A pair of ESC1 bogies
Posted: Sun Mar 03, 2013 6:09 pm
Rather than scatter my modelling bits and pieces around, I'll gather them here to possibly stand a chance of finding them again.
First up, a pair of ESC1 bogies from a Colin Craig kit.
Everything required is included, except wheels. The instructions are very comprehensive and cover every aspect of the build.
An hour or so of enjoyment gets to the state below, with all the major components folded up.
The etched sideframes consist of the main frames, carrying the bearings, and a slide plate, with a slot in it, that trap the T shaped fulcrums loosely between them.
It is very important to get the bearings soldered in square to the frames, otherwise the twist will be very apparent.
Careful soldering results in bogie sides where the fulcrum is sprung in the slot in the slide plate and the same spring acts as a compensating beam between the bearings. One complete bogie and one set of sub-assemblies are shown below.
One of the great advantages of this design is that the bogie frames are held to the bolster by stainless steel pins. This makes it very easy to break the bogies down for maintenance, painting or adjustment.
Proper bearings are provided to stop the bogie catching on the mounting screw thread. Normally I use top hat bearings for this, following Ted Scannell's practice. Etched plates to control the rotation are also there.
A close-up of one sideframe assembly.
I'm using Black Beetle wheels here. Their average axle length is 25.96mm. The sideframes needed a very small amount of tweaking to get ultra-smooth running.
The pins will be trimmed on final assembly. A length of sleeving is supplied to hold them securely.
A quick finger push test on Waterloo Street showed that they run as beautifully as anyone could wish for. In fact, they showed that the layout is on a slope that my spirit level can't detect and it was difficult to get them to stay in one place for a photo.
OK, so the springs are visible through the frames. A bit of blackening will take care of that.
Overall, this is easily the best kit that I've had the pleasure of assembling. Every component fits precisely with no fettling. Following the instructions makes every step easy. Anyone wanting an introduction to etched kit construction would do well to start with a kit like this. I am looking forward to the promised Y25 bogies later this year...
Apologies for the rather hurried iPad photos. It's a sign of how much fun this was that I didn't want to go and look for the proper camera
First up, a pair of ESC1 bogies from a Colin Craig kit.
Everything required is included, except wheels. The instructions are very comprehensive and cover every aspect of the build.
An hour or so of enjoyment gets to the state below, with all the major components folded up.
The etched sideframes consist of the main frames, carrying the bearings, and a slide plate, with a slot in it, that trap the T shaped fulcrums loosely between them.
It is very important to get the bearings soldered in square to the frames, otherwise the twist will be very apparent.
Careful soldering results in bogie sides where the fulcrum is sprung in the slot in the slide plate and the same spring acts as a compensating beam between the bearings. One complete bogie and one set of sub-assemblies are shown below.
One of the great advantages of this design is that the bogie frames are held to the bolster by stainless steel pins. This makes it very easy to break the bogies down for maintenance, painting or adjustment.
Proper bearings are provided to stop the bogie catching on the mounting screw thread. Normally I use top hat bearings for this, following Ted Scannell's practice. Etched plates to control the rotation are also there.
A close-up of one sideframe assembly.
I'm using Black Beetle wheels here. Their average axle length is 25.96mm. The sideframes needed a very small amount of tweaking to get ultra-smooth running.
The pins will be trimmed on final assembly. A length of sleeving is supplied to hold them securely.
A quick finger push test on Waterloo Street showed that they run as beautifully as anyone could wish for. In fact, they showed that the layout is on a slope that my spirit level can't detect and it was difficult to get them to stay in one place for a photo.
OK, so the springs are visible through the frames. A bit of blackening will take care of that.
Overall, this is easily the best kit that I've had the pleasure of assembling. Every component fits precisely with no fettling. Following the instructions makes every step easy. Anyone wanting an introduction to etched kit construction would do well to start with a kit like this. I am looking forward to the promised Y25 bogies later this year...
Apologies for the rather hurried iPad photos. It's a sign of how much fun this was that I didn't want to go and look for the proper camera