No it didn't all melt, the bowing effect was increased slightly and has until now lasted so i'm happy with that. However it has blown the 10thou corner plates. Where they were not glued they seem to have blown slightly. I'm not sure you can tell from the pictures but in any case I'm going to try and hack them off and redo them, that's unless anyone can offer further advice as I really don't fancy doing it.
ATB Mick
Don't hack off the corner plates, just apply more solvent either through the plank grooves or make small holes and apply some pressure to readhere the corner plates. 10 thou is a bit thick for the corner plates so you can sand them flat again and lose a bit of thickness at the same time.
Mick,
As a source of localised heat, try playing a hair dryer onto the body side. Safer than dunking a body in a H&S hazard.
regards, Graham
Mick,The hair dryer could work though and as you say has to be safer and more controllable ?
Yes, I use 5 thou styrene. As far as I know it is only available from Evergreen. As well as being close to prototype thickness it matches the thickness of the moulded corner plates on Slaters kits well. The 5 thou styrene does tend to sag into grooves etc after solvent is applied so either fill the grooves with slivers of styrene and file flat before applying the corner plates, or use filler afterwards.Great stuff, I'll give it a go, anything to save hacking them off. Do you suggest a thinner material for the corner plates ?
Mick
Mick,
Re your wagon query, Dave Larkin is probably the person who would know if any got renumbered with a P number as he is currently attempting to catalogue all P fleet numbers. However, my 1958 Reduction of Wagon Fleet published by British Transport Commission still lists three Atkinson & Prickett Ltd wagons allegedly carrying original numbers. Numbers listed are 874, 1024 & 1259 in traffic somewhere. Logic says that if they are listed to be condemned on sight, they must exist. However, I wouldn't like to say how accurate the list was or how the list came to be put together.
Interestingly, the same book also lists six Maltby wagons still with original numbers.
As an additional note, Atkinson & Prickett still exist in Hull. Maybe worth an enquiry to see if they have anything in their archives?
Jeff
Mick,
There's a description of a photograph of an Atkinson & Prickett wagon in the HMRS archive which gives details of the livery
http://www.hmrs.org.uk/photograph-collection/photoinfo.php?id=ACK311
Jim.
Yes, I use 5 thou styrene. As far as I know it is only available from Evergreen. As well as being close to prototype thickness it matches the thickness of the moulded corner plates on Slaters kits well. The 5 thou styrene does tend to sag into grooves etc after solvent is applied so either fill the grooves with slivers of styrene and file flat before applying the corner plates, or use filler afterwards.
The washer plates on the doors are inside so use the 5 thou there. The external 'straps' on the doors are the hinges and they are usually tapered, so thicker at the bottom than the top. I normally file down from 15 or 20 thou to form the hinges. The original hinges were forged iron so often taper slightly in elevation as well. I think they show in the photos in the 16 ton NBR wagon and scratch building in styrene threads last year. Reminds me they are still in raw plastic and need finishing.Great stuff, I'll pick some 5thou up at Telford at the weekend. Would this do for the washer plates as well. It may be an optical illusion in some pictures but the washer plates on the side doors seem thicker than the other washer plates on the outside of the body? Is this the case ?
Cheers Mick