A simple guide to kit building wagons

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

  1. Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    You've been a busy boy.

    Quite a simple kit but still very involved. There is a difference between building a kit and building a kit that will run well. Taking your time and following it through properly will pay dividends and avoid much frustration.

    Nice build.

    Toto
     
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  2. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Cheers Toto, this little story board thread will with luck make for pleasurable building not only helping and guiding new comers away from the pitfalls but also set the process out in a logical and incremental order for everyone who may need to know.
     
  3. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Well here comes the bit we've all been waiting for... the moment a wagon gets its wheels and starts to look the biz. A little tip here if using the Slaters' wagon wheels provided, always handle these wheels on the rim edges or the axle as very often the metal they are made from will tarnish from the acids deposited from natural skin sweat.

    Also note in this picture how the Vee braket for the brake shaft is the strengthened one marked with an X and that the end opening door is on the left of the wagon... this is the correct assembly arrangement for this build.


    [​IMG]
     
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  4. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Now to add in the brake rod assemblies which is actually an easy task as long as you fit the push rods the correct way round and as per the 12 inch to the foot scale ones, believe it or not this is where some kits fall down and look totally incorrect, no slight on the builder but probably due to either confusion or a lack of research they make a good kit appear somewhat less than good... I should know I've purchased plenty in the past where I've had to remake the brake rigging because it was wrong.

    So rule of thumb is that the left hand side push rod from the brake block lies diagonally upwards towards the centre of the wagon where it connects to the brake shaft turn cam, the right hand side lies downwards because the brake shaft moves clockwise when the brake handle is depressed to operate the brakes. So this is what we should have..


    [​IMG]


    The brake rods are one assembly for each side and I dry fit the at this stage by clipping the extension hangers behind the cross beam on the wheel side. Don't glue them in just yet because we need to line them up against the wheel flange and tyre faces.
     
  5. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    The kit comes with a small piece of plastic rod which is intended to make up the brake shaft, I don't use this instead I use a similar length of 0.7mm brass rod because it is stronger but I shall show you a neat little trick you can do with this wagon ... I'll explain all about that in the next installment. In the picture you can see the end of the replacement brass wire just poking through the Vee bracket.

    Now I digress with another explanation about these wagons, what we are building is a 16 ton steel mineral wagon to BR Diagram 108, these wagons were originally called MOTs (Ministy of Transports) because they were designed and originally constructed as a post war effort to replace fleets of clapped out wooden 13 ton wagons, the LMS led the design which ultimately morphed into Diagram 108. These wagons were built in there umpteen hundreds and thousands and there were variations in brake design, the first ones had independent brakes in which the brake lever only worked the brakeblocks on that side of the wagon, other early ones had brake blocks fitted to one side of the wagon only where combined brake levers worked the brakeblocks from either side via a cam, the more sophisticated ones had Westinghouse or Morton brake gear which included brake blocks acting on each wheel worked by either lever through a cam, later rebuilds had clasp brakes and two brake shoes acting on each wheel. Our kit will make all three early versions but not the clasp brake type, we are building the Westinghouse type with four brake blocks.

    Anyway this is how your brake rigging arrangement should look once fitted.


    [​IMG]
     
  6. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    And here is the undeside view showing the dry fitting arrangement for the brakes, once you are satisfied the wheels rotate freely without binding place small droplets of solvent glue onto the ends of the brake hanger leg extensions allowing glue to contact the cross beams they fit against, this will hold the assembly true. Do NOT glue the brass shaft into the Vee's or either of the brake push rod assemblies because we want the brass shaft to be able to rotate, yes we are going to make one side of the brake handles drop in their guides as per the real ones abate though not with working brakes. More about that in the next installment coming later in the week. Note also how I have allowed a good extension length of brass either side of the Vee brackets... we shall trim this later when we add the brake levers.


    [​IMG]
     
  7. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Now the wagon can be tested for running ability on a layout and here we see our wagon against the larger 21 ton version, this larger mineral wagon from the same Parkside stable has the slightly more complex clasp brake, not to worry though its the same build principle as the 16 tonner but you won't be able to get the brake lever to drop because of the moulded clasp cam links.


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  8. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Finally for this week try not to let this happen to you when wagon building, honestly it is an easy epidemic to fall into but they don't half look good all lined up in a rake. I think there are about twenty of them here in various stages of finish. Next week I'll be dressing the wagon with some detailing, the brake levers and showing a good way to make up the ABS plastic buffer collars using the Butanone fluid... hopefully we won't end up with sticking buffers.

    Cheers for now and enjoy.



    [​IMG]
     
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  9. Mark4mm

    Mark4mm Guest

    Yorkie you have been really busy. Your build thread is informative and will be useful for when I actually start my build. My glue is arriving today so I can start to build one of my wagons this week.
    Thanks for the advice in your posts.
     
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  10. BR Blue

    BR Blue Guest

    It’s kind of you to start a build thread for newcomers and for people who want to attempt a wagon build.
    A wealth of information and build advice.:cheers:
     
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  11. Andy_Sollis

    Andy_Sollis Staff Member Moderator

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    I may just dig my O gauge out... :facepalm: so very tempting... lack of space...
     
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  12. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Apologies as this thread is running a couple of days late... this is due to the wrong kind of kit building on the lines :avatar::avatar::avatar:

    Ok funny time over so now as promised here is the order in which the brake assembly is made and the nice little trick I mentioned before but first here are the pieces that are needed ready cut from the plastic frets. We need two brake levers noting that there are two sorts, one lever has a hole at the shaft end and the other lever is solid with a little pip which represents the cam arrangement, we then have four brake harnesses and two lever holding down guides, finally I've cut the two drop door damper stops as well. Now I always cut one little nick into the top of each brake harness (Stanley blade in the pic) and then slip this over the already glued into place brake push rod, you can of course just fit this item before you glue the brake rods into position but doing things that way is a lot of fiddle. The harness fits to the other side of the cross member which you glued the brake block hangers on. The brake lever guide is located into the solebar about 4mm to the left of the right side spring fixing ... don't worry if this sounds confusing the next few pictures will make it all clear. Finally the drop door damper fixes into the solebar directly in the centre line of the side door but fix this little item after you have made up the hand levers, you will also need to carefully bend the brake levers so use this picture as a template guide.



    [​IMG]
     
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  13. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Now from the remaining unused bits left on the sprues find a spare Vee brake shaft bracket and cut off the little round bit with a hole in it, this will act as a ring which you slip onto the brass brake shaft and for now leave as a dry fit, It doesn't matter right now where you leave this bit on the shaft at this stage, now take the brake lever with the hole at the end and cyano (super glue) it onto the end of the brass brake shaft at the Y hanger side. Leave this to set before pushing the brake shaft back into its correct position.


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  14. Toto

    Toto I'm best ignored Staff Member Founder Administrator

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    Excellent.

    Very understandable. A great guide Yorkie.
     
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  15. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Cheers Toto, couple more pics to come yet and I'll do the ABS buffer assembly as the final thread later... need to get on with a certain brass kit build... I have a free day as SWMBO has disappeared off to Lincoln for the day to meet up with Mother of SWMBO :avatar:
     
  16. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Once the brake lever has dried you can then push the brass shaft back into place and also slip the ring onto the end of the brake shaft and glue in position, this will help keep the alignments as we now have a brake lever which will move up and down inside its guide once we have glued that on too. Note also how the brake lever has been formed to shape from its original flat form in order to clear the axlebox, note also the locating position of the brake lever guide and the push rod harnesses.


    [​IMG]
     
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  17. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    So now this is what we have on one side and if you feel inclined the brass shaft can be filed clean where it fits with the brake lever but take care not to cause damage or unseat the glue holding the lever fast... I tend to either make a clean finish with a file before fitting (providing the shaft doesn't become bent in the process) or just leave it as it is since it is hardly noticeable anyway. One thing to watch for is that the brake lever guide is vertical and does not lean sideways whilst the poly cement solvent is curing.


    [​IMG]
     
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  18. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    Now fit the other side brake lever, this one is a slightly different profile and because it has the cam it glues directly to the X side just above the brass brake shaft, the little cam "pips" should meet as this is the clutch which operates the brake push rods without affecting each brake lever. This brake lever will not move up or down within the guides as the other one does. Anyway here is the arrangement and the wagon sitting nicely on some display track, in my next posting I shall take you through the best way I discovered to assemble the ABS buffers using Butanone. This is not at all as scary as it sounds, Butanone is very searching and applied incorrectly will lead to stiff or sticking buffers. Hopefully my next little tutorial will guide you correctly so that this doesn't happen, I learnt the hard way and have several wagons suffering from this condition but hey ho we all live and learn.


    [​IMG]
     
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  19. Kimbo

    Kimbo Staff Member Moderator

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    Pop corn still waiting for the next instalment......no pressure.....but I do like pop corn........
     
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  20. York Paul

    York Paul Staff Member Moderator

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    It's just ABS buffers now Kimbo which I'll get done in the next day or two, as you know this thread is there to help new members and those new to plastic kits... all laid out very simply. If once I got a couple of other things out the way chaps would like a write up on a Slater's kit; which is somewhat more complex if that helps then I can do a simple box van. With you covering the etch brass wagon builds for folk the subject is getting good coverage.

    Thanks for liking anyway.:thumbup:
     
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