Mountain's Competition Entry for 2018.

[Mountain]

Still deciding on which projects yet as I have more then one idea on my mind. I thought it is a good idea to secure a page on this site in order to be ready for when work will begin. It is either going to be a loco, or an item of rolling stock. If I have time I will do more then one item, just for fun!
I also have a half built diesel to work on though I've done over half the work on this already. It actually gives me another idea...

[To amend... I have a cunning plan!]

[Mountain]

Well. I have decided to make a waggon. If I have time I will make more then one, and I may even make something else. But for now, it is a waggon, as I need things for locos to pull more then I need locos to pull them! (I know I am in the middle of building a loco, and I plan to do more on it, but I started it before I heard of this competition).
I do also have coaches to build. There is only so much time in the month!
The waggons I am building are being built to a reasonably strict budget. I can get the build below £2 a waggon if someone wants to copy the build, but it does depend upon the cost of wheels. If I use secondhand plastic wheels the cost of construction can be as little as £1 a waggon or less.

[I have a cunning plan.... Watch this space!]

[Mountain]

Considering that I'm deciding on building a waggon or two... The first thing I need to find are the materials. I did have a look at a steel Pepsi can, though I found that I made a bit of a mess trying to cut it and didnt end up with a lot of suitable material I can use. Also, it is a little on the thin side for the chunkyness I like to see. I could go round the shops later trying not to look suspicious trying a magnet on drinks cans and buying a drink to go with my lunch...
Well, I do have the remains of a Quality Street lid. It has the logo indented into it along with other indents in the design. I had flattened this in the past with a hammer on my mini anvil to limited success, and as I dont really mind the bashed about look as a final result, it looks very suitable as a material for me to use as a body for my waggon.
I've also started to rub the paint off, and also rub the good side. I did start with wire wool as I couldn't find my file in with my tools (Where did I put it?) Wire wool seemed to be slow going so I turned to the age old idea of rubbing the material on one of the paving slabs outside. This is working though it quickly heats up the metal and starts sending me burning messages up through my fingers!

At least its a start of preparation ready for the build.

[Mountain]

Here is something else I've purchased ready for the competition. It is from the kiddies farmyard range of products.

[Mountain]

Hah. These wooden boxes are amazing. They come apart in just the right way and they are just the right size for my needs.
Work done so far. I have removed the internal pieces that get in the way. They are not needed. I've removed the bottom section and the central piece. The resin castings that I have made earlier are ideal for these waggons. A snug fit.

[Mountain]

A picture showing the internal woodwork struts being removed.

[TimberSurf]

Those box's were a golden find! They are perfic!

[Mountain]

Just the right size.. How often does that happen!
Watch this space!

[PinkNosedPenguin]

Yes a very good find - will watch this, and other comp entries, with interest . . .

[Mountain]

I couldn't believe it myself PNP.

Last night I started preparing the castings ready to use. The first job of thinning the backs of the castings has been done. I'm giving thought to bearings. I have three options here. Drill out the axleboxes and fit Romford top hat bearings and Romford wheels (Though to be honest I think it is best to save some of the Romford items for coaches), the second is to ream the insides ready to take pin point bearings. The third choice is to make my own form of bearing out of either small diameter brass tube (Which I have) or use little beads bought in those stores selling ladies jewelry (Somewhere I have a packet of them bought with this possibility in mind). The fourth option I've done in the past is just drill out the axleboxes and inserted bicycle spokes as axles the same way Triang made theirs. A bit crude but it works better then expected.
I'm going to explore the different possibilities. The good thing is that if I make a mess of things, Romford with top hat bearings are the convenient solution, so I can't really go wrong!

[Mountain]

I put the sides and wheels on one of the waggons and it did sit tall. Actually quite a bit taller then most other little waggons I have in this scale. Now thoughts of my little men trying to tip a fully loaded waggon by hand made me feel sorry for them, so I made a carefully planned decision to reduce the height for health and safety reasons.
Now looking at the sides, and checking the size with other waggons I have previously either scratch or kit built in the past, I found that I can cut the height of the sides in half, and using parts previously removed, I can double the number of waggons I can make from a single pack of farmyard boxes.
The reduced height actually looks pretty good, as long as I ensure that I slightly thin the top of the body so it doesn't look too thick after cutting. See what you think. If I'm careful I can build twelve waggons from one pack of farmyard boxes. So that brings the cost of the bodies down to somewhere around 42p each (Excluding wheels, bearings, couplings and resin cast chassis sides). Not bad in today's economic climate.

[Atso]

Looks great Mountain. I agree that reducing the height looks better (and will be more helpful to the little people).

[Mountain]

Thanks Atso.

Just showing some photos of marking out prior to cutting. The body sides are 30mm high so I mark at 15mm from the top so I end up with two bodies. The cut down body in one of the photos next to a body that hasn't been cut down is made from the offcuts of the last waggon I made.

[Mountain]

Here are pictures showing how it looks next to other waggons (Some of which have yet to receive couplings). One waggon is a Smallbrook Studio kit with its dumb buffers removed awaiting a central buffer conversion. The larger waggon is also a Smallbrook Studio kit.

[Mountain]

Slowly doing more... All these from one packet of boxes! (In various stages of build!)