Scratchbuilding Type H Container

[Boris]

Well, this is a bit of a new fangled thing for me, having never scratch built anything before in my life, and being snowed in and driving the wife mad, I saw an illustration on Paul Bartletts piccie site and got inspired.

 

For those of you who don't know, a type H container (goes back quite a long way) was designed for carrying building materials around, and thus was designed to be craned straight out onto a building site, or so I understand. Pauls site contained a lot of nice photographs and a couple of GA drawings, complete with dimensions.

 

Type H stuff

 

I have a few bits of basswood left over that were supplied with the glass wagon kit (for making shipping containers) from MMP, and by my conversions, they are withing a fraction of a mil of being what looks like a standard 7 1/4 inch wagon plank - out of laziness I am going to built the even planked version, not the uneven planked version.

 

Basswood sides, probably a plasticard base, as I intend to either sheet or load the darn thing, and I reckon I have enough scrap bits to replicate/fabricate all the fittings.

 

Like I said though, I've never scratchbuilt anything in my life, I don't know what I am doing and will probably mess it up, but I'm going to have a shot, some pics tomorrow, assuming I actually get out of the bed before lunchtime, which I failed to do today.

[Guest Max Stafford]

Boris, I reckon all you need is a suitable thickness Plastikard, a scribing tool and something to press out rivet impressions. I think Mainly Trains do some useful etches for strapping and corner-plates. They do them in 4mm for sure, but they may do 7mm equivalents too.

I think you've picked a project that's really do-able as a first attempt though.

Good luck with it, I'll certainly be watching - even if just to take the P155...!

 

Dave.

[Boris]

Oh joy, it's snowing again, now to the 2 feet and 3 inches point....

 

Anyway, progress has been made this morning, mainly owing to the milkman banging on the door at 9am and waking me up. Apparently he didn't want to post the eggs through the letterbox.

 

A floor has been cut from some plasticard, basswood has been cut to length and applied and I've had a go at some strapping.

 

 

Brass is scrap from an old fret punched on the back with one of those gravity rivetting things that I bought from Eileens Emporium a number of years ago giving a satisfactory bolt head. For the nut end of these on the inside, I find gently pressing the point of a sharp knife into the basswood gives a truly excellant representation of a recessed nut.

 

I will probably affix the other long side next and then have a look at the hinged ramp/door end.

[Worsdell forever]

Great little project and costing very little, unless it gets used to light the fire

[Boris]

Great little project and costing very little, unless it gets used to light the fire

 

This time the wife will NOT be allowed anywhere near it.

[Boris]

Well, I have pressed on a bit further:

 

 

It actually looks pretty good, the only problem being the camera is extremely unflattering to it.

 

The left end is the fixed end, hence the standard wagon type corner reinforcing pieces, the door/ramp end which is nearest to the camera has the first hinge fitted which would have had a loop on the end, sitting over a peg with a slot through which the securing pin would go - pins and chains will be added last. The far side just has the glue curing and then will be softened with mekpak and then moulded around the corner of the wagon, and then cut to size. The door has the correct 45 degree plank end profile and fits in a semi-decent way onto the ends. A hinge has been made up from brass wire and the end of the hinge strap does actually loop through it, again the camera makes this look awful in close-up.

 

I have the other hinge and the structural strapping to finish, I am unsure as the whether these containers had steel plates running along the top of the planks or not (to protect the planking during loading), drawings and pictures show none of the strap capping that wagons with these had, so I'm inclined to believe that they didn't. Certainly photos show the top planks badly chewed which would indicate not.