Armstrong Chassis

Armstrong Chassis
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.

I think this is what the chassis should look like. It seems to fit the body and has the axle holes in the correct places so it ought to do the job.

Having messed around with the original K’s chassis, I’ve no idea how this was supposed to work. One problem is that the rear axle will, if the kit is built as intended, go straight through the footplate floor. At least it would if the axles weren’t several millimetres below the outside frames instead of poking through the holes they are supposed to.

My method for working this out was to solder two thicknesses of nickel silver together, mark the axle positions and then chop away until the part fits in the body. For no partially good reason I started with frames 15mm deep which were then reduced in places as required. Obviously you can’t go too thin as mechanical strength would be lot and anyway, the frame bushes need a couple of mm around them or you can’t solder them in place ! Once I was happy the sides were unsoldered and cleaned up to give to identical pieces.

Frame spacers are from Comet. I didn’t fancy trying to cut really accurate ones from raw metal when perfectly acceptable versions are available etched. No point in making any job harder than it already is !