[Rob Pulham]

In between finishing off my shelf queens I have also been messing about with making a few wagon loads.

I started by wanting to make some pipes. Having looked around for something suitable and finding nothing I raided the recycle box, taking out a couple of tins that canned tomatoes came in. Using a pair of snips I cut down the side and chopped the bottom and the rim off.

Then I ran them through my rolling bars to flatten it out so that I could mark it up. Once it was flat I squared the edges and marked each one into 3 sections. I cut them out and re-rolled them into smaller diameter tubes. The two cans yielding 6 tubes. I held them together with wire and soldered them with a roll of plumbers solder that I had kicking about the bench (I only used this because I still wasn't sure how well they would turn out and I had got this for nothing so would lose nothing if they still ended up in the recycle box).

Once soldered I gave them a wash and a blow over with some Halfords grey primer and this was the result.

The next one is nothing more scientific than one of the small cans that Pilchards come in. This just had the top and bottom taken out and a coat of primer.

Last up for the moment is from one of my never through anything away because it might be useful stock.

The idea came about from a photo on Paul Barlett's wagon site that I stumbled upon when researching the pipe wagons - a wagon load of cable drums.

With the mental light bulb on I remembered that when making up the base boards for the layout I had cut a series of holes in the ends for the wiring to pass through.

To make these holes I used a hole cutting saw which left me some nice round sections of plywood that I had hoarded. Taking some of these pieces I sanded the edges down to smooth out a small rim where I had drilled from both sides. Then I stuck some cut down matches to the edges with pva to create the drum. I had picked up a large bag of matches from a craft shop some time ago with vague ideas and they have finally been used for something.

Regards Rob

 

[Bear 1923]

I find it far more infuriating that they don't make the corrugations in tins the right size for 4mm than that they put the wrong meat in stuff...

Like those pipes though...

These railway (under the ballast/in the cess) style corrugated pipes are what I would really like to be able to do/find...

 

[Brian Considine]

Good work Rob & the pipes looks very convincing.

Thanks for taking the time to show us the "how to".

 

[Rob Pulham]

QUOTE (Bear 1923 @ 16 Feb 2013, 16:37) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I find it far more infuriating that they don't make the corrugations in tins the right size for 4mm than that they put the wrong meat in stuff...

Like those pipes though...

These railway (under the ballast/in the cess) style corrugated pipes are what I would really like to be able to do/find...

Hi Bear, I think that you could do it from cans if you cut a piece out at an angle if that makes sense? you would get less pieces per can but I think it would be do-able - although not necessarily to 4mm scale.

Think further you may be able to do it in 4mm scale by using the thick foil that you get in food trays scoring at an angle with a bunted cocktail stick(to give round grooves rather than lines) and then winding it all carefully round a suitable sized former so you don't destroy the ribs and glue with either cyano or epoxy.

QUOTE (Brian Considine @ 16 Feb 2013, 17:19) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Good work Rob & the pipes looks very convincing.

Thanks for taking the time to show us the "how to".

Thanks Brian, I have picked up so many hints and tips from people on line via various forums that it's good to be able to give something back.

 

[Rob Pulham]

A little household repair job this week yielded another to the selection - Our header tank was constantly dripping so I fitted a new siphon valve. Chopping the thread off and a blow over with red primer left me with this.

 

[Trog]

QUOTE (Bear 1923 @ 16 Feb 2013, 17:37) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Armco pipes, we used to use them for cross drains under the track as they are stronger than the plastic pipes we used elsewhere.

You can use them along the line but cutting them to size was a pain, and once disc cut the new end had edges on it like a razor blade. Not good in the days when gloves were hard to come by.

Also if you dig out a drain made with these pipes the pipes can unwind, getting the resulting tangle of metal to sit neatly in a spoil wagon can then become quite a challenge.

 

[jcuknz]

I am sure OO Scale corrugations could be made using a pair of screws of the right diamter and pitch as a freind made for me many years ago using paper softened in water ... maybe not long pipes but low water tanks farmers use for stock watering.
You could probably get long lengths of threaded rod and make a roller for longer lengths .. it usually comes in three foot lengths.

 

[Rob Pulham]

While at a recent show (O gauge North West at Manchester I think) I noticed a demo of a Gent making a timber load from strips of Microstrip which looked quite interesting. It gave me an idea for a use for a box of coffee stirrers that I bought from eBay a few years ago.

Before seeing the demo to make such a stack of timber I would have cut some coffee stirrers to length and then glued them all together into a stack. What this gent did was make a hollow stack with short pieces in place at the ends. In terms of what I planned it would not only use less coffee stirrers but also allow me to make use of the cut rounded ends which would otherwise be surplus.
I started by using a 7mm scale rule and a square to cut 14 stirrers to a scale 16' long (they were a scale 20' overall allowing for 2' to be cut from each end. These were then stuck together 2 high by 7 wide to make a base. To glue them together I used Crafters Pick PVA superglue. This is much thicker than normal PVA and gives a good grab for all sorts of things.

Next using the cut rounded ends and some lengths of some sticks that were not straight/flat I built up the ends and some inner supports

Finally finishing with a lid the same as the base.

The stirrers that I used for this trial scale out at 11" wide boards and I plan to make some more with smaller scale boards using the same techniques but scoring the top boards and the ends to represent narrower finished boards.

 

[Rob Pulham]

I collected one of these at Leigh show from Paul at EDM Models

Having got it I was keen to give it a try so having picked up an idea for another wagon load while watching the many youtube videos of Pete Waterman's layout - (just got an infinity upgrade from my puny 1.2mb that I have suffered with for years which makes watching youtube an absolute pleasure!).
So this is what I came up with.

The nails are .3mm holes drilled and then touched with a pin point dipped in a dilute solution of Vallejo Charred Brown acrylic.

Regards Rob

 

[dwb]

QUOTE I collected one of these
I have had one of these for a couple of years now. It's a brilliant bit of kit and worth every penny. You are going to love it

David

 

[Rob Pulham]

QUOTE (dwb @ 5 May 2015, 19:22) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I have had one of these for a couple of years now. It's a brilliant bit of kit and worth every penny. You are going to love it

David

Thanks David, I must admit I am most impressed. I plan to get a Silhouette Cameo cutter later in the year and I hope that the two will complement each other.

 

[dwb]

QUOTE Silhouette Cameo cutter
I have not heard of one of those. I will be interested to see how you get on with it.

David

 

[peter wilding]

Very impressive,i am inspired
regards Pete

 

[Rob Pulham]

Thanks Pete

 

[Rob Pulham]

I have been tinkering around painting some of the wagon loads that I have made from coffee stirrers and thought that I would share them posed in my latest wagon.

 

[Rob Pulham]

Following on from the posting above (#5) albeit much belatedly, a gent on the guild suggested that the siphon valve wouldn't really work as a load due to the size of the screw thread. That made sense and at the time I thought that it would make a load that could be sheeted if only I could make a suitable tarpaulin.

Fast forward to Ian G posting a link to an article on making realistic tarps (http://www.militarymodelling.com/news/article/making-realistic-tarps/3310) and I thought that I might have the answer. Sadly several attempts were made none of which were good enough to me. The first using Kleenex tissues just disintegrated and using the process on thin cloth worked but it wasn't flexible enough. As a last resort I put a few lens cleaning tissues on one side after they were used to dry out and hey presto they worked.
This is what they look like after being ironed and treated - not much different in looks to be honest but they feel slightly thicker and have a texture. More importantly they can be handled/folded/stretched without mishap.

Next I cut some styrene discs using a leather punch and stuck them to a sheet to make eyelets. When they had dried I drilled holes through them and then brush painted both sides of the sheet black (the original plan was to spray them but I ran out of time last week). Next out came a cheap stencil and the letters LNER were painted on along each edge and some cotton cords tied through each eyelet.

In between this while things were drying, etc. I made up a timber cradle for the load.

Lastly I tied it all on - I had to add a couple of staples made from 0.45mm wire to the cradle ends to allow the sheet to be fastened.

 

[Rob Pulham]

Following on from my last effort on the wagon sheet, Bob Alderman posted a comment on how he does tarpaulin sheets on the Guild forum, which was a commercial paper sheet suitably scrunched up and then wet with dilute PVA until it lays over and takes the shape of the object that it covers.

So I had a play.

I started with this:

placed on the lid of a takeway tray on a couple of coktail sticks to stop it sticking to the lid I covered it in cling film and then draped a man sized tissue over it which had the patterned edge trimmed off.
Then I dripped dilute PVA over it all until the tissue was soak and draped over the load.

I left it a couple of days to dry and then sprayed it with grey paint so that I could see what I was looking at.

It holds it's shape nicely but like many items we model could be crushed with mishandling.

 

[Jaimie Sommer]

@Rob Pulham did you buy the silhouette cameo? What was your experience with it?

I'm thinking about buying myself but I'm on the fence. Can't find a decent review because they are all affiliates or what nots.

How steep is the learning curve? After going through a huge number of blogs and review sites I've found something different.
I mean the only way to shorten this review is by calling it a hatchet job on silhouette.

I've found this silhouette cameo 3 vs silhouette curio comparison and it highlights many shortcomings.
Have you experienced any of those? I'm more inclined to your experiences than other people who are after commissions.