HR 8-ton double-deck sheep van with planked sides in 7mm scale.

Pete's new addition to his range of aids to scratch-building provides resin sides and ends for a Highland Railway 8-ton double-deck sheep wagon d.17. Parts from the trade, such as the W-irons, buffers, springs, axle boxes and couplings are easily sourced (see below). Additional items such as brake gear, roof and internal floors can be cut from sheet metal or Plastikard, so in a round-about way a multi-media kit is assembled to each individual modeller's choice. 

Price is £22.50 plus postage at cost £1.60 1st Class or £1.15 2nd Class.

Buy 2 or more and postage is Free.

Contact Pete on...

armstrongps1@gmx.com

017687 71302

07342 617 813

This is what you get...

 

The openings are filled with a thin membrane. Hold to the light to identify the openings and push out the membrane with the back of a scalpel blade, it only takes a few minutes. The resin ingates (with holes in) are cut off with a fine coping saw and the bottom of the castings filed flat. 

In addition you'll need...

Slater's 3' 1" wagon wheels ref: 7120

Slater's 1mm Plastikard, 7mm planking and 1.5mm strip for battens.

W-irons from Slater's or The Highland Railway Society.

Springs, axle-boxes and buffers from Invertrain.

Couplings from CPL Products.

Horse hooks, brake lever guard and collarless hand rail knobs from 62C Models.

Close up showing the fine detail of the resin castings after the openings have been cleared of membrane. Horizontal bars are made from 0.6 nickle silver or brass wire glued into slots behind the openings.

The upper floor sits behind the horizontal midway strut and serves to brace the structure. The roof is made from 0.4mm nickle silver sheet, rolled to shape; Plastikard would provide an alternative solution.    

 Plastikard planking, with 1.5mm battens to provide a footing for livestock, overlays the 1mm thick lower floor. Note the interior detail and the horizontal wire glued in slots across the openings. The ends of the planks marked with an X have been trimmed slightly to seat the end.

View of the rocking-axle, coupling and buffer shanks, which run in slots behind the solebars. The floor under the axles has been built up 1.5mm with Plastikard sheet to provide the correct ride height.

The upper deck of the van is split in half along its length to allow it to seat in place; an overlay of battened Plastikard planking sits on top of this. The planked floors show up well in good light, even with the roof in place and are worth the effort of detailing them with battens.

 An additional, though optional detail, is the chain which holds the pin which locates in the holes in the rack to hold the brake lever down. 

Brake shoe and brake lever are fabricated from nickel silver sheet. Springs and axle-box are cast in white metal from my own master patterns in my workshop.

 

 

The sides and ends are glued together and 0.6 n/s wire is fastened behind the opening in slots provided; which may need enlarging a little. The ends of the horizontal planks need trimming slightly inside, to allow the sides to seat in place.

A short length of square section tube has been fashioned to make the brake lever hanger, this is glued into a shallow slot cut in the sole-bar.

The horizontal handrail is held in place by collarless handrail knobs which locate into holes in the uprights. The handrail is soldered to the knobs in situ then the assembly is removed, the wire bent to fit the outer holes and replaced.

The van is weighted up to 150g and runs superbly. Note the brake lever guard set just off-center on the sole-bar. There doesn't seem to be much room for a cast number plate on the narrow sole-bar, perhaps sheep vans made do with numbers painted on the lower horizontal boards.