Building an MMP RMB - a box of delights

Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I did sort of rush that last post, due to the dinner gong being sounded.

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This view I took to show how the gangway support spring fits into the buffer beam socket, and how much needs to be trimmed to clear the body fixing bolts.

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This shows the first stage of the outer buffing plate being attached. The flexible material is attached to the current outer face, which them becomes sandwiched with the main outer plate assembly. Hopefully, once it's all done and painted, I can get some proper shots that show how it all follows the prototype in almost every way. All that's missing is the miniature fixing bolts holding the flexible section to the main framework!
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Here's a couple more photos for illustrative purposes.

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This shows how the flexible material is glued to the outer plate base.

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In a rake of MMP coaches, these springs will let the gangway take buffing forces like the real thing. The supplied springs were too long, and twisted the faceplate out of true. I cut them down to about three-quarters original length. This area is covered by another strip of flexible material, cut out using the provided template.

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The view of the gloom under the gangway, much of which will be hidden by the faceplate.
 
Steph Dale

Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
Um, time to ask a silly question....

How are you going to paint that little lot without gumming up the works? Is there provision for stripping down from where you are?

On my carriages the plan is to do that work off the coach and paint, then assemble and install once the rest of the coach is complete.

Steph
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
Steph Dale said:
On my carriages the plan is to do that work off the coach and paint, then assemble and install once the rest of the coach is complete.
Click to expand...

That's a very good question, and one that has been exercising me a little. It would be quite possible to construct the gangways off the coach and fit them later. With hindsight, I may well have done just that.

As you know, I tend to prefer airbrushing the paint, so I can be a bit more careful about this area. The actual moving parts are the springs and the flexible material to which the faceplate assembly is attached. If it does gum up, which may be all but impossible to prevent, I won't lose any sweat over it. It'll still look nice, and doesn't have to completely functional in service.
 
Steph Dale

Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
Aah, that sounds useful.

Do you know what the material is that's provided for the bellows? It looks as though it should be a bit more durable than the crepe paper I've used up to this point.

Steph
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
It's referred to as "Coverite" in the instructions. It appears to be a woven synthetic material. One side is matt, the other - initially protected by clear plastic - is slightly shiny.
 
tomstaf

tomstaf

Western Thunderer
Heather Kay said:
It's referred to as "Coverite" in the instructions. It appears to be a woven synthetic material. One side is matt, the other - initially protected by clear plastic - is slightly shiny.
Click to expand...

Is that the same stuff used to skin radio control aeroplanes?

Cheers

Tom
 
D

djparkins

Western Thunderer
Steph Dale said:
Yeah, that's the stuff - just difficult to get in the UK (it appears)
I wonder if Solartex would work... (did try to find a link to the relevant webpage, but no joy - it's a Flash 'site.: http://www.solarfilm.co.uk/)

Steph
Click to expand...

Solartex & Coverite are essentially the same thing - the smooth side actally has an 'iron-on' adhesive coating but that feature has no practical use in the context of these gangways. You may find that, helpfully, any paint sprayed onto it just flakes off anyway, as I do not think this material readily takes paint. That is why it is sold in many colours for the RC aircraft geezers. Its not difficult to get in the UK - most RC shops sell it.

We use Olive Green coverite/solartex in our 76th scale Firing Line Military General Service Vehicles for the tilt covers. It has many other uses in modelling and is a much under-rated/under-used material. Because it shrinks around the parts [including compound curves] when heat is applied [and glues itself in place!] it is probably good for covering seating in coaches [giving a textured finish to them], to give just one example.

As I've pointed out many times in this thread - we supply suggested assembly notes but its up to you - splitting assemblies down for later assembly is really the modern/preferred way to model IMHO.

Its like the 7mm article in the current MRJ where some bloke says our Class 08 is the only one to capture the character of the prototype - but he doesn't like kits made of brass shim! If you scale down the thickness of the metal - most etched kits are way over thick [let alone resin/plastic]. A 16T mineral wagon is well over scale thickness at .018". So these little filigree assemblies as on the Mk.1 are what FS modelling is all about - getting away from the days when everthing had to built like a brick craphouse or bogie sides that look like they are made of Chobham Armour.

DJP
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I've been sweating the small stuff today. Not only was it a bit warm, I was also working on the door furniture.

You don't need me to tell you it can be a little slow going at times. There are six doors in the RMB, three per side. Each door has three hinges, one door handle, one grab handle and all bar one door has a set of bumpers as well. Per door, that makes 16 components…

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These are door bumper mounting plates and handle escutcheon plates. I'm not sure whether you can see in my photo, but each screw head has a slot etched in it. :thumbs:

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Here's a set of door bumpers installed. The first pair took me a while, but once I figured the process out the rest were pretty quick to install. Bear in mind it's important to have as little protruding into the inside space as possible, as it would interfere with fitting the internal detail kit. I used a bit of strip wood, clamped inside the body, to prevent the wire dropping too far while fixing, a little careful dressing with a file was required later.

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Grab handles are formed from an etch. I made a simple jig to hold wire, placed the handle over it and dabbed a spot of solder on. The pegs were then trimmed back.

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Door handle, grab handle and bumpers in place. I still have to do the hinges, and then the added complication of the corrosion strips. More on that tomorrow.
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
alcazar said:
Is all the wire in the kit?
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Nope. There a short length of rod (for the gangway spring retainers) and a length of 1mm brass wire. Otherwise, the modeller relies on their own stocks of wire. I even replace the wire JLTRT includes, because not everything is can use the same diameter.
 
tomstaf

tomstaf

Western Thunderer
Heather, it's looking good. I feel the need to add some more precision into the mix. The door panes and the window panes are at different angles. If you look at the MK1 pics you'll see a thickish ridge at the bottom of the window. Does the kit come with cast to represent this? If not, I think a little plasticard glued inside with a slight taper added round the edge and it'll really set it apart!

Cheers

Tom
 
Heather Kay

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
tomstaf said:
Heather, it's looking good. I feel the need to add some more precision into the mix. The door panes and the window panes are at different angles. If you look at the MK1 pics you'll see a thickish ridge at the bottom of the window. Does the kit come with cast to represent this? If not, I think a little plasticard glued inside with a slight taper added round the edge and it'll really set it apart!
Click to expand...

That's something to think about. I haven't tried fitting the interior detail kit yet, so I don't know if this effect is catered for at that stage.
 
D

djparkins

Western Thunderer
Heather Kay said:
While we're in detail picking mode, I've just begun to notice the chamfered top edge to doors.

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BR Mk1 details by Snaptophobic, on Flickr

It's a detail I don't see on models, and I'm now wondering how to replicate it!
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Try folding in the top section of the doors!!!

Also - the raised area at the bottom of the doors is included - look at the interior sides.

Best not to be too quick to always assume the worst!
 
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