CRT KIT - BR Horsebox Diag 751- O Gauge

This is another kit purchased when I started the other horsebox builds ….see :- https://platform1mrc.com/p1mrc/index.php?threads/horse-box-builds.5609/

this one may or may not follow the same alterations as the above thread.

The main issues with this idea is the curved sides of the wagon and the large white metal supports on the main drop down door. These resemble an oil filled strut which pivots down acting as support and hinge.

either way I’m going to add an interior so the first job today was to make four interior walls as per the end profiles.

before going any further and committing to cutting this model up I’m going to try and sort out the door hinges which will require two different types as the middle door hinges are shorter than the top and bottom ones to allow for the curved door to open straight. (If you look at the photo you can clearly see the differences) The kit “hinges” are all the same so these will be of no use if I opt to convert this model

The other issue of the drop down door support these will need to be scratch built as well to make it work..

 

That looks very nice Rob, looks like I need to check out my brass stock and have a crack at making one.

 

No worries Paul.

 

This mornings session is to use Robs picture along with a Paul Bartlett photo to try and form a support bracket / hinge.

In the brass collection I found a few items to give the drop down hinges / supports a go.

the “L” shaped brass was cut and bent to form the u shape and then the end of a 1.56mm tube drilled with a 0.8mm hole to accept a 0.8 rod which then forms the hinge for the lower section.

add a 2.35mm tube which has a 1.6mm bore and there’s the beginning of a free sliding mechanism.

next up is to add the outer frame to this rod. I slotted a strip of brass to accept the rod down the middle then I drilled a 2.5mm groove in a block of wood, formed a loop at the top of the brass strip ready to solder a small brass tube section to form the top hinge.

next cut back the smaller tubing and slide on the top section. Now I’ve left this a bit long for now so that when it’s fitted to the side of the wagon I can adjust it to allow the door to fold down correctly…..hopefully !

and extended out to its maximum….

and a final shot along with a photo from the Paul Bartlett web site showing the support….

Not a perfect copy but hopefully with a bit of fettling this might just work.
The top hinge will need to be cut out in the centre to accept the door hinge part, but again I’ll do this later.
Now the not so pleasant job of replicating this item three more times. This one has taken 3 hours so far.
Time for a brew !

 

So the three remaining supports took only about an hour to sort out. Always easier once you sort out the first one. The top parts of the brackets and the push rods are all to long, these will be cut to size when the model is part built.

so now the part that every one loves to do, cutting up an expensive kit

before cutting the side panel I decided to swap sides as I have a photo of the other side with the main doors open, which will help later in the build.

That’s it now, no going back………and yes as the photo shows it all looks out of alignment. With just a thin top section it twists and bends, adding the bottom rod to form the hinges helps to align the bottom but it will not be in line correctly until the inner dividing panels are soldered up to the sides.

again as in the other builds I will leave this cut out as one assembly and carry on with the build. Then I can remove the hinge pin and the door can then be cut into three sections ready to add the hinge assemblies to the two top doors, these hinges will be made up in batches as there will need to be 38 made (19 hinges requiring 2 parts) 1mm strips of flat scrap etch curved around a 0.8mm drill to form a loop with a single fixing tab.

 

A bit more progress today.

The floor section is a Universal part which must cover a few of the CTR kits, this will need to be cut down to the correct length. No dimensions are given for this cut, reading the instructions , it says to build up the two ends and sides then sit this on the floor section and mark the cut.
There’s also a seperate sub section which has the chassis detailing and fixing points for the wheel sets which are mounted of a rocking pivot point.

Sub section and wheel mounting points bent up.

then I’ve started the main body assembly, plus I will add the extra three panels to form each compartment

 

More progress today.
This shows the four main components. Roof, body….now assembled, floor…..needs cutting to length, and the “sub base” which has all the chassis detailing and wheels to add on.

and I’ve added brass walls with open door to represent the toilet area.

this shows how much needs removing from the floor length.

floor bracket bolted to one end, then position body and mark a line on the inside. These brackets will be soldered to the end panels which then means the body can be unbolted from the chassis…..this might be useful when adding the scratch built interior.

cut to length add the other end bracket

the sub frame can then be fixed …..here I’ve soldered it in , but the instruction say to glue it in ??

and on testing the drop down door…..it fouled on the floor so a slight mod to sort this out…..as it turned out I later found that moving the pivot point of the door up the body by 0.5mm makes the door clear this part of the floor and allows the door to drop down completely, so this first mod will be covered by the internal detailing later.

 

Well come on Rob, crack the whip, and you’ll be galloping along in no time……

 

Chassis detailing completed. A lot of work done using my RSU, so glad I bought one, the base and secondary wheel unit make a huge heat sink, and even using 70 degree solder with my soldering unit maxed out, it was difficult to add some of the detailing, but using the RSU it made the job a lot easier.
So it’s now ready for a final clean up, degrease and then some etching primer.

 

Etched and primed.

back to the body now and the task of making the two top door hinge assemblies .