Etched Brake gear

[Fuggles]

I'm currently trying to finish off a chassis on a South Eastern Finecast loco, but am having problems preventing the brake rods and shoes from shorting out on the wheels. I appreciate that one possible solution would be to prevent side play of the wheels by the use of washers but this is a 6 coupled loco in OO 16.5, so some play is necessary. I was wondering if anyone knew of a supplier of basic brake fittings in plastic? Obviously anything made commercially would not suit all engines so some modification would be needed but I feel it would be a starting point and preferable to building the shoes and rods from scratch.

[wagonman]

Slaters did a generic loco brake block in 4mm once upon a time. They seem to have got rid of their 4mm stuff though. An alternative might be to smear a thin coating of epoxy resin on the face of the brake shoes that is likely to come into contact with the wheels: should act as an insulating layer to prevent shorts. It may have to be reapplied after a while...

[Fuggles]

Thanks. As you say Slaters no longer seem to dabble in 4mm. I'll try your suggestion

[Paul Cram]

Alan Gibson used to do plastic brake blocks. Still does see online catalogue for varieties

[N15class]

Hi

If I were you I would get rid of the side play on the front and rear wheels and leave a little on the middle. There should be enough slack in the gauge and middle wheel then to cope with the curves. You do not need as much play as you think. As for the brakes smear them with araldite not too thickly but it will insulate them.

[Fuggles]

Thanks for those suggestions. I will experiment further and report back

[RedgateModels]

When I built "R. A. Riddles" I bought an 8F chassis bottom and pickup set from East Kent Models and cut the plastic brake blocks off the molding. These were then drilled at the top to take some 0.7mm wire threaded through the chassis. I could have used the 8F pull rods too but as the spacing was off I used part of an old Kemilway etch.

[Bruciethefish]

Another possibility is to simply space the shoes a bit further away from the tyres;- The larger gap isn't too obvious..

[EHertsGER]

Here's a couple of methods I have used. My first attempt was to make up a brake block in plasticard as a master and then cast blocks using epoxy resin. The method involved making the block and attaching it to a spindle/handle from the back, perpendicular to the face. Using a lump of plasticine, push the master block in as many time as you need. If your blocks are not vertically symmetrical, then you will need a left and right one, but otherwise you will have indentations that represent the number of blocks you need. Now smear epoxy resin into the depressions, making sure you are at least level with the top of the plasticine. Let it all set, the peel the blocks from the plasticine, giving you your brake blocks. Tidy up, drill for pivots/hangers then slit for hanger and assemble.

 

My other method is to follow Guy Williams - always my preferred way to go when in doubt, the man did it all and brilliantly so. You can either cut them out from a pre-marked circle drawn with a compass needle on some 1/16" tufnol or whatever it's called these days - here in the USA I use phenolic resin sheet, which handles much like plasticard, is a lot tougher, can be cut and filed easily and is resistant to heat - or you can turn a circle on the lathe and cut off individual blocks. Drill, slit etc as above.

 

Best thing to do is look it all up in Guy Williams 4mm scale locomotive construction book. Either way, your blocks are electrically dead, but solid and resilient to solder - which is necessary if you assemble them to the hangers with a piece of wire so they flex with the compensation. Anyone with any questions, just ask!

 

Hope that helps, albeit a bit late!