A simple guide to kit building wagons

This is a new thread for those modelers wishing to get to grips with some basic principles of building a 7mm scale wagon, I do hope this thread will inspire and bring confidence and above all a lot of pleasure in what may otherwise initially seem like an obstacle course of confusion. The wagon I have chosen is a standard British Railways all steel mineral 16 ton type because it is a straight forward build only needing a few basic tools to construct and won't take an age to make.

Originally Parkside Dundas produced this model but not so long ago their range was sold to Peco in Devon who now market the range under the name of Parkside Peco, these kits supplement the Peco range of wagons which includes a very similar version of steel mineral wagon. At this point I should mention that another range of wagon kits exist and are made by Slater's of Matlock, however these kits are somewhat more complex in their construction method and require a little more effort. It may well be possible to build a Slater's wagon at some later stage if this thread helps and a comparison between manufacturers are needed.

Anyway here is the subject.

 

So what is in the box, well for your money you get several sprues containing all the components for construction, you get a set of finescale wheels, drawbar couplings, sprung buffers and transfers along with instructions showing a basic build order. This thread will discuss all the bits of info which these kits don't discuss or assume the builder already knows.

Now this kit contains two differing types of plastic which require two different forms of glue, the main body and chassis is made from high impact polystyrene plastic formed through an injection mould and the buffer collars which are manufactured from an ABS plastic which will not bond using ordinary poly cement. For the plastic body and chassis I use a standard solvent cement such as Contact Professional made by Revell, I prefer this brand as it has a fine steel spil which directs small amounts of solvent to exactly where it is needed. For the ABS pieces I use Carr's Butanone which has slightly better bonding ability than a similar brand sold under the trade brand Metpak, a word of warning though about Butanone, always use in a well ventilated workspace and avoid prolonged exposure to the fumes.

In my next post we will look at the parts making up the body and which tools are needed for their preparation and construction, we will also cover the ideal work surface needed and how to make a very cheap jig which will make perfect right angles, something which is imperative in making a free rolling wagon. So here are the contents of the box and behind is a completed wagon of the same type all painted and weathered to look as per the real ones would have been. We will also be looking at some very simple wire bending which make up the end door handles, the wire is included in the kit.

 

There will be nothing fanciful about this build, it is just going to be a simple out of the box construction assisting newcomers in making that first move up onto the kit build ladder, there is no point in anything else until the basics have been mastered i think. Hopefully folk new to kit building will find this useful, I do hope so.

 

Excellent Mark, the 21 tonner takes exactly the same build strategy as the 16 tonner except its a bit longer in its length. Personally speaking I'd put your bottle of plastic magic into stores and buy a few bottles of this stuff for setting the impact plastic...

https://www.revell.de/en/products/colors-accessories/glue/contacta-professional.html

This product is what I use and can vouch for its performance quality, not that other brands don't work but I just wouldn't like to recommend or even use anything else in case there is a product a failure or reaction in the plastic. In the past when I bought in a load of cheap pre-built wagons you'd be amazed at how some people glued them together and even the glue products they used. An unpainted built open wagon I bought once had been glued with something which turned the grey plastic into a shade of dull cream and made the surface appear to be growing crustations, a block of carpet foam covered in grit made a load and also hid the poor standard of build, I had two choices throw it in the bin or drop it in the fish tank as a sunken object, the bin won and the fish were saved. it really was a nasty build but shows that using the proper products avoids all that nonsense

The Carr's Butanone needed to fix the softer ABS plastic can be purchased here:

.https://www.phoenix-paints.co.uk/products/c1501

This is applied using a modelers paint brush... I'll show the correct way of how to use this solvent on the buffer casings and prevent sticking buffers and stiff buffers from springing properly when we build the chassis.

cheers Yorkie

 

I'll crack on with getting more pictures up on the thread this week covering the initial body build which will help move things along.

 

So continuing this "assist" thread to build a wagon here are the tools you'll need and a flat stone to work on, I use an offcut piece of conglomerate marble but a resin stone chopping board would do just as well. You will certainly need a sharp cutting blade and a corner square, if you don't have an engineers square then make something from a few pieces of Lego brick which is just as good. Long nose pliers and a cutter are other tools you'll need all the rest is optional.

 

These are the body parts so to speak which we will need today, the base floor, two ends and two sides along with a few tiny additional detailing pieces on the sprues, its always a good idea to familiarise yourself with this stuff then READ the instructions and check again with the parts. Not all parts are equal for example on this wagon there are two different pattern ends, a fixed one and one with an end opening door... abate the door doesn't actually open on this kit.

 

On this kit there is a "pip" on each bottom corner of the sides, I've marked it with highlighter so you can see, two pips must be removed one on each side piece. I used a scalpel carefully taking away the plastic of a pip on the left side of one side piece and on the right end of the other side piece, we now have a mirror pair and the fixed end piece will fit to the sides where we have removed the pips and the two remaining pips will fit against the other end where the opening end door is. Confused... well don't be just re read the instructions before attacking the plastic with a sharp blade.

 

So now things get a little more intense, not to worry because we are about to come to grips with a different skill, the couplings need forming and fitting along with two handles on the end door, these items have to be made before we can assemble the bodyshell together. So open the little plastic bag containing the coupling links and take care not to loose the two small wire springs, best do this over a tray or a work surface where these pieces won't roll away or become lost for all time in a carpet or some other formidable floor covering. The couplings can be made by either using three metal links put together or using the instanter and two metal links... the instanter is that funny black thing looking like an elongated letter D. Now take the brass drawbars off their carry fret and clean them up.... we will move to the next stage now.

 

Now this is how I make up couplings... there is no need to solder the links at all, I choose to use the instanter link in this build because I am a demon for punishment and realism. Ok take two links and gently open them out using the long nose pliers, fit each link into the instanter then close the link back up as seen in my picture, open the other two links in the same way and feed them into the instanter also but fit these links into the open nib at the top of the drawbar, a bit fiddly but have patience. Once inserted close the links back up taking care not to damage the plastic instanter link then allow the coupling links to hang down from the drawbar, finally take the long nose pliers and gently squeeze the drawbar nibs together, this will capture the coupling links fast.

 

The last job is to fit the couplings onto the end body pieces, a simple job just feed the coupling into the slot and then slide on the metal spring holding it in place with your fingers... just ensure you don't send it into orbit... turn the two tail ends of the drawbar outward by 90 degrees and this will hold the spring in place. All is made clear looking at the picture.

 

Ok so now we can start putting the body together, the first job is to glue the fixed end into place on the body floor, use the poly cement Contacta Profesional by Revell is what you need, run a thin bead along the rib on the inside of the fixed end where it contacts the floor and offer the floor to it, the poly cement will fuse the both surfaces of plastic together. Check alignment using either a metal engineers squre or the Lego block but make sure you don't weld the block to the body. Once a true 90 degree angle has been formed let the joint set for 20 minutes or so. Our next job before adding any more body pieces will be to make the two handles of the end opening door from wire ... but I'm off for dinner now and a quick skype with Toto. The next seven steps will be added later this evening.

 

Now focusing back onto the end door section and making up the door handles, we need to make two U shapes that look like staples and at a length of 5.5mm, by far the simplest way to form the wire is using the long nose pliers to make the bends. The point to watch for is to make sure that the bent ends are both flat and parallel otherwise they will appear twisted when fixed into the holes in the end piece. I feed the long end in first and when the shorter end locates and the handle sits at about 2.5mm and just beyond the diagonal angle moulded into the door. Glue the wire on the inside face of the door with cyano, I use Roket 5 minute which can be purchased from Laurie at MM 1 Models, once set snip off the excess wire and file flush with the inner face of the door plastic.

 

Again taking our trusty Lego angle square as an angle former we glue the door end in place and again let to set. Once the poly solvent cement has gripped the pieces and the assembly is strong enough to handle we can turn it over up side down on the flat stone checking that both ends are parallel to each other. This is an important stage in the build as it determines from here on in everything else will line up correctly. We don't want a lopsided wagon which refuses to roll properly.

 

Its now time to fit the sides and these will line up squarely provided the ends have been seated onto the floor correctly. Remember the pips ? Well you need to glue the end of the side in which the pip was removed onto the fixed end and the end which retains the pips next to the end opening door. Run a thin bead of solvent along the outer edge of the floor and a thin bead down each side of the side pieces then fix the first side into position, hold in place with a slight finger grip until set. The top edge of the side will align with the end door end and leave a cut out in the corner of the fixed end... this is correct so don't try and make the top edge of this end look the same as the door end... if you do that you have made a mistake and it will need to be corrected.

 

So moving on again fit the other side and once set turn the body over checking the perimeter of the top edge is sitting flush against the flat stone and that there is no twist which will otherwise make the body warp. Once you feel happy that all is well in the build run a thin bead of solvent against all the corner seams and the joint between the sides and that floor on the inside of the body and let the solvent set.