TEA For Two (and a bit)

[Richard08]

Santa's delivered the main consignment for the big day a little early, two TEA tank kits. They came complete with a Brucie Bonus of an extra complete chassis and pair of bogies. Need to come up with a plan for this - did they ever end up being modified for departmental use or something? Maybe try and source the bit to complete the wagon? Interesting times. Very pleased that these turn out to be MMP kits in disguise so I know they will go together well. Not sure if these will be next to build after the Dogfish, or whether the MR bogie brake van gets to go first. Short layout, long wagons - the exact opposite of The Plan...

[Mountain]

Never forget a station chargeman who due to cutbacks, no longer worked his local station but now had to travel to other more frequently used stations happened to be waiting for his early morning train to take him to work. He was sitting there and a lady who he knew as a passenger was also siting on the seat near him.
Now as they were waiting, a train of over 30 (Usually between 33 and 37 of them) empty 100T bogie tankers heading for the oil refinery slowly passed, and the lady saw the wagon code and asked "Where is all this tea going then?"

[Richard08]

I suppose a reach wagon for a very paranoid fuel depot might work...

[Bigmet]

I suppose a reach wagon for a very paranoid fuel depot might work...

That raised a smile! Best bet has to be posting 'wanted' notices for a 7mm TEA 'tank alone' on whichever sites you frequent. There's bound to be one out there somewhere...

[Richard08]

Two wagons worth of etches. The sole bars are way longer than my folder thing, but luckily I have some less scientific bending bars that are long enough. I suspect getting the chassis 'parallel' with the tank, there being no locating holes, is going to be 'fun'. Having a spare chassis may turn out to be somewhat beneficial. Well, here goes... There will be Araldite involved I think.

I like the prototype photos included - a derailed tank being put back on the track!

[Dad-1]

Just the thing for a short layout !!
I'm so pleased I'm not the only crazy one around here.

Geoff T.

[Richard08]

Uh oh. Making it a tube is going to going to be tricky. I guess the end gaps might be fillable, and the rest might be hidden by the chassis, but .. dammit. Now I can't be sure the 'length' dimension is correct either.

[Richard08]

With no luck in sourcing spares or getting dimensions for the tanks these two wagons are essentially scrap. No TEA today.

[Richard08]

Ah, remember the days of yore when you could always find a little firm that would make anything for you (in exchange for readies)... With no luck in finding anyone who can supply any sort of replacement barrels for these tanks it looked as though I'd messed up, as mentioned above. Then a spot of out of the box thinking (i.e. getting desperate) occurred and I've found an outfit that supplies 500mm lengths of 60mm OD (the tank barrel size) extruded acrylic tube with a 2mm wall thickness. These should work with a bit of filing to get the ends in. At about £10 a pop they may also be easier and cheaper - iff glue takes well. More when the current stuff on the bench is done.

[Dad-1]

Hi Richard08,

Good you've found something. I was thinking a wood turner to make a solid
wood replacement. Obviously wood needs loads of surface treatment, but
just an idea.

Geoff T.

[Richard08]

I confess that the TEAs had trickled out of my brain and hidden behind a cupboard, only to be promoted to next project by, strangely, a hint from eBay. So to battle to find suitable 60mm acrylic tube (easy) at a sensible price (not so easy). After visiting several (dozen) suppliers sites it was a pleasant surprise to find Rapid Electronics on eBay at pretty much 50% of the price others were asking. So often buying new stuff direct is cheaper than eBay, but not this time. So placed order around 3.00pm yesterday - tuned up first thing this morning! That caught me out

Now all that is required is to make a pair of these into a brace of TEAs. I have a feeling this project is going run and run, but I'm kind of attracted by the challenge. What wouldn't I give for an hour with a lathe to prep the tubes though, but alas it's going to be a Bodgitt & Runn endeavour. There may be tears.

[Bigmet]

The tube is a good find for the tank body. I'd be inclined to paint the interior matt black before fitting the ends to make sure the model tank is properly opaque when complete. I built a translucent body car model from a kit long ago as a 'special request', and it was no end of trouble making the bodywork look like solid metal...

[Richard08]

The tube is a good find for the tank body. I'd be inclined to paint the interior matt black before fitting the ends to make sure the model tank is properly opaque when complete. I built a translucent body car model from a kit long ago as a 'special request', and it was no end of trouble making the bodywork look like solid metal...

Yes, paint is an issue - and keeping it on in use. Some experimentation with the off cuts is in order I think. I suppose it's down to the primer, I'm using 'Ultimate Primer' (acrylic) from Badger. If it will take enamel top coats things would be a lot easier. Time will tell I suppose.

[Richard08]

And so it starts - removing the flange on the ends castings with a little light filing...

Plan A was to chamfer the end of the tube and the flange to 45' to get a snug fit, but while the perspex is easy enough work, doing it accurately maybe not so much. So I've gone for just attaching the casting to the end of the tube (same OD), but that necessitates removing the flange. I cut most of it away with a sharp knife (now not so sharp) and rooted out the coarsest file I have. None of the cutters/sanding discs for the rotary tool work, they just gum up with white metal and turn into polishing tools.

[Richard08]

So having filed down and cleaned up the tank end, does it really fit. Amazingly - yes! This sort of thing doesn't usually happen to me, so I'm worrying what other potential traps lie ahead.

Next was cutting the 'tank' to length, namely 380mm. First off I checked the end of the tube was square. It was. All four ends were in fact. As anyone who's done it knows, cutting tubes squarely (I can't think of a better word) is a right faff. I don't have one of those gizmos, is it 'perfect circle'? so... A ponder got me to check the too-narrow alloy tanks for length, and squareness. These were fine, so I ty-wraped the alloy round the plastic tube and marked round it. All good. To cut the tube I used a wood saw, cutting about 5mm long - just in case. The out with the rotary tool with a cutting disc agonisingly slowly cut round to the real length. When I say cut, it's more 'melt'. And stinks. A final measure and then file it all nice and tidy.
As is apparent, there's some issues with the castings but nothing terminal. The join is going to need filling in anyway, I'm not sure how the perspex/white metal joint is going to appear. The plan is that as I'm using epoxy, slightly over-doing it will fill any gaps. Yeah, we'll see.

So there's how it looks. The ends are just taped on until I actually read the instructions (this happens occasionally). I still struggle with just how big O gauge stuff is, this looks ridiculously long - I still find myself thinking in OO terms. Now then, where exactly are the instructions...