oldravendale
Western Thunderer
This thread comes about as a result of a club discussion on how best to construct this 7mm Churchward Models signal box steps kit. Kit number is CM18 dated 1995, so far from a new production. I wonders whether any WTers have built this successfully.
The issue is that there are no instructions (this is a new kit, ie not second hand, so I assume there are no published instructions). Neither are there any tabs or slots to aid construction so some form of jig would seem to be in order, although locating the steps at accurate spacing and an unwavering angle seems to be difficult in the extreme, never mind the proper location of other parts.
(There is a secondary issue in that the single thickness etch is hardly representative of the thickness of timber hand rails or flooring, but at this stage that is an issue we'll sorry about later. I can think of several ways of thickening up the appropriate parts).
This is the etch in it's original package - except I note that I put it back in the bag wrong way up after examination!
These two images are the front and reverse of the etch. As noted above there are no slots and tabs.
I showed this to 'er indoors and she suggested that the steps themselves may be some form of metal origami such that extracting the assembly from the etch, bending up the sides and twisting the steps a la venetian blinds may work. Now that's not immediately obvious to me, but it certainly looks as though the side pieces of the step assembly may well repeat the angles of the sides/rails.
Having got that right the remaining parts may just fall in to place, if we can work out what they are and where they go.
As a bear of little brain I'm not altogether surprised that I couldn't work my way through the kit, but a further half dozen minds were applied to this last Thursday, all unsuccessfully. Perhaps Mrs D's lateral thinking gives us the start we need.
Brian
The issue is that there are no instructions (this is a new kit, ie not second hand, so I assume there are no published instructions). Neither are there any tabs or slots to aid construction so some form of jig would seem to be in order, although locating the steps at accurate spacing and an unwavering angle seems to be difficult in the extreme, never mind the proper location of other parts.
(There is a secondary issue in that the single thickness etch is hardly representative of the thickness of timber hand rails or flooring, but at this stage that is an issue we'll sorry about later. I can think of several ways of thickening up the appropriate parts).
This is the etch in it's original package - except I note that I put it back in the bag wrong way up after examination!
These two images are the front and reverse of the etch. As noted above there are no slots and tabs.
I showed this to 'er indoors and she suggested that the steps themselves may be some form of metal origami such that extracting the assembly from the etch, bending up the sides and twisting the steps a la venetian blinds may work. Now that's not immediately obvious to me, but it certainly looks as though the side pieces of the step assembly may well repeat the angles of the sides/rails.
Having got that right the remaining parts may just fall in to place, if we can work out what they are and where they go.
As a bear of little brain I'm not altogether surprised that I couldn't work my way through the kit, but a further half dozen minds were applied to this last Thursday, all unsuccessfully. Perhaps Mrs D's lateral thinking gives us the start we need.
Brian
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