gregh
electronics, computers and scratchbuilding
I?ve always built my own wagons, so maybe someone is interested in my method. Theses are my latest 4 wheelers. They are just flat wagons or wooden sided. I?ve standardized on a 200mm long wagon with 100mm wheelbase (The old 8? type).
First off, the hard part is that you need wheels. I used to turn my own, but luckily I have some poor misguided, (rich) friends who replace all their plastic wheels with metal ones. So I get the plastic ones. You may have to try some hobby shops to buy some.
Frames[/H1] I make a simple frame from ?lattice wood? It?s the stuff used for making timber lattice ? about 38mm x 8mm. I buy it from the lattice maker for about $2.30 per metre. (It?s what I use for sleepers and for many other uses!). I cut a 260 mm piece in half and shape two 100mm long pieces for my ?dumb? buffers. (I use hook and chain couplings ? to save money) and two 160mm pieces for the underframe. Lay them on a piece of paper and glue them together as shown on the right in the pic. It?s important to have sufficient space between them for the wheel sets to fit in ? min 56mm.
Then I use either scribed 3 ply or coffee stirrers as the floor. I brush on black shoe polish to give weathered wood colouring.
To make the sides, I use 3mm thick balsa. I scribe it all before cutting out using an o;d empty ball point pen Glued to the wagon floor with PVA wood glue. The metal strips are old dark photographs, with rivets embossed with a ?tracers wheel? and glued on with contact adhesive. There?s not a lot of detail ? I subcribe to the 10? rule.
Axle boxes[/H1]
Now for the axle boxes. I use 18mm x 18mm x 1mm plastic angle from the hardware shop, cut into 12mm wide pieces. For my 1/8? axles, I drill 5/32?.
Then I cut ?triangular? pieces from 1.5mm styrene and contact glue to the angle. This allows me to used styrene glue for all the rest of the work.
Now I cut strips of 1.5mm styrene 9mm wide and glue together. Then cut into 9mm squares (x 3mm thick) for the axle box, and glue to the triangular bits, centrally over the holes. So there?s is now about 5.5mm of styrene to support the axle. When dry, drill right through the lot.
For the springs, I make a long strip of laminated 0.5mm styrene and slice off the 5mm wide springs and glue above the axle boxes.
Then I use a hole punch on some scrap 0.5 mm styrene to get the approx 5mm dia ?holes? to cover the axle box holes and glue them on.
To mount the axle boxes, I screw the 2 on one side and then just nail and glue the other side of the wagon. This allows the wheels to be removed if necessary. I find I can nail more accurately than drill holes for screws, so I screw the one side first and then nail the other side keeping the axles square. This method gives a floor height of around 38mm which may be a tad low so I put some 1.5 mm styrene under the axle mounts.
Here?s a pic from below. The black strip of 40mm wide steel is to add some weight. Even with it, the wagons only weigh around 300g. It?s about the most expensive bit at around $3 worth.
And here?s the finished products. Total cost for each one probably less than $6 (excl the wheels.)
They can now join their 20-odd cousins in revenue service.
First off, the hard part is that you need wheels. I used to turn my own, but luckily I have some poor misguided, (rich) friends who replace all their plastic wheels with metal ones. So I get the plastic ones. You may have to try some hobby shops to buy some.
Frames[/H1] I make a simple frame from ?lattice wood? It?s the stuff used for making timber lattice ? about 38mm x 8mm. I buy it from the lattice maker for about $2.30 per metre. (It?s what I use for sleepers and for many other uses!). I cut a 260 mm piece in half and shape two 100mm long pieces for my ?dumb? buffers. (I use hook and chain couplings ? to save money) and two 160mm pieces for the underframe. Lay them on a piece of paper and glue them together as shown on the right in the pic. It?s important to have sufficient space between them for the wheel sets to fit in ? min 56mm.
Then I use either scribed 3 ply or coffee stirrers as the floor. I brush on black shoe polish to give weathered wood colouring.
To make the sides, I use 3mm thick balsa. I scribe it all before cutting out using an o;d empty ball point pen Glued to the wagon floor with PVA wood glue. The metal strips are old dark photographs, with rivets embossed with a ?tracers wheel? and glued on with contact adhesive. There?s not a lot of detail ? I subcribe to the 10? rule.
Axle boxes[/H1]
Now for the axle boxes. I use 18mm x 18mm x 1mm plastic angle from the hardware shop, cut into 12mm wide pieces. For my 1/8? axles, I drill 5/32?.
Then I cut ?triangular? pieces from 1.5mm styrene and contact glue to the angle. This allows me to used styrene glue for all the rest of the work.
Now I cut strips of 1.5mm styrene 9mm wide and glue together. Then cut into 9mm squares (x 3mm thick) for the axle box, and glue to the triangular bits, centrally over the holes. So there?s is now about 5.5mm of styrene to support the axle. When dry, drill right through the lot.
For the springs, I make a long strip of laminated 0.5mm styrene and slice off the 5mm wide springs and glue above the axle boxes.
Then I use a hole punch on some scrap 0.5 mm styrene to get the approx 5mm dia ?holes? to cover the axle box holes and glue them on.
To mount the axle boxes, I screw the 2 on one side and then just nail and glue the other side of the wagon. This allows the wheels to be removed if necessary. I find I can nail more accurately than drill holes for screws, so I screw the one side first and then nail the other side keeping the axles square. This method gives a floor height of around 38mm which may be a tad low so I put some 1.5 mm styrene under the axle mounts.
Here?s a pic from below. The black strip of 40mm wide steel is to add some weight. Even with it, the wagons only weigh around 300g. It?s about the most expensive bit at around $3 worth.
And here?s the finished products. Total cost for each one probably less than $6 (excl the wheels.)
They can now join their 20-odd cousins in revenue service.
