S7 scratch building

[airnimal]

I can't do anything about the lettering on this last wagon so I have knocked up a small bolster wagon from a photograph in Mr Chadwick's excellent book. The photograph on page 23 is in a NSR boat yard with a canal boat on a trio of wagons. These all appear to be unpainted and I wanted to see if I could build and paint one in this way. I don't have a lot to go on so this is at best a guess using a drawing of a similar size wagon. I also wanted to build one in a slightly distress and run down condition. 

So a frame was quickly put together from Evergreen strip and rubbed over with coarse sandpaper to give it some texture. A pair of W-irons were soldered together and a small sub frame made from 60 thou plastic which had the 12 BA nuts sunk in to them as my usual procedure. 

This wagon has a round tie bar linking the W-irons together. Rather than soldering them together and making it awkward to handle and paint later I opted to make the tie bar removable.  So a small piece of brass tube was soldered to the back of the W-irons and cut off. Then a length of .7mm nickel wire was cut to size and both ends were reduced in diameter to fit inside this tube. The body was put together and individual planks of slightly different thickness were glued on to give a uneven appearance.  

[airnimal]

This is only a small wagon but it still takes quite a lot of time to add small amounts of details . 

The coupling plates on the ends are just one small part but to get them correct pays dividends in the long run. 

Still it takes me away from the hassel of dealing with estate agents and solicitors and trying to stop the boss throwing everything in the dustbin. I am not a hoarder as such but there is a limit to what has to go. My better half wants the minimalist look which is all very good but most men what wood and tools and paint and other such things. Rant over. 

[CKPR]

I sometimes suspect that Mrs-CKPR-to-be thinks that I should be buying new tools and materials each time I do any model making and discard them, rather than having things in stock and cluttering the house up.

Edited August 11 by CKPR

[airnimal]

The brakegear is a simple wooden shoe acting on one wheel. I cut a brass shoe from an old brass washer which measures about 50 thou thick. The holding arm is from a piece of brass strip which is 1mm X 1.5mm and reduce by 50% by filing in my holding jig. Once solderd together it was soldered to an offcut of brass angle and screwed to the floor with my usual method.  

Just the brake rack to make and then all the little details and improve the slightly rusty wheels.

[airnimal]

I had a productive day yesterday finishing the brakegear. The brake rack was a part Ambis and part scratch built with the handle cut from Nickel strip pinned through the solebar with 2 lace pins. The wheels have been cleaned and blackened with Carr's metal black. 

The ends of the dunb buffers were cut back for a representative of the metal hoops which were cut from 10 thou black plasticard. I think it just needs the nuts and bolts and a couple of small items to finish.  It's only a small prototype but I have enjoyed building this so perhaps I should build another along with the other wagon in the photograph that is in Mr Chadwick's book and and find a narrow boat for a load. 

[airnimal]

Because I am having trouble getting the accuracy in am seeking I think I the solution is probably better making out than rather than relying on my wonky eyesight.  So using the W-irons as a guide I have maked where the holes are going to go for the bolts. Using different  widths of plastic strip to act as a spacers underneath the overhanging floor, I was able to mark with a pencil a line to keep everything straight and true. That's the theory anyway. 

[Caley Jim]

All looks good to me!  🙂

 

Jim

[airnimal]

My concentration levels are over the place at present with so much going mainly with the house move but also family life. Looking at the photograph in the wagon book I realised although I had cracked the marking out problem but not the observation of where the details go. I had assumed the bolt pattern was similar to other wagons and I put some of the bolts in the wrong place.  It is a good job i noticed before I started painting because I was able to remove some bolts and plug the holes with plastic rod. 

I think it is now finished and the next stage will be the most problematic trying to paint it in a wagon without paint. That will have to wait until much later because I am going out cycling with the gang of pensioners.  It will only be about 30 miles but it keeps old age at bay for a little while.

[airnimal]

After a day cycling  I came home and gave my wagon a coat of grey primer. This is before I attempt to paint the body a natural wood colour. Tomorrow I will hope to paint all the underframe  parts.     

[airnimal]

I managed to get some paint on all the black components that needed them. 

The big issue now is can I paint a realistic wood finish on all the exterior woodwork.  I have used in the past Tamiya XF-78 wooden deck tan colour over painted with a wash of Citadel nuln oil over the top. This has been reasonable successful but I don't think we are up to the standards of military modellers yet. I also have a set of AK interactive wood weathering set to try. 

I am going to get some Tamiya white to let down the XF-78 to see if that makes a difference before I paint the whole wagon. I will do some test pieces before I commit to do the full paint job. A small consolation would be if this all turns pare shape I can always give it a coat of red oxide to match the other NSR wagons.

[airnimal]

I have brush painted several samples of plasticard with various coats of Tamiya paints and gone over of them with different washes. It is early days and I don't know if I am going in the right direction.  I will persevere as best I can. I think I could do with investing in some new paint brushes because the ones I am using are years old. I have given the top of the wagon a first coat of lightened Xf-78 to see if this will work for me. 

[airnimal]

I am afraid I haven't cracked this painting bare wood malarkey. I have painted the wagon using the Tamiya XF-78 with added white with one coat of paint on the non brake side and a second coat on the brake side to see if there is a difference.  I have put a wash of nuln oil on all over but it still doesn't look right to me. The nuln oil has a shine to it which may disappear when I apply the Matt varnish later.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing because it has only just dawned on me that I have to paint the bolt heads after I have painted the body. Because this is the only wagon I have made in this condition it would have been easier to paint them before I fitted them rather than after they have been glued in. We still live and learn even in old age. I still have the axleboxes to make as well as painting the other bits and pieces which make make a difference to the overall look.

 

[airnimal]

I have painted a few things and it does make a slight difference.  When I varnish it and then add some weathering powders it may tone it down even more. 

I will try and do a bit more later but I am been given various tasks around the house. I mustn't disappoint the boss !

[airnimal]

I didn't think I would be able to do any more today but my good lady went shopping so I took the opportunity to letter and number with some old methfix tranfers. The jury is out on the bare wood effect and it does look different in different light. I only just noticed that I missed painting the bolts on the inner of one of the dumb buffers. 

[airnimal]

Just the axleboxes and springs and then I think I am done. Unfortunately there are no axleboxes that I know of from the trade so I have had chop up some Slaters Midland ones ( sorry Dave and welcome back ) using my own springs. The big problem building early wagon is there fineness. 

Using the standard 7mm bearings makes the axleboxes  very deep. This results in pushing the axleboxes way in front of the springs which made it look completely wrong.  The other problem is it makes the axleboxes to wide. I have thinned the boxes down as much as I dared as well as shortened them considerably but they still appear to wide. I had also shortened both the bearings and the axles on the wheels. I have mentioned it many times as to why 7mm modellers have such long bearings when 4mm ones are so short ?

Reducing both the bearings and axles doesn't seem to affect the running because now they are no longer pinpoint bearings but without any end float the wheels are well supported.  

After doing all my allotted chores I have been released from further duties for the rest of the week. Not only that but I had a lovely home cooked meal along with a bottle of my favourite beer. How long will this last ?

[Coal Tank]

It looks good to me Mike.

[Poggy1165]

The bearings supplied by Gibson and Haywood are both much smaller. However, they are also open-ended (which can cause issues with glue) and don't take Slater's axles (from memory).

 

I have occasionally found these smaller bearings useful. The Slater's bearings, to my mind, could be almost half the size they are.

 

Another issue is that 'manufacturing tolerances' mean that axles can be of differing lengths. This was pointed out (on here I think) by Bill Bedford. I had previously thought that my occasional need to file down axle ends to get a smooth-running wagon was my fault! Once Bill explained this it lit a lightbulb in my head and I no longer feel guilty when I have to do this.

 

 

[airnimal]

Thanks Brian,  I have over come the problem with the bearings by filing a small amount from the front face and reducing the depth of the axleboxes.  The axleboxes have made to look like the ones in the photograph as best I could but they still could be thinner.

I think I have finished this now but I wished I had distressed it more while I was at the cutting stage. I am still unsure of the finish of it but until I find a better way of painting unpainted wood it will have to do for now.

[brumtb]

20 hours ago, airnimal said:

Thanks Brian,  I have over come the problem with the bearings by filing a small amount from the front face and reducing the depth of the axleboxes.  The axleboxes have made to look like the ones in the photograph as best I could but they still could be thinner.

I think I have finished this now but I wished I had distressed it more while I was at the cutting stage. I am still unsure of the finish of it but until I find a better way of painting unpainted wood it will have to do for now.

That is really excellent work.  To me the wood finish appears very realistic.

Tony

[airnimal]

Something new on the horizon in the form of Dia 42. Whether this  gets beyond the initial stage in not sure just yet but if I don't try I will never know. 

First stage is the ironwork frame cut from laminated 12 thou nickel sheet. I cut one as a guide before soldering it on to 4 soldered together.  I have started to cut them out with my fret saw before I file them to shape. It is going to be fun soldering the angle iron part on them but at this stage it's just an experiment.  

[airnimal]

I had a day out today at Shipley at the  expoEM show. Although I have never had any success with 4mm myself I still like to see good modelling. I enjoyed the layouts with Eastwood and High House Colliery particularly pleasing.  I bought a couple of items from the trade and i had a chat with several demonstrators. 

Back home I managed to file to shape the the frame for the Dia 42 glass wagon. This is not perfect and I need to refine it before I separate the the 4 layers and start to add the other parts to form the angle iron. 

[airnimal]

After filing a bit more off and measuring them, I have separated them and cleaned the solder from both sides. They are not perfect in anyway and the next stage will be the telling point. If I can't get the angle iron correct there won't be much further time spent on them. I will have to see if I have enough strip to go all around the inside faces to form the angle iron.  I might have to put it down on the wants list for the Stafford show. I already have a small list of bits and the list is growing all the time. 

With the weather being kind to use I will be going cycling later. I think there will only be 4 of us because a couple are away and one has falling out with the other lads. 

[airnimal]

I have just found in my metal section a couple of strips of 2mm by 10 thou brass. Quickly forming it around a drill bit gave me the desired effect that I am after.  It still needs refinement but it has given me hope that I not barking up the wrong tree. Of course it still needs soldering together and I think this could be where the solder paint comes in. Time will tell.

[sir douglas]

until you showed this prototype photo i couldnt work out what you were making

[airnimal]

I have soldered up the first of the frame parts and cleaned most of the excess solder off. I tried using solder paint but went back to normal solder in the end. But before I go any further I thought I had better look at the wagon and how I would model the well. Because the well is very close to the axles which would make my own method of construction difficult.  The best part of the base plate would need to be removed taking out one of the fixing holes used to mount them. I have had to modify a set of them when I made a timber wagon but was able to drill another hole in the base plate to compensate. Another complicatation is the number of hole in these frames to attach chains and shackles that would need drilling. Could I get them all in line and would they look correct. 

Perhaps in should have worked out all these things before stating out on this journey but I find if I am making something complicated I would never attempt to model it. I think it's better to overcome problems when they arrive than be put off building something fearing failure.