Chas's workbench

[Chas Levin]

The sprung bearing carriers are a fold-up, with a neatly done half-etch pattern on what becomes the inside, partly to allow the springs through, partly to allow the bearing to sit flush with the inside of the assembly. The next photo shows two of the carriers, one before folding, where you can see the bearing seating ring and the inside generally, one after folding where you can see the 'socket' formed by the two sides, in which the bearing will sit:


And here are the four carriers, folded up with bearings soldered in too:



They're a nice example of the power of soldering flux (in this case phosphoric acid) to draw solder through joints and the importance of restricting the area of application of solder. The instructions emphasise that the iron and the solder must only be applied to one point, being indicated in the photo below by tweezers, otherwise it'll flow too far through the folded piece and fill the hole where the spring wire has to go and what you see in this photo - the ring of solder round the bearing etc - is the result of doing that:



Four 17mm lengths of the spring wire are then given a 2mm bend at one end and then threaded through the top of each carrier:



They're then put on one side for other soldering to the underframe, but I couldn't resist trying out one carrier in place, which involves some slightly fiddly fitting of the spring. Hopefully you can see the spring in these photos - it looked much more prominent in real life and doesn't seem to show up very well on screen, so I'll try and take some better photos when the carriers are fitted again, later in the build:






Next is the oil draw-off pipe, for which a piece of 5/64" brass pipe (a hair under 2mm) needs to be bent into a sort of flat-bottomed U-shape. I was concerned that the pipe would fold or crease and thought about bending it with a suitably sized piece of wire filling the inside but in the event, it didn't need it:



The bend is necessary to give clearance for the vac pipe and brake rodding:



I did however have difficulty forming the fairly flat bottom to the curve and the fairly sharp shoulders to rise from that to the holes in the brackets, particularly as I made the mistake of trimming the pipe to length before getting the curve sufficent to give the needed clearance, so I had to resort to rather unscientific and slightly risky things like inserting the end of a 1.4mm drill into the pipe to give some purchase and allow a little further adjustment of the bend:



I found I could get it very close but without quite achieving clean clearance for the vac pipe:



So I cheated a little, filing a small groove in the top of the draw-off pipe, to be sure the vac pipe will pass over it easily - the groove will be hiddne between the pipes of course:





And soldered into place, with the pipe mouth circled in red on the side view:





It's left deliberately long as per the instructions, to be filed down when the solebars are available for trial fitting at least, to judge the length.

 

[Chas Levin]

More work completed on the Masokits Class B tanker subframe, including dealing with the vac pipe, which the instructions note is "a bit of a wiggle" to get through the relevant holes and which you're advised to cut in half and insert in two pieces, uniting them under cover of one of the holding tabs' holes and you can see why that's suggested:






Enjoying a challenge however, I thought I'd try keeping the pipe in one piece. The 0.8mm brass tube is fairly flexible and I worked out that if I used a reamer to enlarge the holes on the middle three of the five pipe support, it might be possible to coax it through, including some backwards and forwards manoeuvering - here's a sequence of photos showing how it was done:





















The enlarged holes were disguised with a little extra solder, though the enlargement was pretty slight really and by soldering only the inner three holes, it also means the two outer ones on the buffer beams remain clear and look nice and clean:



I also started folding and soldering the many small parts of the brake rigging:



And after spending a silly few minutes thinking about some sort of depth jig to ensure that the 0.4mm wire that's threaded through the smaller holes on the clasp brake shoes protrudes the correct amount, I realised it would be easier to thread the shoes onto a length of the wire, solder them and then clip and file the wire 'pivots' to length afterwards: not my quickest solution!

 

[Chas Levin]

Progress has been at a stately pace - other projects and real life keep interfering - but things are happening.
Some very neat little etches for the brake ratchet took careful bending:





I also tried something new (for me, anyway) to deal with the problem of 00 gauge wheels fouling brake gear. In the photo below, the two etched bows on the right are as supplied, those on the left have been flattened - or perhaps 'foreshortened'? - to clear the wheels:



They don't look very pretty like this and they don't look exactly brilliant in place and viewed from beneath:



But they're one of tose things that will almost never be seen from anywhere other than the sides or ends of the vehicle and in those views, I think the illusion is sustainable:



There are quite a few spare brake parts on the Masokits etches which is of course a very good thing, but as someone fairly inexperienced in such detailed brake rigging, it leaves me wondering whether there oughtn't to be more parts used than I've worked out how to fit so far. The generally excellent instructions provide two very detailed side views, but not a plan from above/beneath: if anyone's built one of these - or a vehicle with similar clasp brake rigging - and could please post a picture or two of the brake rigging as viewed with the tanker upside-down, I'd be very grateful .

 

[Chas Levin]

Having done some more reading and studying pictures, I came to understand that the brake rigging for clasp brakes isn't so different to other types in its main and central arrangements and therefore to wagons and vans I've built before, so I pressed on. Before soldering each stage in place though, I checked that I could still wiggle both wheelsets into place:







That's a careful 'yes', prior to adding in the etch bow cross links between the shoes...



With them in place, wheelset wiggling is less practical, so I opted for gapping the link to the compensating arm on one side (the left-hand side in the next picture) and leaving the central pull rod unsoldered on the right-hand side, so it can be eased out and up to drop the wheels etc in:









The safety loops will also need to be centrally gapped for the wheelsets but I've left them complete for now so they're less vulnerable to accidental catching on things.
Wizard Models' brake cylinders have arrived so that's be next, then that's almost it for the underside at this stage and the top platforms I think are next, from memory.

 

[Chas Levin]

And, as promised, the brake cylinders were added next (from Wizard models, generic wagon type that I'm happy with given their near invisible location, as I know they're probably not strictly accurate):



Then the end platforms. Adding these was not easy and if I were building another of these, I'd add the platforms earlier in the sequence, because the accumulated fittings beneath the chassis get in the way of accessing the platforms' undersides with the iron. They can't be added until the clasp brake shoes are fitted, but you could leave off some other things... We live and learn! I sorted out my slight puzzlement over the brake rigging arrangements, when I realised that clasp brakes' rigging isn't significantly different from other types in its main components and i'd somehow imagined there were more parts than there are. Each detailed bake rigging set I build increases my familiarty of course: I reckon I should know my way round a typical wagon's underframe shortly before my eyesight deteriorates to the point where I can no longer build one!











A quick weighting question though please: the instructions recommend adding weight inside the plastic tank of "approx 2 oz or 28 grams" (actually the '28' is a little unclear and might even have been '20') but 28g = 1oz so I'm assuming there's a misprint there. Can anyone please advise where 1 or 2 oz would be expected for a sprung 00 gauge plastic and brass tanker? The weight of the plastic and brass looks ike it's be about 45-50g, in case that helps.
(Edited to add that the two pieces of 2mm brass tube standing up from the floor - to locate the tank - are in fact vertical, it's the camera distortion that makes them look as if they're avoiding making eye contact with each other!)

 

[JimG]

Can anyone please advise where 1 or 2 oz would be expected for a sprung 00 gauge plastic and brass tanker? The weight of the plastic and brass looks ike it's be about 45-50g, in case that helps.

In S scale, I aim for around 50 - 60 gms in a four wheel wagon using 0.0075" or 0.008" steel guitar string and that seems to work well, so your 45 - 50gms is in the same ballpark. Your springs should sit in mid position with whatever weight you achieve.

Jim.

 

[Chas Levin]

In S scale, I aim for around 50 - 60 gms in a four wheel wagon using 0.0075" or 0.008" steel guitar string and that seems to work well, so your 45 - 50gms is in the same ballpark. Your springs should sit in mid position with whatever weight you achieve.

Jim.

Thanks Jim. In fact this kit provides 0.009" guitar string which should therefore be 12% stiffer but I know I'm splitting hairs there!

Can I just clarify what you mean though please, when you say you aim for 50-60g? Do you mean you aim to add that, as additional weight, to the built wagon, or do you mean you aim for that as the total overall weight of the wagon, including additional ballast?

I already have a weight of 40g with just the brass chassis and plastic parts, before adding any extra weight. Going by eye and instinct, I'd have thought 2oz is going to be too much and 1oz is much more like it, but I'd be surprised if that's a misprint in such carefully detailed instructions.

I think the answer will be to finish and assemble the chassis with its wheels and then test different weights, using one half of the plastic tank blutak'd onto the chassis, to aim for the midpoint, as you suggest...

 

[JimG]

Thanks Jim. In fact this kit provides 0.009" guitar string which should therefore be 12% stiffer but I know I'm splitting hairs there!

Can I just clarify what you mean though please, when you say you aim for 50-60g? Do you mean you aim to add that, as additional weight, to the built wagon, or do you mean you aim for that as the total overall weight of the wagon, including additional ballast?

I already have a weight of 40g with just the brass chassis and plastic parts, before adding any extra weight. Going by eye and instinct, I'd have thought 2oz is going to be too much and 1oz is much more like it, but I'd be surprised if that's a misprint in such carefully detailed instructions.

Chas,

I have found the 0.075" and 0.008" guitar strings work better with my wagons with a total weight of 50 - 60 grams. One of the main factors is the distance between the suspension points of your springs and your distance could be greater than that on my S scale "W" irons.

My S scale wagons have wooden or styrene bodies which weigh in single figures of grams so I get the weight up by building underframes from brass section and adding bits of lead sheet in the bases of the "W" iron etches.

Russ Elliot on CLAG gives formulae for doing the calculations for wire springs :-

Wire Spring Formulae

I've used these formulae and they do work.

Jim.

 

[Chas Levin]

Chas,

I have found the 0.075" and 0.008" guitar strings work better with my wagons with a total weight of 50 - 60 grams. One of the main factors is the distance between the suspension points of your springs and your distance could be greater than that on my S scale "W" irons.

My S scale wagons have wooden or styrene bodies which weigh in single figures of grams so I get the weight up by building underframes from brass section and adding bits of lead sheet in the bases of the "W" iron etches.

Russ Elliot on CLAG gives formulae for doing the calculations for wire springs :-

Wire Spring Formulae

I've used these formulae and they do work.

Jim.

Thanks Jim; I'm aware of the CLAG pages but not having been building anything relevant previously I've never tried the calculations. I had thought it might be worthwhile here though: your recommendation has pushed me to have a proper look!

 

[Mike Garwood]

Chas

Where does the springing locate within the chassis? I can't see any location points for the wire to allow the springs to activate. I ask as I have a similar chassis to build.

Mike

 

[Dave Holt]

Mike. There looks to be up-stands just inside the sole-bars, close to, and just inboard of, the brake hangers, each side of the axles. They show up in several of the photos if you look closely. Or perhaps I'm seeing what i want to see?
Dave.

 

[Chas Levin]

Chas

Where does the springing locate within the chassis? I can't see any location points for the wire to allow the springs to activate. I ask as I have a similar chassis to build.

Mike

Morning Mike, it's not easy to see so quite understandable that you're puzzled! Below are three photos from earlier in the thread, one showing the sprung bearing carriers and two showing them in place but even there, it's difficult to see where and how the spring wires engage, so I've also added a cropped part of a page form the instructions, which shows the springing system more clearly - hope this helps:

 

[Chas Levin]

Mike. There looks to be up-stands just inside the sole-bars, close to, and just inboard of, the brake hangers, each side of the axles. They show up in several of the photos if you look closely. Or perhaps I'm seeing what i want to see?
Dave.

Morning Dave, you were both seeing reality and seeing what you want to see: the best way!

 

[Mike Garwood]

Thanks Chas, must visit the opticians!

Mike

 

[Chas Levin]

Thanks Chas, must visit the opticians!

Mike

Haha - not at all, Mike: you can barely see the spring wire in my photos (and I took a whole load and chose the best ones at the time) so it really wasn't obvious.

 

[Chas Levin]

The tank supports have been added, shown here circled in yellow:



Here's one half of the tank perched on top - this isn't the way they work though. They are bent beneath the tank curvature, with a piece of suitable diameter rod underneath them - a little difficult to describe but it'll be clearer when I post pictures of it being done:



Sitting in front of the chassis in that last picture are the ladder supports, with a piece of 0.4mm rod. Even the instructions say they're difficult to get in place, but it's quite do-able, tohugh I had to ream the holes in both the supports and the chassis to a lot bigger and use 0.3mm wire, because otherwise you can't sit the supports squarely against the angle of the chassis - here's a short sequence showing them being soldered in place, with the last photo showing the two prongs of the supports, where the ladder feet will sit, circled in blue:

 

[Rob Pulham]

Sorry for the flurry of likes Chaz, I have been without broadband for getting for a week so just catching up on some threads.

I really like your use of clamps/angles etc. to do the folds it appeals to my inner toolmaking fetish... Nice too to see that Masokits is still around, I bought from Mike Clarke when I modelled in 4mm.

 

[Chas Levin]

Sorry for the flurry of likes Chaz, I have been without broadband for getting for a week so just catching up on some threads.

I really like your use of clamps/angles etc. to do the folds it appeals to my inner toolmaking fetish... Nice too to see that Masokits is still around, I bought from Mike Clarke when I modelled in 4mm.

Never any need to apologise for 'likes' Rob: that's one of the ways we know people appreicate what we do and it's great to know that people who really understand what's involved think well of our efforts!

Yep, I love using tools, angles, clamps etc: we share a fetish there!

I really like the Masokits style - the beautifully done etches, the extremely detailed instructions with all the little drawings. After I'd started this build, I ordered a few of his wagon underframes too, which I'm looking forward to building.

 

[Chas Levin]

Happy New Year to everyone!

 

[Mike Garwood]

Quite lovely work Chas. The underframe is a real treat.

Mike