Etched brass kits

Hi Nigel Since I purchased a "Dutch Oven" to bake my sourdough on, I have a redundant granite (Reconstituted) baking stone, which is fairly flat, but most definitely hard. I have been considering using this to square up or bend etched brass on. But it is the clamping that would be a problem.  Kevin

Hi Kevin,

I find a Mk1 hand is useful for holding things (the palm side thereof).

Nigel

Hi Nigel. Thank you, that sure is possible, but, maybe after building several kits. Experience counts for a lot! As I am a novice kit builder and having problems with " Run of the Mill" plastic kits, I will take a pass on the Palm Clamp.
All the best. Kevin

Hi Kevin,
I know what you are saying. When I returned to railway modelling I really struggled with plastic kits and when I tried a brass kit I took to it like the proverbial duck. It wasn't until I had a few brass kits under my belt that I had a further go at plastic with success.

Hi RobThank you for your reply. One kit in particular kit is the GWR 6 ton crane, which has so many parts. But I must persist.
All the best  Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Rob's right - brass is a lot more forgiving than plastic (if designed and etched properly). Solder is usually undoable, solvent welds usually not.

Lochgorm Kits do a beginners fret of an LMS or LNER wagon, at £7 it's worthwhile getting one to start practicing on (the intention). That said, it doesn't hurt to tackle a simple plastic kit from Ratio or Cambrian so you know what goes where before you enter the wonderful world of etches and step soldering. Whatever you do, I would steer clear of white metal kits and the black art of low temperature soldering until you have done a few brass ones.

Nigel

Hi Nigel
Speaking of Ratio , I purchased their kit 575 "P/ Way Wagons, the first two "plank wagons" I glued the sides and ends on okay, "W" irons too but the wheels seem loose, indeed very and falling out? I phoned them and they put me in to their technical support, I told him about the wheels and he recommended "Bearings "(which I had from H&A Models for the Cambrian Kit,) but to be certain I purchased a packet of fifty, but, they don't want to go in.I will have to put on my thinking cap. Maybe I should finish off the Bogie B Passenger Van first?   Kevin

[user=1801]Passed Driver[/user] wrote:

Hi Nigel
Speaking of Ratio , I purchased their kit 575 "P/ Way Wagons, the first two "plank wagons" I glued the sides and ends on okay, "W" irons too but the wheels seem loose, indeed very and falling out? I phoned them and they put me in to their technical support, I told him about the wheels and he recommended "Bearings "(which I had from H&A Models for the Cambrian Kit,) but to be certain I purchased a packet of fifty, but, they don't want to go in.I will have to put on my thinking cap. Maybe I should finish off the Bogie B Passenger Van first?   Kevin

You could try the following.
Put the bearing in the bearing hole & hold a soldering iron to the bearing.
The bearing will heat up & melt itself into the plastic.
Try it on a waste piece of plastic if you're not sure.

Tony

Hi Kevin,

Tony's method works, but as he says, a bit of practice beforehand. You could open the holes up with an appropriately sized drill bit before you assemble the sides. You can also get one of those reamers for cleaning plastic pinpoint holes to enlarge it.  An alternate method is a drop of plastic cement in the hole, wait until the plastic softens, then push the pinpoint bearing in. A dry fit before hand to determine where the sides and brakes go while still allowing free rotation and axle/wheel removal is essential.

Older kits are often better than new ones for bearing fit - the injection molding get worn with time and precision goes through the window.

Nigel

Hi Tony.
Thank you for your reply. I had better be very careful , it does seem a good idea, with practice . All the best. Kevin

Hi Nigel.  
Thank You for your reply . I had better go through any "Spare/ Scrap Plastic" I have and try drilling the  ear to the? Correct size holes( obviously guess work) and trying out the ideas.  Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Use a drill bit with a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the axle. You need a bit with angled cutters on the end, don't use a flat end one (Forstner-type). The depth should just be slightly longer than the brass bearing. Bit of practice and you'll soon be having a nice friction fit that you can lock in place with either styrene cement or plastic CA.

Nigel

Nigel had some good ideas here.

"You could open the holes up with an appropriately sized drill bit before  you assemble the sides. You can also get one of those reamers for  cleaning plastic pinpoint holes to enlarge it."

If you're using a drill bit be careful & don't drill all the way through.
I remember I heard about those reamers before, however I couldn't find anyone who stocked them on this side of the pond.

Tony.
 

Hi Kevin and Tony

Mine came from Ultrascale as a freebie for spending a large fortune on wheels. Not currently stocked. Over here they're called "Truck Tuners". MicroMark does one for $19.95. DCC Concepts do a pair for around £8.50. Calls them "Axle Tuners".

My pinpoint brass bearings are from Romford, 2mm diameter, 2mm long (cylindrical shape, not cone). A 5/64" inch drill (1.98mm) works fine. I use a jig to drill just over 2mm deep using a split-point bit. If you put the bit in a pin vice you can easily do it by hand. Bit of masking tape on the bit 2mm from the end so you know when you're there.

Nigel

Hi Nigel.
Thank you, you have raised my hopes? the bearings from Peco are Romford measuring 2 mm x 2 mm.
But that is a worry? Knowing Peco have recommended these bearings for the Wills kit and they just do not push in.
That is a bit of a downer .Kevin

Hi Kevin,

The tooling is cream crackered with age, that's why it's difficult to get the bearing into what is now an undersized hole. Just use the drill bit to open it up. Of course, if Wills used a decent hard plastic such as Delrin rather than styrene for the side frames we wouldn't need bearings (none of my kit built NA stock has them but they're all bogie freight and passenger). My Tichy Train Group crane kit (styrene) has bearings, but they are an exact fit (and nylon). That's because Don Tichy looks after his toolings.

Nigel

Hi Nigel.   
Thank you for your reply, the trouble being if you require a certain Loco, Carriage , or Van, especially for the 
Southern or pre grouping Southern area you have to build your own. Every modeller? Or so it would seem?
models the "Glory Boys". The GWR, or the LNWR, until recently that is.
Then some eminent person? came up with building Southern EMU's and DEMU's with a certain amount of inspiration from the likes of Kernow, hip pip hooray. Bachmann had a rush of blood to the head I'm glad to say, and Hornby had a renaissance with EMU's (harking back to the "Two Car" tinplate? version(which I had along with the Tri- Ang model) with the 2BIL and 2HAL units, three cheers for them too. Up until now the only Southern favourite had been the Bogie B Passenger Van, in Southern, then along came the iconic electric Loco and both Bachmann and Hornby  are producing the same model. Common sense prevails. All the best. Kevin

Hi Nigel
In London if you miss a bus? You wait ten minutes and three come together . Well here is another reply.
In my previous foray into model railways, I purchased some Airfix kits, Now under the Dapol brand(40 odd years later)
they seem to have suffered the same fate as Wills kits. I have been considering the "Soldering Iron solution "
and with my limited experience at kit building I could really "Make a hash of it":oops: but I will have a go.
All the best. Kevin

Hi Kevin,

"Make a hash of it"? No such thing in this hobby, it's always a learning experience. I've tried the soldering iron method and drilling out a proper hole for the bearing, it's a personal choice. I find the drill more precise than melting the styrene. One thing you have to watch with kits with styrene frames is to make sure the distance between them is correct so that the axle fit is Goldilocks. Too far apart and putting in brass bearings won't change a thing.

Those old Airfix kits go together a lot better than the recent Dapol re-releases, cream-crackered tooling.Same for recent releases of the old Ratio 4-wheel GWR carriages. Flash everywhere from leaking dies. Why waste money repairing the dies when punters will still buy them?

Nigel

Hi Nigel.
Too true, but, as I said, if like me and a few others on YMRC you are dedicated to Southern outline? Then you don't have much choice. But the kits have guides to where the parts have to be stuck, so to speak.  Kevin