Chas's workbench
- Thread starter Chas Levin
- Start date
Chas Levin
Western Thunderer
Haha - I'd thought exactly that; I'd pictured someone having to duck under the bonnet, do the work and having to duck back out again, carefully. It might be an innacuracy in the kit though - the prototype might have had a folding two-section bonnet that somehow cleared the windscreen in a clever way I haven't spotted. I couldn't find any photos of 3Ro or similar Lancias with the bonnet open - no problem, it'll do perfectly well. The idea is to use it as set dressing, a background vehicle, standing at the side of a garage forecourt or near a goods yard, having broken down, or awaiting repairs...
Chas Levin
Western Thunderer
Small steps, but the IBG Lancia truck is inching ever closer to completion, with the body now on the chassis:
One reason building plastic kits is a slow business for me at times is that I always play safe on letting glue set fully, before proceeding. In this case for instance, I'll let the glue between body and chassis set for 24 hours before re-touching the chassis paint and starting on the wheels; and I'll do the wheels one side of the vehicle at a time, with the truck propped up so that each side's newly glued wheels are upwards and level while their glue sets for 24 hours. I realise this is probably over-cautious, but it means that when I come to do the next bit, I needn't worry about dislodging recently added parts...
One reason building plastic kits is a slow business for me at times is that I always play safe on letting glue set fully, before proceeding. In this case for instance, I'll let the glue between body and chassis set for 24 hours before re-touching the chassis paint and starting on the wheels; and I'll do the wheels one side of the vehicle at a time, with the truck propped up so that each side's newly glued wheels are upwards and level while their glue sets for 24 hours. I realise this is probably over-cautious, but it means that when I come to do the next bit, I needn't worry about dislodging recently added parts...
Chas Levin
Western Thunderer
Things have moved on a little, with the final assembly of the Lancia 3Ro body and wheels onto the chassis and the start of applying transfers - here's a quick pic on the eve of departure for an Easter break, with the truck propped up in a dramatically un-prototypical position for the settling of the rear numberplate:
Chas Levin
Western Thunderer
Just back from an Easter visit to friends in Portugal (where I'd never been before). We flew to Faro and then rode on one of these:
I was puzzled by the look of the sleepers: there were a few very old looking full width wooden ones but in the main, they were what appeared to be short concrete, not much longer (or wider?) than the rail chairs:
My always observant daughter pointed out that we didn't know what was under the ballast and sure enough, upon alighting at Faro, the mystery was explained:
Does anyone know if the iron angle piece middle sections are purely an economy of materials measure, or is there some structural or other principle behind the avoidance of full length solid concrete?
We also saw a rather fun looking permanent way maintenance vehicle - not sure whether to call it a truck, a loco or a 'troco':
Once the dust has settled, I now have the transfers to finish off the Lancia truck so I'll post pictures of that in the next few days, all being well...
I was puzzled by the look of the sleepers: there were a few very old looking full width wooden ones but in the main, they were what appeared to be short concrete, not much longer (or wider?) than the rail chairs:
My always observant daughter pointed out that we didn't know what was under the ballast and sure enough, upon alighting at Faro, the mystery was explained:
Does anyone know if the iron angle piece middle sections are purely an economy of materials measure, or is there some structural or other principle behind the avoidance of full length solid concrete?
We also saw a rather fun looking permanent way maintenance vehicle - not sure whether to call it a truck, a loco or a 'troco':
Once the dust has settled, I now have the transfers to finish off the Lancia truck so I'll post pictures of that in the next few days, all being well...
AJC
Western Thunderer
Nothing very unusual about that sort of sleeper system (GWR ‘pot’ sleepers for example). PECO will even sell you a version - based on French ‘Bi Bloc’ types used on high speed lines: Your Guide to Railway Modelling
The big issue is weight and handling, I understand.
Adam
The big issue is weight and handling, I understand.
Adam
Chas Levin
Western Thunderer
Thanks Allen and Adam, I'd never seen them on any UK railways I'd looked at in person but clearly I hadn't done my homework!
Can I just ask Adam, do you mean 'weight and handling' in terms of tracklayers having to handle the sleepers in the course of installing them, or do you mean in terms of the weight of trains going over them and how those trains might handle on more flexible sleepers? I'm guessing you mean tracklayers but having thought of the other interpretation I had to ask...
Can I just ask Adam, do you mean 'weight and handling' in terms of tracklayers having to handle the sleepers in the course of installing them, or do you mean in terms of the weight of trains going over them and how those trains might handle on more flexible sleepers? I'm guessing you mean tracklayers but having thought of the other interpretation I had to ask...
AJC
Western Thunderer
All of the above! It depends on application, but they’re as rigid as normal components, well those are, the GW pot sleepers were sidings only, the other sort of concrete track systems used in steelworks and so on were for more temporary construction. Obviously that doesn’t apply to French Ligne Grande Viresse! There are places on the British network where wooden bearers are preferred to save load on bridges and so on.
Adam
Chas Levin
Western Thunderer
Chas Levin
Western Thunderer
At last, final pictures of the IBG Lancia truck:
I took the photograph below of the GWR version in Newtown, Powys in 2003. The rail was removed a few years ago but the blocks might still be there buried under piles of ballast.
Edit, just noticed the spacing of the crossbars, one either side of the fishplate then one block without, then a crossbar, then two blocks without a crossbar. There are four sections with a two block gap and then back to one with a single gap, then the one beside the fishplate. Taken from another photo.
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Chas Levin
Western Thunderer
Thanks GrahamMc, I'm rapidly learning that what I thought was quite unusual was in fact quite well known. Not the first time that's happened...
john lewsey
Western Thunderer
Hi Chas, nice work you asked me about the Lady of the Lake locomotive on RMWeb
Chas Levin
Western Thunderer
Hello John, yes indeed and I recognise that picture over your name too! Thanks for the kind words; small world, isn't it?
Chas Levin
Western Thunderer
So, what's next. Well, another continental model, a pair in fact, of K.W.St.E (Royal Württemberg State Railways) wagons. This kit is rather older than the brand new IBG Lancia I've just finished, from about the late 1980s I believe. I know some people feel that unbuilt vintage kits should be kept as collectible items, but I think they were made to be made, they have no significant historical value, life is short and we should enjoy it! So, I hope it won't upset anyone too much if I press ahead with this rather fun RAI-MO kit, and I've included a few photos of the box as it is very attractive :
The first thing is to check that everything's there, which seems to be the case:
As you can see from the last but one photo, the kit even includes oil and paint: I don't plan to use the oil (I have plenty of more recently made lubricants) and the paint I'll probably only use for colour matching; the wheels I'll replace with something more modern and freer running, plus adding brass bearings inside the axle-boxes. The transfers look as if they may be fine, though if they're not I have a couple of possible sources for replacements...
I've built a Nu-Cast LNER Fish van that had a white-metal chassis and a plastic body, but I've not seen a kit before that's made the other way round, with a plastic chassis and a white-metal body: is this quite common?
:The first thing is to check that everything's there, which seems to be the case:
As you can see from the last but one photo, the kit even includes oil and paint: I don't plan to use the oil (I have plenty of more recently made lubricants) and the paint I'll probably only use for colour matching; the wheels I'll replace with something more modern and freer running, plus adding brass bearings inside the axle-boxes. The transfers look as if they may be fine, though if they're not I have a couple of possible sources for replacements...
I've built a Nu-Cast LNER Fish van that had a white-metal chassis and a plastic body, but I've not seen a kit before that's made the other way round, with a plastic chassis and a white-metal body: is this quite common?
Chas Levin
Western Thunderer
Ha: it turns out there may be something missing from the kit - but not something I need, happily! A slip of paper in the box with the instructions tells us, in German:
Dieser Packung liegt ein Spezial-Klebstoff (Plastikschlauch mit blauer Flüssigkeit) bei, der nur fur die Verbindung der Kunststoff-Radsterne mit den Messing-Radreifen geeignet ist. Jeweils einen kleinen Tropfen in den Radreifen geben, dann den Radstern eindrucken. Die Radreifen anschliessend ausrichten und uberprufen, dass sie keinen Seitenschlag aufweisen. Der Klebstoff bindet innerhalb 24 Stunden ab. Uberschussiger Kelbstoff kann hinterher abgerwaschen werden. Fur die ubrigen Teile ist dieser Klebstoff nicht verwendbar!
I include this for the benefit of anyone reading this who wants some practice in translating reasonably technical German... For everyone else (including me) Google Translate makes things clearer:
A special adhesive (plastic hose with blue liquid) is included in this package, which is only suitable for connecting the plastic wheel spiders to the brass wheel tyres. Put a small drop in each wheel tire, then press in the wheel center. Then align the wheel tires and check that they do not show any lateral runout. The adhesive sets within 24 hours. Excess adhesive can be washed off afterwards. This adhesive cannot be used for the other parts!
There is a small plastic tube (apparently rendered as 'hose' by the translation) included in the kit - you can see it in the second to last photo of my previous post, peeping out from beneath some other parts, in the compartment towards the lower right-hand corner, above the one with the wheels. The contents aren't blue though, they're a sort of brown colour and I thought it was a tube of oil, as mentioned in my last post. I'll be using other wheels anyway, but I'll cut open the tube, carefully, with good ventilation, over a suitable receptacle, just out of curiosity to see whether it is glue or not and possibly find out what type it is - Edited: I was unobservant - the back of the instructions refer to 'loctite glue'...
The tyres are turned brass as far as I can tell and the axle and centres assembly is plastic, so I'm intrigued as to what adhesive they provided in the 1980s that was thought suitable for a good long-term bond between those two materials. Come to that, I wonder why they didn't just provide ready-made wheels, which I thought was the norm even then. Am I wrong about that - did kits in those days often provide unassembled wheels?
Dieser Packung liegt ein Spezial-Klebstoff (Plastikschlauch mit blauer Flüssigkeit) bei, der nur fur die Verbindung der Kunststoff-Radsterne mit den Messing-Radreifen geeignet ist. Jeweils einen kleinen Tropfen in den Radreifen geben, dann den Radstern eindrucken. Die Radreifen anschliessend ausrichten und uberprufen, dass sie keinen Seitenschlag aufweisen. Der Klebstoff bindet innerhalb 24 Stunden ab. Uberschussiger Kelbstoff kann hinterher abgerwaschen werden. Fur die ubrigen Teile ist dieser Klebstoff nicht verwendbar!
I include this for the benefit of anyone reading this who wants some practice in translating reasonably technical German... For everyone else (including me) Google Translate makes things clearer:
A special adhesive (plastic hose with blue liquid) is included in this package, which is only suitable for connecting the plastic wheel spiders to the brass wheel tyres. Put a small drop in each wheel tire, then press in the wheel center. Then align the wheel tires and check that they do not show any lateral runout. The adhesive sets within 24 hours. Excess adhesive can be washed off afterwards. This adhesive cannot be used for the other parts!
There is a small plastic tube (apparently rendered as 'hose' by the translation) included in the kit - you can see it in the second to last photo of my previous post, peeping out from beneath some other parts, in the compartment towards the lower right-hand corner, above the one with the wheels. The contents aren't blue though, they're a sort of brown colour and I thought it was a tube of oil, as mentioned in my last post. I'll be using other wheels anyway, but I'll cut open the tube, carefully, with good ventilation, over a suitable receptacle, just out of curiosity to see whether it is glue or not and possibly find out what type it is - Edited: I was unobservant - the back of the instructions refer to 'loctite glue'...
The tyres are turned brass as far as I can tell and the axle and centres assembly is plastic, so I'm intrigued as to what adhesive they provided in the 1980s that was thought suitable for a good long-term bond between those two materials. Come to that, I wonder why they didn't just provide ready-made wheels, which I thought was the norm even then. Am I wrong about that - did kits in those days often provide unassembled wheels?
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michael080
Western Thunderer
I have built a few Fleischmann freight wagon kits in the 70s. They came with readily assembled wheels. Just the same wheels as they were used on the RTR wagons.
Nice kit, btw.
Michael
Chas Levin
Western Thunderer
Hello Michael, yes, I think it's a nice kit too; both the plastic and the metal parts are very crisply made, with plenty of detail. The metal I intend soldering, on the assumption that it's some type of white-metal.I have built a few Fleischmann freight wagon kits in the 70s. They came with readily assembled wheels. Just the same wheels as they were used on the RTR wagons.
Nice kit, btw.
Michael
What are the Fleischmann kits like to build? I've not yet come across one and only learned recently that they were made, after seeing a photo of one online, having always assumed the Fleischmann only made RTR.
I remember noticing in the photos of the one I saw that it had assembled wheels.
I'm guessing they didn't find the kit market as profitable as the RTR one...?