4mm An EM Workbench: Mini-Signwriting (rough)

[AJC]

More detail, of a minute nature. All the various solebar ironwork is on, and the end beams are drilled for the diagonal stays.



I suppose I should do the heating inlet detail next.

Adam

 

[AJC]

So, I’m intending the lettering to be fairly minimal, but I have made ‘cast’ plates before (for other tar tanks), from 10 thou’ with ‘letters’ fretted from 5 thou’ strip. The aim is the illusion of legibility. I’ll add a rim from fuse wire later. This is the sort of madness talking to Geoff Kent leads to.



To save your eyes, I’ve invented a subsidiary of the Bishops Lydyeard quarry owners, W.J. King - they of half the preserved steam waggons in the realm it seems - who, in my parallel reality, operated an asphalt division from Exeter.

Still haven’t added the steam inlet fittings…

Adam

 

[Pete_S]

So, I’m intending the lettering to be fairly minimal, but I have made ‘cast’ plates before (for other tar tanks), from 10 thou’ with ‘letters’ fretted from 5 thou’ strip. The aim is the illusion of legibility. I’ll add a rim from fuse wire later. This is the sort of madness talking to Geoff Kent leads to.

View attachment 217974

To save your eyes, I’ve invented a subsidiary of the Bishops Lydyeard quarry owners, W.J. King - they of half the preserved steam waggons in the realm it seems - who, in my parallel reality, operated an asphalt division from Exeter.

Still haven’t added the steam inlet fittings…

Adam

How big are they?

These new-fangled lasers can produce quite good results with small text, these are 7mm scale:



Still experimenting with materials, settings & painting techniques. Not entirely happy yet.

Pete.

 

[AJC]

How big are they?

These new-fangled lasers can produce quite good results with small text, these are 7mm scale:

View attachment 217979

Still experimenting with materials, settings & painting techniques. Not entirely happy yet.

Pete.

Just shy of a mm, about 0.75, probably, so not really tiny. They’re a bit rough and ready, but then, so is the kit…

That said, those laser etched plates look rather nice, much easier than trying to paint etches - and the smaller lettering on the gate notice would be well within scope for things like 4mm wagon plates. I’ve been very impressed with Railtec’s printed 3D number plates, too. Well worth the money for the frustration savings.

Adam

 

[AJC]

And here’s the finished plate in situ.



The little bits of tube are part of the diagonal stay fixings. Label clips are missing, aren’t they?

Adam

 

[AJC]

It looks a little more complete with the stays on, doesn’t it?



The heating coil inlets are in place and I have found just enough T section that will connect the headstocks to the stretchers that support the stays. There’s half a chance it will make a reasonable model, I think.



Adam

 

[AJC]

More complicated details: the steam heating coils, mercifully fitted at one end only. Lots of 0.45mm wire and very fine tube. What you can see is about half of what will be, and it’s a little overscale, but it has to be there. It’s taken three sittings to get this far, and probably another couple to finish. The ‘ping’ rate is not quite as bad as I’d expected!



After this, however, it’s only the top hatch clamp to replace, before paint.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Rotten phone snap, but I’m away to a conference over the next few days. This is the complete livery: a few operators were pretty minimalist with branding and I’m choosing to believe that W.J. King was one such! So the plate gives the ownership details, and the rest is a bare minimum. This makes for a nice contrast with the remainder of my tar tank fleet, all heavily lettered.



The weathering - which will be extensive - can wait. The only other thing I’ve done reflects the age of the wheels: the tyres came off… I’ve glued them back on.

Adam

 

[AJC]

A nice simple project, by way of a change. Well, simple within parameters. A Rumney Models Air Ministry tank wagon, following on from @Mike Garwood's workbench, and @Chas Levin's lovely Masokits chassis, this is what has kept me ticking over for the last few evenings. Barring a few minor mishaps (the tank securing strap anchors MUST be opened out to take the tube that is inserted through them on the fret, for example - don't ask how I know...). Not my tidiest work, but with most of the chassis soldering done, it's time for the first 3D printed parts. I very much approve of the printed brake assemblies, putting push rod brakes together from etch is fiddly, difficult work and takes forever. Cleaning up and adding these took five minutes altogether.



The just about visible coupling spring assembly (yes, I have broken a bit, you won't be able to see it), is also in place. Owing to the Great Bufferhead Famine, I haven't used the - excellent - buffer stock prints but some of @Dave F.'s equally nice castings.



Not much more to do before I embark on the tank.

Adam

Adam

 

[AJC]

And just like that, the chassis was complete. Ok, couplings need to go on, but the remaining bits are tank fixtures, cosmetic buffer springs, and solebar plates and they can wait.



The 3D printed bits are excellent, fit as intended (the tank end components have moulded pins into to headstock), and the resulting structure feels very stable. The tank is still to come: never rolled a brass tube before, should be interesting.

Adam

PS - must tweak that lever guide.

 

[John57sharp]

Thanks for this, it gives me some confidence to have a go, I’ve built, I mean attempted a couple of underframes from Justin, they’re getting there…

John

 

[AJC]

Thanks for this, it gives me some confidence to have a go, I’ve built, I mean attempted a couple of underframes from Justin, they’re getting there…

John

Take it slowly, it's the only way. The clasp-braked ones are generally easier than the push rod/Morton ones I find, but all the bits fit and that means that if they don't it's the builder's fault. And yes, this builder has screwed up on that front... I knocked up the internal structure for the tank at lunchtime, so maybe, once the kids are in bed, I can take a deep breath and roll?

Adam

 

[John57sharp]

Take it slowly, it's the only way. The clasp-braked ones are generally easier than the push rod/Morton ones I find, but all the bits fit and that means that if they don't it's the builder's fault. And yes, this builder has screwed up on that front... I knocked up the internal structure for the tank at lunchtime, so maybe, once the kids are in bed, I can take a deep breath and roll?

Adam

I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you - dont you try this and roll the barrel, that way lies sore fingers and a messed up tank.

And breath!

Cheers
John

 

[AJC]

Well that wasn’t too bad at all.



Really looking forward to the fiddly bits that will complete it now.

Adam

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Well done, Adam.

Clues?

Cheers

Jan

 

[AJC]

Well done, Adam.

Clues?

Cheers

Jan

Take it gently! Justin’s instructions are very good, and the handle of a wooden spoon served as roller (low tech chez Chapman, no fancy rollers here), in conjunction with my thigh and some hard copy proofs. That said, half etched 10 thou’ is not difficult to get a curve in.

The hardest part is soldering the lap on the inner (larger) wrapper. Happily, the dent I put in that layer was hidden by the outer wrapper. Oh, and remembering to breathe.

Adam

 

[AJC]

Almost all soldering done on the tank now. Lead soldered in place inside the tank which means I can add the various 3D printed parts. A remarkable bit of design (not top flight execution, I'll admit).



Adam

 

[matto21]

I just hope that the effort is worth it! The end stays ought not to be too difficult, but it’s not a great starting point to be brutally honest.

Despite that it’s far from the worst kit I’ve built. That's this one (because pretty much all the underframe and brakegear detail was unusable and there was no positive location for anything - the unfitted version of the same kit would actually be fine, well, barring the shrunken whitemetal headstocks - the fitted brakegear is very complicated and very badly rendered, what you see here was either scratchbuilt or borrowed from spare bits from Rumney models. It took absolutely ages):

View attachment 217793


Adam

Which kit is that then? Looks like you made a good job of it though!

 

[AJC]

Which kit is that then? Looks like you made a good job of it though!

Thanks Matt - Rumney Models' PC.111 - an Air Ministry 14 ton tank (yes, the same prototype Dapol have just released. You can read the instructions here: https://website.rumneymodels.co.uk/...0/PC.111_7.3_Air_Ministry_Tank_Wagon_Kits.pdf

It's a country mile ahead of the Dapol one, and only slightly more expensive (but a lot more, mostly quite enjoyable, work). There's still scope to make a mess of it, but the hardest part, the tank, is now almost there. Of course, there's so many detail parts in the box, I might yet have to buy a Dapol one to use them...

Adam

 

[matto21]

Sorry, I meant the worst one! I was just curious which kit it is because it looks good!