7mm Speed modelling - Hudson V-tipper

Dave

Dave

Western Thunderer
I've been off work since last Wednesday with some sort of infection of the bits of the ear that control balance. Being self-employed means no sick pay but, on the bright side, sitting at the dining room table and doing a bit of modelling doesn't require balance.

Today I opened an envelope that arrived last week containing an RT models etched nickel silver kit for a 300 cu. Yd. Hudson V-tipper and this is how far I've got in just 3 1/2 hours.

Hudson tipper.jpg
It all fits together beautifully but that's about as far as I can take it for now as I need to be able to put the wheels in place before I fit the brake gear. I'm awaiting a package from Slaters...

I'm not sure why I bought this kit TBH as it doesn't fit in with my layout. There are however thoughts in the back of my mind of ripping up the N gauge in the loft and constructing a 7mm colliery layout. :oops:
 
AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
Nice work Dave. I know that the 4mm one goes together extremely nicely and produces an interesting model. and it seems that the same is true of the larger version. I really need to make another two or three to go with mine...

Adam
 
Osgood

Osgood

Western Thunderer
daifly said:
Looks nice. Hope you mean 30 cu yd otherwise it's a lot bigger than it looks!
Click to expand...

Well I hope you mean 11 cu yd or your wheels and bearings won't last long!!!!!

I cu yd would be around 1.5t of bulk (dug) material - the original wagons were 300 cu ft......

Who me - pedantic?

Oh by the way I'm very interested to hear how easy you found it, Dave, as I've got a box of 5 of these waiting for me but I need to hone my soldering skills on something first (unless you think these would be a good trainer?).
 
daifly

daifly

Western Thunderer
Osgood said:
Well I hope you mean 11 cu yd or your wheels and bearings won't last long!!!!!

I cu yd would be around 1.5t of bulk (dug) material - the original wagons were 300 cu ft......

Who me - pedantic?

Oh by the way I'm very interested to hear how easy you found it, Dave, as I've got a box of 5 of these waiting for me but I need to hone my soldering skills on something first (unless you think these would be a good trainer?).
Click to expand...
Smaller than it looks then! Thanks for the correction. There's an EM gauge build thread here
 
AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
daifly said:
Smaller than it looks then! Thanks for the correction. There's an EM gauge build thread here
Click to expand...

Ah, that's mine! Thanks for finding the link; you have saved me the job of unearthing the pictures from my hard drive. It's a real swine to photograph on my little compact since all those different angles and consequent shadows conspire to reveal all the camera's limitations. Hope you like the model.

Adam
 
AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
Kind of you to say so, but I wasn't entirely satisfied with it as it appears there and have since revisted it. There are an awful lot of nooks and crannies for such a small wagon and making sure that the weathering reaches them is a real challenge. Now that the light is good enough to take better pictures the wagon is boxed up in Somerset while I'm splitting my time between Southampton and London. There's a slightly better shot in winter sunlight here:

http://www.rtmodels.co.uk/rt models 4mm scale hudson tipper wagon.jpg

Adam
 
Dave

Dave

Western Thunderer
Osgood said:
Oh by the way I'm very interested to hear how easy you found it, Dave, as I've got a box of 5 of these waiting for me but I need to hone my soldering skills on something first (unless you think these would be a good trainer?).
Click to expand...

So far it's been very easy but then I haven't a clue about using a soldering iron. In the past I've used solder paint and a blowtorch and now I use an RSU.
 
AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
If the 7mm kit is anything like the 4mm version there's no reason why you shouldn't find it straightforward: the parts fit as they should, it's etched in Nickel Silver which is easier than brass and it's not too big so it won't soak up the heat. Just bite the bullet and have a go; you'll never learn unless you try.

Buckjumper's recent articles in BRM are v. good btw.

Adam
 
I

ianatstenochs

Guest
Hi,

I got mine on Saturday and so far everything has fitted perfectly. Being NS it solders very easily and the detail overlays have gone on without any hastle. I am putting working axlebox springs in and hope to be able to make it tip automatically. Any ideas?
The drawing posted by Dave is very helpful as I only have a selection of photos of wagons in service.

Happy Modelling,

Ian.
 
Dave

Dave

Western Thunderer
I ought to remove the title 'Speed Modelling' as normal service has resumed.

Anyway... I've done a little more today. I've added the reinforcings to the backs of the axle guards, added the bracing between the two axles and have fitted the buffers.
Vtipper-001.jpg


but I'm at a standstill again. Here's the reason...
Vtipper-004.jpg
I'm not at all happy with the brake gear. As you can see, there's a huge gap between the brake shoe and the wheel. In fact the brake gear is inadequate in terms of detail and accuracy and doesn't match the quality of the rest of the kit. I wonder if this is down to it being a scaled-up version of the 4mm kit?

I could scratch-build all of the rods and linkages but I don't really want to do that. I don't think I can do them well enough in brass and they'd be fragile and exposed in plasticard, or I can scrap the brakes and build the screw-braked version. I'll still have to scratch the parts but they'll be easier to make and mostly hidden under the wagon so won't be as obviously on show and won't be exposed to damage.

Vtipper-003.jpg

I'll be interested to see how others who are building this kit get on with the brakes.
 
AJC

AJC

Western Thunderer
Hi Dave

I know what you mean about the brakes. For my purposes they were only just acceptable in 4mm in terms of the shoes being a very long way from the wheel treads (which might be a challenge to get on otherwise - I'd accept the challenge for the sake of the wagon looking right).

The detail was, again, just about acceptable, albeit with the proviso that I added an extra lamination which was spare on the etch to bulk it up and this made a big difference. The key issue I think is that the tumbler on the cross shaft is set at far too sharp an angle though the push rods look to be the right length. Doesn't help with the show detail but there must be some aftermarket parts available in 7mm that would do the job? Masokits and Ambis come to mind in 4mm but I don't know the 7mm market at all.

Thank you for posting the diagram of the screw braked version, that will come in useful...

Adam
 
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