brian777999 Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I am building four Parkside Dundas LMS brake vans : How far from the walls of the brake van should the hand rails be ? I am going to put a piece of plastic between the handrails and the outside walls until the glue dries and I need to calculate what thickness of plastic to use. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwealleans Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I think you need to stand them further off than they really were to make it apparent - I usually use the card from a Comet (or similar) packet doubled over. Between half and three quarters of a mil should be about right. 1mm (40 thou) looks too far to my eye. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodger5591 Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Iain Rice in his Right Track video on wagon building uses a wedge of card cut to shape from the product description card that the plastic bag is stapled to. I don't know what the thickness is but it seems to work. Much harder are the rails that are put across the verandah entrances during running. Replicating the tiny attachment loops and siting them accurately in the posts is not easy! Good luck Rodger Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian777999 Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 Having made a start on bending and fitting the hand rails (one side of one van completed), it has raised two further points : 1. How do they do this at the factory when they have tens of thousands of them to do ? I think the RTR brake vans have plastic hand rails but that still does not make it any easier to bend and fit them. 2. Is it necessary to paint the brass hand rails with etch primer before spray painting the van ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davefrk Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Hi Brian, I've done a few of these vans myself. IIRC I set the handrails out with a sliver of 30thou plasticard. RTR handrails are done by little dexterous fingers and not sausages like ours..... As the handrails are vunerable to handling I prime the handrails with Humbrol No 1 primer, thin it down by 1/3rd so it goes on thin then I use a Humbrol off-white colour, gloss No 22. Nothing looks worse than a brilliant white on a model so off-white is better. Being gloss it resists the rubbing from handling better than matt, a bit of weathering (poor in this photo) and you'd never know it was gloss. Hope that helps, Dave Franks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM42 Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 For the verandah rails I drill through from the outside and slide the wire through, then fill the hole once the handrail is in place. Crude I know, but it works for me I don't worry too much about the little loops as I think they are too small to notice in 4mm. If you feel that you want to add them, then again I would use the same method to line up the holes either side of the verandah opening using the drill bit as a psuedo handrail to get the aligment right across the gap before drilling into the van end. I think the RTR guys may have a clever machine that bends all the handrails to the same size and shape and wouldn't be at all surprised if it didn't fit them too. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian777999 Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 I think the RTR guys may have a clever machine that bends all the handrails to the same size and shape and wouldn't be at all surprised if it didn't fit them too. Yes, I thought that might be the case but that idea only works if all your holes are in exactly the same place ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM42 Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 The beauty of using the same set of moulds multiple times is that the holes are in the same place. Anyway kitbuilding is far more fun than RTR and it's easier to alter things on a flat kit than a knobbly RTR item In term of handrail distances, I judge this by eye to what looks right and if Dave Franks post (#5) above is anything to go by 30thou looks about right to me. . Using a spacer is a good idea to ensure consistency but knowing my luck if I used a spacer I would glue it to the wagon side too. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian777999 Posted July 11, 2013 Author Share Posted July 11, 2013 Using a spacer is a good idea to ensure consistency but knowing my luck if I used a spacer I would glue it to the wagon side too. That is a very good point. If you had not raised it then I would not have thought of it....perhaps it is not such a good idea after all ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SM42 Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 A spacer is a good idea. Just need to be careful with the glue, Brian. I seem to be able to get it in the most unlikely places at the most inconvenient times. Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted July 12, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 12, 2013 This may help Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian777999 Posted July 12, 2013 Author Share Posted July 12, 2013 A spacer is a good idea. Just need to be careful with the glue, Brian. And that raises the question of which type of glue : superglue, 5 minute Araldite or 24 hour Araldite. I am still thinking about that while I continue to cut, bend and fit the handrails in the holes. I usually use superglue for small fiddly parts like this but it does have the annoying property of setting very quickly when you least expect it resulting in a part not sitting quite where you want it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted July 12, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 12, 2013 The best and easiest way to bend consistent handrail lengths is to invest in one of Bill Bedford's hand rail bending jigs. Regards Richard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian777999 Posted July 12, 2013 Author Share Posted July 12, 2013 The best and easiest way to bend consistent handrail lengths is to invest in one of Bill Bedford's hand rail bending jigs. I am finding that with practise it is getting easier : bend one end of the wire with the long nose pliers...fit this end into the hole and position the pliers next to the second hole and make another bend. I did end up with a few that were not quite right but I am getting the hang of it now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted July 12, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 12, 2013 The best and easiest way to bend consistent handrail lengths is to invest in one of Bill Bedford's hand rail bending jigs. Regards Richard Or 2 pins knocked in a block of wood and bend the wire around them. Add more pins if you need a more complex shape. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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