GWR China Clay Wagon (and other stuff)

Hello :o)

I know I am not the fastest of modellers but I like to think that I am one of life's plodders and usually methodically work through the little projects that I put in front of myself. One of these projects which fortunately is comming to an end is a initial batch of 4 GWR China Clay wagons.

This project came about through seeing other people experimenting with various 3D printed wagon bodies so I thought to myself perhaps I should give it a go. The result of this was the 3D model you can see above which came to life through a drawing I found online here:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/foxfield/gwr_china_clay.htm 

Once I finalised the design it was then uploaded to Shapeways here:

http://shpws.me/IZAa

I found that once uploaded it worked out much cheaper to add multiple parts to the single file so I doubled up the quantity of bodies to make it slightly better value. 4 bodies were then promptly ordered. I don't know if anyone else has noticed but the quality of Shapeways parts, especially in FUD has greatly improved recently, so when the bodies turned up all they really needed was a dunk in an ultrasonic cleaner and a light sanding in a couple of places with a file. Once I was happy they then had a coating of grey primer.

Next up was the chassis for them. Fortunately the 2mm Scale Association produces an etch chassis (2-361) which works out to be a really good fit on the wagon bodies and 4 of these were soldered together over a period of just over a week.

So above is where I have got now. They need transfers, couplings, and weathering, but I am very happy with the results so far. I have made the bodies available for anyone to order so if anyone else fancies a go at these then all the bits are there.

Other bits and bobs I have been working on has been mainly signals. More precisely the 4 starter signals I need for the layout. These have now got the little LEDs fitted and I have made a start on the details for them.

Julia :o)

2-364 Replacement Dapol Fruit D Chassis Quick Build

Hello.

Last week my shop 2 order from the 2mm Association arrived through the post. Amongst other things I ordered there were 2 of the newly released etched chassis kits designed by Chris Higgs to replace the moulded N Gauge chassis on the GWR Dapol Fruit D wagon. So armed with a (relatively) free weekend and a desire to have a change from the usual layout stuff, I decided to build them up.

The chassis kits themselves are pretty much the standard design that the association usually stocks, it doesn't have any 'alternative' parts included sp the build is quite straightforward if you have build any etched chassis previously. I really should have taken a picture of the etch before I started but didn't, there is a 'diagram' of it in the files area on the 2mmSA Yahoo group for those who are interested though. The design folds and fits together really well but there are a few pointers I will go into later on. Here are some pictures of the finished thing next to the original for comparison...

Now, here are some points I would like to raise regarding this kit..

• The instructions are woefully poor so you are pretty much on your own when it comes to building it, I used some prototype pictures to check the position and orientation of bits.
• I had trouble lining up the axleboxes as they didnt seem to locate on the top hat bearings. I have had this before and it makes the job of fitting them much harder.
• I hate folding up the brake levers, I have always hated folding up brake levers as they never turn out how they should. There must be a simpler way of doing them?

Other than the points above I also used another one of my little etches for the vacuum cylinder.

It was created to be used with the association 2-347 vacuum cylinders and I feel it creates a far more realistic looking GWR cylinder, it wouldn't take much to add something similar to a kit like this.

Overall its a really nice kit and it improves the appearance of the Dapol wagon body quite a bit. The chassis fits onto the moulded body well using the existing screws and increases the weight from 8g to 10g. I am pleased with how they turned out, especially as I managed to get them both done in a weekend!

Julia :o)

P.S. Quick build? It is for me!