Mr Grumpy

Mr Grumpy

Western Thunderer
I got the sides and ends together this morning. The floor is designed to be removable and is held in place by screws through brackets soldered to the ends.

There are no etched rebates to assist the ends to locate on to the sides, so it was a case of tack soldering, checking and adjusting where necessary. With the floor in place, the coach feels rock solid.
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Mr Grumpy

Western Thunderer
I got the other end almost finished, I’m just waiting for some cast lamp brackets to arrive.

I decided to model this corridor connection closed. It took a bit of playing around with scrap etch, but came out ok. I bolted the assembly to the coach as I thought the whole lot may come apart with the heat of the iron.
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Mr Grumpy

Western Thunderer
The bottom flange of the sole bars turns in on this coach. The buffer beams look quite innocent but took a lot of work to fit. As supplied they were too thin and also have a turn in at the bottom, deeper than the sole bars. So I doubled their thickness and added the turn in from scrap etch. I drilled the buffer beams for the vacuum pipes and got it all soldered to the floor. The buffer housings took a fair bit of heat to solder in place.
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Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
The buffer beams look quite innocent but took a lot of work to fit. As supplied they were too thin and also have a turn in at the bottom, deeper than the sole bars. So I doubled their thickness and added the turn in from scrap etch.

Sometimes it makes you wonder what the kit designer was thinking at the time - especially when the buffer beam (in model form) takes the greatest strain.
 

Mr Grumpy

Western Thunderer
...The step boards were the same as the buffer beams....very undernourished :) so they have had the same treatment as the buffer beams. I did manage to solder the scrap etch to the top of one board, but with the help of the gas torch, it was soon rectified :) When soldering to the solebars I slid a piece of scrap etch between the boards and solebars as the real ones are stood off, also I will need the room for step hangers later.
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Mr Grumpy

Western Thunderer
The leaf springs, hangers and axle boxes come as separate castings, and are excellent. The instructions advise making the components up on the bench, with the hanger rods pushed up against ‘dimples’ in the leaf springs. I could foresee a lot of faffing around, so drilled the ends of the leafs to take the rods. I clamped the leaf springs and axleboxes and soldered them together first and will solder the assembly to the hangers once mounted on the solebars.

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Here’s the first one ready for soldering in place.

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2-Bil

Western Thunderer
Mr G , i got a deal of pleasure watching your build of the MMP suburban so have you(i asks gently)got its roof to submit to your will/skill?????--------------respects etc-------- & for what its worth i like this build too!
 

Mr Grumpy

Western Thunderer
Mr G , i got a deal of pleasure watching your build of the MMP suburban so have you(i asks gently)got its roof to submit to your will/skill?????--------------respects etc-------- & for what its worth i like this build too!
Not yet :rolleyes:
Once the next three milk tankers are finished, I will get back to it. It's a lovely coach, and as nice as this one is, you realise just how much is missing in terms of detail. (Especially underneath) I do prefer castings to a lot of the smaller fiddly etches, although thats a personal preference.
Also, sitting with fingers crossed that MMP may fill the void created with the demise of the JLTRT CCT :)
 

2-Bil

Western Thunderer
I asked DJP about the MMP CCT i thought it would be popular addition to the range he (pretty obviously)said so too.But that woz at least four year ago and I've long since uncrossed cramped up digits.......However if you want some more parcels stock Kemilway have recently introduced a lot of new Diagrams to their range ----might be worth a gander for a modeller of your calibre...................respects etc BW
 

Mr Grumpy

Western Thunderer
Unfortunately, Kemilway don’t have a coach in their range that I would need.

Back to the coach in hand and all the suspension castings went on without any trouble. The centre wheel ‘floats’ and one axle is accommodated in a compensation unit. The coach is nice and heavy and runs well :)
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Mr Grumpy

Western Thunderer
Following a fair bit of rain dodging, my coach is in primer, awaiting it’s top coat of paint and transfers.

The beading on the roof is 2mm masking tape. I tried 1mm, but it hardly showed.

It was a really enjoyable kit to build, and I think one that is suitable for a first build.
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Mr Grumpy

Western Thunderer
While I patiently wait for the rain to subside, I’m going to crack on with my three remaining GW milk tankers.

Two of them are being modified to represent dia 0.39 with central platforms, produced by Rumney Models.

Before the platform build can begin, a jig is built (which has to be bought separately). I chemically blackened it to prevent accidental soldering of the platform to the jig.

The instructions run to 21 pages including a couple of prototype photos.

The first part of the construction is the platform bases which need to be laminated and six 0.5mm pins soldered through. The top side of the base then has the wire filed back to around 0.5mm to represent the bolts. I’m going to build four platforms together.
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Here’s the jig.....
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Mr Grumpy

Western Thunderer
All the etched holes need opening out to 0.5mm, which takes a while. I think this is one of the fiddliest things I have made! That’s not a bad thing, it’s nice to have a challenge now and again. Having said that, everything lines up perfectly, but I found myself having to think a few moves ahead to allow for cutting back the wire.

Here’s a photo of the frame about to have its 6 ‘bolts’ soldered through the frame and manhole bracket.
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The next photos show a little more advancement in assembly. The frame is very fragile and flimsy prior to fitting the platform base. Once that is in place, the whole structure becomes firm. Still need to fit the sole bar fixings, but I may need to build a chassis first to ensure the correct fit.
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Edit: just noticed the left hand bracket isn’t straight :confused:
 
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