51L Iron Ore Hoppers

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Wizard of the Moor
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51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Thu Mar 26, 2020 9:04 pm

I've had these kits for quite a while and left them to mature in the time honoured way. However, a friend is now building a layout where they can earn a living and so I've dug them out of the 'someday' box.

CC5A7F91-D50A-4E56-8B67-E0986DC9AEC4.jpeg


Something of a surprise was the letter addressed to someone else in one of the kits apologising for the problems with the etchings. That one must've been a Bring & Buy purchase at some point.

Examining the contents, everything looks good. The resin bodies are really nice mouldings with no air bubbles, and without the horrible petrol smell that I've had on other resin castings. Only the cast whitemetal steps look unsatisfactory. There's one missing, and one other that I nearly threw away thinking it was a lump of flash!

DA70405D-6CDE-4466-BA38-703647E5A4B8.jpeg


A quick re-read of Geoff Kent's MRJ article indicates that the first batch of kits were packed with only one step, so maybe there isn't one missing after all.

First step is to fold up the main chassis.

B85D9A73-E807-49A3-B6C7-CC9EBD46D380.jpeg


As often happens with this design of chassis, the spring support tabs wouldn't fold up after the solebars have been folded. So, fold them the wrong way and carefully file the cusp off, then carefully fold them to the correct position.

3A37C035-CF79-4577-B9F0-72AD71B3230A.jpeg


The full-length tiebars didn't want to fold over cleanly, so I cut them off and soldered them on individually. The chassis top plates needed to be carefully aligned. A few holes to pin these to the main chassis would have been a much better idea than the four tabs folding down around the central hole. They all came out within 0.1mm from end to end, so I'll settle for that.
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby waveydavey » Sat Mar 28, 2020 10:22 am

Hi James,

I have one of these kits in the ‘started but lost interest’ pile. All was going well until I found that the brake gear etch was a bit long and locked the wheels up solid no matter how much I filed the brake shoes. ISTR concluding that adapting some Parkside 9’ brake gear would work, then put the kit away to mature for a few more years.

I’ll be interested to see how your build goes and if you have the same issue. Might even dig mine out and have another go.
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Penrhos1920 » Sat Mar 28, 2020 12:29 pm

James your workbench looks far too clean and tidy

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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Sun Mar 29, 2020 10:29 pm

So this is the weekend's progress.

F7A4D885-8B9D-445C-89C2-5B844A62E778.jpeg


Solebars and bufferbeams are on, and the wheels are in. Doesn't seem like much for a whole weekend...

I've decided that one of the wagons has had replacement Oleo buffers, whilst the other two will have BR self-contained buffers, as built. I've only got ABS Oleos in stock. These aren't quite as fine as the LMS ones, but have the advantage that I can drill them out for springing. So, down to the garage and the Peatol lathe lifted onto the (also very tidy!) workbench.

041AA03C-785C-45AC-8D5A-948040A552C5.jpeg


The buffer heads have been sawn off, and the stocks are held in a 2mm ER25 collet. A 1mm spotting drill in the tailstock chuck is used to go all the way through, turning the chuck by hand and clearing swarf frequently.

9C132FF2-B8A1-478C-8043-17F4A773889A.jpeg


Next, a 1.5mm drill is held in the tailstock, with just the right amount, as measured from one of the other buffers, protruding. This allows all the buffers to be drilled to a consistent depth. The buffer tails are then cut down to the same depth as the cast whitemetal bufferbeams, and Alan Gibson short buffer bushes glued in. Each bush is lightly countersunk with a 2mm drill to remove and burrs and make it easier to get the tail of the buffer heads in when the time comes.

Solebars and bufferbeams have been glued on using Loctite 326. This grabs quickly and gives about a minute of adjusting time. It sets hard in 10 minutes and goes off completely in 24 hours. Expensive, but worth it. The solebars are done first and filed back so that the bufferbeams fit flush to the ends of the top plate.

Next up were the bearing carriers. After soldering in the waisted bearings, I file the pip down a bit using a simple jig.

E96BE1F8-F0F0-4C10-902E-A80B8B85AE8E.jpeg


It's just a strip of 1/16th brass with a Masokits bearing depth checker on one end and a couple of 2.1mm holes in the other. This pic shows the difference between a bearing as supplied and one that has been taken down a bit with a slip stone.

91707115-D4A5-493B-8CD4-FAD49733D24C.jpeg


The business end of the jig in use. It makes it easy to hold them in place and protects the rest of the bearing carrier from damage. The smaller the bearing protrusion, the less has to be carved out of the axleboxes later on.

This was followed by a long process of tweaking the depth of the bearings to get the springs moving freely. Each bearing was cautiously drilled out, in tiny stages, with a 0.4mm drill and then an Ultrascale pin-point cutter used to restore the coning. Selecting bearings with a consistent depth of coning is never easy, even though the Masokits tool helps, but the effort put into getting it 'just so' make a huge difference to the running of a wagon.

A quick check with one of the brake assemblies confirms David's experience mentioned above, so the distraction of working tomorrow will give me some time to ponder what to do about it.
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Mon Apr 06, 2020 9:42 pm

As often happens, it's been two steps forward and one step back.

The solebars as supplied with the kit have lots of bolt heads on them. Unfortunately, the pattern of bolt heads is for the vacuum fitted wagons, and not the D1/163 unfitted wagons. Fortunately, some of the boltheads can be removed to leave the correct pattern. Paul Bartlett has a useful photo that shows the solebar over an axleguard:

https://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/briro ... /h227f935c

So, out with the mini-chisel to get rid of the unwanted boltheads. The result looks like this (apologies for the lack of focus):

F32D460D-8DCF-406B-8540-87B3029D12AE.jpeg


What this shows is that the boltheads don't line up with both axleguards. If one set is lined up correctly then the other end is off. It's not much, but enough to annoy me. I could probably live with it, but the wagon numberplates always seem to be fastened in the middle of the group of boltheads. No numberplates are provided in the kit, so I got some spare Rumney ones from my stash of useful bits. The boltheads, however, are too close together to allow the numberplates to fit. Grrr...

After a session with chisel, riffler files and glassfibre brush, the solebars have been brought back to bare metal.

F53200D0-C20D-49B9-958B-F4B9F5F03EE4.jpeg


This image shows the next thing to be fixed. The headstocks have been moulded as a C channel, but the ends of the channel are full of clag. This might be deterioration of the moulds or poor pattern making. Whatever, when sanding them down to be flush with the solebars, it results in a really overscale, clunky appearance as shown at the right hand end of the above image. Out with the Dremel and a pointed grinding burr to try and carefully get this back to something that looks like a C channel headstock. The gaps between the headstocks and solebars are also pretty bad. After filling the gaps with Milliput and smoothing it all down, it looks marginally better.

30BACB1E-DE62-45A3-90D9-D70CFE1B219C.jpeg


Next thing to consider are the spring stops. Photos show that these are of a cylindrical pattern rather than an inverted U shape. Again, these are not provided in the kit. Nor are label clips or the mysterious blocks of wood often found affixed to the solebars close to the clips (although this has been removed from the wagon pictured by Paul Bartlett).

I decided to represent the spring stops using small etched discs by MIG Productions. These are etched with the brass stuck to a sheet of some kind of plastic film, so there are no tags to remove. The set has discs of full thickness at 0.2mm, half etched discs, and full thickness washers. The largest are 2mm diameter, the smallest are impossible to pick up with tweezers. I also have a similar sheet with etched hexagons.

A 1mm diameter washer with a corresponding disc on top makes up each spring stop. I didn't fancy trying to drill into the solebar flange and soldering in a short length of wire.

Returning to the point about the brake blocks rubbing the wheels, I made up one set of brake rods and blocks. Carefully adjusting it's position, I got the feeling that one end was always closer to the wheel than the other. Measuring the remaining setS with my digital calliper, I found that one side is 0.3mm longer than the other. The faces of the brakeblocks are just over 0.5mm wide, so filing 0.3mm from one will leave it looking pretty worn down. I've learned from experience that brass brakes rubbing on the wheels and DCC don't go well together, so some more thought is required on this one.
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Horsetan » Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:02 pm

Wizard of the Moor wrote:.....small etched discs by MIG Productions. These are etched with the brass stuck to a sheet of some kind of plastic film, so there are no tags to remove. The set has discs of full thickness at 0.2mm, half etched discs, and full thickness washers. The largest are 2mm diameter, the smallest are impossible to pick up with tweezers. I also have a similar sheet with etched hexagons....


That's useful to know. The hex ones might be suitable as a cosmetic adornment for crankpin caps to represent those with hex faces.

*goes off to Google for MIG discs*
That would be an ecumenical matter.

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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Tue Apr 07, 2020 10:04 am

Here's a pic of the hexy ones, Horse. Some of them are etched to suggest a nut and bolt, but i'm not convinced that they'll be terribly useful for that.

A285F2B9-122A-40B2-BFC2-326C713A05DB.jpeg
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Horsetan » Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:15 am

Wizard of the Moor wrote:Here's a pic of the hexy ones, Horse. Some of them are etched to suggest a nut and bolt, but i'm not convinced that they'll be terribly useful for that.

A285F2B9-122A-40B2-BFC2-326C713A05DB.jpeg


Thanks. I've done a quick Google. MIG Productions don't list them on their current website, and everyone else is merely just reviewing them, so I wonder if they are no longer available.
That would be an ecumenical matter.

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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Tue Apr 07, 2020 11:32 am

Probably not. I did buy them a long time ago at the Michigan Toy Solidier Co. Got a lifetime's supply of Evergreen 10th black plastic sheet while I was there, too. Several lifetimes, more likely.
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby David B » Tue Apr 07, 2020 12:05 pm

Hexagons are available on Ebay. The rivets and washers are not around.

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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Horsetan » Tue Apr 07, 2020 3:02 pm

David B wrote:Hexagons are available on Ebay. .....


Excellent :thumb
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Tue Apr 07, 2020 5:39 pm

Some more investigation of the brake gear this afternoon. I decided to solder in the inner V hangers so as to have a datum to set out the brake shoes from. One set of brakes was clipped into position and offered up to a buffer height gauge.

185BCAC2-12AA-4B29-BD95-A66E942A432E.jpeg


As you can see, the buffer height is very low. This wagon so far weighs 18g. My B2B gauge weighs 40g, so I put that on to represent something close to my ideal weight of 50g.

43A6C330-2CCE-4055-BDFA-6E43D192A675.jpeg


Now the springs are fully depressed and you can see how far out the brake shoes are. So, as a quick fix, I took the bearing carriers out and replaced them to rest on top of the spring supports, not in the etched slots. This makes a big difference.

517A1733-6BC3-4816-BBD0-CDB46BCBB964.jpeg


The buffer height is now spot on and the brake shoes are much closer. After adding the brake gear on the other side, it was apparent that the extra 0,3mm on one side was causing the wheels to bind. After a session with a teardrop-shaped grinding bit in the Dremel, it now runs without binding. Still eye-wateringly close, though. A fag paper soaked in superglue will be added for insulation.

1A2F5405-1F49-408A-A94E-1AC3354D7467.jpeg


So there is hope. What a right load of faff for something that should have been sorted after the first test build. :cry:
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Sat Apr 11, 2020 9:23 pm

All three wagons now have their brake shoes, push rods and safety loops fitted. This has taken waaaaay longer than expected, as the brakes don't line up with the inner vee hangers, so 4 of the 6 had to be packed off the floor. For two wagons, I messed about grinding most of two brake shoes away until the wheels actually turned. On the third one, I tried cutting a section out of the push rods and soldering them back together with a bit of spare etch lining everything up. I wouldn't say that one approach is easier than the other. Probably better to ditch the kit parts and try another source.

With turning the wagons over every two minutes for testing, I found that the springs kept sliding off the tops of the supports on which they now sit, rather than being secured by the etched holes in the supports. So I soldered little pegs from 0.5mm wire at the inboard end of the spring supports. Then I discovered that the safety loops will do the same job on the inner pairs of spring supports.

I hate doing etched safety loops. "What could be simpler?", I hear you mutter. Well, in this case, the loops are way too big, coming level with the bottom of the brake shoes, rather than being just above the push rods. So each one needs to be fettled and then held and soldered around all the other bits that are in the way.

3F46C56F-E7B0-4096-91A8-2BB9221600EC.jpeg


The brass used for these kits is 12 thou thick, which means that the cusp on these delicate components looks massive. Getting rid of this with my smallest slip stone is a real faff. Anyway, they're all in place now.

Fearing that the use of my B2B gauge as a test weight will bring me 18.83 fortnights of bad luck, I rummaged in the

8EA54644-2C7F-4563-8CDB-A1B3838C8B92.jpeg


and found a suitable container for exactly the right amount of liquid lead to get a 32g weight to bring the nascent wagons up to 50g.

E2ED6238-2F70-4319-8A8F-2FE3A7FC6CB5.jpeg


Following a delivery from Phil at Hobby Holidays (usual disclaimer), it's time to get back to the lack of bolt head detail on the solebars. The internal width of the solebar channel is about 2.5mm, so a bit of 2.5mm brass strip has been used to chase this out and define the edges a bit more finely. The same strip has been marked out with the positions of the bolts around the axleguards and this will now be drilled through for use as a jig to position the joles for new cosmetic bolts.

E7F7D623-6C84-42F6-8E69-3C100AE361AC.jpeg


100 tiny holes coming up. Happy Easter!
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Mon Apr 13, 2020 9:09 pm

So here's the finished drilling jig.

D0381D42-8B28-41D3-B9DE-B419CA72E896.jpeg


A bit of random flatbottomed rail from the scrap box has been soldered on to act as a handle. A Rumney number plate is positioned as a check.

Here it is ready for use. A center line has been scribed on to help align it with the middle of the spring stops.

BBEB3B24-DB4B-4684-A537-9A112671CEA7.jpeg


And here is the result - a set of 0.4mm holes drilled down to the brass ready for little pegs of 0.36mm wire to be glued in.

545008FC-5515-46C0-AEF5-5CA6FFAAD203.jpeg


After letting the glue set overnight, the pegs can be cut and ground down to a reasonable height. Rumney solebar furniture has been added in the prototypical locations, except on one wagon where the wooden block is missing and just the fixing holes are visible.



I'm more than halfway through the hole drilling and down to one spare 0.4mm drill bit. Place your bets now...
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Thu Apr 16, 2020 8:54 pm

Some more progress has seen the outer V hangers fitted and a start on the springs and axleboxes.

The outer V hangers are held on C brackets from the solebars. The instructions suggest soldering the brackets to the V hangers and then fixing these to the solebars. However, there is no mention of how to align things. The kit has the etched top plate with the whitemetal solebar underneath. This throws off the proportions compared to the real thing. The V hangers have half-etched boltheads to push out, and these align to the center of the combined top plate and solebar. However, the C brackets have to be located in the solebar channel, and so are lower than expected relative to the top of the V hangers.

I blackened the edged of the solebars with a Sharpie, then positioned the V hangers on the brake cross shafts and lined then up. Their edges were scribed onto the solebar edges and these marks were used to align the C brackets, which were glued on with Loctite 326. The C brackets were a bugger to fold up straight. The etches appear to have been done with the two sides of the phototool slightly out of alignment. This makes removing the cusps more difficult then usual, and short fold lines end up at an angle across the fold. The brackets are also slightly too long to fit into the solebar channel, so need to be fettled to get a tight fit for the glue to grip.

Once the brackets had set overnight, their faces were tinned and then the V hangers soldered in place. The V hangers were then dressed down level with the top plate. There's about 1mm of unsupported V hanger above the C brackets and I'm worried that these will get snagged and bent in service. Filling in the gap is going to look way too heavy, though.

B352033A-F7CB-429F-BACA-AC20735B4159.jpeg


Next up are the curved brackets behind the V hangers. These only feature on the same side of the wagons as the hopper door closing lever. I'm guessing that they were there to act as a guide for pushing the hopper door closed with a length of scaffold pole or whatever was handy, if the spring assisted closing lever didn't quite work. There is no mention of these in the kit instructions, so I added them from 1mm brass strip, 10 thou thick.

The springs were cleaned up and glued in place. It's interesting that the Loctite 326 grabs much quicker on freshly sanded whitemetal. One of the 12 spring castings was not properly formed. Since the normal ones need to be flattened out slightly (squeezed in the vice, gently!) it actually looks not too bad.

Next up is grinding out the backs of the axleboxes to allow the bearings to move. As per the prototype, there will be a right mixture of different types across these three wagons.
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Tony Wilkins » Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:07 pm

Hi James.
You are making me seriously wonder about the 6 I have to build for my sand train.
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:27 pm

Hi Tomy,

If I was starting again, I would replace the buffers with Lanarkshire ones (the kit ones are crooked on two axes) and chuck the brake shoe/push rod assembly in favour of something different. Maybe one of Guy Rixon's 3D printed units would work better?

I see that the later kits come with etched solebars instead of the whitemetal ones. Hopefully these will have the boltheads in the right places. I can understand that using whitemetal for weight is attractive, but the problems of shrinkage in a long, thin casting are difficult to mitigate. Other than that, it's the ride height issue that causes me concern. I suspect that there is an error somewhere that comes from the etched top plate sitting over the solebars, and this has thrown everything off.

I guess it's a question of how much you are willing to compromise. I do get the feeling that these will turn into good looking wagons, but there's a lot of work to do yet. If I wanted a long rake of them then I would seriously consider asking Justin Newitt how much a new chassis etch would cost. Fortunately, I don't have that need. D1/164s on the other hand...

James
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Terry Bendall » Fri Apr 17, 2020 11:50 am

Tony Wilkins wrote:You are making me seriously wonder about the 6 I have to build for my sand train.


Wizard of the Moor wrote: I guess it's a question of how much you are willing to compromise.


Exactly. I find that most kits, especially ones made from plastic can be improved with replacement axleboxes and buffers and where appropriate wire grab rails and etched brass handwheels and footsteps.

I am currently working on a number of different civil engineers wagons which will be featured in a new publication due out in mid May and which include models made from kits in variously materials including plastic, white metal and etched brass. Others are improved ready to run models.

One challenge has been a very old A1 Models kit in etched brass for the YAO Dolphin rail and track carrier. This was a very flat etch with things like door bangers and lashing rings represented by half etched details. All these came off and the flat truss rods had angle section brass added. Yesterday I used the lathe to turn down 26 Gibson short handrail knobs to remove the flange and these were soldered into holes to be used for the lashing ring mounts. Door bangers have been made from scrap etch and added separately. These bits and the detailing kit produced by Jonathan Hall are starting to produced something acceptable. Using solder of three different melting points helps.

All part of the fun! :D

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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Fri Apr 17, 2020 6:08 pm

Terry Bendall wrote:Yesterday I used the lathe to turn down 26 Gibson short handrail knobs to remove the flange and these were soldered into holes to be used for the lashing ring mounts.


How did you hold the handrail knobs in the lathe, Terry?

Well done on tackling an A1 kit. They're not for the faint of heart!
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Fri Apr 17, 2020 6:36 pm

Before leaving the brake gear behind, there are some other little details to add, namely the brake centre safety loops. The kind of thing highlighted in the image below (that I'm aware isn't of a D1/163 iron ore hopper).

AC93AF18-4DDD-47DB-ABF6-FAF911285428.jpeg


These should have a French name that translates as 'Satan's pubes' or something similar. Anyway, the way I make them is as follows.

1) Pour a wee dram.

2) Take a length of bar, mine was brass of 1/8" x 1/16", and drill a 0.8mm hole about 2mm in from the end. Push the shank of the drill through the hole and mount it in a vice as shown below. Filing a shallow groove across the top of the bar, parallel to the hole, helps. Adjust the vice so that it rips your skin open every time you reach for a tool or the dram.

42C72B49-3C4D-4024-8134-9BBE93E94D37.jpeg


3) Cut a length of 36 SWG phosphor bronze wire about 4" long. Form a loop in the wire and slide it over the drill shank so that the upright wire coming from the loop is next to the bar. Wrap the wire over the top of the bar, catching it in the groove, and pull it in a loop over the other side of the drill shank. Use a pair of pliers to get the loops nice and tight.

DDA3E382-D724-4570-A3F9-EDB1F3ADB88D.jpeg


4) Carefully remove the drill bit from the bar. You should be left with something like this.

06F09AD1-F395-44EB-8050-48DA6F45D274.jpeg


5) Pour another dram. While the surplus wire is still there to hold on to, tweak the shape of the safety loop until it is square and parallel in all planes.

6) Holding the bottom of the loop in self-closing tweezers such that the entry into the tight loops is at the 9 o'clock position, use a pair of flush-cutting snips to trim the other side of the loops at 3 o'clock.

7) Mechanically minded readers will have realised that bending phosphor bronze wire creates a spring. The spring should now look like this, if you can tempt it from the tweezers without it disappearing into it's natural habitat.

A18F8590-3BE2-4B1C-995A-28C18004FB67.jpeg


8) At this point, if you feel the need to adjust the shape again, just put the thing straight in the bin and start from 1).

9) Carefully position the safety loop around the wagon brakeshaft. Pour a dram. Use the end of a cocktail stick to apply a tiny drop of superglue to each side of the safety loop. Adjust the angle of dangle until it looks about right. Admire your handiwork, if you can see it.

4D0DFBC5-A9C5-4D9A-9A5E-5F464FF42E9E.jpeg


10) Realise that there's another five of these to do. Get another bottle and start from 1).

With a bit of practise you can do a wagon in well under the chief medical officer's recommended weekly consumption.
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Tony Wilkins » Fri Apr 17, 2020 8:02 pm

Wizard of the Moor wrote:
Terry Bendall wrote:Yesterday I used the lathe to turn down 26 Gibson short handrail knobs to remove the flange and these were soldered into holes to be used for the lashing ring mounts.


How did you hold the handrail knobs in the lathe, Terry?

Well done on tackling an A1 kit. They're not for the faint of heart!


I would second that. I have two of those in my pending collection and hope fervently that someone will produce a better kit for it in the meantime. I did a photo survey of prototype Dolphin wagons and they really show up the short comings of the etch. I wouldn't ordain to call it a kit, more like an aid to scratch building.
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Terry Bendall » Sat Apr 18, 2020 9:12 am

Wizard of the Moor wrote:
How did you hold the handrail knobs in the lathe, Terry?


The "shank" of the handrail knob is 0.9mm diameter and about 1.5mm long. I have a 1 mm capacity collet and found I could close it in sufficiently to just about grip the shank to remove the shoulder. Light cuts and a sharp cutting tool used. Listen for when the tool starts to rub on the collet surface since that is when to stop. :)

Keep the lathe clear of swarf since when you undo the collet and the knob drops on the bed or the tray underneath you need to be able to find where it has gone. :) Use a pair of tweezers to hold it when mounting in the collet. I managed to loose two of the 26 needed which is why I bought twp packets in the first place.

Wizard of the Moor wrote:They're not for the faint of heart!


Thanks James. If you really want a model of something and nothing else is available, you make do with what you have or can make. I will post a picture when it is finished.

Terry Bendall

timlewis
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby timlewis » Sat Apr 18, 2020 9:48 am

Terry Bendall wrote: Yesterday I used the lathe to turn down 26 Gibson short handrail knobs to remove the flange and these were soldered into holes to be used for the lashing ring mounts.


You may not want to know this now (!), but Alan Gibson do "shoulderless" handrail knobs, which might have saved you a job.

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Wizard of the Moor
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Wizard of the Moor » Sat Apr 25, 2020 6:29 pm

A few more sessions this week have resulted in brake levers and their guards being fitted. The levers are supplied as two mirror-image pieces, the main lever and the link to the shaft being half etched, with the lifting link being half etched from the other side. When soldered together back-to-back, this gives a bit of 3D effect as if there are two lifting links with a gap between them. Unfortunately the tabs to the fret are positioned right in the same place and spoil the effect. Cleaning up the levers is a real pain, as well.

4D17F9C7-BD89-49A2-8E0D-FFF704B0E99E.jpeg


Lever guards are never my favourite part of building a wagon. These ones were no exception. They are designed to be a one-piece etching, that fold up with a spigot to be fixed through a 0.4mm hole drilled in the solebar. Unfortunately, the brass is so soft and the half-etched lines so wide that none of the folds are in the right place and most need to be tweaked back to square. Still, they went on with Loctite, which has held them amazingly well. The first one got inadvertently used to pick up the wagon, which was then dropped on the floor and kicked under my bench. It survived without a scratch.

I didn't fancy the cast whitemetal footsteps provided, so some spares from a Dave Bradwell 21t hopper chassis were used instead.

Now it's on to the hopper door controls. There's a lot of cleaning up the castings to do first.

B12DBA1D-139A-45D8-B683-055CA7B8B3FE.jpeg


In particular, the two castings bottom right should match those on the left. That's going to take a bit of doing. Also, the etched handwheels look very polygonal.

4AD05391-FE0C-4200-8000-059E291D6D60.jpeg


It isn't clear whether there are two spares provided or each pair should be soldered back-to-back. I'm going to opt for the latter to see if that makes them strong enough to survive being cleaned up before fitting to the wagons.
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Terry Bendall
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Re: 51L Iron Ore Hoppers

Postby Terry Bendall » Sun Apr 26, 2020 8:31 am

Wizard of the Moor wrote:I'm going to opt for the latter to see if that makes them strong enough to survive being cleaned up before fitting to the wagons.


Stenson Models do a useful range of handwheels which are very nice.

Terry Bendall


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