lochlongside Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I am in the process of refurbishing a s/h Bachmann Class 42 – 32-455 Sir Brian Robertson that has been sitting in its box indoors in cupboard for last 2 years, and on examination found that the plastic subframe did not align with the main body. Dismantled model, checked body and frame – both straight - no problem. Placed a ruler against the metal chassis and found it was not straight. Close examination showed that white metal chassis was bowed by just over 1mm in centre.See photo – on one side and around 3/4mm on the other. Aligning one end buffer beam simply magnified the problem at the other. I checked the chassis casting generally at this point and found hairline cracks primarily around the thinner areas of the bogie tower mounting brackets but also around one of visible screw holes. The more obvious have been marked up in photos below. Both towers are showing hairline cracks, (ovalled), and these are cracks, not flaws in the surface finish. The only solution I can see is a new diecasting (32-455 is probably a bit outside warranty period and it was s/h !!) as the ends are probably not thick enough to file down To make matters worse when I very gently tried to straighten the bow, the front end of the chassis frame snapped off, and the break was a dull grey, not the nice shiny break one normally gets. Has anyone else had problems with distorting and corroding Warship chassis or have I got a one-off? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray M Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Sorry to hear about this. but i hope you didn`t leave it next to a Heljan class 47. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
34theletterbetweenB&D Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Send those pictures and the text to Bachmann service would be my suggestion. Characteristic signs of mazac rot or zinc pest, whatever is your preferred term. It is unlikely to be a one off, as the contaminant responsible has to be in the melt used for the diecasting to actually be incorporated in the casting, so there are probably others out there as yet undiscovered. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigherb Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 It is a problem that has been reported before. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/69537-Bachmann-warship-mazak-cracking-up/ Interesting to hear what answer you get from Bachmann. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lochlongside Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 It is a problem that has been reported before. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/69537-Bachmann-warship-mazak-cracking-up/ Interesting to hear what answer you get from Bachmann. Thanks for that bigherb, - hadn't realised - did a search and missed it (and/or impatient!!) For moderator - had a look through bigherb's link subject and much of it is relevant seems that my D800 joins D804 as part of a potentially flaky production batch - would be more than happy if you wish to transfer this lot to the subject identified by Bigherb rather than restarting/duplicating the subject. Will update when/if I get a response from Bachmann Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lochlongside Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 It is a problem that has been reported before. http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/69537-Bachmann-warship-mazak-cracking-up/ Interesting to hear what answer you get from Bachmann. Hi Bigherb... had a discussion with Bachmann technical support - and obtained replacement main chassis and two sets of bogie castings - cost was £20 including p&p. For those interested - apparently there are not many spares left at Bachmann for the class 42 locos. Service was good - they arrived on Saturday 2nd class. I did ask in a low key way if they had had many requests for these particular spares and to paraphrase ".... yes there had been a few but it is quite an old loco now ...." and not exactly said was that it was at an age when (these?) problems are to be expected/could appear. Not sure that mazak rot is something to be expected (I have old Triang and HD which have not rotted yet) but as it was s/h when I got it, I felt £20 to refurbish something I wanted because I had travelled behind it in that livery in my youth was not extortionate and let it go at that point. I did check my other Warship 32-059 D818 Glory - green and it was ok so it would appear like the N classes it was only certain batches affected. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevor7598 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Mazac rot, or,fatigue was a serious problem for pre-war Meccano products due to impurities in the mazac consist. Post war, this was corrected, and Dinky and Hornby Dublo products from this period have lasted well. But it is now a Chinese problem,with the 'Warship' mentioned in this thread and the Hornby class 31, and I have posted an image of a Corgi bus with terminal rot in it's mazac base. As the problem takes some time to surface, the warranties have long expired. So I hope,with the increasing use of mazac in locomotives,to add weight, that the manufacturers will impose strict quality control on the purity of the mazac used in future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevor7598 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Mazac rot, or,fatigue was a serious problem for pre-war Meccano products due to impurities in the mazac consist. Post war, this was corrected, and Dinky and Hornby Dublo products from this period have lasted well. But it is now a Chinese problem,with the 'Warship' mentioned in this thread and the Hornby class 31, and I have posted an image of a Corgi bus with terminal rot in it's mazac base. As the problem takes some time to surface, the warranties have long expired. So I hope,with the increasing use of mazac in locomotives,to add weight, that the manufacturers will impose strict quality control on the purity of the mazac used in future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevor7598 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 My apologies but my image of the mazac rot would upload . Maybe with today's technology it should be possible to upload any single image without exceeding the file size!!. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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