A simple guide to kit building wagons

Discussion in 'How to' started by York Paul, May 17, 2020.

  1. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    To complete the body work construction there are four corner gussets and two door bracket strengthening angles, the best way to fix these tiny angle pieces I found was to wet the corner adjacent the end door pillar frame with a dab of solvent and then using the long nose pliers carry the bracket into place as seen in the picture. As the solvent takes hold the pliers can be used as a lever to align the corner bracket into place. These brackets are only fitted at the end door end so don't try and hunt around for another two for the fixed end because there are only two and these are designed to support the corners of the wagon at the door hinge framework.


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  2. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Finally glue the four corner gusset plates one in each top corner, ensure these are lined up with the top edge of the body and are set flat otherwise the wagon will look wrong when finished.


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  3. Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    A nice straight forward build. Very clearly exp,aimed as well.

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  4. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    And finally for tonight here is the other end with corner gussets fitted, this now completes the body construction so far. in the next basic build "how to" post I shall go through the chassis build which involves the solebars, axleboxes, wheels and brake rods, then in the final segment I shall show the correct method of making up the buffers using the Butanone solvent on the ABS plastic and the final dressing of this wagon with brake handles and drop guides.


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  5. Mark4mm

    Mark4mm Guest

    Yorkie thanks for continuing with the wagon build thread. Everything is explained and photographed clearly which is a great help for when I start my builds.
    For now I’m just waiting to receive my glues as per links in your thread.
     
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  6. Mark4mm

    Mark4mm Guest

    Hi Yorkie I have managed to order the Revell contacta professional today.
     
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  7. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Good to hear ... you will wonder why you never used this stuff before once you start building proper. I'll try and get the next section of this build thread up by the weekend, this will cover making up the chassis... and then we have a near complete looking wagon.
     
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  8. Mark4mm

    Mark4mm Guest

    Look forward to seeing the next instalment Yorkie. This thread is really helpful like new comers like myself who want to have a bash at kit building.
     
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  9. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    You're very welcome indeed Mark and hopefully it will all become second nature to you, the main thing is I do hope you enjoy building in 7mm scale and your micro scene will adapt admirably to this larger scale... not that there is anything wrong with 4mm. One tip is don't buy kits off Ebay unless it is from a reputable seller, very often you will find them over priced particularly with the 7mm Slaters kits, currently there is a glut of BR standard covered vans marked up as BIN for £44.95 plus P & P, the self same kit direct from Slaters is £38.00 plus P & P. Or the other scenario is a kit has been robbed out for a particular piece and then goes back out for auction so the seller recovers his full costs.... not funny when you discover a vital piece is missing.
     
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  10. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    Hmm..
    I seem to have 2 of these sitting in boxes waiting to be built.. must have had them 20+ years (yes I did once do O gauge)
     
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  11. Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    then get building ..... :avatar:
     
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  12. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Continuing now onto making up the chassis frames in this simple guide to making a wagon we start with the two side frames, these are the solebars which springs moulded in, on the O Gauge build there are also three recess areas on the inside back of the solebat, these recess points will accept the two W iron brackets for the axle suspension assembly at each end and a smaller middle recess for the brake hanger V assembly. Of special note for this particular model we will only use the W irons with the small circle hole, the Wiron is located with the hole side towards each end of the wagon only. The little plastic bar at the bottom of the W iron which is called the axle keep ALWAYS faces outwards... study the picture to see the correct assembly locations.


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  13. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Now the next item to fit is the centre V bracket, there are two different shapes each marked with an X or a Y on their respective rear face, the Vee bracket marked X is glued to the solebar in the same way as the axle brackets, glue the flat side to the solebar ensuring all edges will fit flush inside the solebar recesses otherwise wwe will end up with a wagon which won't run freely. The difference between these Vee brackets is that one has a small infill at the base above the brake shaft hole and a thicker brake shaft collar which must face outwards.


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  14. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Once the solebar assemblies have dried we can then offer them into the long slots on the underside of the wagon floor, do a dry fit first and gently trim any excess as required, fit each end into the headstock and "spring" the main solebar into place taking note that the end headstocks are not forced outwards. Once satisfied remove and run a bead of glue into each slot and refit the solebars as before holding in place until dry, it is imperative to fit the solebar which has the Vee bracket marked X to the side where the end opening door is on the left of the wagon. If the buffer headstock starts to twist or you feel it is under tension the just add a drop of solvent glue to the inside corner and hold firmly in place with fingers until dry, the solvent glue will weld any excess plastic into a strong bond which will align properly.

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  15. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    The next job is to add in the underframe web, looking closely you will see twelve raised discs on the underside, this is the part of the frame which will make contact with the underside of the wagon floor. To fit this item correctly we just need to add the poly solvent cement glue onto these discs and also the underside of the gusset plates at each end like so...


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  16. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Now with the wagon turned over up side down on our flat stone surface we can fix the mainframe web to the floor as in the picture, this is an easy procedure and the main concern is to ensure the discs and the end gussets all sit nicely down flat contacting the wagon floor, there is no need to glue along the mainframe top edges as this just gets solvent glue everywhere. For luck we can add a tiny drop of solvent to the ends of the cross members making contact with the solebars, this will give extra strength and ensure the solebars and W iron brackets are parallel in the perpendicular to each other. Remember the name of the game is to attain trouble free running.


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  17. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Now we come to the part where it can all turn horribly wrong if we fail to observe care and precision, we are now going to fit the axleboxes and bearings, this assembly consists of four pieces, the axlebox front, the axlebox frontplate, the axlebox backplate and a brass bearing. So first we push fit the brass bearing into the backplate ensuring the tophat bearing rim is located into the impression in the backplate, once done place this item into the W iron from the rear and check it slides up and down freely. Ok so far well yes as we haven't glued anything in place yet... so let us now study the picture below before proceeding further.


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    In the picture from left to right we have the brass bearing, the backplate, the front plate and the axlebox itself above this line up there are two more backplates which I've placed in there to help describe your next move. The one on the left has the bearing hole lower down as shown in to axle box component line up but the backplate on the right is upside down and shows the hole in a higher position, when fitting these backplates you MUST always ensure the backplates are fitted into the W irons with the bearing hole in the lower position. If you don't do this your wagon will not sit on the track correctly and will rock causing a derailment and will also sit to high on the track or look lopsided.

    Now take the front plate and gently press it over the bearing cup, this will lock the backplate into the W iron guides, with a drop of poly solvent cement on the end of the brass bearing with a little creeping onto the plastic face of the front bearing press the axlebox home ensuring neither the axlebox or the frontplate are twisted, if they are realign using the point of the scalpel blade before the solvent glue sets. Repeat this action on the other axleboxes and check that each axlebox assembly will move freely in the W iron guides.
     
  18. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Once this is done leave to set for half an hour before adding in the wheels... you should now have a wagon sub frame which looks like this.


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  19. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    So just to recap this procedure, here is the frontplate fitted onto the brass bearing in the W iron guides, we can see a small amount of solvent just creeping off the brass and onto the face of the front plate, the solvent will weld everything together including the W iron guide faces if too much is used in this process.


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  20. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Finally with the axlebox glued in position noting how each piece is aligned perpendicular as described previously.


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