Part fit check

 

I spent a lot of time on the dry-fit stage of the French WC kit. There wasn't a rush, and I wanted to enjoy the build. More importantly, if significant work was required, the kit would need to go back in the box. Resin isn't lovely stuff to sand, the dust isn't good for you. Bad enough when it's just me, but we don't need to be exposing the public to anything. 

Luckily, there wasn't an issue. All the parts were moulded square and true. A bit of brushable superglue was all that I needed to hold the main walls together. 

The inside is a different matter. Once I'd figured out where everything went, it was a bit confusing; there were quite a few gaps that needed attention.  

Dealing with these was a mix of bits of Microstrip, and the filler I bought earlier in the day. The results aren't perfect, but they will do the job as you can't see much from outside. 

 

And here we have the model plonked together. Obviously, the roof and modesty screens aren't attached at this stage, these will go on after painting. It's a really lovely little model, though. And yes, everyone did think I was weird for building it - but then that's part of the fun!

A French WC kit

 

Picking projects to work on during a demo is a challenge. It must be something that doesn't need deep and prolonged concentration. A minimal toolkit too. Wagon kits are good, and I did have one in the box, but looking through the stash, I found this Artitec kit for a French toilet. Bought at Ally Pally earlier this year, I have it because I fancied a go at a kit from this manufacturer. The subject just amused me. 

Looking at the parts, I reasoned that all I needed was an abrasive stick, and some superglue. I could fiddle with part fit if required, and take my time assembling things, allowing for interruptions while chatting. 

My rule is that I'm there to talk, not to find some modelling time. A demo where nothing gets built is a good demo. Even at a busy show, there will be some dead time at the end of the afternoon, and having something to tinker with avoids sitting there, grinning like a loon, hoping someone would drop by and talk to me.  

Buffer dilema

 

As supplied, the kit comes with a split pin, a bit of wire and a plastic hook. This will produce a realistic Ffestiniog coupling, but one that will be incompatible with everything except Cooper Craft wagon kits. Even then, the things will be a fiddle to use, which is why I prefer a bit of chunky chain. 

Digging in my spares box, I find some rather nice whitemetal buffers. There is a bolt thread on the back, so with a bit of bodgery, there is a strengthener that runs along the reline of the wagon to cut away, this fits into the bufferbeam, nice and strong. Especially with loads of superglue.  

All fitted well, but I didn't like the result. Too large, and more importantly, too complicated. This is a very simple wagon. It wouldn't be fitted with anything so fancy. 

Removing them was a bit of a mission. That superglue had done its job, and eventually, I had to cut down the back of the buffer casting, through the bolt, with a piercing saw. Two blades later, it was done, but hardly a relaxing job. 

The replacement is a block of hardwood (we always keep stocks handy for this sort of job), roughly shaped, and superglued in place. Since I don't trust the glue, despite the effort it took to remove the old buffers, a couple of pieces of brass wire fit through the block, and into the bufferbeam, where they are bent over. 

A hook, made from bent paperclip, is fitted in the top so I can use my chunky chain for coupling. This setup looks, to me, far more in keeping with the wagon. Which means I can move on to paint. 
 

Upper body building

 

The slate wagon body is simple, and ingenious. First, the sides are dropped into holes in the floor. These needed to be drilled out, although I just waggled a tapered reamer in to make them larger. Lashings of MEK softened the plastic so they would push in. 

Then, three slats are inserted into the ends. For the middle two, you ease the upper and lower side slats, and then the new one is grabbed by bumps on the end. Again, the holes in the end slats needed to be opened up - a 3mm bit sorted this out. One in place, loads more MEK to bond everything together.  

All that is left to do, is fit the couplings. Some very accurate ones are supplied, but they won't couple with anything else I own, so time to come up with a plan. 
 

Slotting the wheels in

I like being able to slot parts of a kit together without glue. In this case, the glass-filled nylon solebars and axleboxes can be slid into the floor with a little bit of a wiggle. Handy, as there has been a change to slate wagon kit since it was introduced. 

Original kits were designed to take finescale wheelsets. Now, a set of 16mm Association standard wheels are included, and these are slightly different. 

No problem, the modeller just needs to remove some plastic from the inner solebar. The photo in the instructions isn't that clear, and neither is the view above, but hopefully, this will help. 

I started with a coarse half-round file, and then carved away with a sharp knife. The plastic cuts easily, and I quickly removed the material. Probably too much if I'm honest, but we don't want to risk the wheels rubbing on anything. 

Once done, the solebars and wheels go back in. A quick check to ensure the chassis sits flat on a mirror, and then lashings of Plastic Weld, hold it all in place.  

Binnie slate wagon

 

Here it is. The kit that launched the Binnie empire. Moulded in ABS, and glass-filled nylon, a kit for the Ffestiniog 2-ton slate wagon. 

Reintroducing this kit has involved 40-year-old moulds and many burnt fingers from the manufacturer. As a piece of history, I felt that with my Garden Rail Editor jacket on, I ought to buy one and have a go. Despite being a limited-production kit, my parcel arrived in under a week, so I'm putting the canal boat aside for a couple of days to put the thing together. 

The instructions say "Trimming of flash will be required before assembly" - a legacy of those old moulds. My photo shows the worst bit, the one that would show up on camera best, and indeed, the first job is to clean things up. I don't think this is any worse than kits in the old days. Modern plastic manufacture means we rarely see excess material, but once upon a time, modellers just took it in their stride. 

A sharp scalpel blade and an abrasive stick took care of the worst of it, so I could move on to assembly. 

Heavy duty sanding

 

You know I said I wouldn't be messing around fettling this kit? It seems I lied. 

On the manufacturer's website, the hull is clearly shown as a series of slices on their finished model. I didn't have a massive problem with this, but my lining up of the hull slices wasn't as perfect as I'd like. They were good, all within 0.5mm, but you could see the differences. 

So, down to the garage, and out with the Mouse. Fitted with the smoothest paper I could find, I attacked the sides. Handily, the laser-burnt edges acted like a guide coat of paint on a car. As I sanded, I could clearly see those that were inset more than the others. In theory, once all the burnt stuff was gone, the sides would be perfect. 

A coat of sanding sealer was followed by some Humbrol 33. This showed up areas that needed a bit more work, but after a couple of sessions with Perfect Plastic Putty filler, sanding, and paint, the result looks OK. 

I'm working on the basis that perfection is the enemy of good, or at least getting the model built. It won't be a show-winner, but hopefully I'll be proud of it. At £22.99, if I really want to, I could even treat this as a test, and aim for perfection on another kit. I doubt that will happen, there's plenty more in the stash to build!

 

Layering up the hull

 

Most of the MDF parts in the Petite kit, are layers that make up the hull. 

It's a simple job, fit the first two, and then add the internal walls. PVA holds everything together, but it's important at this stage, to ensure all the parts are square. The walls provide some positive location for all the rest of the hull slices. 

 

All this is made easier by the accuracy of the cutting, and that the slices arrive loose in the bag. No busting them out of a fret, then having to sand retaining nibs away. Just add the slices with glue between them, and clamp for a nice join. 

Incidentally, the hull is 22cm long, which I think means this is a 32ft long boat/  

A little barge

 

I'm starting to get back to normal after all the events earlier in the year, and one thing I'm determined to do is build a few projects for me. No worrying about publishing, other than on this blog. A chance to rediscover the fun of modelmaking. 

First kit out of the stash is a 1:48 scale kit for a small narrowboat from Petite Properties.  

I've built enough stuff from this firm to be confident everything is going to fit together properly. I'm not in the mood for a lot of fettling. Not that this will stop me making small changes, but fighting a kit is out. 

The model is an oddball addition to the range, which is probably why it appealed to me when I spotted the photos on social media. It's not normally on the stand at model railway show, so I had to pre-order for collection. Yes, I could order through the post, but I wasn't in a rush, and chatting is more fun. It's a popular kit too, it's often out of stock, so I was lucky. 

As with all Petite kits. what we have is a set of laser-cut MDT and cardboard parts. There's some wire in here as well. Instructions are included, although everything looks pretty simple. 

The prototype is a holiday cruiser. There is something similar in the Craftline range, although Petite's is shorter.  

Saturday Film Club: The Dry Fit

Another video from me. This time, providing some sage advice for anyone building a kit. 

Tidy corners

 

Always turn your brain on, before taking the top off the glue. 

I didn't, and very nearly got my corners on the Manvers wagon mixed up. There is an end door, and this should go at the end of the wagon without corner plates. It took me a little while to twig this, as I sat wondering why the corner joint wasn't as neat as I'd expected. Fortunately, this was at the dry-fit stage. Which is why you do it of course. 

With all the parts in the right place, the corners are neat. Even the floor is the right size, not always a given in smaller scales. I've sanded a couple of mm from the sides and ends before now, so the thing would fit in the bottom. 

At the ends with corner plates, there was a tiny step, so I glued a tiny piece of Microstrip in. Once full dry (overnight), I was able to scrape and sand it to represent the bent bits of metal these parts represent. I'm being picky, and suspect most people wouldn't be bothered, as you can't see anything when the train is thrashing around the layout behind a steam engine!

Squeezing the seats in

 

3D printing is a marvellous thing, but it can throw up some issues. 

In an effort to provide as complete a lump as possible, the designer can cause the builder a few problems. For example, painting around the seats on the end would have been a whole lot easier if they were separate parts that were then glued together -  a kit, in other words. This isn't the only model I've found this problem with, and I wonder who much it's the designer focusing on the finished model, and how much the customer needing (wanting?) to avoid having to assemble anything. 

An extra problem here is that the seats drop inside the sides, pretty much perfectly. You can do that in CAD, but when the modeller sticks glazing material inside those sides, the space for the seats, is less than the length. Not much, just over 1mm, but enough to stop them fitting. 

I ended up breaking off the seat support at one end, sticking this in place, then shortening the seat itself, before fitting it. Not a big problem, although you do need to be careful when cutting resin as it's brittle, but niggling. 

Anyway, job done. Figures are all Hornby ready-painting, as I rescued them from an old project. They needed to lose their legs below the knee to fit, but as they are made of a rubbery plastic, that's a few seconds job.  

The wrong transfers, for the right reasons

 

Despite painting this VER in the wrong livery, I have been doing a little research. And that research shows me that the livery varies between cars, even today. While the body colours remain the same, the typeface used at the ends seems to vary. 

To make things even more interesting, I can't find any transfers available that match. So, it's a case of commissioning something, which will take ages, or using the closest I have in my stash. Which is what I have done for the VER.  

Under the letters, there should be a number, and I was really struggling to find something suitable, until I dug out a sheet that my Dad had bought many, many years ago, to letter a London E2, the first whitemetal kit he ever built. Now, pedants will point out that it looks nothing like those on the real VER cars, but it is the right size. So I'm going to use it. 

I love the idea that mt Dad has had a little input into this project, and that matters more than perfect fidelity. Besides, hardly anyone will actually notice.  

Volks Electric Railway - Car 2

 

Fate sometimes pushes projects your way. Wandering around Bournville show, I found a trader who was new to me - DoubleM Models. 

Most of the range is 3D printed narrow-gauge models. There are also some T gauge trains, which is what caught my eye. At three quid a go, I picked up a couple, and was about to pay, when I spotted in the boxes at the end of the stand, Volks Railway Tramcars 1 and 2 in 4mm scale. 

The VER was one of my Dad's favourite lines. He had travelled on it as a child, and many times since. That included the centenary day, which we arrived at by accident. 

So, what choice do I have, but to buy the kit? I'm sure if he'd been with me, we'd have been leaving with at least one - over the years, we'd discussed, and investigated ways to make a model of the line.  

The kit runs on a Kato 11-109 chassis, and they sell those too. The Kato unit is well known and respected, so a working model is guaranteed. I walked away from the stand with a ligher wallet, but all the bits for a model. 

This one's for you Dad.  

 

Double planking

 

Laser cutting is wonderful. It results in easy-to-assemble kits, where all the parts fit properly. 

But, the surface engraving is normally only on one side. The other is plain.  

For the WC, I wanted to be able to look inside, and that means we need planks on both sides of the bits of wood. 

I started by scribing the lines with a heavy craft knife, but while neat, they were less distinct than the laser-cut lines. I pondered this for a while, and decided to experiment with the same tool I use to do this job on Plastikard - an Olfa Cutter. 

The result isn't pretty, but once the surface is lightly sanded, the results are pretty good. Easily OK for the inside of a slightly rough'n'ready structure like this! 

Framed and seat fitted

 

Once I'd persuaded the cat to vacate my modelling board out came the PVA, so construction could start on the wooden WC. 

Everything slots together perfectly, with no sanding or fettling required.  The only odd bit, for which I wanted to consult the instructions, is the double-thickness top board with holes in. It slots in place easily enough, and with a bit of thought, the position is pretty obvious. 

That seat doesn't look comfy, but then I suppose it's functional! 

Chassis upgrades

 

It's no good. Those wobbly stretcher bars are annoying me. As has been said in the comments, you can't really repair them. 

At the same time, I remembered that I'd not replaced the moulded safety loops on the brakes. I used to do this as a matter of course, but as I say, I'm out of practice. 

Some small clippers removed the bars, and moulded loops. The latter are replaced with bent-up staples. Maybe a bit chunky, but you can see through the loop, which is what matters to me. On a layout, looking along a train, I like to think is is noticable, even in the gloom under a wagon. 

The stretcher bars are replaced with the smallest brass angle I had to hand. This still looks a bit big to me, they scale out just under 3 inches deep, but the job is quick, and hopefully not too obvious when painted and weathered. I've not actually done this before, but I'll look to add some thinner angle to my metal stocks at some point. 

Incidentally, why weren't buffer shanks and heads included in the kit? I had to dig around in my spares boxes before I found a set of Parkside leftovers. Yes I have metal ones, but they are complete with the housings in a kit of bits, and I'm not breaking one of those up for this job. This is very much a layout wagon, and the sort of layout I build, not some super finescale jobbie. 

Sprat & Winkle couplings

 

I'm going full Old Skool on this wagon. That means Mk1 Sprat & Winkle couplings, the ones I use on all my exhibition layouts. In my mind, they combine reliable operation with discretion. OK, Alex Jackson's are a bit less visible, but they seem to need a lot of tweaking before a show opens, time better IMHO spent acquiring tea, and perusing the second-hand stall. 

Best all all, they are easy to fit, even if you haven't done it for a while. 

Step one, fit the coupling bar. 

I built a height gauge well over 30 years ago. Wheel the wagon up to it. Pop superglue on the buffers, and sit a de-headed dressmaking pin on the gauge. Yes, I know "proper" modellers would make a U-shaped bit of wire to emerge from the buffer beam. I think this restricts the swing of the hook, and anyway, my method is really easy to do, and repair if required, so it wins out for me. 

Step two. Fire up the soldering iron and fit the hook and paddle. 

The original instructions showed a weirdly bent piece of wire holding the etched hook in place. It relied on glueing wires along the floor, without sticking the paddle itself down. Que lots of bad language, and a lack of success. 

This method, which I later learned from his book that Rice used as well, involved bending up a staple, putting it through the holes in the paddle, and shoving the steel through the floor of the wagon with a soldering iron. It takes a few seconds to get moving, but once it does, the paddle is quickly fixed, and by heating the staple, you can adjust the fit. 

I've fitted EM gauge society coupling chain, which I bought in quantity decades ago (do they still sell it?) as it's perfect for the job, and easier than making my own. 

The chain is a bit further out from the bufferbeam than is ideal, but as I say, it's a while since I've done this, and it will still work. 

No surprise, I've written this up before, with different photos.  

Very liquid glue

 

Bodybuilding time. A job that it turns out would have been a lot easier if I'd remembered to bring some Revell Contacta plastic cement. 

As it was, I had to rely on the Barrie Stevenson's MEK, applied with a slightly larger than ideal, paintbrush. 

Normally, I'd tack the parts together with the cement, then run some MEK into the joints. This time, I had to apply the solvent while holding the parts together. It did not go well. 

I don't know if this MEK is a lower viscosity than Slater's version, but it shot all over the kit. Result, a fingerprint in the end.  That's not a one-off either, this stuff shoots around the model incredibly fast. OK, I'm out of practice doing this sort of thing, but I don't remember having this problem before. 

On the plus side, it grabs the parts really fast, so if you can make it work, speedy building will be very possible! 

Wheels in

 

An odd feature of the Ratio kit is that the solebars don't fit under the floor, as they do in every other wagon kit I can recall; the floor fits into recesses along the inside top of the solebars. This confused me for a while, and I had to resort to the instructions, ruining the images I was trying to project as someone fully in control of what they are building. Sorry I didn't photograph this for illustration, you'll have to take my word for it. 

This does make the build a bit tricky as it's easy to glue the upside-down chassis to the modelling board. While the glue is soft, the wheels are fitted, and the whole lto left upside down on flat surface to harden. As I was at a show, I didn't have a mirror to test flatness, but the modelling board isn't too bad, and there is a little slop in the bearings to take up a fraction of a mm. 

I think this pretty much concluded my first day's build. A good sign, as little progress meant maximum chatting to the paying public, which is what I was there for. 

And the carrot cake was delicious.