Help reqd : Western Class 52

[Lysander]

I've at last decided to detail my Western Crusader with the myriad parts supplied by Heljan on just about as many sprues. All went together reasonably well although I've not summoned the courage yet to melt-in the lamp irons.

One thing I cannot do however is remove the buffer beam and the short skirts to the front of the bogies at each end. They clearly plug in but mine won't shilft. Before I snap them off, has anyone else tried this with better results ?

thanks

Tony

[Oxley]

I chickened out on melting the lamp irons too. What I did was use a scalpel with a long pointy tip and sliced away at the body where they were intended to go until I had a small slot cut through just big enough for a firm fit and they were held in place with a dab of glue. I think I worked on this from the inside of the bodyshell as well as from the outside.

I don't recall what I did with the buffer beam and skirts on mine (full at one end, half at the other for the coupling) but I do see traces of glue in the area, so - good luck.

Cheers,

Keith

[Lysander]

Thanks Oxley - I guess it'll be snapping 'em off, drilling out the plastic pegs and then fitting the sprued replacements. I will go with the 'melt-in' method for the lamp irons however. I think that holding them in pincers might provide a heat sink that would delay the task however, and it seems to me that this should be a quick effort. I thought that I would cut a slot in a bit of dowel and hold them in that - that way, all of the heat will be transmitted through the etching for a quick push in.

Tony

[Campaigner]

It didn't seem right to have a thread on here about 52's without a contribution from me

It can be done by melting them in, but it's very dodgy, you have to be certain that you've got them in the right place as there's no going back! This is the only one of my fleet that's received this treatment, it does look good but with my eyes I couldn't see them anyway without glasses.
Also notice in the first picture, the wire loop that's fitted in place of the standard coupler, this enables the valance skirts to be fitted at both ends and isn't really that noticeable

[50035 Ark Royal]

It didn't seem right to have a thread on here about 52's without a contribution from me

It can be done by melting them in, but it's very dodgy, you have to be certain that you've got them in the right place as there's no going back! This is the only one of my fleet that's received this treatment, it does look good but with my eyes I couldn't see them anyway without glasses.
Also notice in the first picture, the wire loop that's fitted in place of the standard coupler, this enables the valance skirts to be fitted at both ends and isn't really that noticeable

Nice pics of Crusader but i dont like Westerns in green they look awful imho
cheers

[champion]

Excellant work there campaingner and nice to see others westerns.Although yes green was,nt also a fav of mine on a western,yours looks the part.

richard

[SRman]

I chickened out of melting my lamp irons in, so used a #76 drill (or smething very close to that) and drilled a couple of holes where the lamp iron was to go, then elongated the holes by drilling at an angle upwards and downwards, until the two holes became a slot.

[Lysander]

Thanks for the replies. Campaigner and SRman - did you try to replace the skirts on your's ?

Tony

[tinsleytmd]

Cannot wait for the new Helajn ones to come out i want a banger blue one. Without seeing the part your on about i couldnt really comment from past experince with Heljan models their a pain in the arse to work on i found the detailling parts a pig to fit & they didnt fit properly.

Simon.

[Campaigner]

Thanks for the replies. Campaigner and SRman - did you try to replace the skirts on your's ?

Tony

Yes, the side skirts which are glued in place sometimes the glue will break and the new coloured ones will fit straight in, other times the lugs break off and need drilling out.
From memory I think the buffer beams are the same, but yes they are a bit of a pain.

[Lysander]

This is the area I was talking about Tinsley [outlined in orange], but another response has arrived that provides the information that I required. I've posted this for 'completeness'. Thanks all for your comments.



Tony