4mm Jan's 4mm WB: Hello, Old Friend

[Lyndhurstman]

Hi Jan,

I've really enjoyed reading through your thread. Lots of interesting stuff!

I'm a big fan of Justin's cast axle boxes: they are cracking. Blows everything else out of the water in my view.

Kind regards,

Nick.

Hello Nick
Thank you. I’m very grateful for your kind words. There’s an overall aim, but I’ve come to realise that it’s more about the journey. And if I can drop in some doubtful punnery, so much the better!

Yes. I do like these axleboxes. There’s only one snag now; the W iron is too thick, and pushes the spring anchors beyond the width of the solebar. So I have two choices; either thin the W iron a tad, or slice it off altogether and go with something like the MJT brass units, with the spring stuck on.

Thanks again.

Cheers

Jan

 

[Nick Rogers]

Hi Jan,

What a pain with regard to the thickness of the W-irons: life isn't ever easy is it!?

The MJT W-iron would look finer, but adds extra work. I have a love/hate relationship with Masokits sprung W-irons for P4 work. I have had good success with ridged wagons in P4; however, for shunting long trains, springing is essential. I'm glad my own layout will be in OO!

Kind regards,

Nick.

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Hi Jan,

What a pain with regard to the thickness of the W-irons: life isn't ever easy is it!?

The MJT W-iron would look finer, but adds extra work. I have a love/hate relationship with Masokits sprung W-irons for P4 work. I have had good success with ridged wagons in P4; however, for shunting long trains, springing is essential. I'm glad my own layout will be in OO!

Kind regards,

Nick.

Hello Nick,
Indeed. Although compared to my current allotment, this is small potatoes.
I've never tried the Masokits ones. I have some, but they do look fiendish. I like Bill Bedford's units, but I have a lot of the MJTs to hand. Of course, one thing that I always forget is the axle alignment/spacing jig. If both sets of W-irons come off, I'll have to make something to ensure the units are parallel to each other.

Luckily, Watkins Wharf is a little more than a glorified shunting plank (in fact it's little more than MDF and copperclad at the minute - and that minute has stretched for over a quarter of a century!), so the need for springing is not great. I go with cast buffers (LMS) too. Generally.

Cheers

Jan

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Relaxed Ribbing
Friday, and no work for four days. The sun doeth shine, and the birds do sing. However, the recent upswing in the health of the Order Book demands some effort from us here. It’s too hot, anyway!

So, our work at The Works has been boosted by more Stores items from far Lanarkshire; a blessing of buffers.

We ordered a set of B009 specifically for this Medfit. B009 are 2 rib. However, close assessment of the chosen prototype (and others such as BR 13ton steel bodied Medfit open (as used by engineers) ZAV ZVV ZAO ZDO | B458519__m_ identifies that the 4 rib (B003) were used too. So that’s what we’re going to do. The B009 will no doubt find a home; we have a potential homecoming in the handful of part-completed Palvans that were won at auction recently.

As discussed earlier, the moulded buffer housing will have to go, and we’ll no doubt slice that approximation of a lamp bracket off, too. Once we fire up the cutting torch, anything and everything is fair game; especially on a Friday afternoon!

All the best to you all for the long weekend.

Jan

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Back in the jig agane
The shaving off of anaemic protrusions has been effected. Only two Swann Morton blades were harmed in this excision; lovely soft soapy substrate is a blessing, here. We must find a way to redress the blunted tip; the rest of the blade wasn’t touched! Arkansas stone, maybe.

The next step was to make a jig to enable the (reasonably) accurate placement of the LMS invader. This was done in plasticard - Mo Jo is wandering back and forth across the Y axis, and there was a danger that fettling something in brass or NS might have used up precious energies.

We've used the hook hole as a locating point. And a barrier of plasticard (the white beneath the black) to give the 1.5mm vertical dimension measured as being half the depth of the buffer beam.

The next step is to see if it actually works.

Cheers

Jan

 

[Lyndhurstman]

End Of Part One

In the greater ebb and flow, this little moment doesn’t even raise a ripple. But in the low energy environment that is Watkin’s Wharf, any movement is worthy of note - especially ones signed by Leslie O'Brien and his immediate predecessors.

We have made a tray. Let loose the trumpet voluntary!

I seem to recall that - at the start of this build -I prophesied an easy passage. Well, it wasn’t that straightforward; mostly because of the lack of height in the sides and ends - which meant some frustration as we tried to figure out the best method of making - and anchoring - a 90 degree corner. Suffice to say, thanks to finger and thumbs being employed in an upturned milking stool configuration, and a piece of plate glass, we managed it. And the jig has done its work, too.

Next up, the chassis. And all that entails.

Cheers

Jan

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Some Compensation
Like Kenneth on the table in the Operating Room, we’re in the midst of more surgery. The W irons went west, to be replace by the tried-and-tested origami of a pair of MJT 2988s.

Restrained by one of (I think) Mr Bedford’s wheelbase jigs and some spare pinpoint axles, the plastic pimples of the spring stops - deliberately left on the solebar during the afore-mentioned hackathon - act as alignment for the pinpoint bearings. I think these are Gibson waisted. Or maybe even Markits (the Stores just has a container, and the selection process is very selective). Whatever the parental provider, they were chosen because they were shallow within, and thus contributed the least in slop. They’ve been held in with a dab (or maybe a turbot) of Loctite Precision. The securing of W irons to underfloor will potentially occur via an Araldite anchoring.

Cheers

Jan

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Cast Aside
Snails have moved faster. The T&M men are all over us, grumbling and chivvying. But we’re not to be rushed. Energy conservation - even this close to entropy - is very necessary.

In reality, the Rumney Models springs are being applied to the MJT W irons. A certain surgery has to be undertaken to remove the cast crossbar (it seemed quite happy, to me). This was achieved with a piercing saw - as opposed to a piercing cry; which would have been difficult as the operation was done with all breath retained.

This has resulted in the above: something that looks like the designer and manufacturer intended. Certainly, the finescale finesse of the still-not-finished accumulation of disparate bits is a credit to the source of the parts, rather than the protracted placement of same. Loctite is our friend, here.

Cheers

Jan

 

[Lyndhurstman]

A Place Of Safety

A painful exercise. More subterranean shenanigans on the Medfit. For some reason, we took the decision to try to fit safety loops for the clasp brake cross shafts. These are ‘just’ bits of 0.3mm wire. The MJT castings were drilled - carefully, with the drill well into the pin chuck - through the back of the shoes (there’s a nice dimple that helps with this) to take a piece of PB wire. The same diameter wire is being used to form the safety loops for the cross shafts - studying various photographs on Bartlett and Flickr appear to show that these wagons appear to have had four independent loops per axle, that are squared off under the cross shaft. We’ve taken a guess at how wide they are - one thing our investigations have concluded is that it’s very dark under a wagon! We’ve scaled them at 9”. I dare say that now we’ve fessed up, the information disproving our efforts will become apparent! We’ve tried both Araldite and Loctite to fix these intricacies. The former is good, but its inherent stickiness seems to travel to everything we subsequently touch!

All the best

Jan

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Give Us Strength (Also, a gentle ribbing)
The next stage of this build was to fit the strengthening ribs on the top of the angles on the ends of the wagon.

An octet of odd little things. And pesky to place. Turning angle into I section.

Possibly, we should have done this before adding the buffers; or maybe while the ends were still en sprue. Planning isn’t a forte, sadly. More of an (in)fraction. Still, we’ve had the advantage of Bartlett in placing them. And a steady hand (as opposed to a heady stand) helps mightily. We can only presume PECO didn’t bother to look at the prototype for their version
BR 13ton Medium Goods Wagon as they’ve been stuck on 90 degrees out. Hook and links next, potentially.

Cheers

Jan

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Spring Cuts

Some freestyle nibbling this afternoon. These are the control spring arms that support the dropside of the Medfit. The original moulding didn’t cut the mustard, for us. Mind you, what you see here are versions 5 & 6 of these tiny terrors; version 4 was OK, but has been lost somewhere in the Works. They’ll be fitted once the rest of the work is done. I make the pair of them the equivalent of 0.25 Jontes in volume.

Cheers

Jan

 

[jonte]

Spring Cuts
View attachment 104433
Some freestyle nibbling this afternoon. These are the control spring arms that support the dropside of the Medfit. The original moulding didn’t cut the mustard, for us. Mind you, what you see here are versions 5 & 6 of these tiny terrors; version 4 was OK, but has been lost somewhere in the Works. They’ll be fitted once the rest of the work is done. I make the pair of them the equivalent of 0.25 Jontes in volume.

Cheers

Jan

At last, I discover my purpose in life: as a unit of measurement

The ‘true-ness’ of those inside angles is especially admirable, compared to the relatively Leviathan proportions of that scalpel. Respect!

And of course, the prodigal ‘No. 4’ will no doubt reappear once the final coat of paint has dried.

Bestest,

Jonte

 

[Lyndhurstman]

At last, I discover my purpose in life: as a unit of measurement

The ‘true-ness’ of those inside angles is especially admirable, compared to the relatively Leviathan proportions of that scalpel. Respect!

And of course, the prodigal ‘No. 4’ will no doubt reappear once the final coat of paint has dried.

Bestest,

Jonte

Thanks, Chum
They’re not as right as they should be; the upper limb should be more vertical, and parallel with the wagon side when at rest. So I may make 7 & 8, but don’t hold your breath.
I think the No.4 has been excised by Ping - our Asiatic labourer. As much as we work to mitigate against it, the impetus of Ping wreaks havoc on small components, and they are rarely recovered. So prevalent is he, that the T&M chaps have given him his own column.

Cheers

Jan

 

[jonte]

Thanks, Chum
They’re not as right as they should be; the upper limb should be more vertical, and parallel with the wagon side when at rest. So I may make 7 & 8, but don’t hold your breath.
I think the No.4 has been excised by Ping - our Asiatic labourer. As much as we work to mitigate against it, the impetus of Ping wreaks havoc on small components, and they are rarely recovered. So prevalent is he, that the T&M chaps have given him his own column.

Cheers

Jan

 

[Lyndhurstman]

We’re In Seven

Finally, something that looks The Part. This was sew much of a Pfaff. A lot of time for little of consequence. And a load of loupe. But such things work to interest and invest. Forward is the best direction. That’s where The Invoice resides, after all.

Cheers

Jan

 

[AJC]

That looks well worth the effort, Jan though, like Somerset CCC coming second in almost any given competition in a given year making four or five of those spring components for every pair that end up fitted is par for the course. These are the kinds of things I find on the rare occasions my modelling bench gets a spring clean...

Adam

 

[iak63]

Fascinated by this door spring solution.
I still pfaff with separate bits of strip - utter madness!
Now I see a market for 3D printed ones maybe?
Nurse, he's dribbling again...

 

[Lyndhurstman]

That looks well worth the effort, Jan though, like Somerset CCC coming second in almost any given competition in a given year making four or five of those spring components for every pair that end up fitted is par for the course. These are the kinds of things I find on the rare occasions my modelling bench gets a spring clean...

Adam

Thank you Adam. Yes; I had to tidy the bench to try and find the Number 4, but no luck.

Fascinated by this door spring solution.
I still pfaff with separate bits of strip - utter madness!
Now I see a market for 3D printed ones maybe?
Nurse, he's dribbling again...

Hello Ian,
Thanks. It’s a fudge,but looks the part. I have to acknowledge that both you and Adam are partly responsible for this foolhardy fetishism as a response to your artistry.

I’ve considered 3D printing - I have an ongoing battle with SketchUp and the GER Y4. I did a back-of-a-fag-packet ‘drawing’ based on some downloads from Mr Bartlett’s, but I’ve yet to find anything official that describes these bits.

Cheers, both.

Jan

 

[Lyndhurstman]

Too Much Of A Good Thing?
We’re at something of a quandary. Stores have ordered some “BL4C LMS for fitted stock” from AMBIS. But - after studying Bartlett and the Rumney Models version (LMS, Derby & LNER Clasp Brake Underframes | Rumney Models) we’re thinking that the swan neck bend is too aggressive (forgive the tabs - its to be fettled).

We’d be interested in opinions/experience. We’ve tried to ease the transition, but we might have made things worse.

Are we wrong? Have we missed something?
We offer a heartfelt appeal to the knowledge (and kindness) of others.

Cheers

Jan

 

[jonte]

Too Much Of A Good Thing?
We’re at something of a quandary. Stores have ordered some “BL4C LMS for fitted stock” from AMBIS. But - after studying Bartlett and the Rumney Models version (LMS, Derby & LNER Clasp Brake Underframes | Rumney Models) we’re thinking that the swan neck bend is too aggressive (forgive the tabs - its to be fettled).
View attachment 104696
We’d be interested in opinions/experience. We’ve tried to ease the transition, but we might have made things worse.
View attachment 104697
Are we wrong? Have we missed something?
We offer a heartfelt appeal to the knowledge (and kindness) of others.

Cheers

Jan

Would dearly love to impart my knowledge of such matters, Jan, to help ease your angst, but as per usual, I don’t have any

FWIW, I prefer the less pronounced ‘bend’ of the second if that’s of any use?

Oh, btw: your friend Ping has some ‘spring’ as I’ve just found prodigal No. 4 languishing in my bedroom carpet

Good luck!

Jonte