Having played around with things that are meant to stand still. by way of a change I've made a start (oh dear, another one) on something new, and complicated, on wheels. Complicated for several reasons: it's got six wheels, I'm using bits that were never intended to go together and it replicates a notoriously varied and complex class of vehicles.
The subject? A GW dia. O56 milk tank, this one in fact, roller bearings and all:
Britain's railway wagons | W3076
The ingredients?
- A LIMA milk tank which, to be fair to LIMA has several good things going for it, notably the size and details of the tank and some nice springs with a reasonable attempt at the brake gear, considering what was typical at the time. Despite this, I'm just going to use the tank, fittings (perhaps the springs) and perhaps supports. It was also very cheap.
- A Rumney Models chassis and detailing etch. This was intended to supplement the kit from David Geen so doesn't include a few of the bits David had done but which @jjnewitt would usually add - solebars, for example, though the signs are that if Justin gets around to releasing the SR milk tank shown here these bits will - but also some of the brake arms. These were less cheap(!) but very good.
I think I've broken the back of the major alterations required to the chassis etch and the current state of play can be seen below.
The basic chassis folds up very easily in the manner of all Justin's bits and I didn't deviate from the instructions here barring adding a few bits of brass angle to retain the springs; this works better for me since I can't abide maintaining things once I've built them... The backing plates for the axleboxes are a separate etch, also available from Justin, while the solebars and headstocks (David Geen provides these in whitemetal so they're not included here) are made from a combination of 3mm x 1.5mm angle and some scrap etch soldered under the half-etched platework. I did it this way because the real thing has 10" solebars - the scrap etch makes up the top flange on the solebars and the bottom flange on the headstocks.
This angle shows a bit more of the detail - and reminds you all that I haven't a hope in Hades of joining the invisible solder gang any time soon - and yet more should be visible from underneath:
For reference, I have since snipped the centre section of the brake linkage away. This is all but invisible and when in place, prevents the installation of wheels! While some of the cranks for the linkages and brake levers are included, most of this detail is what David Geen will sell you. Happily, Justin's instructions have drawings which, while intended to show what goes where, also allow scaling of the bits that are missing: swing links outside the axles, where the linkages go, that sort of thing. This ensured that I could manufacture the remaining bits and raid a Masokits coach brake detailing etch for the rest.
Having built quite a few of Justin's chassis now, I have a pretty good idea of how he uses key bits of the brake assemblies to hang the tricky bits off and while the first set of swing links was a pain, the second were basically constructed using the linkages as a scaffold and the whole thing, while extremely fiddly is also quite robust. That said, I'll still be relieved when I've got the brake levers on and can concentrate on the tank restraining strap fittings. I've also thought about getting the thing round corners, but more of that anon.
Adam
