OKWB - Cambrian Timber Bolster (was A Pretty Pair)

[Kenton]

Anyone interested in a step-by-step ?

© Adrian_Pingstone

[Guest Max Stafford]

They're beauties!

 

Dave.

[ozzyo]

One hell of a paint job on a pigeon, Oh and the added details.

 

Coat on and I'm leaving the building.

[Kenton]

OK for those patiently waiting:

No its not a pigeon, not a parrot or even a Norwegian parrot, its a MACAW - well actually even that might be open for debate ... and as for livery, no I don't think so!

 

The telegraph code MACAW was given to the bolster wagons, of which there were many varieties produced by the Great Western and other companies.

 

There are very few kits available and in etched form at 4mm I have not come across one before. I was therefore quite keen to get my hands on the new kit from Dragon Models for the Cambrian Timber Bolster Wagon. At only £12 it is almost irresistible given previous excellent experiences from this supplier so I purchased a pair.

 

The following posts will cover my usual "no holes" step-by-step build of the fist one.

 

First a little prototype info courtesy of Dragon Models:

This kit represents the timber bolster wagon built from 1901 under the supervision of Herbert Jones. It is one of several designs operated by the Cambrian Railway. This particular design differed from previous designs in having no edge planking and were used solely for the carriage of timber that originated on the Cambrian system.

 

Originally the deck was continuous, but some wagons later had gaps between the planking although this could simply have been an unintended consequence of the timber shrinking and leaving gaps. Some wagons had the plank over the headstock omitted, whilst others had the headstock deepened to the level of the deck.

 

Known Cambrian numbers are 570, 590 (headstock level with deck), 598 and 605, so perhaps a sequence can be assumed. 1200 and 1217 were used on identical wagons built in 1919.

 

In Great Western days, an additional brake lever was fitted using a Morton cam. The only confirmed Great Western number is 17031, though others must have survived. They were given the telegraph code MACAW and added to the J diagrams, although as the J diagrams are somewhat confused it is unclear which number, if any, was applied.

 

As timber framed wagons they were fairly quickly withdrawn by the Great Western following grouping with the last going in 1931.

 

The wagons were officially described as being painted grey with black ironwork, which, after 1923, gradually changing to overall Great Western grey with white lettering.

 

Any further information, photograph, book reference or internet link would be most welcome to expand on these details.

 

The Kit:

There is a single small fret containing most of the parts.

Despite being new the brass was in a very poor state when removed from the packaging being very dull and corroded. Considering this is a new kit from the manufacturer and being used to a better quality brass I have to admit some disappointment from the start. The brass required a great deal of scouring with wire wool, wet and dry paper and Cif cleaner to place it in a state suitable for soldering.

The second kit was no better and I wonder if it is simply a lower grade of brass being used?

 

The Fret:

 

The following additional white metal parts were contained in a separate Ziploc bag.

 

4 x buffers (unsprung)

4 x axle springs

4 x axleboxes

Approx 30mm 0.7mm diameter brass wire

Approx 50mm 0.45mm diameter brass wire.

 

 

The missing parts:

Quite a bit more 0.7mm brass wire is required to complete the model than is supplied.

2 off 8 spoke wooden wagon wheel sets.

pinpoint brass bearings to suit.

paint and transfers.

 

The instructions as supplied:

These were nicely illustrated with photo images from a test build. Although very useful they are incomplete in a few minor respects and are not terribly well reproduced on the paper. Dragon Models have taken to making many of their kit instruction in this way and is, I believe, a great step forward for the kit builder. However, another simple step forward would be to make these images available on the website enabling closer examination of detail.

 

Step-by-step you would see that I have essentially followed the instructions although you will also see that on a couple of occasions this evolved to a "I did it my way" or even "I should have done it a different way".

 

[Note:]

My apologies for all the screw-ups on the formatting. This new editor changes all the text every time I edit a post and substitutes garbage, it makes it very difficult to add image links and maintain white space. The only way seems to be to repost from a notepad copy and ask the Mods to delete the one that is corrupted/in error as the delete button is not working either. This topic could come to a sticky end as my enthusiasm nd the Mods patience get frayed.

[Kenton]

Off we go ...

[1] The floor was removed from the fret, the tags tidied and the fold lines on the underside were deepened using a scalpel and triangular rifle file. The sides of the planks were bent down to 90° using square nose pliers.

 

These were followed by the 90° bend of the underside of the headstocks

 

and then the double 90° fold on the ends of the headstocks.

 

At this point these folds were reinforced with fillets of solder.

 

Finally, the headstocks and end plank edge were bent around to 90° and the fold filled with solder completing the headstocks.

[Kenton]

[2] The two inner solebars were removed from the fret and the tags tidied, taking care not to also remove the two small tabs on each solebar.

 

The bent ends are there to ensure inner solebar is perpendicular to the floor.

 

The two ends were bent to about 60° along the half-etched fold lines and the tabs located in the slots in the floor. The centre section was tack soldered in place.

 

This is an ingenious way of setting this part correctly however, as always with slot and tab designs, it is dependent on the integrity of the slot surviving the etching process. In this example not very well. Both slots had to be opened out with the point of a scalpel to enable the tabs to fit.

 

The bent ends were then straightened and the soldering extended along the whole length.

[Kenton]

[3] The outer solebar half-etches were removed from the fret and the tags tidied.

 

The horse hooks were added using 0.45mm wire loops bent to a 3.5mm square. After soldering through the holes, the wires protruding through the back were filed flat and the area made flat by rubbing on wet and dry paper before being tinned along the whole length.

 

With the horse hook loops on the bottom left hand comers the outer solebars were laminated on to the inner solebars.

 

I am not particularly happy with the outcome. One of the horse loops detached itself, I don't think a flush join in a half-etch thickness was ever going to provide a strong join and so drilled through the inner solebar and fitted a new hook.

 

The lamination was also not the best achieved and I would rethink the process for the next kit.

[Kenton]

[4] The four bolt heads on each coupling plate were pushed out prior to removal from the fret.

 

This was quite difficult as not only are these tiny but also the indentations are on the very corners of the etched part. This results in the corners simply being bent rather than anything like a representation of a bolt head. I think these would have been better represented had they been located further in on the plate. They were then carefully removed from the fret and tidied with a file prior to soldering in place on the headstocks.

 

Note the remarkable absence of coupling hooks from this kit. Something that is going to hold up completion until at least next week.

[Kenton]

[5] The W-iron assemblies were removed from the fret and the tags tidied.

 

The bolt heads on the axlebox keep plates were pushed out and the keep plates folded back over on themselves so that the bolt heads are on the outside. The folds were then secured with fillets of solder.

 

The axle bearing holes were opened out using a series of 5-sided broaches to take the pin-point bearings. I was quite surprised at just how undersize these holes were, but better undersize than over sized. The bearings were soldered in place from the inside of the W-irons taking care not to get solder on the inside of the bearing.

 

Then each of the W-iron assemblies was folded up as shown below and after scoring the fold lines as above.

[Kenton]

[6] The rocking base plate was removed from the fret and the tabs were bent upwards with the half-etched fold lines on the inside as usual.

 

The base plate was soldered to the underside of the wagon floor, using the diamonds and crosses to locate correctly. The tabs align down the centre of the wagon.

 

The rocking W-iron assembly, with the two slots, was trial fitted but was NOT secured until later.

 

The fixed W-iron assembly, with the diamond cutout, was soldered to the opposite underside end of of the wagon floor, using the diamond and crosses to locate correctly.

[Kenton]

[7] The brake rod unit and two shoes were removed from the fret, taking care not to lose the shoes as there are no spares. The shoes were soldered to the outside of the brake rod unit doubling the thickness. A toothpick is a handy tool for holding the shoe in place while applying heat to solder the join.

 

The wheel sets were temporarily fitted. Then the top flange of the brake rod unit was bent over and after aligning the shoes with the wheel treads, was soldered in place on the underside of the floor.

 

The bolt heads on the two V-hangers were pushed out and the simple V-hanger, having a single hole, was soldered centrally on the sole bar nearest the brake rod unit.

 

As the model is to be completed as a Great Western version, the Morton V-hanger was soldered to the opposite solebar.

 

(Unfortunately, I over trimmed one leg of this V-hanger and it makes it look very squint. Again, no spares and I would have expected a half-etched recess on the solebar to assist locating these parts. They look very proud of the solebar.)

 

A length of 0.7mm brass wire was threaded through the V-hangers and soldered to them then the brake push rods were also soldered to this cross shaft.

 

This was also a suitable time to twist the locking tabs on the rocking W-iron assembly. The resulting movement in the rocking plate should be about 1mm. These locking tabs are quite small and fragile.

 

 

That's it for an afternoon ... about halfway

[halfwit]

[5] The W-iron assemblies were removed from the fret and the tags tidied.

 

The bolt heads on the axlebox keep plates were pushed out and the keep plates folded back over on themselves so that the bolt heads are on the outside. The folds were then secured with fillets of solder.

 

 

 

I hate to say it K, but it looks like those axlebox keeper plates should have been folded all the way over, 120 degrees, not at right angles.

[Jol Wilkinson]

"Despite being new the brass was in a very poor state when removed from the packaging being very dull and corroded. Considering this is a new kit from the manufacturer and being used to a better quality brass I have to admit some disappointment from the start. The brass required a great deal of scouring with wire wool, wet and dry paper and Cif cleaner to place it in a state suitable for soldering.

 

 

The second kit was no better and I wonder if it is simply a lower grade of brass being used?"

 

Kenton,

most annoying for a "new" kit. Probably a combination of;

• Inadequate or no cleaning of the brass by the etchers post production
  
• Long period of storage in unsuitable conditions
  
• Poor packaging materials
  

This used to be an issue with the "vac packed" kits of former years, such as the PC 4mm van/wagon kits or the limited edition (300!) Mallard LNWR six wheel fish vans. Most etchers now have good cleaning processes, while the use of acid free tissue for packaging minimises tarnishing.

 

 

Jol

[Donw]

No such problems on my 0 gauge ones.

Don

[Wolfy]

Lovely looking work there. I wish I'd thought of the coktail stick when I was soldering my brake gear!

[craigwelsh]

The bolt heads on the two V-hangers were pushed out and the simple V-hanger, having a single hole, was soldered centrally on the sole bar nearest the brake rod unit.

 

As the model is to be completed as a Great Western version, the Morton V-hanger was soldered to the opposite solebar.

 

(Unfortunately, I over trimmed one leg of this V-hanger and it makes it look very squint. Again, no spares and I would have expected a half-etched recess on the solebar to assist locating these parts. They look very proud of the solebar.)

It would be a full etch hole in the overlay if you wanted somewhere to help align that vee, the issue with that would be how bit to make the hole to deal with etcher variance without it looking silly.

 

How thick is the brass? If its 0.25mm then its probably about right sticking out from the solebar. If its thicker brass the vee could have been full etch on the overlay.

 

Another solution would be to fold the vee down from the floor and snip off the tags with a sharp scalpel after the bottom ot the vee had been tack soldered securely to the solebar. Another method would be to pin the vee in with 4 bits of 0.4mm wire like I do on my underframes, bit of a faff though when you aren't going through a plastic solebar..

 

1/2 etched recess for the coupler bang plate would probably have been useful to align it, I know these are a pig to keep square. Punching the holes in them is also tricky as the holes on the prototype are really near the corners. I use a home made punch in my GW models press on mine as the supplied ones were a bit big.

 

The other improvement would have been larger holes etched into the main solebar for the horse hook. These would allow for movement while sweating the overlay on and avoid you having to drill solid brass. I'd also have stuck a load of holes in that main solebar to aid the sweating of the overlay on. Oh, the brake shes are a bit disappointing too, I noticed that on the GWR ballast wagon I have from them.

 

Axleguard keeps shouldn't be at 90degrees as mentioned.

 

My Finney 28xx had some interesting brass as it'd been in the box for quite a few years. I've only cleaned it though where I need to solder and just used stronger % phosphoric acid really to get the joints fine which is what a few professional builders have mentioned too. The rest is cleaned when its primed.

[Kenton]

 

I hate to say it K, but it looks like those axlebox keeper plates should have been folded all the way over, 120 degrees, not at right angles.

Yep, you are absolutely correct though in my very weak defense - it looked that way in the instructions.

(greatly magnified copy of part of a photo from the instructions)

Of course that is no excuse - I should of known better - that's what comes from being in a rush.

More thought on the next one.

Thanks.

[Kenton]

most annoying for a "new" kit. Probably a combination of;

• Inadequate or no cleaning of the brass by the etchers post production
  
• Long period of storage in unsuitable conditions
  
• Poor packaging materials
  

This used to be an issue with the "vac packed" kits of former years, such as the PC 4mm van/wagon kits or the limited edition (300!) Mallard LNWR six wheel fish vans. Most etchers now have good cleaning processes, while the use of acid free tissue for packaging minimises tarnishing.

 

 

I think it might well be the etcher company at fault or simply a quality of brass used. These are new kits and I don't see any difference in packaging as far as Dragon Models is concerned.

 

 

I have seen it on a number of kits recently from other suppliers - notably Scorpio Models and the appearance is quite different from the "old brass" tarnish that you often see on kits from eBay or that have been lying around in "treasure stashes". This tarnish is almost like a white coating and is much more difficult to remove, requiring really aggressive work with wet-n-dry to expose a shiny surface - Cif alone simply is not enough.

 

 

I don't know enough about the relationship between the etcher and the supplier, but I think if it was me they would be sent back.

 

 

As a kit builder - sure - I can clean it up before soldering - but if I was a novice and simply tried to solder to this as fresh brass I would soon be disillusioned about my soldering ability.

 

[Ed.] IPB editor corruption

[Mikkel]

Just a word of appreciation here, Kenton. I have no particular need for building a couple of MACAWs at this point, but reading through this is not only educating for someone like me, but also fascinating in itself (a bit like watching cooking programmes!). The fact that you don't miss a step in the "walkthrough" is exactly what makes it so useful.

[Kenton]

It would be a full etch hole in the overlay if you wanted somewhere to help align that vee, the issue with that would be how bit to make the hole to deal with etcher variance without it looking silly.

 

How thick is the brass? If its 0.25mm then its probably about right sticking out from the solebar. If its thicker brass the vee could have been full etch on the overlay.

 

Another solution would be to fold the vee down from the floor and snip off the tags with a sharp scalpel after the bottom ot the vee had been tack soldered securely to the solebar. Another method would be to pin the vee in with 4 bits of 0.4mm wire like I do on my underframes, bit of a faff though when you aren't going through a plastic solebar..

 

1/2 etched recess for the coupler bang plate would probably have been useful to align it, I know these are a pig to keep square. Punching the holes in them is also tricky as the holes on the prototype are really near the corners. I use a home made punch in my GW models press on mine as the supplied ones were a bit big.

 

The other improvement would have been larger holes etched into the main solebar for the horse hook. These would allow for movement while sweating the overlay on and avoid you having to drill solid brass. I'd also have stuck a load of holes in that main solebar to aid the sweating of the overlay on. Oh, the brake shes are a bit disappointing too, I noticed that on the GWR ballast wagon I have from them.

 

Axleguard keeps shouldn't be at 90degrees as mentioned.

</p>I really didn't think this one through.

The solution to the V is not as simple as it seems as the outer solebar is already an overlay (half-thickness) and now has me wondering why the outer solbar overlay was needed at all. OK it reduces the number of rivets to punch but there are others in the kit. The ingenious use of the fold back to get the inner solebar vertical was not really required as the solebar is held vertical by the fold-around ends of the headstock. I don't think any attempt at prototype thickness of the solebar is being attempted here.

Yes, the holes for the horse loops should have been etched through the inner solebar.

I'm not sure about the coupling plate. Always difficult and even with a GW rivet press they were never going to punch out easily. To my eye they went on straight and I didn't find their attachment too difficult. Perhaps a half-etched part with the rivets etched? I'm not so sure.

Well onwards - I'm sure I'll make a few more mistakes today ...

[Kenton]

A short stint (building the bolster sub-assembly):

[8] The raised floor etch was removed from the fret and the centre of the plank line was marked before being drilled through with a 0.7mm drill bit.

 

Then after scoring the fold lines, the sides and ends were folded up and this floor was trial fitted in the middle of the wagon floor.

 

The bolt heads on the bolster plates were pushed out while still on the fret. They were then cut from the fret and the tags tidied before being soldered at either end on the top of the raised floor in a circular pattern. Guess as best.

[Kenton]

[9] The bolster etch was removed from the fret and a short length of 0.7mm wire bent to 90° was inserted through the central hole in the bolster before being soldered in place to form the bolster pivot.

 

The bolster was then folded into a box shape with the ends filed and folded in.

 

The holes on the sides for the shackle hinges are easily filled with solder and I needed to re-drill them. A length of 0.5mm diameter brass wire was inserted through these holes on each side of the bolster and soldered in place. These will form the shackle bolts and will be trimmed back later.

 

I am afraid I found the etched stanchions a waste of space. Another one of my pet hates where the tags keeping the part on the fret are bigger than the thickness of the part, positioned along the edge rather than the ends and where the parts easily bend. On top of that they have to be laminated. With no spares, it was doomed from the start and after one pair ended in the waste bin the other pair quickly followed.

 

So I replaced the stanchions with simpler straight 9mm lengths of 0.7mm brass wire soldered into the slightly opened out holes on top of the bolster. Alright, I know these pillars should be flatter but that is just too bad.

 

The bolster was positioned on the raised floor and secured by soldering a small washer on the pivot pin. Smearing a tiny amount of solder stop on the top of the raised floor and under the washer prior to soldering prevented the washer from being locked to the floor leaving the bolster able to be rotated on the raised floor.

 

The complete sub-assembly was then soldered across the wagon floor.

[Kenton]

[10] The outside of the W-irons were tinned to prepare for the addition of the castings. This should really have been done after they had been folded up.

 

The holes in the back of the axleboxes were opened out slightly with a 2mm drill and the small amount of flash removed with a file before being soldered over the axle bushes using 70°C solder.

OK spot the mistake here.

 

The holes in the back of the boxes are not central and they simply would not fit the other way up to leave sufficient room for the springs. I guess I could have carved off a couple of mm from the top of the springs but decided that they would look very odd indeed. In some ways I am glad I didn't fold the keeper plates fully over as it would have forced the axlebox even further up the W-iron. I'll ponder this a little more for No 2.

 

The cast springs were then soldered flush to the W-irons using 70°C low melt solder. Approximately 1mm clearance was left from the solebar on the rocking W-irons. This should ensure that the rocking W-iron has room to move.

[Kenton]

[11] A short length of 0.7mm brass wire was soldered through the hole at the end of one of the brake levers.

 

The brake push rod hangers were folded up from the plain parts, which in this case were correctly held on the etch by end tags.

 

 

 

These hangers are provided on the fret but there was no reference made to them in the instructions and they seem to have been omitted on the finished display example on the manufacturer's website.

 

Yet again these would have been better dealt with earlier as soldering them in place now presents the problem of unsoldering the brake shoes and gaining access behind the cast springs without melting them.

 

 

 

I found it too difficult to remove the brake lever guides from the fret without distorting them. Once again the problem is over sized fret tags which is exasperated by the half-etch representation of holes.

 

 

 

After removal of the tags, an attempt at straightening and folding up with the half-etched “holes†to the outside, they were soldered to the brake levers with the brake lever through the guide. They are positioned with the “holes†at the top and facing outwards and half way along the straight part of the handle.

 

 

 

A kink was made in the brake lever to clear the axlebox and then the lever was soldered to the right-hand side of the right-hand spring on each side. The bottom end of the lever was secured on the brake hanger side by soldering to the end of the 0.7mm cross shaft, and as this was a GW version with the short length of wire through the top hole in the opposite V hanger. In each case, the top of the brake lever guide was soldered to the solebar.

 

 

 

All-in-all not the best representation of Morton brakes and not exactly best execution either. You cannot beat a scale diagram when trying to put abstract bends in a piece of brass.

[Kenton]

[12] Two wagon label plates were added to the solebars, one either side of the V-hangers.

 

The four buffers were then attached to the pre-tinned headstocks using 70° solder from the inside of the wagon. This required removal of the wheelsets to gain access and would have been easier if done earlier. I would have preferred sprung buffers but these castings were of fine quality.

 

The wagon was now nearly complete.

 

 

All that remains are to generate some resemblance of shackles - your guess is as good as mine - as all atempts so far have ended in the bin. I think much thinner wire is required and some insight.

The other item is of course the coupling hooks which will have to wait until after Saturday at least.

 

But other than the basic brake gear, the upside-down axleboxes (which if wagon 2 finds a solution may get removed and reworked), and those keeper plates turns out to be a very straightforward build and certainly within reach of a beginner. A nice little kit, not without room for improvement, but nothing devastating.