leavesontheline

Well, it might be seven and a half months later, but I finally got around to building my first Slaters Wagon kit, starting last Sunday and finishing this evening! I said I would do a photographic build record so that is exactly what I have done! I’m certainly not saying this is the best way to build one, and there are some lessons I learnt along the way and things I may do differently the next time, but overall I am pleased with the results! I chose this particular model (4036B) as I seem to have ended up with two of these over recent years, so I thought if I screwed up one, I still have the second. One might also become my first guinea-pig for weathering..... give that another few months and another post though! One question with this model - I assume the "maltsters" typo was carried across from the real thing - anyone know? Anyway, I started with this: ... and as discussed/recommended in the very useful posts above, a selection of other bits and pieces such as wheels, bearings and couplings, all of which are not included in this particular kit (unlike some of the more recent ones I have purchased): First task, as suggested by the short and sweet assembly instructions, was to ensure that the side and end panel chamfers were de-burred. I did this with a piece of wet and dry on top of my granite slab. This plastic is fairly soft so I had to be careful not to overdo it. I didn't get too hung up on whether I had a nice 45 degree angle though! One of the sides and the two end pieces had to be cut from the sprue first. I did this roughly first with some fine, sharp scissors and then cleaned it up with a craft knife and finally a rub with the wet and dry sandpaper. I then removed all remaining parts from the sprue (without painting - more on this shortly!) and cleaned up all parts in a similar fashion. I am very impressed with the quality of these mouldings with there being minimal flashing to remove from most parts. Some of the complex fine gaps above and below the axle boxes needed opening out but those were easy to do with a fine point bladed craft knife as were the brake assemblies which had minimal flashing. As soon as I cut the buffer beam coupling hooks from the sprue, I glued them in place. Being so small I felt they could easily be lost with an unexpected sneeze! I did the same with the buffer collars, sliding them onto each buffer for safe keeping. I had a play around with both the Romford Plain and Shouldered bearings. The Plain variety, having no 'shoulder' or flange as I would call it, seemed a bit of a sloppy fit in the hole in the back of the axle-box. The Shouldered variety just seemed a more natural fit and of course sat squarely in the hole. Also, the more recent Slaters kits I have bought all seem to come with the Shouldered variety, so I went with these. As I'll come on to later, an extensive trial fit of all parts was conducted before glueing the major parts. This included checking that my Hornby or Bachmann axles fitted correctly between the axle-boxes with these bearings installed. As mentioned above I didn't paint anything at this stage. I gave this considerable thought at the time, and cast my mind back to my younger days of Airfix (and similar) model building where I quickly learnt that paint and glue don't mix! I considered the complexity of the parts, and the paintbrush access I would have when the underframe was built and decided to do all the painting after the underframe was built. I'm still not sure if this was the best thing to do but I'll come on to this later in the post (or thread, depending how far I get with this post!). Despite being so careful when removing the finer parts, I still managed to break one of the brake lever brackets as seen in the photo below. This could have been glued together but was not neccessary in the end as I only intended to fit the brake gear to one side of the wagon as suggested in the instructions. This just hghlights how careful you need to be when removing the fine parts. It is best to cut the most slender parts first and prevent the part from moving whilst doing this. Thus in the next photo are all of the kit parts, ready for assembly, plus the extra parts such as wheels, bearings, ballast weight, NEM couplings and coupling mounting blocks: I then started a trial fit of parts, as far as possible, to try and prevent any nasty suprises after glue is applied! I found at this stage that the brake gear bars were a nice snug fit between the undefloor cross-members, but maybe a little too snug! The 'snugness' resulted in a slight bowing of the base of the brake assembly so i reduced its length slightly using the wet and dry at each end. This resulted in a really nice fit. The next stage was assembly 'proper' so this seems like a good place to pause for now. This will have to wait until the next post .... hopefully tomorrow.

I tried this feature for the first time over the weekend and was very impressed. 'Spoke' to ('chatted' with?) Paul Hill who couldn't have been more helpful. The little 'chat now' tab popped up just as I was wondering about the longevity of one of the 'bargain' item's offer period. Thirty seconds later I was chatting (I'd call it 'messaging' based on other social network platforms including Skype!) with Paul and my query was answered very efficiently. It was quicker than picking up the phone, and more personal than firing emails back and forth. I'd certainly use it again if I had a query. If you are browsing the site anyway, its so quick and simple to use - recommended.

Very nice looking buildings, but will your version have a six-wheel Landrover, similar to the six-wheel Freelander in the Google image? Must be one of those spy shots of new model in development!!

Thanks for the link Nick, very useful. Also, your 'ballasting' is soooo neat! It is also interesting to see how you gently sculpted the landscape in the early days of build. Looking at the magazine shots above its hard to associate the finished product with the photos on your archived thread! Personally, I think some of the shots with photoshopped fields and hills in the back ground look more convincing than the sky-only shots. I particularly like the second to last one - fantastic! Thanks again.

How d'ya like them apples?! Did you go around a supermarket with a vernier or micrometer trying to find something to represent a 1:76 apple? Very inventive! I'm interested in how you weathered your track, particularly the sides of the rails - it is one of the most realistic representations of the combination of weathered rust and dirt I've seen. You've got the colour just right. You see so many that are bright orange and it just looks too much.

My favourite piece in the current (just!) Hornby mag issue by far. Really well done! I often think its a shame that there is a perception that GWR layouts and BLT's in particular have been 'overdone' over the years. Maybe they were once and maybe every show one went to had several such layouts, but not so any more! This 'perception' (I assume that is all it is now?) has had the counterproductive effect of making modellers think twice about doing 'yet another' GWR BLT resulting in a dearth of such models! As your excellent modelling demonstrates the modern tools, materials, kits and even RTR models available these days offer much more scope than 10, 15 or 20 years ago, so why not go back to a 'well trodden' format, but making full use of what is now available to a skilled railway modeller such as yourself! I like your video too. It's nice to see it come alive as 'moving pictures' in magazines are a little way off yet! Yes, a good quality video too, birds tweeting in the background adding to the atmosphere, very professional ...... right up to the point (about 6:26) where you burped right next to the camera microphone!! The illusion was completely shattered for me right there!! Made me laugh anyway! Thankyou for sharing and to echo the above posts - more photos and more information on how you put it all together will be most welcome!

Some great stuff coming out here guys, so thankyou all for your input. Thanks for the links 57XX - particularly for the connectors. At the moment I only have a packet of Bachmann 36-026 couplings which I fear would not offer enough lateral movement. As you point out Il Grifone, the Hornby wheels I have, have a 26mm point to point axle. Interested to know what you mean by 'open spoke' though? I have a packet or two of Hornby R8098 which seem to be pretty much the same as all my RTR PO wagons come fitted with ...... is there another type I don't know about? I have some Romford flanged and flangeless bearings about to go on order, along with one or two other bits and pieces. I can get the required washers from my local shop thanks halfwit (re: post #15 above, in case anyone thought I was calling them a halfwit!), so if I need them I can get them easily, he just didn't have the bearings in stock. So as soon as I get everything together, I'll start posting some piccies of my attempts ..... which hopefully will be 'right first time' thanks to all the lessons learnt on here!! It would be gratifying for me to 'put something back' into RMWeb after lurking on here for so long!

Thanks all for the feedback. Bruce - they are all just bog standard 5, 6 and 7 plank private owner wagons. On a dry run they all seem to go together quite well. As soon as I find a supplier of bearings I'll post a photo-build, warts and all!

Thanks for the information chaps. I have a granite kitchen worktop-saver which is pretty flat. I guess I was just wondering if it is best to build the sides and then drop the underframe in per the instructions or is there a more cunning way to ensure it all ends up square? As for wheels, unfortunately mine have no bearings! I bought a couple of packets of Hornby wheels a while ago to re-wheel old Hornby, Lima, Airfix and Mainline RTR models I had from childhood, where they still had the original plastic wheels fitted (much quieter mind!) and had quite a few of the spoked wagon wheels left over. I was wondering what to do with them when I saw one of the Slaters kits at a show, packaged minus wheels and ballast weight. I bought a packet of the ballast weights, then a few months later I bought another kit, then a bit later a couple more ..... and now it would be ironic if I can't easily use the Hornby wheels! I'm assuming that I can get a packet of the brass bearings (Romford pinpoint bearings? Is that the type of thing I need.....?) and thats it? It just looks like the hole in the back of the axle box is too big and sloppy to take the point on the Hornby wheelset axle as it is, hence the need for the bearings? I'm just surprised when I bought the first couple of kits, the chap didn't point this out? Maybe I looked like I knew what I was doing? I certainly remember asking quite basic questions about the kits, which led me to getting the ballast weights. I had a look at the Parkside Dundas website, and because for most of the coupling parts they don't show pictures, I can't be sure of what I want/need! I just want to be able to fit an NEM pocket, with a 'float' mechanism if possible, and for the time being one of the Bachmann/Dapol style small NEM couplings at each end. I suppose I'll just have to wait until I'm next in a suitable shop/show so I can see and handle the relevant parts! Maybe when I get all the bits together I'll do my own photographic build - I won't call it a 'master class', more like a 'what not to do' lessons learnt type exercise! Thanks again!

Hello all, I'm just wondering if there are any useful hints and tips from experienced builders of Slater's wagon kits in OO? I have a few now, bought at local shows and am about to start building them. I have quite alot of past experience of building plastic kits (non-rail) but i was just wondering if there is anything special i should know before starting. I searched on here expectng to find someone had already done a 'masterclass' photographic build type thread but couldn't find anything remotely close which surprised me! Some specific questions: 1. What is the best build sequence? 2. What is the recommended method/tooling for keeping everything square and true? 3. What are the 'bearings' mentioned in the instructions (I thought the only additional items needed were paint, wheels and couplings?). Can anyone advise where i can find such bearings? 4. What would be a suitable aftermarket NEM pocket for me to fit underneath to take the couplings? I'd appreciate any help and advice you may be able to provide as I'm sure there must be literally 1000's of hours of collective experience of these kits on this forum! i could just take a risk and learn the hard way but why 're-invent the wheel'! Thanks and apologies for such a basic query! Seems a bit lame to be asking for advice on kit building when I look at some of the amazing scratchbuilding going on on here!