Door Hinges in 4mm scale

[Wolf27]

Hi All

 

I'm after a supply of etched brass door hinges for coaches in 4mm scale. I did have a fret from DC Kits for there EMU kits but have now exhausted it. I though Comet did them but cannot seem to find them. Any suggestions?

 

cheers

 

Shane

[Coombe Barton]

Have a look at this thread - http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/topic/14046-bulleid-coach-door-hinges-a-new-perspective/

[merlin46]

Hi All

 

I'm after a supply of etched brass door hinges for coaches in 4mm scale. I did have a fret from DC Kits for there EMU kits but have now exhausted it. I though Comet did them but cannot seem to find them. Any suggestions?

 

cheers

 

Shane

 

 

Hi Shane

 

MJT Components range have an etch for 4mm hinges & handles available from Dart Castings

 

HTH

 

Tim Rogers

WFRM Member

 

 

[ozzyo]

Hi All

 

I'm after a supply of etched brass door hinges for coaches in 4mm scale. I did have a fret from DC Kits for there EMU kits but have now exhausted it. I though Comet did them but cannot seem to find them. Any suggestions?

 

cheers

 

Shane

 

 

Shane,

 

you could have a word with Charlie at DC kits he is a member on this site. Or you could make your own out of some brass L angle, IT WILL DRIVE YOU MAD THOUGH

[gwrrob]

Hi All

 

I'm after a supply of etched brass door hinges for coaches in 4mm scale. I did have a fret from DC Kits for there EMU kits but have now exhausted it. I though Comet did them but cannot seem to find them. Any suggestions?

 

cheers

 

Shane

 

They're on the C26 etch here Shane.On the wagon and coach detail page through products.Frogmore do some also available from 247 Developments.

 

http://www.cometmodels.co.uk/

[Enterprisingwestern]

Shawplan also do an etch of hinges, handles and suchlike.

[coachmann]

Bottom hinges make all the difference and all model coach kits should have them in this day and age. It is difficult for manufacturers to make the change when they have a very large range, but there is nothing to stop hinges going into new kits.

[EHertsGER]

All

 

Can anyone offer some guidance on opening out the holes for the door hinge etches common to MJT/Bill Bedford and so on. In the latter case Bill's etch seems too thick for the holes. Certainly I would expect there to be some fettling, but the sheer quantity involved in one of his LNER Quad sets leads me to wonder if there is a tool or technique I have missed beyond an abundance of patience.

 

My current approach is to open the holes with an Exacto blade and to rub the etch down to a corresponding thickness, but what a fag!

 

Best,

Marcus

[Jol Wilkinson]

Marcus,

 

take a look at the last post in the May Meeting notes of the S4 Society's North East Essex Area Group. This may seem a bit involved, but if cutting lots of slots may it be worth devising something similar.

 

https://www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=87&t=5879

 

Jol

[31A]

These days for coaches with brass sides I tend to use hinges from the etch produced by Dart Castings in the Frogmore range, ref. 3918.  They're said to be GW but I don't think there's anything particularly company specific about them.  You just need to drill a 0.5mm hole at the location of the hinge; the tag on the part fits snugly in and can be soldered easily from inside.  Much easier than trying to make neat slots in the coach side!

 

https://www.dartcastings.co.uk/mjt/3918.php

 

[96701]

I made mine from Comet door handles, suitably filed down to form a straight vertical which is what you have to have for doors.

 

[EHertsGER]

All

 

Thank you for your replies! 

 

Oddly enough I had been messing about with seeking a solution when I put down the tools and decided to catch up here over a cup of tea. So far I had tried strips of wet and dry to open out the slots. Fine if there actually is a slot, which is not always the case. OK, but boring, tedious and repetitive in the number of times one had to cut a new strip. Next it was a case of drilling holes at each end of the slot and then running the drill 'sideways' between the holes (#77), which did seem quite effective, reliable and none too tedious. My mind was left at how to 'mechanise' the process instead of wrestling with floppy coach sides... 

Then I read the bit about the Proxxon milling machine (on my shopping list) and the light dawned. Lacking such a machine, my thoughts wandered off to my pillar drill that does have an X-Y table, albeit a small one.  No backlash, though!

 

So, fabricate a larger surface as described above, bolt to X-Y table and use said cutters from China (no tea this time - oh, sorry, that would have been a clipper, not a cutter. The cutters are on the clipper, I suppose...).

 

The Dart hinge/Comet door handle is a sound idea too, but for the construction of this particular coach. The hinges are part of a 'brace' that gives the side its profile and strength and so must be installed through the three slots in one go, hence the need for some precision.

 

More anon, but my thanks in the mean time.

 

Best,

Marcus

Edited February 27, 2019 by EHertsGER

[EHertsGER]

Ok, onwards. I set up and tried the approach outlined in my post and that of preceding entries; a table arrangement on the x-y table of my pillar drill.

 

Oh, boy, that was easy! It worked perfectly - so much so that an old kit I tried it out on has gone back into the box as, now, being much easier to fit hinges to an otherwise blank side. I didn’t even trash it while ‘practicing’.

 

I did try clamping the work, but simply could not find a good purchase along the length of the coach side. I resorted to using double sided tape - use a longer piece and lift the tape, not the work, as the latter will bend - to hold the work in place. Mill towards the backstop (Parliament please note) to stop the work moving. Otherwise that’s it.

 

Full credit to Jol Wilkinson and ‘Richard M’ for inspiring this idea - I deserve absolutley no credit for this at all!

 

Edited March 10, 2019 by EHertsGER

[Mallard60022]

Frogmore etch has different length Hinges; many short ones and one longer in every three. As mentioned(?) MJT Item 3918; has enough for 72 doors.

I'm afraid I do all my own holes on Comet sides. Use a felt pen marker then dividers to make the marks on the door slit and then make a tiny guide mark with a sharp 'punch'. Then break quite a lot of 5mm drills! I like the hinge method idea on Southern Pride etched sides but find the little etched part with three prongs a real pain to set up and solder. Maybe I'm not doing it correctly; don't care really!

 

Phil

[Jamiel]

I know this is an old thread, but with lockdown currently happening we don’t have the luxury of looking around a few stalls at a show to see what is available, so I thought I would post a few photos and also ask what one of the frets might be.

 

I knew I had some etches, but was also looking at this thread to see what is available.

 

The first is by MJT and has raised hinges on the etch.

 

The second is by Comet (through Wizard Models) and is their C26 Coach super-detailing fret. Here the hinges are not raised.

 

I have a feeling this might also be a Comet fret, but cannot find it anywhere on the Comet and Wizard websites, so it might not be.

 

Here is a photo of the Comet LMS Inspection saloon when I was buildings it and you can see the hinges are raised. So that is why I think the above fret is likely t be by Comet.

 

Finally, here is a model I am finishing off at the moment, the hinges are the Craftsman and also ones from the above fret. Again raised. The door bangers are tiny bits of plasticard rod, both those and the hinges were superglued on just before the undercoat was added. The rest of the model is soldered, but for such tiny pieces I find they prefer to stick to the soldering iron rather than in place.

 

If anyone can identify the fret, I would love to know who it is by, and hopefully the photos show some detail that is not always apparent on the websites.

 

I am just finishing a class 120 DMU mostly from the Craftsman conversion kit, but used as a kit itself, and am about to start a Class 124 Transpennine 6 car DMU from the Worsley Works etches, but those do not come with the small details which is why I was researching the parts I may also need to complete it, hinges, door handles, garb handles, etc. Oval buffers are also something you can not judge from website photos as they all look oval from the side, but that would be a different thread.

 

Jamie

[sjp23480]

Southern Pride Imaybe?  Also looks like the etch PC Models produced in years gone by?

[PMP]

54 minutes ago, sjp23480 said:

Southern Pride Imaybe?  Also looks like the etch PC Models produced in years gone by?

Correct, the third ‘unidentified’ etch is a PC models etch. 

[micklner]

Theses are very good and easy to fit,drill a 0.5mm hole and solder on from the inside.

 

https://www.dartcastings.co.uk/frogmore/3918.php

[sjp23480]

I use brass lace making pins for hinges.

 

For the top and middle hinges I file/grind the top of the pin either side so they are in a T profile.  Drill through the coach side and solder in place from the inside.

 

For the lower hinge I crush the head in pliers or a vice and dress with a file, this gives the "hinge" extra depth it needs to align with the other hinges on account of the tumblehome.  I then apply the coach side as above.  I then file all three hinges vertically to line them up.  

 

This how they look on one of my Comet Stanier brakes.  

 

I hope this helps

Steve

 

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by sjp23480

[Jamiel]

1 hour ago, PMP said:

Correct, the third ‘unidentified’ etch is a PC models etch. 

Thanks for that, and the other replies.

I wonder where I bought those from? A show? Did Dart Castings ever have them?

Jamie

[PMP]

2 hours ago, Jamiel said:

I wonder where I bought those from? A show? Did Dart Castings ever have them?

Jamie

I’m sure the PC range were distributed by W&T from Birmingham who also handled Smiths, and other etched products. I believe W&T now are under the Scalelink company’, so if you’ve dealt with any of the above they could be the source