Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Class 25 Bogie sideframes

Bogies tucked underThe most striking component of the Class 25 kit were the bogie sideframes. Not an easy part to build as I've found out in the past, I am perfectly happy to leave the job to someone else.

Before sticking the bits in place, I re-gauged the wheelsets from 12 to 14.2mm by carefully pulling them out with a gear extraction tool. A dot of superglue on the axles ends before starting this hopefully get s pulled into the axle/wheel join as I work saving me from the embarrassment of another one falling off in service.

A dry run showed that the whitemetal parts were quite wide. In fact if I'd stuck them on as supplied the loco would have been distinctly bulbous down below the body whereas the photos showed the bogies tucked nicely underneath. I massaged the metal with my fingers to squash the convext part in a bit. The wheelbase grew a tiny bit as a result but at least the middle bit got thinner. Then, by cutting the outer mounting point away, I was able to superglue them in place.

A little care was required as the parts seem deeper than expected and it's always a good idea to have nothing poking below the wheel tread. I suspect that the master might have been slightly over scale as everything else is right. At least the space under the model will be well filled.

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