7mmMick's Wagon Workbench - A BV for Love Lane + 3 for me

[Rob Pulham]

Looking good Mick, I definitely need to get the interior kit for mine.

 

[7mmMick]

Little bit of an update.....

Those of you who spoke to me at York on the S7 stand will now that I was having a few issues fitting the etched interior detail in the first of these wagons. The problem being the etch is very thin ( as it needs to be ) and the gaps between the planks are etched all the way through so you have to pick up every single part of each individual plank with adhesive. To do this you get the inevitable extra adhesive coming through the gaps and it takes some time to clean up. To get around this, once the sides and ends are the correct size I used a spray adhesive to mount them to 10thou plastikard and then fitted them to the wagon. The beauty being all the cleaning up is done when they're flat on the bench and they are just slotted in and fixed with MEK. You can hardly tell the plastikard is there and when the top protection strip is fitted it can't be seen. Simples .....



ATB Mick

 

[Rob Pulham]

Top tip Mick.

 

[Steph Dale]

What adhesive did you use Mick? I've been looking for a decent spray adhesive for a while...

Steph

 

[7mmMick]

What adhesive did you use Mick? I've been looking for a decent spray adhesive for a while...

Steph

Steph,

This is the stuff, easy to use and very easy to clean off any excess;



I got this from my local B&Q,

ATB Mick

 

[7mmMick]

A long overdue update........ I've finally got some of the PO wagons i've been doing very nearly finished at last The first pictures show the finished MMP underframe detailing with an addition from me of the plastikard pockets to hold the W-irons. This was done so that the wheels could be removed for painting and I also didn't want the working springs to get clogged with paint. The next picture is of a wagon treated to some Halfords rattlecan black and you can also see the lead added for the extra weight needed. MMP recommend an overall wagon weight of 250g to acheive correct running with the working springs, however i've crammed as much in as I can and they still only weigh in at 220g each. So i'm a little worried about how they'll get on ? The remainder show the weathering effects and the door chains and brake lever pin and chain added. The chain was recommended by Steph some time ago and I'm quite happy with it. I prefer it to twisted wire even though it's still a little over scale for these. Fingers crossed for the test run tomorrow at West Mersea, even if they don't run well I'll get some photo's of them in an overgrown siding and they should look at home there



More photo's tomoorow,

ATB Mick

 

[Eastsidepilot]

Mick,
Superb wagons mate, look forward to seeing them tomorow.

ATB, Col.

 

[djparkins]

MMP recommend an overall wagon weight of 250g to acheive correct running with the working springs, however i've crammed as much in as I can and they still only weigh in at 220g each. So i'm a little worried about how they'll get on ?

Mick -

Well we ourselves don't actually say it! - quote below from our instructions:


The great Danish modeller Erik Olsen –
www.modelbaneteknik.dk/index-e.htm
has used working leaf springs on his O gauge [45th] stock and suggests suitable ideal finished weights for four-wheeled stock in order that the springs work to their maximum efficiency - see the relevant section of his web site. You will have varying degrees of scope according to wagon type as to how you can achieve this additional weight but even without it, these springs will at least ensure that all wheels are in contact with the track and, of course, they look so much better than castings.

Note the last sentence. Plus Erik Olsen is dealing with longer vehicles than these. I've covered this earlier in the thread. Its a cosmetic benefit to have separate leaf springs as much as anything and the wheels will have enough slack in the setup for all wheels to sit on the track if they have been assembled correctly.

Regards,

David Parkins,
Modern Motive Power

 

[7mmMick]

Thanks David, even before the test run the wagons springing works really well so I'm sure they'll run well as you say. I'm sure I'll be buying more in the future and I'm also thinking of buildIng some M O T minerals utilising parkside bodies and your under frames. For me MMP is the way forward for detail and provides exactly what I'm after. Thanks for your input and advice during the build,

Best regards Mick

 

[7mmMick]

Thanks Col, looking forward to tomorrow. Peter said its going to be a good turn out, fingers crossed for the sun shining ;-)

ATB Mick

 

[BrushType4]

The sun was shining, but no running unfortunately. It was good to see your wagons in the flesh though. Excellent work

 

[7mmMick]

The sun was shining, but no running unfortunately. It was good to see your wagons in the flesh though. Excellent work

I agree Phil, it would be great to get some running done but the best I could hope for was pushing my wagons through the series of pointwork on WM. I'm glad ro say they ran very well in did and I was very pleased with how they performed. I did however loose a door chain and a brake lever pin in transit but that's down to me under doing the superglue I think. Attached are some pictures from the day and although some are posted on the WM thread here are the rest,



I think some clever cropping and photo shop is needed to sort some of these out as the illusion is shattered in some

ATB Mick

 

[Ressaldar]

leave well enough alone Mick, great work.

cheers

Mike

 

[dibateg]

Can't fault it mate, a 1st class piece of work and I really like the blending of weathering tones.
Hmm - I think I'll shunt my wagons to the back siding...

Cheers

Tony

 

[7mmMick]

Thanks everyone for your likes and positive comments

ATB Mick

 

[lancer1027]

What an absolutely FANTASTIC bit of weathering

Rob

 

[micknich2003]

Dear Mick, some brilliant work, keep it up. Mick.

 

[Rob Pulham]

Hi Mick, I have to stand in awe at that weathering . As Mike says leave well alone you have cracked it

 

[Dog Star]

Hi Mick,

What with the details of adding MMP etches to Slater's kits in this thread and with the recent MRJ article I guess that there is going to be a number of WT members who will be tempted to try the same route to improved appearance etc. of kit-based POW model (see post from John a few posts up). Seems to me that you might be receiving questions about using the MMP products hence you may feel that setting up a new thread "Mick does MMP" is a good idea... and could then ask the Flying Squad to move appropriate parts of this thread to a new home.

Whether you do or whether you do not, I wish to ask a question. The working bearing springs are made from separate leaves and you have noted that blackening each individual leaf helps when soldering the leaves into the spring buckle. What do you do when you get to painting to ensure that the springs get some colour and not enough colour as to gum up the works?

regards, Graham

 

[7mmMick]

Hi I've just been reading your article in MRJ it's really good . I've just spent a couple of weeks scribing and drilling the inside of some POW wagons only to discover that some one makes etched insides . I've ordered some
Nice wagons

Thanks very much John I'm sure you'll find the MMP etch interior detail much quicker and easier.

Hi Mick,
Just had a read through your workbench thread, very impressive.
I see you work for the police at J41, do you know Neil Hollis?
Warren

Again thanks for the kind comments Warren, I don't know him but i'll PM with more information, cheers

Hi Mick,

What with the details of adding MMP etches to Slater's kits in this thread and with the recent MRJ article I guess that there is going to be a number of WT members who will be tempted to try the same route to improved appearance etc. of kit-based POW model (see post from John a few posts up). Seems to me that you might be receiving questions about using the MMP products hence you may feel that setting up a new thread "Mick does MMP" is a good idea... and could then ask the Flying Squad to move appropriate parts of this thread to a new home.

Whether you do or whether you do not, I wish to ask a question. The working bearing springs are made from separate leaves and you have noted that blackening each individual leaf helps when soldering the leaves into the spring buckle. What do you do when you get to painting to ensure that the springs get some colour and not enough colour as to gum up the works?

regards, Graham

Graham,

You're correct, I'm taking about Laurie Griffin. I like your idea about moving the bits relating to MMP to a new thread, i'll PM flying squad members to seek guidance. In answer to your question once finished the whole w-iron assembley is blackened and I found this was a sufficent primer when later adding the rust top coat. Care must be taken here to keep the moving parts free from this as with added talc it is quite a thick mixture. Then during the lenghty dry brushing stage with lighter shades and on the springs and axle boxes an oily mixture I found this sufficent to give a hint of colour to the spring and not gum up the works. As David says elsewhere it is only in fact the large number one leave that does the main springing and as long as this is working it shouldn't be a problem.

ATB Mick