiber glass brush, · Xuron cutters, · Pair of set squares, · Small tweezers, · Self-locking tweezers, · Selection of pliers, · Small F clamps (very useful for sticking lead flashing to wagon floors), · Hand clamp, · Soldering iron, · Set of hand drills (I tend to use 0.4, 0.5, 1 and 1.2mm quite a lot and have several hand drills with one in each), · Taper broaches 0.3 up to 2.5mm, · And a small saw. Glue wise, I tend to use Slater’s Mek-Pak (kept in a suitable holder) for most jobs, but I also use DL-Limonene, which is good to use if you don’t want the plastic to ‘grab’ straight away. It also doesn’t seem to cause clear plastic to cloud. I bought mine from Wizard Models a couple of years ago, but I haven’t seen it for sale for a while now. For some jobs, Tamiya Extra Thin Cement is good – I generally use this on plastic brake components. To attach buffers, I tend to use either medium or thin cyano glue – Zap products are quite good, but there are loads out there which all do the same job. When attaching lead flashing (more on that later) either inside or to the underframe, I tend to use two-part 5-minute epoxy resin. One final product, more for finishing that anything else is filler. I use Squadron Products Green and White Putty; White Putty seems a little finer than green, but essentially, they are very similar. When it comes to painting though, the white one is easier to cover. Moving on to finishing a wagon, I tend to prime vehicles using the excellent range of rattle can primers from Games Workshop. For unfitted wagons, I tend to use Grey Seer and for fairly ‘new’ Bauxite wagon, I opt for Mephiston Red as the base colour. It is worth experimenting with primer colours; I’ve found that Grey Seer can also be good to represent older, or bauxite which is starting to fade. I’ve also used Mechanics Standard Grey, which is significantly darker than Grey Seer on a grey and bauxite wagons, varying the final shade. I tend to paint wagons with an airbrush, but in the past, I’ve brush painted and provided you thin the paint, one can achieve very acceptable results. I use Precision enamels grey and bauxite for unfitted and fitted wagons respectively. More on this subject later on. Mixture of grey and red primers with a liberal coat of bauxite applied. White on white for the left hand van and right is a Bachmann body on a replacement chassis. To represent unpainted wood, I prime using Wraithbone and then use a range of Games Workshop Citadel paints, all of which have now changed their names! I’ll add some more on this subject in a bit. For rusty mineral wagons, I use Ammo by Mig products. I rather like these products and plan to experiment with them far more in the future as the effects one can achieve with these products is quite staggering. Transfers are a mixture of CCT, Model Master and Fox. Weathering wise, I use the Precision weathering colours, but am more tempted to use Ammo by Mig products in the future as I prefer the results I can achieve with them. It really is worth experimenting frankly and finding what works for you! Before tackling a wagon, I tend to work from a photograph and replicate it as faithfully as possible. You don’t have to do this, but I prefer to work this way. I have quite an extensive collection of photographs which come from eBay, stands at shows and so on, but the images I refer to most are in The 4mm Coal Wagon by John Hayes and Geoff Kent’s 4mm Wagons books 1, 2 & 3. These really are my bibles! John Hayes also wrote a number of articles on 4mm wagons in various MRJs over the years and it is worth tracking these down as the articles are excellent. Other books which are very useful are David Larkin’s series on wagons; LMS Wagons by R.J. Essary and Atkins’ GWR Goods Wagons are to name but a handful of brilliant reference guides. So, we turn our attention to the helpless RTR wagon or kit. There are several aspects to consider at this stage. Are you going to compensate, spring or be brave and leave the wagon ridged? My preference is to spring stock, although, I have had great success converting RTR wagons to P4 simply by swapping the wheels and adding a bit of extra weight. These clips show a train of ridged wagons being propelled at speed (this isn’t sped up footage) over a A5 cross-over on our test track. The test track certainly isn’t the work of Brunel! It has lumps and bumps and gaps galore in places. Most of the wagons in the train weigh 55 grams, some are 60. Some are fitted with Gibson wheels and some have Ultrascale. So, shunting with ridged stock can be done in P4. All of the wagons in the train were RTR and I think that is the key part. Mr Bachmann or Mr Hornby should, theoretically, be able to produce a far squarer than we can (there are exceptions mind!). Some of the wagons in the train had their axle boxes drilled out and a shoulder less bearing was fitted, but many just had straight well swaps. Compensation is fine and there are a couple of options; internal or external rockers. I personally don’t like this system as much, my success rate hasn’t been as high with compensated stock compared to ridged or sprung, but that is just me. As I said before, spring is my preferred method. Again, you pay your money and make your choice. Bill Bedford, Brassmasters and Maso Kits are the big names in this field, although London Road Models and Morgan Design also produce sprung systems. I found that the Maso Kits system was the one I liked the best. It comes with a setting bar and the etches are very crisp. I’ve found that if carefully assembled, wagons fitted with this system run very smoothly. Throw a set of Ultrascale wheels into the mix and you have the makings of a very good and reliable sprung system. Footage from a couple of years ago of my stock running on Balcombe; note the baseboard joint and how the sprung wagons almost glide over. The 9 wagons at the rear of the train are all ridged - they tend to 'bump' over. Nothing horrendous, but you can, hopefully, see the principle at work. This brings me on to the subject of wagon wheels. Really only three realistic options these days; Alan Gibson – reasonably priced and easy to get hold of; Exactoscale – assembly them yourself, or Ultrascale – very expensive and quite a long waiting list. My own preference, certainly until my stash becomes exhausted, is Ultrascale. However, and this is a big however, the price is now £6.75 per axle, compared to Exactoscales £2 per axle and Gibson’s £1.50. When I bought my Ultrascale wheels, which was a good 8 plus years ago now, the price was around £3 per axle, a little over double the price of Gibson’s at the time. I opted to go down this route simply as I had a poor lot of ‘wobbly’ wheels from Mr Gibson and I was fed up with unreliable running. I invested in a handful of Ultrascale wheels and didn’t look back, placing a very large order almost immediately after substituting the wheels. But now I don’t really know what to suggest. To build a reasonable fleet of wagons with Ultrascale wheels, say 20 vehicles, would cost £270, compared to £60 if you went down the Gibson route. I think now I would preserver with Gibson wheels faced with that bill, but I don’t know if you would get the same reliably rate. A quandary and no mistake! Longer wheel based vehicles, CCTs and PMVs for example, I once again, go down the Maso Kit route. These vans however are fitted with Black Beetle wheels, but these too are becoming more difficult to get hold of. Coach bogies are a mixture of Maso Kits and Bill Bedfords, but again my preference is for the Maso kit system. This quartet are all fitted with Masokit sub chassis; they run rather nicely. So this ends the first part of the lecture! I hope it has been of use. Later, I will start tackling a couple of wagons. Pop back soon! Nick. Edited April 26, 2020 by Brinkly Typo - I'm sure the first of many! 20 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 Another couple of clips of P4 stock in action on Balcombe. Shunting can be done, even without buffer heads! (I don't joke! For years, and I mean years, these wagons ran on our test track without buffer heads). Regards, Nick. 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post Taz Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted April 26, 2020 I was going to be demonstrating coach building with brass kits. Hopefully this will give everyone a taste of what they could have seen. I don’t claim to be a master builder and my models certainly aren’t display cabinet quality but hopefully they pass muster as good layout coaches (to pinch a term from Tony Wright). So I’ll endeavour to describe how I get from something like this: To something like this: My methods are mostly based on the principles of how Comet recommend you build their coaches. You can download their guide here: http://www.cometmodels.co.uk/data/PDF/Building%20Coaches%20the%20Comet%20Way2.pdf These methods equally apply to any other manufacturers kits that are designed to go together the same way, such as Worsley Works. Before I get started I try and do some prototype research to make sure I build the kit as accurately as possible. As I mainly build ex GWR coaches my first port of call is the excellent series of books by Russell but there are similar books for the other big 4 companies as well. The first thing I do (after checking everything is as it should be in the box) is to prepare the sides. I add extra details such as door hinges and bump stops. I make use of the Comet detailing etch -C26. This includes door hinges. For door hinges I study prototype pictures to determine the correct position and mark the side. These are then drilled out with a .5mm drill. I use a bench drill for this as it allows me to set the side up against a fence to ensure consistent positioning across all doors. I use stubs of .33mm brass wire to represent the door bump stops. Most Comet sides have indents etched on the surface where these should go. Worsley sides normally have the indents etched on the rear. If none are present I mark the positions myself. These are then drilled out with a .35mm drill bit in a pin vice. Next I deviate from the Comet recommendations. They suggest you build the sides, ends and roof as a box. The roof is used to prove rigidity to the sides to stop them bowing in or out. This means gluing the sides to the roof. However I have often struggled to make this glue joint neat resulting in lots of extra clean up required. You also have to be very careful that it doesn’t impinge on fitting glazing later. So now I solder a strip of brass across the back of the side at the top. This is rebated enough to allow the aluminium roof to fit on top. A simple wood jig which has a rebate the same depth of the roof flange allows me to solder the strip at the correct height. I tack either end and then solder along the entire length, regularly checking against the roof to make sure it is in the correct position. The brass strip can be a piece of scrap etch (I never throw any away) or you could buy some specific for the job. 14 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post Taz Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted April 26, 2020 The next job is the drop lights. Some coach kits have these etched in but if not you have to do it yourself. The drop lights are cleaned up and soldered in from behind. You have the option of positioning some open. If this is done snip off the bottom of the drop light so it does not come up against the coach tumblehome. Once these have been done you may need to clear out the holes for the door hinges etc if they have become clogged with solder or overlapped by a drop light. Next I solder the door hinges. On Collett coaches the top and middle hinge are shallow and the bottom hinge deeper. I think the deeper hinge on the detailing etch is too long so once added to the side I file it down a bit. The door bangs are made with .33mm brass wire. Wire is passed through the hole and soldered from behind. It is the snipped off and filed back until it is almost flush with the body. Once all this work on the sides is completed I then file back any protrusions or solder blobs on the back which would stop glazing material sitting flush against the body. 17 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Fatadder Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 @Mick Bonwick One topic I was planning to talk to you about this year is weathering ballasting, are there any hints you could offer please? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post Taz Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted April 26, 2020 Next, in another deviation from Comet’s recommendation, I join the ends to the sides. I solder one end to each side, forming two L sections and then join these together. I tack top and bottom to check for fit and alignment before soldering along the entire join. Next job is to solder the brackets that are used to secure the body to the floor to the inside of the ends. These should be recessed so that the body sits over the floor. I tin both parts and sweat them together using my resistance soldering iron. At this point I can now screw the body to the underframe (which I build as per Comets instructions). The underframe ensures the body is held square so that I can solder two cross members using scrap etch. These are soldered to the brass strips added to the back of the sides. A piece of spare roof strip is used to set the correct width. Once they are in place the sides and ends form a rigid structure which will not flex. In order to accommodate these cross members notches need to be made in the interior so that everything fits (as designed Comet interiors reach above the height of the sides). I then cut the roof to size. This is done with a hacksaw and using a mitre block. We can then offer up the roof, body and underframe together to check everything fits so far. 18 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 Want sound on your layout but cant get a system in the loco - or cant afford it? Plant a bluetooth speaker under the board, link to your mobile, find an appropriate track on Youtube and synchronise your train with the sound. If you enjoyed that see our other content on the layout and catering thread. Cheers Phil Bullock 9 2 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Popular Post Taz Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Popular Post Share Posted April 26, 2020 Now we move onto detailing the ends. First the end steps. These are soldered in from behind. I modify these slightly by removing part of the etch. This is so it doesn’t block the holes already in place for the end jumper cables. Modified on the left, original on the right. This is a good point to show why reference to prototype information is so important. The model I am building in the pictures is a diag. D121 brake third. The Comet instructions tell you to add end steps to both ends. However the prototype only had straps at the passenger end. The brake end had no steps. So I plated behind the holes in the end with scrap etch and then filled them with low melt solder. I then add the hand holds folded up from .45mm brass wire. I also fit the suspension mounts for the gangways. These are included on the Comet detailing etch. However I don’t use the supplied positioning template as this sets them too low. I also only secure them by the top bracket with solder. Later, once the gangway is in place and I am happy with positioning I secure the bottom bracket with a tiny blob of superglue. I also model the train alarm gear. The ‘ears’ are part of the super detail etch. The rest is made up of .33mm brass wire which I attach using the resistance soldering iron. The gangways on Comet kits are made up of three castings. these are soldered together and then added to the ends. The gangway castings have little ears which need to be drilled out with a .5mm drill (before attaching to the coach). You can then use .45mm wire to complete the gangway suspension units. Finally the inter-coach electrical connectors can be soldered in place. 15 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 Want a coach that isnt available RTR but terrified by brass kits? Consider cut and shut. Heres how we did a Mk1 BFK from other Bachmann coaches For me this thread epitomises the friendship, knowledge and support that is what RMweb is all about! Have a go...... 11 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 Right, I've been chatting for to long already; I blame @chrisf So, we turn our attention to the first helpless victim; a Bachmann RTR mineral wagon. This wagon belongs to @Re6/6. I offered to convert it a while ago and thought today would be an ideal opportunity to work on it! Best not b*gger it up! The first task is to remove the 00 wheels and put them somewhere safe; someone else can make use of them. Tension lock coupling also is removed and sent on to @BlackRat via Royal Mail courier! Unscrew the chassis and detach the body. All straight foward. John had already had a go with this chassis, but hadn't completed the job. Now, we take our pillar drill, with a fairly large bit, and drill out the well directly above the moulded w-iron. We need to do this because the face of the wheel catches on the plastic. This is the safest way to do it. Do not try and cut through the plastic; it will end in tears! This leaves us with a fairly rough cut. Clean up starts with a combination of files, working from a fairly deep cut, down to fine. The Swan Morton No 15A is good for tidying up the edges, but do most of this with the file. This should be your end result. Repeat for all four and clean up. Before fitting the wheels, a small amount of plastic on the rear of the brake shoe will need to be removed. It might be advantagous to bend the shoe out a little to clear the flange of the wheel. Here you can see one set of wheels has already been fitted. Nothing has been done to the axlebox. Give it a quick test and check the wheels run smoothly. I've fitted a Smiths coupling to this wagon and repaired the damaged buffer heads (not me John it came like that!). Give it a quick bench test to make sure you don't have any wobble or wayward behaviour and fit some additional weight. This one has a piece of roof lead inside cut slightly smaller than floor dimensions. Total weight is around 51 grams: spot on! John, she is ready for service on Balcombe! More on springing in a bit. Best wishes, Nick 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Taz Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 Once I have double checked the Comet plans against prototype photos (where possible) I then mark out the roof with positions of roof vents and handrails. A set of compasses is really useful for this job. All the holes then need to be drilled out. Hand drilling aluminium can be a tedius and painful process so I use the pillar drill. Always try and prop the roof up so the point you are drilling is as close to 90 degrees to the drill. This will reduce the chances of the drill wandering and also decrease the likelihood of the drill bit snapping. Once the holes have been opened out if necessary you can glue in the supplied roof vents. I do this from behind with superglue. .45 wire is used to form any hand rails on the roof. The roof mounted water tanks are 20thou plastic sheet. Using the supplied plan cut to size and preform a curve using a knife handle or similar. Then secure with superglue to the roof. You will need to clamp this while the glue sets The roof panels are made using thin tape supplied by Comet (C20). Using prototype pictures the spacings of the panels are identified (note GWR coaches did not have regular sized roof panels but each panel was the same size as the compartment beneath - This means on a composite the spacing of the tape is not constant). The tape is laid over the roof overlength. I then strengthen the ends with a drop of runny superglue and then trim the ends. (Note this is not the roof from the brake second I have used for most of the demo photos) 12 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Brinkly Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 Do you want to buy that drill off me @Taz !? I think I used it once before you 'borrowed' it! 7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Taz Posted April 26, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 26, 2020 It has been a godsend. If you ever want it back a replacement will go straight to the top of my shopping list 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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