Colin parks Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Hi Adam, Funny that you should have slippery Ultrascale wheels at the same time as there has been a (sometimes) heated debate on the subject of fixing wheels to axles. I would stand by the idea that if a wheel is slipping on its axle then there must be enough clearance between the two to successfully apply some Loctite 603 retainer that will then keep the wheel in place. I am going to use this method on various motor bogies, but the real test will come when the Ultrascale P4 wheels come for my Hornby 08. It looks as if Ultrascale use ABS plastic for their wheel centres. Perhaps ABS is more 'waxy' than the material used by Gibson, but then again, there are plenty of people who say that Gibson wheels have their problems too. All the best, Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 (edited) Hi Colin, Mike It's a case of horses for courses, really. I have a Bachmann 08 with Ultrascales and haven't had any particular problems with shifted cranks. Dad built his 08 from a Modern Outline Kits offering many years ago and this, for a time, led him a merry dance with split and shifted cranks (Gibson as well as Sharman I think) but has since settled down following a replacement gearbox. No, I don't know why it should have had this effect! Of course, real 08s have much the same problem on occasions. I think, though I might be wrong, that the current set of cranks are Loctited in place. I have no problems with using Loctite to fit final gear drives so it is not an aversion to the stuff or a desire to have a mechanical fixing. I chose to pin simply because the wheelsets on this loco' are intended for conversions and thus have a nice big boss behind the visible face of the wheel. Now theoretically, this would provide a good surface area for Loctite but since I'd set the quartering, drilling and pinning in situ just happened to be easier. 'Normal' wheels would have been treated to Loctite. I've seen the debate on the Scalefour forum about wheels and there are some interesting things that I'd like to try at some point so I don't want to get embroiled against those with a prejudice against Gibson wheels but I've not had many problems - and for most of the things I build, there simply isn't a choice but to use them - that were not self-inflicted. Mike Edge says that under the current regime of Colin Seymour standards are much improved and he uses far more of them than I do. That said, generally I cannot and will not live with Ultrascale's delivery times; they're a quality product (and priced accordingly which is fair enough) but I am quite capable of using the alternative option which happens to be cheaper and available by return of post. Adam Edited March 31, 2014 by Adam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 This started as a ‘simple’ regauging and detailing project retaining the original chassis. A quick – and far from comprehensive – tally of the work done, however, suggests that I may have got carried away… Body Beautiful (or something like that; the thing is built like a second row forward, all broad shoulders and big back end) · Complete replacement of handrail knobs and ‘plain’ handrails. The boiler handrails were reused, however. · New lamp irons (Masokits) · Replacement vac’ and steam heat pipes · Smokebox dart, number plates, steps added to the buffers · Added injector pipework and all the usual thinning and titivation Iain Rice taught us how to do all those years ago. · Enlarged cab ‘keyhole’ and tinned cab roof edges – this made the biggest difference to the model. Chassis · New wheels (Ultrascale – the loco’ came to me very cheaply so I could justify the expense). These entailed replacement balance weights and sundry mucking about. · New brakegear – see my earlier post. · Cosmetic frames behind the wheels. · Cosmetic rear frames and front framing. Sounds simple but took a lot of thinking about though the end result is well worth the effort I think and, once thought about, only took an evening to complete. The rear frames are still far too narrow but are a country mile closer than what Bachmann provides. · What Bachmann provides, however, is still there. I left the ‘radial truck’ alone though it’s actually no such thing. It consists of a sprung arrangement, reminiscent of a plunger pick-up, acts on the axle which runs inside a piece of what looks like phosphor bronze tube meaning that the wheelset is pushed, gently, onto the track. The axle can flop about in every plane going so I don’t think this qualifies as ‘proper engineering’ but if it stands up to service I will leave it be. The rods actually look quite good and are mechanically sound so I’ve left these alone too. · New front sandpipes. The nearly finished result is quite nice, all in all. You don’t see many models of these big tanks in black, the manufacturers and most modellers seem to prefer lined green and that’s fair enough, going on the photographs, so did Caerphilly works. When I get around to fully weathering it I envisage it being on the filthy side of grubby on the front of 30 or so minerals. Adam 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 (edited) And back to wagons, and in time since this one was completed a month or so ago. Details of the conversion of this Bobol D from the Bachmann BDA begin earlier in this thread but here it is, fully lettered by means of an ancient sheet of just-about-usable Woodhead transfers and numbering from CCT (usual disclaimer). Paint is my usual combination of Halfords' rattlecan and Humbrols and I'm quite pleased with it though I'm in no enormous hurry to do another. The decks of these bolsters seems to have been darker than was usual for other varieties of open wagons - and this has been accentuated by the bright sunshine these pictures were taken in - I guess that the mix of 'hammerscale' and rust these wagons were subject to from their usual loads were responsible so I'm reasonably pleased with the finish but would be interested to know what others think. And for those of you that don't follow the UK Standard Gauge Industrial part of the forum, there's been more progress on my kitbashed Sentinel: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/67087-a-post-war-200hp-steam-sentinel-in-em-closing-the-cupboards/?p=1419056 Adam Edited April 15, 2014 by Adam 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin parks Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Hi Adam, That Bobol D looks superb. Bogie bolster wagons are not that commonly modelled to this standard. My favourite details are the chains, which you are bound to say is one of the easiest parts of the build to do! Now, six or seven of these vehicles would make a nice train.... All the best, Colin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 It's beautifully done- never seen one with a deck that clean, though. Now, if only Colin could persuade his brother to do a Bolster E to gone on the Turbot underframe... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 (edited) My favourite details are the chains, which you are bound to say is one of the easiest parts of the build to do! 'Fraid so Colin. You're quite right Brian, the deck is a bit(!) on the clean side. I'm happy with the colour of the wood but there should be more texture/muck on it. I'm holding off on that for the minute until I work out how to achieve it properly. Equally, a straightforward route to a Bogie Bolster E would be very, very welcome. Adam Edited April 15, 2014 by Adam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RSLR Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 I think it looks like the real thing just smaller, which I believe is the objective. So lovely job mate Cheers, Reece Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin parks Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 It's beautifully done- never seen one with a deck that clean, though. Now, if only Colin could persuade his brother to do a Bolster E to gone on the Turbot underframe... I'll put a word in! Colin 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26power Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 (edited) This came up in the 16T mineral wagon thread - might be of interest re a load etc.? Nice modelling. Need someone to do the brake handles as an etch! https://www.flickr.com/photos/tractionart/7273699504/ (Edit to add link that I have just noticed was missing!) Edited April 30, 2014 by 26power Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted April 29, 2014 Author Share Posted April 29, 2014 (edited) The other ongoing work concerns the Cambrian-based SR open which has not received those fiddly little details which had been put off. Specifically, these include capping strips and clips - 5 thou' plastic - door bags, stays for the lever guides, safety loops for the brake push rods and a few bolt heads. Nothing very exciting but it all adds to the overall impression and it's now ready for painting. Most of the detail I've added is a matter of personal preference reflecting how the wagons were modified in service. I daresay that, once it's painted, it'll just blend into its surroundings and only those in the know will notice the things that make it different but I'm happy enough with it. Oh, and since I've taken these pictures, I've tacked the end of the capping strip back and tweaked the lever guide straight. Aren't digital cameras great? As for the kit itself, I thought it very good, particularly for a representation of the wagon as built. The thin sides reflect the real thing (a wartime expedient), the one-piece chassis is embarrassingly easy to get running but the floor probably wants a strip of 10 thou' down one side to stop the sides bowing in and I've retro-fitted this. There are some nice buffers on the sprue by the way, just not the pattern I was after, and these would benefit from some metal heads rather than the plastic ones supplied. Adam Edited April 30, 2014 by Adam 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted April 30, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 30, 2014 Equally, a straightforward route to a Bogie Bolster E would be very, very welcome. Adam Here you go; http://www.rumneymodels.co.uk/6.html Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 Yes Mike, I know about that - very nice it looks - and if I happened to have a LIMA model or two to hand... Adam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Zero Gravitas Posted April 30, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 30, 2014 (edited) Hi Adam, Regarding the Southern Open (guessing it's a diagram 1389 - and very nicely done too); 2 quick questions, if I may... (1) Are you using "L" section for the tie bar between the W-irons? (2) Have I been labouring under the delusion that the prototype tie bar was just a rectangular-section strip for the last 40 years? Either way, if it is L=section, that's a really clever way of getting a bit more strength into the tie bar. I've got a Parkside Mink G where I've replaced the plastic tie bar with n/s strip, but it's still a bit fragile TBH. Using an L-section would beef it up considerably. Thanks very much in advance. Best Regards, ZG. Edited April 30, 2014 by Zero Gravitas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 Hi ZG Thank you. I'm reasonably sure that it's a 1375 (but I'm on the train right now so can't check). I don't think that the retro-fitting of Mortgon type vacuum brake makes a difference. Now I've set myself up (!), back to the tie bars. The real things are strip, usually (some 16 tonners converted to Morton vac' brakes in the mid-60s did have angle fitted 'L' side out), but that tends to flex, or bend or fall off. Hence the angle, which is durable and only a little more expensive. The glued area is also doubled which helps. I should add that this isn't my idea; it's shamelessly filched from Ian Fleming, who may well have seen it somewhere else first. I haven't built a Mink G, but weren't most GW tie bars made from rod? I know that the pre-Nationalisation Fruit Ds were. Adam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin parks Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 (edited) Hi Adam, How did you make the capping strip clips? Most are black but some are white. Would it be true to say that the black clips are single tiny blocks of plastic let into slots in the top edge of the top planks? I remember seeing these wagons at Newhaven in the early 70's, so it's nice a bit of nostalgia for me to see a model of this type. This wagon type is one of those I have been nagging my brother to produce for a couple of years, so I am glad to see it has made it into production. All the best, Colin Edited April 30, 2014 by Colin parks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin parks Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 (edited) Hi Adam, I have checked to Paul Bartlett site and the diagram is 1375 - regardless of vacuum brake conversion or not. There is a very similar LNER type to dia. 175/78 etc. with thicker planks and a different bolt pattern on the strapping and corner plates. The link below shows a wagon of your SR 1375 type and to the left is an LNER one. (Don't ask me exactly which diagram - it's hard to tell from the evidence of one corner plate.) http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/sropenmerch/h31616790#h31616790 Colin Edited April 30, 2014 by Colin parks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted April 30, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 30, 2014 This wagon type is one of those I have been nagging my brother to produce for a couple of years, Families! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin parks Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Families! You should hear how I nag him about doing a BR banana van then Ian! Colin 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 Thanks Colin, that's saved me a job for when I make it home! The black capping clips are exactly as you suggest - though I made them oversize to start with - and I cheerfully acknowledge the idea to you. The white ones are strips of 5 thou': too much like hard work! Adam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Zero Gravitas Posted April 30, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 30, 2014 (edited) Hi Adam and Colin, 1. Re diagram 1375 - You're quite right, that nice Mr. Bartlett has fitted and unfitted as diagram 1375 (as does Terry Gough in his book "A Pictorial Guide to Southern Wagons and Vans) - but in Mike King's new book "Southern Wagons in Colour" he says (on page 22) that after diagram 1375 wagons were fitted with vacuum brakes they were reallocated to diagram 1389... 2. All of the fruit wagons, and the bloaters and Minks C and D definitely had rod tie-bars, but the Mink G had strip (so the Parkside kit is correct) - so I'm adding L-section to my shopping list for Railex at the end of May. 3. Colin - I make my capping strip clips the same way John Hayes does in the "4mm Coal Wagon" - wrap a thin strip of 5 thou plasticard around a 1mm x 3mm brass strip, hold in boiling water for a few seconds, cut along each long face et voila - lots of 1.5mm x 1mm x 1.5mm clips! I use a cut-down wooden coffee stirrer, but the principle is the same. If that's not clear I could probably put up a couple of photos to help clarify. Best Regards, ZG. Edited April 30, 2014 by Zero Gravitas Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted April 30, 2014 Author Share Posted April 30, 2014 (edited) ZG Thanks for the clarification. Yet another manifestation of the bane the modeller's life: under-referenced railway books. Mike King does indeed use 1389 and must have based it on something but it isn't quite clear what that is. With my 'professional' historian's hat on (I am lucky enough to do this for a living) I have to say I find this extremely irritating. Do you happen to have volume 4 of the OPC SR Wagons to hand? Does this say any different? I guess that he is referring to the 1961 wagon census but where this is held and what other records have been referred to he is not good enough to say. I shall have to ask him as and when I next see him at a show. Capping strips - I have tried the 5 thou' strip method and it works but is extremely fiddly. Colin's method - cutting a slot into the top plank of the wagon and inserting a piece of 20 thou', applying solvent and coming back to clean up a day or so later - works just as well. I bond the 5 thou' capping strip with cyanocrylate since this doesn't cause the strip to evaporate! You can speed the process up even further by bonding the clips with cyano' as well but at risk to your fingers... Adam Edited April 30, 2014 by Adam Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted April 30, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 30, 2014 (edited) Do you happen to have volume 4 of the OPC SR Wagons to hand? Does this say any different? I guess that he is referring to the 1961 wagon census but where this is held and what other records have been referred to he is not good enough to say. I shall have to ask him as and when I next see him at a show. Bixley et al say there were originally 6 1375s converted in 1942 to carry light anti-aircraft guns and equipped with vacuum brakes. They became diagram 1389, and the guns were demounted in due course. "By 1948 the total of this diagram had risen to 18, and in BR days there would be many more as the Diagram 1375s were steadily equipped with vacuum brakes as part of the modernisation programme." Edited April 30, 2014 by Oldddudders Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Zero Gravitas Posted April 30, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted April 30, 2014 Hi Adam, I haven't got volume 4, I'm afraid. However, I know where there is a copy - and I'll have a look in the library at Pendon next time I'm "on duty" there. You're right - it is irritating, but I console myself with the thought that if this is the most irritating thing in my life at the moment, then things can't be too bad :-) I've actually got a Cambrian diagram 1400 (which I'm pretty sure retained 1400 after vacuum fitting) on the workbench at the moment - and I think I'll do a bit of experimenting with the capping strip approaches. I'll let you know how I get on... Best Regards, ZG. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted May 1, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 1, 2014 Yes Mike, I know about that - very nice it looks - and if I happened to have a LIMA model or two to hand... Adam 40 and counting Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now