Rob Pulham
Western Thunderer
I did the same on a 14 ton tank wagon from Slaters.
Slaters 1/32nd 6 Wheel Milk Tankers
- Thread starter taliesin
- Start date
taliesin
Western Thunderer
Thats very pretty Rob, i hope the rest of the kit is that nice
, cheers Rob
Rob Pulham
Western Thunderer
Thats very pretty Rob, i hope the rest of the kit is that nice
, still a shelf queen... and all it needs are transfers
Steve Cook
Flying Squad
Good effort that man - four at once takes some doing as they are not renowned as an easy build. I have two to do in the kit pile so I'll be taking notes as I follow your progress
Steve
Steve
Dikitriki
Flying Squad
Good effort that man - four at once takes some doing as they are not renowned as an easy build. I have two to do in the kit pile so I'll be taking notes as I follow your progress
Steve
I'll second that. For me, a batch build is.....err.....one, and I struggle to complete that
Richard
taliesin
Western Thunderer
TBH Steve it does get somewhat tedious but generally i can switch off the brain as i do the same job on the third and fourth unit. I suspect batch building is the only way to get a rake of these due to the head scratching needed for each new stage and just building the one would beGood effort that man - four at once takes some doing as they are not renowned as an easy build. I have two to do in the kit pile so I'll be taking notes as I follow your progress
Steve
without any relief, i think i would be swapping Donna for the doom laden sounds of Joy Division . While waiting for glue n paint to dry one of the tanks is now well on the way,Having worked out the diameter from the ends finding a piece of pipe just ain't gonna happen so we are stuck with the three piece cylinder
, such fun.
Another three left to do
, cheers Rob
Steve Cook
Flying Squad
I guess if you can find a routine about it then it takes some of the pain away, not sure its ever worth Joy Division though Rob 
For the effort thats gone in, that tank looks epic from where I'm sat
Steve
For the effort thats gone in, that tank looks epic from where I'm sat
Steve
Phill Dyson
Western Thunderer
I did three of mine in a batch too Rob, as you say it's the best way to get the job done!
...........although number four was S/H & built up, which was even better!!!
Phill
...........although number four was S/H & built up, which was even better!!!Phill
taliesin
Western Thunderer
Your a lucky man Phill, i am still not too sure how these are going to turn out but the S/H ones i have seen have been truly awful in 1/32nd and not worth buying, cheers RobI did three of mine in a batch too Rob, as you say it's the best way to get the job done!
Phill
taliesin
Western Thunderer
cheers Steve, close up i still keep looking and finding bits that i am not too happy with, after a top coat of Halfords Aluminium wheel paint i can make a decision about the others, cheers RobI guess if you can find a routine about it then it takes some of the pain away, not sure its ever worth Joy Division though Rob
For the effort thats gone in, that tank looks epic from where I'm sat
Steve
taliesin
Western Thunderer
Perhaps i should have posted this before the picture of the semi finished tank but here is tank number two on the way and i can explain a bit about it,
Basically the tank is formed of two ends and three lengths which have about 120 degrees of the circle each.
I had hoped to substitute these with a piece of pipe but measuring the ends showed the diameter to be 60.7mm which does not convert into a meaningful imperial measurement either, maybe you 7mm chaps will be luckier.
To add to the joy these three parts are attached to a thick sprue, have heavy mould lines along the edges and industrial amounts of flash to carve away, new moulds please.
You start by gluing the three curved sides together with Mek-Pak or similar, i followed this by using araldite on the inside and also added a piece of steel rod to add some weight. After this attach the ends with Mek-Pak.
The holes for the detail on the top are rather usefully indented inside so run a pilot hole through them before gluing up the sides. What happened with the first tank is i applied filler along the various seams which when dry sand down until you are happy that you have lost the joints, repeat as necessary then coat with a grey primer.
In my case the primer screamed back at me "should have gone to spec savers" and it took another three attempts until i was happy with it. Its not all doom as the brass castings are lovely and are better than anything you will find on a rtr model.
I am hoping to get all four tanks ready before i actually need them as i reckon with it being such a complex kit there is a danger, to me certainly, of trying to rush and buggering it all up at the 11th hour. Hope this makes sense, cheers to all, Rob
Basically the tank is formed of two ends and three lengths which have about 120 degrees of the circle each.
I had hoped to substitute these with a piece of pipe but measuring the ends showed the diameter to be 60.7mm which does not convert into a meaningful imperial measurement either, maybe you 7mm chaps will be luckier.
To add to the joy these three parts are attached to a thick sprue, have heavy mould lines along the edges and industrial amounts of flash to carve away, new moulds please
. You start by gluing the three curved sides together with Mek-Pak or similar, i followed this by using araldite on the inside and also added a piece of steel rod to add some weight. After this attach the ends with Mek-Pak.
The holes for the detail on the top are rather usefully indented inside so run a pilot hole through them before gluing up the sides. What happened with the first tank is i applied filler along the various seams which when dry sand down until you are happy that you have lost the joints, repeat as necessary then coat with a grey primer.
In my case the primer screamed back at me "should have gone to spec savers" and it took another three attempts until i was happy with it. Its not all doom as the brass castings are lovely and are better than anything you will find on a rtr model.
I am hoping to get all four tanks ready before i actually need them as i reckon with it being such a complex kit there is a danger, to me certainly, of trying to rush and buggering it all up at the 11th hour. Hope this makes sense, cheers to all, Rob
Simon
Flying Squad
The tank looks just great, and by the time you've mounted it on the chassis with the ends and ladders and covered it in an appropriate level of whatnot then it's exact shape/finish will be even less visible.
Looks like a top job to me, off out to the shed to pick mine up for some snaps as requested earlier.
Simon
Looks like a top job to me, off out to the shed to pick mine up for some snaps as requested earlier.
Simon
taliesin
Western Thunderer
Thankee kind sir,
taliesin
Western Thunderer
Thats a good question and I must admit i did think of it Richard, but figured that having done that it would need a layer of etch primer which might give a few issues when attaching the ends and the plastic detailing parts. The ends are not perfectly round and would have still needed filler plus they have quite a big step to allow for the thickness of the plastic sides which would have then needed a further thickness of brass soldered into the ends. The time saving would have been minimal if any at all assuming all went well.
I thought i would use it as a fall back had the supplied parts proved impossible. I have found them possible but certainly time consuming. cheers Rob
Simon
Flying Squad
I can't speak for the O gauge kit, but the "tank in three parts" worked very well for me, it was the rest of the kit that drove me nuts
Looking from underneath, I replaced the horrid flexible plastic rod that comes in the kit for the vacuum and steam pipes with some copper wire (sheathing from a section of armoured cable in my scrapbox) which can be formed to a proper shape and fixed to the chassis and soldered to the very nice cast brass fittings that the flexible hoses attach to under the headstocks.
One of my "things" is that I like wheels to be removable from completed vehicles, so in this case I drilled small holes either side of the axlebox slots on the W irons and then made two tie rods with six pieces of brass wire soldered in positions such that they would fit into the holes when the tie rod was offered up to the W irons.
I locate them by horizontal ties of flat brass (6 in total as per above picture), they are bent into a narrow U shape at their ends which goes around the wagon tie bar, which have cunning slots filed in position that the cross tie ends are held in position.The whole thing is lightly "sprung" inwards to remove the ties.
Here's an upside down side view:
A right fiddle but quite effective.
Now I've got my wagon out I might start weathering it....
Simon
Looking from underneath, I replaced the horrid flexible plastic rod that comes in the kit for the vacuum and steam pipes with some copper wire (sheathing from a section of armoured cable in my scrapbox) which can be formed to a proper shape and fixed to the chassis and soldered to the very nice cast brass fittings that the flexible hoses attach to under the headstocks.
One of my "things" is that I like wheels to be removable from completed vehicles, so in this case I drilled small holes either side of the axlebox slots on the W irons and then made two tie rods with six pieces of brass wire soldered in positions such that they would fit into the holes when the tie rod was offered up to the W irons.
I locate them by horizontal ties of flat brass (6 in total as per above picture), they are bent into a narrow U shape at their ends which goes around the wagon tie bar, which have cunning slots filed in position that the cross tie ends are held in position.The whole thing is lightly "sprung" inwards to remove the ties.
Here's an upside down side view:
A right fiddle but quite effective.
Now I've got my wagon out I might start weathering it....
Simon
taliesin
Western Thunderer
Copper pipe was ordered but it appears not in time to fit into Santa's bulging sack 
so i have pressed on with some other parts. First up was the brake shoes which are fitted round the "outer" wheel sets. To fit the ones nearest the buffer beams involves carving away some of the white strip previously fitted to form the chassis channels which for me anyway proved a bugger to get spot on, luckily it wont be noticed from a normal viewing angle. next up were the spring hangers followed by the axle boxes which i have attached with araldite for strength as i am not too keen on the design of the plastic bearing holder. Here it is from the underside,
If i was to do it again i think it would have proved easier to have fitted the brake cylinder after fitting the brake shoes but it still does all go in ok. And from the side,
Three out of the four chassis have now reached this stage. Now according to the instructions fitting out the chassis with the brake pulls etc is the hardest part of the assembly but i suppose you could if you wish leave some of the parts out and just fit the outer levers. Hopefully the pipe will turn up soon so i can fit that before finishing the brake assembly, cheers to all, Rob
so i have pressed on with some other parts. First up was the brake shoes which are fitted round the "outer" wheel sets. To fit the ones nearest the buffer beams involves carving away some of the white strip previously fitted to form the chassis channels which for me anyway proved a bugger to get spot on, luckily it wont be noticed from a normal viewing angle. next up were the spring hangers followed by the axle boxes which i have attached with araldite for strength as i am not too keen on the design of the plastic bearing holder. Here it is from the underside,If i was to do it again i think it would have proved easier to have fitted the brake cylinder after fitting the brake shoes but it still does all go in ok. And from the side,
Three out of the four chassis have now reached this stage. Now according to the instructions fitting out the chassis with the brake pulls etc is the hardest part of the assembly but i suppose you could if you wish leave some of the parts out and just fit the outer levers. Hopefully the pipe will turn up soon so i can fit that before finishing the brake assembly, cheers to all, Rob
taliesin
Western Thunderer
The copper pipe finally turned up so i have been able to push on a little bit. Now although the pipe is somewhat smaller in diameter than the supplied plastic it still needed quite a bit of manipulation to get it in and hopefully get clearance for the other gubbins that go in later. My apologies to those who already know how to do this but lets look at bending copper pipe. As supplied it comes in straight lengths but we need quite a few bends in it so here goes, just picking it up and trying to bend it with your hands will result in flattening and finally kinking the pipe, yes it really will, trust me it will happen every time so the answer to this is to anneal the pipe first. The process is really quite simple, just heat the pipe to cherry red in the area that you wish to bend, i use a butane blow torch which is quick and easy to control. After heating to this stage let it cool down or gently pick it up with a suitable tool (unless you enjoy burnt fingers) and place it under cold water. It makes no difference to the annealing process either way.
You will now find the pipe is really quite flexible and will bend very easily with your hopefully unburnt fingers but it will only bend a little way before hardening again, do not be tempted to continue bending, re-anneal the pipe again then continue the bending process. I think i heated each of the two pipes in the following picture at least six times, as ever patience is a virtue. After all this heating your once shiny pipe will be rather discoloured but it is easily cleaned up with something abrasive like a brillopad or emery cloth under a running tap. Those so equipped can leave it in a bath of citric acid to clean up, the experienced or the foolhardy can leave it in a bath of sulphuric acid.
Finally then a picture,
The pipe after bending to shape was then offered up to the supplied brass castings and cut to length before being soldered onto the castings which was done away from the mainly plastic chassis. I used 188 degree solder for this as the flexible vacuum pipes etc need to be soldered onto t'other end of the casting so the castings are only resting in their locating holes at present as it needs to be done away from the chassis, but this time with 145 degree solder. There is the option of coating the pipe assemblies with etch primer before final fixing.
It did strike me that the pipes could be left off if proving difficult and just fix the castings to the buffer beams as they are unlikely to be seen at a normal viewing angle but personally i am happy to give it a go. Three more to go then, cheers to all, Rob
You will now find the pipe is really quite flexible and will bend very easily with your hopefully unburnt fingers but it will only bend a little way before hardening again, do not be tempted to continue bending, re-anneal the pipe again then continue the bending process. I think i heated each of the two pipes in the following picture at least six times, as ever patience is a virtue. After all this heating your once shiny pipe will be rather discoloured but it is easily cleaned up with something abrasive like a brillopad or emery cloth under a running tap. Those so equipped can leave it in a bath of citric acid to clean up, the experienced or the foolhardy can leave it in a bath of sulphuric acid
. Finally then a picture,
The pipe after bending to shape was then offered up to the supplied brass castings and cut to length before being soldered onto the castings which was done away from the mainly plastic chassis
. I used 188 degree solder for this as the flexible vacuum pipes etc need to be soldered onto t'other end of the casting so the castings are only resting in their locating holes at present as it needs to be done away from the chassis, but this time with 145 degree solder. There is the option of coating the pipe assemblies with etch primer before final fixing.It did strike me that the pipes could be left off if proving difficult and just fix the castings to the buffer beams as they are unlikely to be seen at a normal viewing angle but personally i am happy to give it a go. Three more to go then, cheers to all, Rob