Bouch's workbench - 7mm Jinty

[dikitriki]

So, the question is: anyone have any good suggestions for either how to get low temp solder to fill a gap, or a good gap filler which adheres to brass?

 

Hi Mike

 

My approach would be slightly different. I would solder some thin wall brass tube through the laminations, and ream the tube so that the hanger end is a nice fit. You can then solder or glue the hanger in as you choose, without needing to fill. It can be quite difficult to get filler to stick in a relatively thin etch.

 

Richard

[Mike Boucher]

 

Hi Mike

 

My approach would be slightly different. I would solder some thin wall brass tube through the laminations, and ream the tube so that the hanger end is a nice fit. You can then solder or glue the hanger in as you choose, without needing to fill. It can be quite difficult to get filler to stick in a relatively thin etch.

 

Richard

 

Wish I had thought of that first, that would have been brilliant. I'll have to keep that in mind next time I hit this problem. For now, I don't want to take all of them out and clean up the 70 deg solder that's there already. Right now, I'm thinking using 5 minute epoxy for two reasons: 1) it'll fill the gap and 2) it'll add some strength to the joint in case I have a cold solder joint here or there...

[Buckjumper]

My approach would be slightly different...

 

An elegant approach; a new trick for an old dog to try - thanks Richard.

[Mike Boucher]

Its been quite a while since I updated this thread, for a variety of reasons.  But, I've been able to get a little work done on the horse box lately, so its time for an update!

 

After trying a few things which didn't work, I decided to try Dikitriki's approach and solder in some tubing to better fit the shackles.  First, I carefully drilled out the existing holes.

 

 

On a couple of them, the drill grabbed and ripped off the overlay, so I had to make a few from scrap etch.  They don't have the rivets at the corner, but I'm not too worried about that as they're damn hard to see as it is.

 

Next I went down to my lathe, took a piece of brass round, and drilled out an appropriate size hole.  Then I cut off the pieces about 1/8" long.  After I had about a dozen (expecting I would lose a few somewhere along the way), I went back up and soldered them into the oversize holes.

 

 

Next step I did out of order from the instructions.  I soldered on the whitemetal axlebox & spring castings.

 

 

Then came the real bear, soldering on the spring shackles.  I filed the old solder off and fit each to a hole.  I then attached the small etched shackles.  I tinned each one, and soldered it into a hole drilled into the castings with 70C solder and a 25W iron plugged into my dimmer switch voltage regulator.  I then soldered the castings into the smaller holes

 

The fixed end was fiddly getting things adjusted so they looked good, and holding them in place with one hand while soldering with the other.  My fingers got warm a few times.  Then, when I was starting to work on the other end, I just happened to be holding the chassis right by the shackles, and bent one in.  When I tried straightening it, it snapped.  More than a few curses were heard coming from the workbench!  I got some .020" diameter brass wire, and carefully drilled a hole in both parts for the wire.  This held everything together in the right place while I used the 70C solder to reattach the part.

 

The compensated end was a real PITA.  In order to allow the axle to pivot, I had to cut away some of the brass shackle, otherwise they would have interfered with any movement.  That was a cut and fit process.

 

Here's a photo of the chassis as it sits right now.

 

 

If you look at the shackle just to the right of the brake retainer, you can see the cut away shackle.  The white background makes it very obvious.  I'm hoping after everything is painted, it won't be so obvious, especially when its on the layout.

 

The positive is that the compensation works very well, there's a wide range of movement, enough that I can put a 1/32" thick piece of steel on the track (so it doesn't interfere with the flange) and the other 3 wheels stay in contact with the rail.  That should be more than enough.  My "worst case" scenario is if when joining sections on the modular layout, somehow one track goes over the rail joiner, instead of into, I want the compensation to handle that, and it does.

 

Of course, After I was done, I thought of a better way, What I should have done was file away the back of the spring casting and bend the shackle so it was further back.  Then the shackle would be whole, and from the normal viewing angle you wouldn't be able to tell the spring was thinned.  Something to remember for next time.

 

The only thing left on the chassis is to attach the parts to the buffer beam.  I got the screw link couplings and safety chains from Laurie Griffin, and have assembled them, ready to be attached.

 

But, I want to work from the outside, towards the center, which means the buffers are first.  But I'm stymied.  The instructions say "Fit the Buffer shanks and spring as per the diagram."  Um, there is no diagram showing how to fit the buffers.  Since they're two parts, one brass body and a steel buffer, I'm assuming they're intended to be sprung, but I'll be damned if I know what was intended here.

 

I'm thinking I have to use a system like I did on my Cooper Craft GWR match truck.  Solder a scrap etch to the buffer shank, after inserting it through the buffer body, as a stop, and then solder a small tab to the chassis to retain the spring.  Before I tackle that, I'll ask the collective here for suggestions:

 

1) Does anybody have a D&S kit which does have the diagram the instructions reference?

2) Does anybody have suggestions (or photos) of how they attached the buffers to a D&S kit so they were sprung?

3) Any other suggestions?

 

BTW - I have managed to build two Parkside Dundas LMS vans, and I'm mostly done with the aforementioned Slaters van.  Photos of those will be forthcoming.

[Mike Boucher]

Been a few months since I last posted anything, so I figured its time for an update, since I've reached what I consider to be a "milestone"...  The Chassis is "finished"

 

Last update had me finishing the spring hangers on the sides of the chassis, it was time to work on the buffer beam.  I finished with a query about how to spring the buffers.  I also asked the same question on the 7mm yahoo list.  Bob Alderman, CTO of the Gauge O Guild, amongst others, suggested using a spring wire, which is the same setup I used on my Connoisseur Loriot.  With all the brake rigging outside the wheels, and the bolts to hold the body to the chassis, I didn't think there was room for this.  I kept pondering as I worked on a few Parkside Dundas and Slaters plastic kits.

 

Finally, I had an idea about the buffers.  The first step was to shorten the part of the buffer bodies which is inside the buffer beam, and shorten the buffer shank an equal amount.

 

 

On the ends are the original sizes, and in the middle, the shortened.  I took off about 3/16" each, using a cut off disk in my Foredom motor tool to make the cut.  I made small collars, like Connoisseur provided, out of brass tube.  I had to open the hole in the middle of the tube out a bit so they fit over the shanks, but that was trivial in my lathe.  Then I soldered the collars to the shanks.  This is also obvious in the above photo.

 

Next was to cut slots in these collars.  To do this, I needed some way to hold the assembled buffers in my vise tight enough so the buffers didn't spin, but also without the vice jaws damaging them.  I took some soft pine I had, and cut small blocks, just the right dimension so the collars were exposed on one side, and the buffer head exposed on the other.  I then put a buffer between, and closed the vise.  The pine formed a perfect impression, and held the buffers tight as I used the cut off disk again, making slots across the collars (and also through the shank).

 

 

 

Next step was to solder the assembled buffers to the buffer beams.  And, of course, the holes in the buffer beam weren't large enough for the buffer bodies. 

Carefully, I held the chassis in the vice and drilled the holes out larger.  The vibration worked one of the whitemetal buffer shanks loose.  (Either that, or the heat created by the drill melted the 70C solder.)  Even more frustration...

 

Having learned from that, when I went to solder the buffers on, I knew I had to use my 75W iron, as the buffer bodies would absorb quite a bit of heat.  To make sure I didn't melt the spring shackles, I put a small piece of wet paper towel around them before putting iron to buffer body.  That worked out quite well, as I could hear the sizzling from that paper towel as the solder started to flow.  After the buffers were attached, I reattached the loose spring shackle.

 

 

In that photo, you can see the missing shank in the corner closest to the camera.

 

With the buffer bodies attached, I then added the safety chains to the buffer beam.  I got the chains, and also the screw link couplings, from Laurie Griffin.  When I went to put the couplings on, I realized there was no re-enforcing plate, as shown in the pictures on page #2 of this topic.  Hmm, nothing in the instructions mentioning that either.  So, I took a piece of scrap etch, cut a few slots of the appropriate size, filed them down to an oval shape, and attached them to the buffer beams.  I had to shorten one by quite a bit, as the compensating unit wouldn't allow the full length coupling shank.  I drilled holes in the end, and put coil springs around them, held in place by small cotter pins.

 

 

Then for the idea I had.  Bob Alderman had sent me a photo of one of his coaches, and what he had done was have to short wires, each soldered directly to the coach body close to the center.  That gave me the idea of soldering a short piece of spring wire onto a washer, and that washer would be held in place by the nut which also held the body to the chassis.  Brilliant!  Or so I thought.  In practice, it didn't work worth a damn.  It was hard to hold in the right place as I tightened the nut, it reduced the amount of rock in the compensating unit, and the heat of soldering softened the wire, so as soon as I pushed on the buffer, it just bent the wire and there was no spring back.  Curses, foiled again!

 

So, I tried the "Connoisseur method.  I drilled a small hole in the coupling shank, ran a piece of .018 guitar string through the hole, and slid it into the slot in the buffer shank.  Seemed to work OK, except the body securing nut was in the way.  I filed some of the thickness off the nuts, and tightened again.  Finally, the buffers were sprung without any interference from all those parts in there.

 

 

(apologies for the picture, my inexpensive "point and click" digital camera is in the process of going kaput, and it won't focus well on close ups)

 

And I'm thinking to myself if I would have had these problems if I had followed the instructions and had the nuts soldered inside the body instead of the bolts...  

 

So, having done that, I started working on attaching some of the parts on to the body.  And, to add insult to injury, when I was looking at the frets for one of the body pieces, I find two nice oval strengthening plates for the buffer beams.  Not at all mentioned in the instructions!  

 

Here's what it looked like, as of tonight...

 

 

Looking good so far, IMHO.  But, its been a battle.  I'm glad I made the Loriot first, as this kit is definitely testing my skills...

 

Another note about the tightening the nuts which secure the body to the chassis:  Tightening the nuts was also a project, as I couldn't get a wrench in there, and all the nut drivers I could find wouldn't fit around the brake rigging as their bodies were too large a diameter.  So I had to make my own, using a trick I learned a while back from one of the guys in the live steam club...

 

I took one of the nuts to the local hardware store (a real hardware store, not a "big box" store) until I found a metric "cap screw" which would be tightened by an allen wrench the same size as the nuts.  I bought two nuts to go on this cap screw.  I then put this in the lathe, and cut away until I had almost removed all the material around the hex hole in the head, and most of the threads, (except of course, the threaded part I was holding in the chuck.  I then tightened the two nuts I acquired on the remaining threads, and voila, a home made nut driver!  Works great!

 

 

Now to figure out the best way to clean the chassis to prime and paint while I keep working on the body.  I know there's a bunch of flux in various crevices that I can't get to with a toothbrush.  Anyone have any suggestions for something I can soak it in?  Maybe vinegar?  But I'm hesitant to do so, as I'm not sure how the white metal castings will react, never mind the plastic center to the Slaters wheelsets.

 

BTW - here are the two Parkside LMS vans I was building while pondering various things with this horsebox!  Still need weathering, but they're painted and lettered, and that's my definition of completed... 

 

[Mike Boucher]

More photos of projects I finished while pondering the horsebox...  This time, a Slaters MR 10 ton van, done to D378.  A photo someone sent me from an Essery and Jenkinson book on LMS vans was the inspiration for this.  The photo is captioned as "Plate 197.  This photo of a covered goods wagon No. 15764 is something of a mystery and can only be an example of D378 which has received a new door and has been uprated to 10T capacity...  Photographed in 1948."

 

Inspection of the photo shows the van was vacuum braked and has screw couplings.  I had started building Slaters item #7024, which didn't have any vacuum brake parts, when I got the photo.  So, I had to acquire the couplings and vacuum brake hose, and I scratch built the vacuum cylinder.

 

 

 

The second photo of the underside is to show the scratchbuilt vac brake cylinder.  I used a short piece of 1/2" diameter PVC tubing, used 5 minute epoxy to clue .040 styrene sheet to the end.  To make the bolts, I drilled 8 small holes and glued in short pieces of .020 brass rod.  The actuating rod and lever are brass tube, rod, and a piece of scrap etch soldered together, and centered in the cylinder.  Two small pieces of styrene glued to the side form the attachment to the underside, re-inforced with brass rod.

 

To ensure the compensating uint had maximum travel, and not be limited in its movement by the axlebox and springs, I filed the springs to about 1/2 thickness, and glued them flush with the inside edge of the solebar.  I then filed a notch out of the rear of the axlebox, about 1/2 way down to the bearing.  The combination of the two ensured that the axlebox wouldn't even hit the spring.  I can run the van over a 1mm height differential in the rail and all 4 wheels remain in contact.

 

One possible error here is the color I used.  Thinking that these vans only got the small lettering after being repainted in bauxite, and the photographed date of 1948, I used "boxcar red" paint.  (I also thought a bauxite van would add nice variety, since the other two LMS vans I just build are grey with the large LMS lettering)  I've since learned that some vans did get that lettering while remaining in Midland grey paint, but looking at the prototype black & white photo, its not obvious at all (at least to me) what color the van actually is. So, I kept it bauxite.  If someone proves me wrong, so be it.

 

Another probable error is that the Slaters instructions show D378 with louvers at the top center of each end.  That's how I built it.  While I was lettering the van, I noticed the Essery/Jenkinson book has a drawing which shows louvers at both the top center and bottom center.  I strongly suspect its the Slaters instructions which are incorrect.  I'll just have to live with the error.

[Sandy Harper]

Mike

Re cleaning: I use an Ultrasonic cleaner (Maplins) for final cleaning after the scrub in 'Bar Keepers Friend'. That removes all sorts and leaves the model ready for primer.

 

Regards

Sandy

[Mike Boucher]

Thanks for the suggestion, Sandy.

 

I already had 'Bar Keepers Friend', someone suggested that when I built the Loriot.

 

After a brief internet search, I found a US based chain of "discount" tools, Harbor Freight, had a small ultrasonic cleaner for $30.  (and I mean small, it holds a pint of liquid)  Compared to $95 + shipping for a slightly larger one from Micromark, it seemed like a reasonable gamble (even with Harbor Freight's "hit or miss at best" reputation).  There are a couple outlets nearby, one close to work (Natick, MA), and the other a bit out of the way going between work and home (Worcester, MA).  Natick didn't have any, but Worcester did.  So, after work I swung by and picked one up.  (I found that they actually had two different sizes, the larger holds 2+ quarts, but it was also almost $90)

 

Brought it home and gave it a go.  Looking through the clear plastic lid, I could see all sorts of crud weeping out from between the solebar and the floor within about 10 seconds of turning it on.  Wow!  The unit runs in 3 minute cycles, so I ran it for 2 cycles, and couldn't believe how gray the water got.

 

And, only 1 part fell off!  One of the safety chains on the buffer beam must have had a bad solder joint, as was sitting on the bottom of the tank when I was done.  That shouldn't be too hard to re-attach and re-clean.

 

Worked like a charm.  We'll see how long it lasts...

[Mike Boucher]

I've been slowly working on the horsebox.  The chassis is now back to "not finished", as while priming the chassis, two of those damn white metal spring hangers broke.  AAARRRGGGHHH!!  I have added a few more details to the body, and started working on the roof.  Photos will be forthcoming.

 

But, since today the weather was cool and not humid, I took a small break from fighting with the horsebox, and did a massive weathering session.  About an hour with the airbrush, 5 different color paints, and I got 8 cars done (if you include setup and cleanup, about 3 hours total).  All O scale, 4 US prototype, 4 British prototype.

 

First, the Brit prototype...

 

The Slaters LMS D378 van:

 

Two Parkside LMS vans:

 

And the Slaters salt wagon:

 

Now the US prototype.  All are from Intermountain kits...

 

A Nickel Plate boxcar:

 

And three ice reefers, Northern Pacific, Swift Refrigerator Line, and Northwestern Refrigerator Line:

 

 

 

[ozzyo]

Hello Mike,

could you put a photo up of your ultrasonic cleaner up please.

 

Nice looking weathering.

 

OzzyO.

[Mike Boucher]

Hello Mike,

could you put a photo up of your ultrasonic cleaner up please.

 

Nice looking weathering.

 

OzzyO.

 

Thanx for the nice comments, OzzyO.  By request:

 

 

And one with the lid open.

 

 

That small teardrop shape thing on the inside of the lid is a blue LED, which comes on when the cleaner is in operation.  Not sure why its a blue led...

 

For a sense of scale, the tiles on the counter are 7 3/4" square, and the chassis of the horsebox JUST barely fits in the tub.

[Mike Boucher]

Had another weathering session today.  Still cool and relatively dry, but rain was expected to roll in later in the day. I finished the painting session about 4 hours before the rain started to fall...

 

Once again, all O scale, 4 British prototype, 4 US prototype...

 

First, the British prototype...  The first British kit a built, a Parkside GWR van.  Only took about 10+ years before I got it weathered   .  In hindsight, I'm not convinced I build the brake gear right, as I've only got a brake lever on 1 side, but I'm also not convinced I get the brakes right on any of my kits...

 

 

And three Slater's P.O. wagons...

 

 

If you look closely, these two Burtt wagons have the same number (#5), as they came factory painted with that number.  To make them look a little different, I weathered one "heavier" than the other.  And on that one, I intentionally sprayed over the number a little heavier to make it hard to read.  Won't be as obvious that the have the same number.

 

 

As I type this, I realized I should have put the coal loads I've made back in before taking the pictures...

 

And now, the US prototype.  First, three boxcars, all from Intermountain kits.

 

 

 

 

The Boston & Maine and Western Maryland I used to practice lighter weathering techniques.  I wanted the WM double door car to look pretty new, as it has a more "modern" lettering.  The B&M I decided to weather lighter as well, as I have 2 more Intermountain kits to build with the "minuteman" logo, so I don't want all three to have the same level of weathering.

 

Finally, a Red Caboose tank car.

 

 

Still need to paint on an "oil spill" on the dome.  But, I don't have any glossy, oily black paint.  Only have flat black paints right now...

 

These two weathering sessions have gotten all my British prototype stuff weathered, save for 1 Slaters P.O. wagon.  That wagon has issues with Factory applied transfers falling off, and emails to Slaters have been ignored.  So, I need to figure out what I want to do there...

 

But I'm pretty satisfied to get 16 cars weathered in a couple of days.  I'm trying to get my rolling stock weathered before the O scale national convention in Worcester, MA, at the end of June.  (its about 20 miles from my house!)

[Mike Boucher]

As mentioned a few posts ago, I broke two of those damn white metal spring hangers.  Seems that  there's not many places I can hold the chassis without one of my thumbs would hit one.  It would bend a little, and finally the whitemetal got brittle enough that they broke.  My two options were to call D&S and beg for replacements, or scratchbuild ones.  Considering I bought the kit at least 10 years ago, and its my fault the castings broke, I chose option ( B ).

 

I measured the broken castings, and rummaged through my scrap brass rod pile.  I pulled out some .125" dia. rod for the "body", and some .062" dia. rod for the "shaft".  The shaft is slightly larger than the casting, but it was all I had, and the additional strength won't upset me.

 

I drilled .062 holes transverse through the larger piece (one at each end), about .100" from each end.  I then chucked it in the lathe and drilled a .040" hole longitudinally through.  Final touch on the body was to cut three notches to match the ones on the castings, the first one just below the transverse hole.

 

Next, I took out my propane torch, and heated the .062 rod to a dull red to anneal.  I then bent this at two right angles to match the shaft, one to go through the hole in the body, the next to go through the solebars.

 

I put the shaft through the body, and once again using a propane torch, soldered the pieces together.  I filed the top down until I got to the shaft, then cut to length and filed the bottom.  Then I re-drilled the longitudinal hole through the shaft piece.  Here's one of the original casting and the scratchbuilt replacement:

 

 

You can see the new shaft is visibly larger than the casting, but that's partially an optical illusion as the brass replacement is closer to the camera as its being held by the clothespin.

 

I then melted the original casting to get the small etched brass loop out, and soldered it into the .040 longitudinal hole in the replacement.  Repeat for the 2nd one, noting that the two broken castings we opposite handed.

 

Then back to the chassis.  The small tubing I had soldered into the solebars (because the etched holes were too large for the cast hangers) now needed to be drilled out.  And of course, either the heat from the drill or the catching when the drill broke through the other side, these pieces came loose.  When looking around at the last pieces of etched frets, I realized Dan had included two extra overlays, and the holes were just larger than my new .062" shaft.  Well, off came the two old ones (scratch built without rivets, and a large hole), and I soldered on the two new ones.  I then soldered the new hangers to these overlays.

 

I think the look pretty good for a complete kludge...

 

 

Once again, if you know to look, you can see the shaft is larger, but I'm hoping that no one will notice once its painted black.  (and "black is slimming"    )

 

As also mentioned before, I've done more work on the body.  I added the door fasteners (three etches and a piece of brass rod), the droplights in the door windows, the door hinges (9 on each side), and a lamp iron on each end.

 

The next step says to attach the drop door castings and the label clip holder.  The clip holder is an etch.  One I got attached, the other flew off my tweezers as I was going to put it on the side, and its god knows where in the room.  Small etch, and a hardwood floor in a room about 10x14.  I've searched for about 30 minutes, including sweeping the whole room and sifting through what I swept up.  Gone.  The other problem is that I don't have any castings left except for the vacuum and westinghouse pipes, no clue where the drop door castings went, or if I even ever had them.  So, looks like I have more scratchbuilding to do.

 

I also worked on the roof.  Etched rainstrips were soldered into the grooves etched into the roof.  The "pot lid holder" was rolled and attached to the roof, and the whitemetal lamp plug was soldered in place and a handle added as described in the instructions.

 

So, here's some pictures of the current state of the kit.  The roof is not attached, its just held in place by gravity, and I haven't bothered to re-install the couplings yet (nor will I until the chassis is painted).

 

 

 

 

Its looking pretty good to me.

 

So, what's left to do?  As mentioned above, scratchbuild a new label clip holder from scrap etch, and make 4 drop door pieces from whatever brass I can cobble up.  I want to scratchbuild a brake tell-tale for the guards end.  I need to attach the Westinghouse and vaccum pipes.  I want to build a simple interior for the guard, a divider and a simple seat.  (whether this is brass or card is still TBD, but I'm strongly tempted to use brass).  I need to make the door handles and grab handles from wire.  And finally attach the roof.  There's a gap between the ends and the roof which will need to be filled by some scratch brass.

 

When I write all that down, it seems like I've still got a lot of work to do...  But its all good.  I'm still hoping to have the soldering done by the end of June so I can have it at the O scale national convention in Worcester, MA.

[Mike Boucher]

I also went on another "weathering blitz", this time 5 US prototype cars...

 

A couple of Weaver 2 bay covered hoppers...

 

 

 

 

A Weaver 3 bay hopper:

 

 

A couple of factory assembled Intermountain boxcars:

 

 

(and I need to fix that broken grab iron.  Matching that orange color is going to be a pain...)

 

 

I also had a UP flat (built from a Red Caboose kit) which had been weathered, but I wanted a load.  I also had acquired a laser cut wood kit for 6 large crates.  I assembled the crates, took 1 large one and two "medium" sized, and mounted them on the flatcar with all sorts of crazy bracing.  To add weight to the car, the two smaller crates each have a sheet of lead in them!  Another kit off the "just a little left to be done" list and onto the "finished" list...

 

[Mike Boucher]

After "real life" took a hard left turn into a ditch, I've managed to get back to doing some more work on the horsebox.

As mentioned in a previous update, one of the two label clip holder etches flew off the tweezer and into a black hole.  No choice but to take some scrap and cobble something together.

 

Here's a close up of the etch:

 

 

And here's a close up of the one I scratched together.  Its made of 4 individual pieces, one for each side.  That seemed easier than trying to cut a square hole.  Not sure it was the right choice, as under close magnification you can tell its not quite square, but I think it'll do fine from normal viewing distances.

 

 

After attaching, I realized I may have it in the wrong place.  The drawing which came with the instructions, as well as the picture of the side posted by Buckjumper back on post #26 shows the label clip holder on the right drop door, closest to the grooms compartment.  When I attached the part, I have it on the right drop door on both sides.  This means on one side, its furthest away from the grooms compartment.  And I wonder if the label clip holder should be closer to the grooms compartment.  I'll leave it as it is and wait for someone to 1) notice and 2) prove me wrong...

 

Next step was the "buffers" at the top of the drop doors.  Once again, as mentioned in an earlier post, the instructions say "attach the castings", but there are no castings that I can find.  Time to rummage through the scrap box...

Looking at the 3/4 view photo, again posted by Buckjumper in post #26, and the size of the etches for the door strapping, I estimated what I needed was some brass about .062" square, which I could then file to the rounded off shape.  I couldn't find any .062 square brass, and I couldn't find any square solid brass in the K&S brass display at a few hobby shops, they only had square tube.  But, I did have a piece of .062 thick by 1" wide brass, and each piece had to be about 7/8" long.  So, out came the hacksaw and files and after a little work I had 4 pieces of about .062" square, 1" long pieces:

 

 

(photo also shows the original strip of brass...)

 

OK, in order to file them to shape, I needed a way to hold them.  Out came a couple of scraps of .040" thick brass, and I soldered them to one side of the pieces.  That way I could hold the "handle" in my hand, and be able to file any of the other 5 sides.  Here's a picture after one was rounded off...

 

 

Then, I touched the soldering iron to them, and they dropped right off, with the bonus of the edge which gets attached to the body is now tinned!  Needed to use the 80W iron to get enough heat into these hunks of brass, but I managed to get them soldered on the sides:

 

 

 

Next thing on my list was a simple interior for the grooms compartment.  This is not provided for in the kit, but I the dividing wall would be visible through the windows, so I also reasoned might as well put a rudimentary seat in while I was at it.

 

I cut a sheet of .040 brass to the width of the interior.  From that, I cut off a piece the height of the horse box.  Using a Stanley utility knife, I scribed in planking at the same spacing as on the end of the horse box.  I soldered this in place on the inside:

 

 

 

I annealed the remaining pice of .040 brass (cut to width), and bent it by hand to look somewhat like a padded seat:

 

 

And then I realized the order of operations was wrong.  With the new wall in place, it was ridiculously hard to get my 80W iron in to solder the seat in place.  Should have done it in the other order.  But, I managed to get the seat tacked in.  The solder joint doesn't have to be pretty, just has to keep it solidly in place!

 

 

I've now started adding the grab irons and door handles.  The handles for the feed compartment look like simple lever handles, but the handle for the grooms compartment door looks to me like it should be a T handle.  I'm stumped as to how I can bend one of these up from wire and still have it look good, but making one from 2 pieces is just asking for it to fall apart when I go to solder it in.

 

Anyone have any suggestions/techniques for making a T handle?  (or alternatively, a supplier who sells castings for the appropriate T handle?)

[66C]

Anyone have any suggestions/techniques for making a T handle?  (or alternatively, a supplier who sells castings for the appropriate T handle?)

Hi Mike

 

My technique for 7mm coach door handles is as follows:

 

Start with a brass Peco rail nail (track pin type).

 

Hold in a pin vice and file the head at right angles to the shaft until the side of the head is reduced to the shank.

 

File the opposite side of the head until the side of the head is reduced to the shank.

 

You should now have a T shaped piece of brass.

 

The finished handle looks like this:

 

 

If the shaft is too thick for your purposes, mount the end of the shaft in the chuck of a modelling drill so that a needle file can be placed between the filed head and the chuck. Run the drill and file down the shaft to the desired diameter.

 

Regards.

[Mike Boucher]

Lots of stuff going on since my last update, not all on the horsebox.  But, we'll start with that.

 

While trying to find suitable nails for the T handles as 66C described above (peco track nails aren't common here in the US!) I decided to work on getting the roof attached.  I had planned on just soldering it in, but then realized that it would make it almost impossible to paint the rudimentary interior, or get the window glazing in once it was painted.  So, I needed to make the roof a tight fit, but removable.

I had noticed that there was a gap between the tops of the ends and the tops of the sides.  Holding the roof in place showed this was around .030".  If you look at the last photo in my previous post, you'll see what I did to close that gap.  Cut a piece of brass sheet from scrap etch, solder it in place along the top, and then I filed down the rough edge I left overhanging the end.  Gap closed.

The solution I used to attach the roof was this:  I took scrap etch, and made some tabs about 1/4" wide.  They were bent to have a jog in the middle the thickness of the brass the sides were made of (.040, IIRC), kinda like a stretched 'S' shape  These were then soldered to the underside of the roof such that the roof was centered on the body when the tabs were "over" the bent over tops of the sides.  I cut matching slots in the tops of the sides.  Easier to see in photos than explain...

 

Underside of the roof...

 

That vertical piece is just a "handle" I soldered on.  It won't be visible when the roof is on, and it makes it easy to hold the roof with a clamp for painting.

 

View looking down the tabs...

 

And the slots cut in the body...

 

Note that the tabs and slots aren't symmetrical on the centerline of the roof.  I did this on purpose, as the roof only goes on one way, I wanted to ensure that I couldn't accidentally put it on backwards.

 

With it all set, I gave the roof a first coat of primer and slid it on.  It has a nice snug sliding fit, you can move it when you grab it, but its tight enough it won't move under normal handling and running.

 

In that picture, you can see most of the door handles and grab irons in place.  I've since put a 2nd coat of primer on the roof, and two coats of flat white paint.  So, I consider the roof finished.

 

At that point, I had found suitable nails to use for the T handles: 18 gauge brass escutcheon pins!  Filed a couple of them down as described above, and soldered them on.

 

I then started working on the ends.  As I think I've mentioned, I've decided to model the ends with the tell tale and both Westinghouse and vac brake hoses, as shown in Buckjumper's post #26.

 

The kit came with whitemetal castings for both brake hoses, but somewhere along the line I got a set of Slaters (?) brass castings with springs for the vacuum brake hoses.  I've soldered those on to both ends.

 

Bad photo, but you can see the T handle attached as well as the brake hose in this picture.

 

I've now started scratching up the rounded tell-tale brackets for the ends.

 

But, when I was painting the chassis, two more of those white metal spring hanger casting came loose.  ARRGH!  I've also started scratching two more out of brass as previously described.

 

I also found this:

 

Its the original invoice!  In just a few weeks, it'll be 16 years to the day I bought the kit , so I've self-imposed a deadline of then to have assembly complete.  (Assembly - soldering done and everything in primer)  Hope I make it...

 

But, now for a few diversions...

 

At my live steam club, someone made a little hand pump car that my kids have ridden on.  I've decided make two of them, one for each child, in time for Christmas.  This long weekend, my ex took the kids camping, so I went into my shop (the lathe is still at said ex's house for a variety of reasons), and made the wheels.  I started with 8 castings, and by the end of the 3 days, I had 8 finished wheels.

 

Here's two rough castings, showing the front and back...

 

And here's the pile of finished wheels.  for scale, they're 4.75" diameter at the treads (which are tapered, BTW)

 

And I saved the chips  4 1/2 pounds of cast iron shavings...

 

And the other diversion is a little more serious.  I mentioned in my previous post, real life has taken a hard left turn.  In mid-July, I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Leukemia.  I'll be damned if I'm going to let this stop me from doing things I enjoy, so for my first couple of days of IV treatment at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, I brought in a couple of Slaters plastic kits to build while I was sitting there.  I asked the nurse for a table, and spent a little time assembling.

 

My brother took a picture of me on day 1, while I was just getting started on them...

 

For the record, I'm wearing shorts in that picture!     My goal was to work on those kits only while being treated, except for the painting and weathering!  Here's what they looked like after day 1:

 

And after the 2nd day, assembly was complete:

 

As an aside, can someone teach me how to pronounce "Ystradgynlais and Yniscewdyn"?  I bought that kit just because the name seems so completely unpronounceable in English I found it amusing.  (and I know those are perfectly acceptable Welsh names, I just don't speak Welsh!)

 

I don't think I dare bring in brass and soldering irons, so I'll be working on my backlog of plastic kits, both US and British prototype, in multiple scales, while I'm there.  

 

I need to get a new bottle of flat black paint to touch up the strapping on the Parkgate one and paint the buffer bodies, so for tomorrows treatment, I've selected a Slaters MR cattle van to work on, as well as some HO scale Tichy hand cars for my son's HO layout.  We'll see how far I get on those tomorrow...

[Pugsley]

 

As an aside, can someone teach me how to pronounce "Ystradgynlais and Yniscewdyn

istradginnliss for the first one, and something like iniscethwin for the second, but I'll admit that might not quite be correct.

 

Hope you get well soon.

[Adam]

 

istradginnliss for the first one, and something like iniscethwin for the second, but I'll admit that might not quite be correct.

 

Hope you get well soon.

 

The first might be near enough but the second may be a bit further out partly because Welsh is more or less consistently phonetic and English isn't, especially given the variable that is the Atlantic.

 

Something like inis-ked-win (it means Cedwyn's island). You'd want a 'dd' for a sound anything like a 'th' which I guess is what you're thinking of Pugs? Get well soon.

 

Adam

[Mike Boucher]

The first might be near enough but the second may be a bit further out partly because Welsh is more or less consistently phonetic and English isn't, especially given the variable that is the Atlantic.

 

Something like inis-ked-win (it means Cedwyn's island). You'd want a 'dd' for a sound anything like a 'th' which I guess is what you're thinking of Pugs? Get well soon.

 

Adam

 

Would that be in-is (short i) or eye-nis (long i)?

 

And thanks for the well wishes!

[Adam]

Short 'i' - modern Welsh orthography would have this as Ynyscedwyn - like I said, Welsh is more or less phonetic so each 'y' (as it now is) should be treated as sounding the same. I knew the Atlantic might cause problems.

 

Adam

[3 link]

Hi Mike,

 

Well you have certainly made a great job of the horse box, 16 years that might be a record  .

 

I cannot help out with the correct pronounciation of the Welsh language, but I can wish you a speedy recovery and keep turning those kits out .

 

ATB,

 

Martyn.

[Pugsley]

You'd want a 'dd' for a sound anything like a 'th' which I guess is what you're thinking of Pugs?

Ah yes, that is what I was thinking of - I did have a suspicion that I'd got the second a bit wrong but was confident about the first.

[Mike Boucher]

Past couple of weeks, I've been trying to get the horsebox completed by my "deadline" of Sunday the 15th.  I define "completed" as assembly done, no more soldering to do, just paint and lettering.  When paint and lettering are complete, then I'll declare it "finished".  Well, its the 14th, lets see how I've done...

 

The only task left to do was the scratchbuild the tell tale on the grooms end, and install the vacuum and air brake lines.  First, we'll review the prototype photo from earlier in this thread:

 

 

First thing I decided to do was to make those semi-circular brackets at the outer edges.  Getting those lined up so the rod between them was level was key to making this look good.  Based on the size of the planking on the model, I took a piece of 1/8th dia. brass rod, and drilled a .025 hole off center, deep enough to make 2 brackets.  I cut the rod with my Foredom tool and a cutoff wheel, and then filed half of it off.  I soldered it to a small piece of etch to hold it better, and rounded the edges.  This is what they looked like when that was done.

 

 

Then I soldered them to the end.  I used a long piece of .020 brass rod to ensure they were level.

 

 

Next up was the rightmost "control box" and the small pipe between that box and the cast brass vacuum brake hose.  To make the box, I took the same piece of .062 thick brass I used for the drop door buffers, and cut a square piece off it, and filed it to what seemed like a reasonable size, based on the photo.  I then put it in my drill press, and drilled one .025 hole through, almost at the top edge, and another hole centered on the bottom size only about .050 deep.  Lining it up using the same .020 rod as before, I soldered it to the end.

 

Looking at the prototype photo, it looks to me like the small pipe with connects the two is attached to the top of the vacuum brake hose.  I drilled a small hole there, and bent a piece of brass wire to go between the two, and soldered it at both ends.

 

 

Then for the left control box, the vacuum brake hose, and the small pipe between those.  I cut another piece from the .062 brass, filed to shape, and drilled one hole through and a second on the side.

 

 

I can't remember if it was soldered in place in that photo or not.  But it shows that I've managed to keep everything aligned and straight...

 

Now that all the thick brass pieces were soldered on, I turned to the whitemetal air brake hose castings.  But, I noticed a problem...

 

Based on the photo, those hoses are way too short.  One of them doesn't even have the 90 degree bend at the bottom, and the other one, the bend would put the pipe right through the buffer beam instead of wrapping around the bottom (which I'm assuming it does like the vacuum brake line)  Simple solution:  I took a piece of .062 diameter brass, drill a .025 hole in the end, annealed it, and soldered in a short piece of .020 brass wire.  I then cut off the casting right at the bottom bracket, drilled a corresponding .025 hole in the whitemetal, and using 70 degree solder, joined the two to make a much longer piece.

 

 

I then attached the castings to the each end of the brake van, and bent the bottom at 90 degrees below the buffer beam.  This caused much cursing, as when I would solder the lower end, it would usually weaken the joint between the whitemetal and brass.  I really could have used a 3rd hand, one to hold the casting in place, one to hold the brass extension, and one to hold the soldering iron.  Took a while, but I did get them on solidly and straight.

 

Looking at the prototype photo again, it was obvious that the small pipe didn't enter at the top, like the vacuum brake line.  Zooming it, it appears to me that there's a valve on the pipe just below the top 180 degree bend.  I assumed that the pipe from the tell tale comes in somewhere around there.  So, I drilled a hole in the casting there, and bend some brass wire to fit.

 

 

Then, for the tell tale itself.  Filing a couple piece of scrap etch to shape, I soldered one onto the end of that long piece of .020 wire I was using during assembly.  I slid it into position, and cut the wire to length.  I then pushed the "flag" up against the semi-circular bracket, and carefully soldered the other one on the other end of the wire.  After it cooled, I pushed them back into position, so each "flag" was just over the sides of the van.  The wire isn't soldered in place, so the flags can actually move.  (and I'm hoping I can paint it and still maintain that capability!)

 

 

 

And looking at those photos, I noticed the lower end of the air brake pipe joint broke at some point while installing the tell tale!  I just walked away from the computer to plug in the soldering iron to let it heat it up as I continue typing!

 

So, with all that done, Assembly is complete!  Made the deadline with a day to spare!  I put everything together to take the next few photos.  Note that the chassis has been also been painted flat black since my last posting.  I masked off the wheel centers, so I can paint them the appropriate reddish-purpleish color, assuming I can either find or mix that color of paint...

 

 

The grooms end with the tell tale.

 

 

The "boring" end, nothing but air and vacuum brake hoses on the opposite end of the brake van.

 

 

and an higher view to show the white roof...

 

 

This kit was definitely a challenge for me, but I feel it was a good 2nd brass kit to build.  I'm glad I didn't tackle this one first, but it was a learning experience.  There were times I had to guess at what the instructions mean, I had to scratchbuild a few things not included in the kit, but I feel I've been successful in assembly.

 

Now to clean everything up, prime it, and make an attempt at painting polished teak.

 

Now for the paint question:  What color would the metal strapping and hinge work on the drop door have been?  Painted black?  Some other decorative color?

[Rob Pulham]

Very nice Mike, it should offer you a great deal of satisfaction and confidence to tackle the next.