A Gunpowder Van (almost) belatedly finished

DougT

Western Thunderer
After more than a few posts, and no small amount of lurking, I thought it time to formally say hello and also use the opportunity to see what can be achieved in the world of 7mm in three hours...

...so, with movement restricted due to incapacitation of the left knee and a business trip to Liverpool occasioning an overnight stay it seemed the ideal opportunity to take a Parkside kit and see how far I could get in an evening.

Starting at 1900, and taking the modular approach of putting together various sub-assemblies concurrently resulted in this progress by 2045
image.jpeg

Now it has to be said that whilst this kit isn't exactly the most complex to build it was also incredibly flash free (probably the cleanest kit I've ever seen) so the amount of tidying required was minimal and obviously being plastic much less cleaning required (no solder joints throughout on this one ). Being careful to check that the Mek had taken sufficiently the sub parts were assembled thus by 2130 And the process of setting the brakes commenced.

image.jpeg ]

A short while later and with brakes set, buffers set up and roof resting on top we had a van by 2224.
image.jpeg

And yes, there were errors made - both sorted - and no, it's a long way from being the finished article. I was rather pushing it in terms of the Mek setting and being confident that it had sufficient structural integrity but it was checked this morning and all is good. Modifications are required to turn it into a VB fitted drag 1/260 van so it'll be sometime before its completed but there it is, just under 3 and a half hours to have a scale 7 Parkside gunpowder van sitting on its axles.

Quite pleased with it really. :thumbs:
 
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Dog Star

Western Thunderer
After more than a few posts, and no small amount of lurking, I thought it time to formally say hello...
:).

and also use the opportunity to see what can be achieved in the world of 7mm in three hours...
Nice :thumbs: .

it seemed the ideal opportunity to take a Parkside kit and see how far I could get in an evening...

Quite pleased with it really.
Not surprised :thumbs: .

A suggestion... when you upload photos please click the "full image" button rather than the "thumbnail" button as that gives your picki in a bigger format than as in your original post.
 

DougT

Western Thunderer
Thanks for the tip. I was slightly thrown by the preview as it didn't show the image. Larger piccies from now it is!
 
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Scale7JB

Western Thunderer
You see Scale7 doesn't need to take an age to build, though we are very lucky with the Parkside kits in their ability to spring axles so easily.

JB.
 

Ian@StEnochs

Western Thunderer
And if you are scratch building a loco you don't need to waste time working out compromises to the frames in order to fit the under gauge but overscale wheels!

Ian.
 

Scale7JB

Western Thunderer
Just a thought regarding the build above, in the past where the sides and ends meet and the corners don't join up, I have used some Zap thick glue to hide the gap. Pour it sparingly into the gap (maybe using a bit of brass wire as an applicator), and then once it's dry it can be sanded to give a slightly rounded and ultimately far more appealing corner. Just have to watch out for the rivet detail on this wagon though.

JB.
 

DougT

Western Thunderer
Just a thought regarding the build above, in the past where the sides and ends meet and the corners don't join up, I have used some Zap thick glue to hide the gap. Pour it sparingly into the gap (maybe using a bit of brass wire as an applicator), and then once it's dry it can be sanded to give a slightly rounded and ultimately far more appealing corner. Just have to watch out for the rivet detail on this wagon though.

JB.

It's amazing how much you spot on a model once you're looking at a photo, and the iPhone does seem to be particularly cruel at highlighting such things. As it happens I've been pondering how to resolve the corners this afternoon; I'll have a look into that method.

The other issue I have is the lack of rivets along the bottom edge of the side panels. Once you realise that they're not there it's quite noticeable.
 

Scale7JB

Western Thunderer
For rows of rivets, I would probably go with Archers Transfers.

I've not used them myself (yet), but there are plenty on this forum that have used them successfully.

JB.
 

Pencarrow

Western Thunderer
That's exactly why I find taking photos very useful - errors and omissions always stand out. The main reason I document builds on the web (here and RMweb) is to remind me later of what I've done, how and why. Work means my modelling sessions can be sporadic with long periods in between.

I lurked for a while too...
 

S7BcSR

Western Thunderer
Hold on a minute, the rate you are getting through wagons at the moment I won't have any left for you to do. I can let you have some for weathering. Apart from the Pipe I am concentrating on locos at the present.
 

DougT

Western Thunderer
Only one way to learn..

JB.

True enough!!! Something small, cheap and easy would seem to be the ideal start. I was looking at the Slaters Manning Wardle F a while back as a good start.

Anyway the wagon is looking good for such a quick build. How are you going to do the conversion to the 1/260.

Vac pipes from Slaters, vacuum cylinder from Springside (or some such), plastikard strip and tube for the underframe vac pipe and w-iron tie bars etc. It doesn't look like to hard a conversion, the trickiest bit will be fabricating the plate that sits behind the brakes and the V hanger that protects the vac cylinder; fortunately it's only on one side.
 

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
It doesn't look like to hard a conversion, the trickiest bit will be fabricating the plate that sits behind the brakes and the V hanger that protects the vac cylinder; fortunately it's only on one side.
I think that there is more to this brake arrangement than meets the eye... and I say that after having studied all of the other diagram 1/260 photos in Paul Bartlett's album.

In the photograph that you reference I can see two such plates... and I think that the plates are one either side of the piston rod (from the vac-cyl). To the left hand end of the plates is a slot which seems to be out of line with the piston rod. If I squint and believe in fairies then I think that I can see a split pin tail below the bottom left corner of the plate.

I think that too the left of the plates is a lever and that lever may be connected to the vac-cyl... with a clevis pin or similar running in the slot at the end of the plate. Now if this is correct then that suggests that there is another brake shaft further to the left, between the wheels on the left hand axle.

Time for someone more knowledgeable than I to step forward.
 

DougT

Western Thunderer
I think that there is more to this brake arrangement than meets the eye...

I think you're right, there is some complexity here, although I don't think they (and I thought there was only one until a moment ago...) are either side of the piston rod as that would go to the right in this picture?

What I do know is that the orientation of said plate is related to the position of the hand brake lever. In photos where the hand brake lever is off then the plate(s) slant downwards towards the axle, when the hand brake is on, as in the detail photo, the plate is horizontal.

Even with the excellent resources of Paul's website I can't make out any obviously novel arrangements with the brake equipment other than these plates, although I'd be happy to be corrected.

The obvious thing to do would be to go and look at the real thing but I understand that there is only one complete preserved 1/260 van left (B887126) and that's at Dalmellington (Scottish industrial railway centre) near Ayr, a mere 218 miles from my current position.

Has anyone got a diagram?!
 
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DougT

Western Thunderer
Many many moons ago I started this thread as a means of introducing myself to the board, to be honest I hadn't quite realised how long ago.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and, as I think I alluded to last week, the modelling mojo has been incredibly inconsistent in recent times... however, this model has at least been finished to a standard and style that I'm happy with.

For anyone who does head back up through the thread, I ended up foregoing the rivets along the bottom of the body sides simply as an expedient to finishing the model, but did put a bit of effort into getting the rather unique underframe configuration roughly correct. And no, I didn't make the 450 mile round trip to see the last surviving complete wagon - although a chap at Dalmellington was good enough to send some pictures down to me.

So here it is. One vacuum fitted diag 1/260 Gunpowder van
IMG_0259[763].jpg


On reflection, maybe I will try and add those lower bodysides rivets...! :eek:
 
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