MMP Catfsh Wagons 6 Pack

[djparkins]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fiskars-Classic-Embroidery-Micro-tip-Scissor/dp/B0001P08JW/ref=sr_1_3?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1381143642&sr=1-3&keywords=fiskars scissor

http://www.artisttradingpost.com/tim-holtz-tonic-studios-scissors-1683-p.asp
P

Re- the links I posted earlier - I ordered both as a test on the basis that you can never have too many good pairs of scissors! I have now received both pairs and have done some chomping of [scrap] etchings.

The Friskar ones that Richard ordered are excellent indeed. Narrow blade width, very sharp and with good leverage. No further cleaning up of the parts I cut out was required. 10/10.

As an aside we have been using a larger set of Friskar scissors here for card & material cutting for 24 years and they are still going strong and are relatively sharp.

The Tim Holtz scissors are beautifully made but the blades are too wide really and the serrations [very fine as Graham says] do tend to 'pull' the cut into the brass and twice caused me to cut further into the part than just the tag - and would have ruined the parts on a good etched sheet. They are serious quality scissors but I would NOT recommend them for cutting out etched parts.

Of course the ultmate would be to have the Friskar scissors with the luxurious Tim Holtz handles fitted!

Hope the above is helpful,

DJP

 

[alcazar]

Typical....just after I buy the TH ones, a reviewer tells me different.

Back to ebay.....

 

[SteveO]

Those who want to save a few pence can shop here. I've ordered mine!

 

[djparkins]

Typical....just after I buy the TH ones, a reviewer tells me different.

Back to ebay.....

Don't despair Jeff - at least you'll have a nice set of handles on the scissors!!! And you may just get on with them better than I have but just beware of the tendency they have to pull into the part when cutting a tag. You are obviously well practised with scissors as I hear there are a lot of people in the Scunthorpe area with holes in their clothes these days!

 

[alcazar]

Ha ha!
Sad, ...but true.

I've ordered the Fiskars ones too off ebay at £6.75.
There were some Fiskars ones with the large comfort grip handles, sold for Bonsai work: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/fiskars-s...Crafts_Sewing_Supplies_MJ&hash=item461436799f

Decent price too?

 

[ZiderHead]

Good find! Ive ordered some of the big loop ones

 

[richard carr]

I got the scissors last week and used them at weeknd and again this evening, I have to say that it does speed up removing parts from the etch and you can sometimes remove them so that they do not need any further cleaning up, I'm still practicing that though.
So thank you Dave P that is a very good tip it will save several hours work with the other wagons.

The build is progressing well and I have probably spent 20 hours on it so far. It is very detailed, especially the brake gear. I'm still not sure how it all goes together and I have decided to omit some of the parts on the grounds that you can't see them and they take too long to put together.

Here is where I am so far with the Chssis





It is starting to come together, it does require some deft soldering at times but the fit of the parts does make this such an enjoyable kit to build.

Here's the hopper







Again some deft soldering is required. Most of the folds have been made on a hold and fold tool but I found that a metal smiths folding tool is much easier to use for the longer thinner pieces such as the hopper end side supports.

And here is one of them put together, it is looking like a catfish. The hopper only just fits between the frames so you do need to be very precise with putting the lower half together. There is a considerable learning curve in building one of these wagons so I'm sure that the next one will be considerably quicker.

 

[dibateg]

Looks excellent, nice work - batch building 5 at once might be a challenge Richard, will you do each one individually?

 

[richard carr]

No I will probably do 2 at a time, thats how I did my 10 TTA wagons. It will take a while but I am enjoying the build, I would like to have 12 of these in total it will make a nice train to add to the layout.

Richard

 

[djparkins]

No I will probably do 2 at a time, thats how I did my 10 TTA wagons. It will take a while but I am enjoying the build, I would like to have 12 of these in total it will make a nice train to add to the layout.

Richard

Richard

If you added Dogfish to the mix you could build a couple with the hopper side & end extension panels that are in the Dogfish kit - that way you can have a nice mix-up of a train height-wise. I saw a Class 40 returning from Ribblehead, coming down off the Settle-Carlisle in the early 1980s with just such a train - great stuff/great days!

DJP

 

[Ian G]

I an thinking in the future another 6 Dogfish, and also a few more Sea Lion/Sea Cows

Ian G

 

[richard carr]

I made some more progress over the weekend in fact Ihave just been spraying it black.

My favourite bending tool is the Metal Smith one here, its particularly good at long thin pieces which I find difficult to fold in a hold and fold



To be honest its pieces thinner than this or al least one side of the fold is very thin.










Finally a lovely 90 degree bend

Here is the finished wagon













I have to admit that I have skipped a few bits, the brake gear is really detailed and I think I would still be here at Christmas trying to work it out if I had carried on with it.
I also found that you need to be very precise in fixing all the hopper side supports, in the end I omitted the final part of the side stanchions, its hard to tell they aren't there and I got much better fit of the hopper on the chassis without them. The other thing to note is that the hopper is a very tight fit int eh chassis you need to get all the parts put together spot on.

I have really enjoyed building this and I'm looking forward to the next one or 2.

 

[Ian G]

I use a 14'' & a 2'' hold and fold to build all my brass kits.

Ian G

 

[richard carr]

I was in Chicago this week and so made a start on the second wagon. I have to say that the more I build this kit the more impressed I am with it. The fit of the parts really is that good, for example the top edge of the hopper is formed from 4 long thin pieces of brass that need folding to 90 degrees and they fit perfectly intot he top of the hopper as you can see in the photo below.



There was no filing to make them fit just each piece placed in the correct place and all 4 matched up perfectly.

One issue I had on the first wagon was the fit of the hopper into the chassis, the gap was not quite large enough, so this time a took particular car to make sure that the inner parts of the chassis were in exactly the right place and now the hopper just squeezes into the gap between the frames, as it should.

The use of scissors to remove parts does speed up the construction and it is possible to cut off the tabs with no further cleaning up required, it just takes a little bit of practice.

Here are a few more photos of where I got to in about 10 hours work.









I have also obtained some transfers from CCT (Cambridge custom transfers) which although they are pre TOPS appear to have been in common use in 1981.