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Trainshed Terry

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  1. Trainshed Terry
    Hello everyone,
    Well I have had time to have a think about how to fill the gaps on this wagon and I had a bright idea on how to do it.
    The inspiration came from "Edd China" from "Wheeler Dealers".
    Magnates two of will be required. Other tools required are soldering iron, flux, brass sheet that is the same thickness or as close to as the kit you can get too. and solder.First thing to do is to cut 2 strips of brass roughly 2mm X 45mm, I used a mini cutting disc to cut my strips of, then clean the edges up and test fit
     



     
    They might be of a tight fit but keep felting until that they fit the slots. When you feel comfortable with the fit of both strips use the magnates to hold the strip in place and tack into place at the top and bottom of the slots.



     
    I left the magnates in place to complete the soldering of the strip in place so that the material is flush with the wagon end. Then repeat the process on the other side. Allow the work to cool for a couple of hours. Like I did, so I did and had a cup off coffee and made a start on a brass building kit that was begging to be made.
     



     



     
    Returning to the wagon it was a case of cleaning the ends up with a mini drill and some sanding disks (course, medium and fine) and if things have worked you should end up with a much improved wagon end.




     
    I hope that this has give people out there something to think about as I am very pleased with the result.
    I shall be thinking of how to replicate the ridges of the wagon as I have done a internet search and have found some half round brass tube that might do the job, but more of that in due course.
     
    I hope people find this information useful and is put to good use.
     
    Thank you for reading my blog.
     


    Terry Macavoy


  2. Trainshed Terry
    Part 2.


     

    Just to bring things up to date. the rest of the brake equipment was fitted over the past 2 days, with the help of the brass pins that I found on a certain internet auction site.
    They measure about 10mm in length and about 0.06mm in diameter and are brass, I forgot that I had them in the tool box. they made great pin to locate the rest of the pivot points and once solder in place they didn't disappear.
     




     

    The rest of the brake gear went together with no real problems, but be careful as some of the components are small and easily lost to the carpet monster never to be found again.
     




     

    The only thing that I did change was the lost wax cast door handles, with 0.5mm brass wire as the cast handles just did not look great.
    Today the sun was out this morning so I gave the completed wagon a coat of "Halfords Plastic Primer. (Grey), all I have to do is wait until the nice weather is back so that I complete this model.
     
    I hope that what I have put in this blog has be informative to people out there, if there are any questions please feel free to contact me.
     




     

    Trainshed Terry.
  3. Trainshed Terry
    This is my first blog entry so please bear with me on this. I was ill heath released last October 2015, and I have been looking for further employment, but owning to a very limited skills base it is proving a challenge so I brought a Slater's wagon kit to help the time pass and to prevent me from going round the bend.
     
    This is not a criticism about "Slater's kits " they do make a nice and detailed wagon, but if you build as the illustrated instruction, it is a challenging to construct and how to work round the problem that I encountered.
     

    Making of the Van


     
    The making of the van and the under frame is simple enough, and it is recommended to attach the couplings before construction of the wagon ends. It is important that the sole bar marked with "V" is orientated correctly on the right of the wagon and, tag" A" which has a lip and marked is at the front of the wagon. Otherwise the brake rigging when assembled will not correctly line up. (More on that later). the next stage it shows to attach the details buffers door locking bars door catches and buffers vacuum pipe fittings, personally I would leave them off and add them on at completion of the next few steps.
     
    The next step "3" shows a illustration of how to turn the under frame it to U channel by using 0.020" X0.070" microstrip, all well and good and where to attach the under frame strengthen triangles , stop there, if you do attach all of the as per diagram you will have hack 4 them about to get the brake shoe hangars in place
     




     

    Adding brake rigging


     

    In the diagram 4 it shows to add the "W" irons and springs, and brake shoes, it is better to leave them off until completion of the central brake rigging as it is easily damaged and brakes off so I have found to my cost. The important parts to be added at this time is the vac cylinder and outside brass etched "part no 56 &56A"
     
    When starting this part start from one end and of the wagon and work through it methodically checking you work as you go through, do a dry run as well, drill out all the relevant holes while the brake rigging is attached to the etch with either a 0.5 or 0.55mm drill in a pin chuck, and open up the 1/16" holes to take the brake pivot bar. Folding up of the following brass etches is straight forward you can solder the to add more strength but that is an option for the constructor.
     
    The way that I did mine was to use short lengths of 0.5mm brass wire pushed through each so that are a loose fit before fixing into place with a thick super glue or evo-stick. Part 57 the actuation lever needs to have all the hole drilled out on the narrow end.
     
    When you have dry assembled the central braking rigging put to one side, then take time to construct items for the central pivot bar.
    The little "T" bar that goes into the vac cylinder is plastic, but I changed my to a brass version made by using 2 lengths 0.7mm brass rod soldered to form the "T" shape.
     
    Then attach the relevant components for the central pivot bar carefully and in the correct order.
    Fit the central brake rigging and sundries as a dry run being sure that part 57a and the longer of aligns with bar on the central brake rigging and solder all joints and remove excess 0.5mm rod.
     




     

    After you have completed that challenge I attach "W" irons brake shoes springs and axle boxes and pull bars for brake shoes before attaching hand brake levers, and that wheels rotate freely.
     
    At this point take a brake (no pun intended) have a cup of strong coffee.
     
    As you can see from the pictures that I have attached to illustrate this blog are of help to explain what I have done.
    The next part will be to fit the hand brake levers.
     
    Thank you all who read and think that the information is of help in construction of what is a good wagon kit

    Trainshed Terry.
  4. Trainshed Terry
    M & M Models



    Kit Number WW11 12T BR Plywood Van.


     

    Part One.


     

    The other week I saw a brass etched kit of the 12T BR Plywood van by "M & M Models" for sale on a certain selling web site, so feeling like a challenge I purchased one. It arrived on the date that I expected to get to me.
    The kit comes in a very nice A4 Plastic case to protect all the etches and white metal components. The instruction sheets are for guidance only, and there is a sheet that has a full list of the building batches and running numbers.
    The photo illustrations are of a poor quality and dark to make any sense of, as it is one of those kits where you can build up not in the correct order.
    Unfortunately I did not take any photos of the unstarted kit.
     

    Construction of the Van.


     

    The construction of the van was a joy to put together as the fold lines are nice and crisp so it was a joy to fold up squarely. On the van ends there are a line of half etched rivets that require lightly need punching through, and the vents need to folded up and soldered in place carefully as there no marks to place them, so careful measurements are required to locate the centreline of the body.
     




     

    Once I got the van to that stage i had a look at the white metal casting for the ribbed ends of these vans as there are slots which locate the castings, I have done a trial fit with one set of castings and I am not happy with the results as the castings are very much over sale.
     



     



     
    So over the past week I have been thinking of how to replace those white metal castings and I have an idea on how to go about it. But I need to get the bits that are required to do it tomorrow.
     
    The next thing I shall be looking at is the roof as it is a flat sheet of brass that is the correct size for the wagon. Rolling brass roofs is not my favourite task in brass construction as it could be rolled out of true.
     

    The "w" irons are of white metal construction and are crisply moulded, but if someone could steer me in the direction of any brass etched version it would be greatly appreciated.
     
    The things that I have purchased to replace the white Metal components from Slater's are buffers vac pipes and couplings.
     
    More to follow in due time but please bear with me I have job centre course to do over the next few weeks.
     

    Terry Macavoy


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