Pages

Wednesday 31 December 2014

Going Loco: Part 7: Another armoured wagon

Having built one armoured wagon, I decided that my armoured train needed a second, different style of armoured wagon to make it complete.

I used the boxcar that came with the train set as the basis of my second armoured wagon.


I removed the wheels (which popped out very easily as usual) ...


... and I then used a razor saw to carefully remove the false wheels that were moulded onto the boxcar's wheel flanges.


Using the moulded line just in front of the double doors and the ventilator on the side of the boxcar as guides, I carefully sawed off part of the boxcar.


I then glued two long pieces of plastic strip inside the open area just above the wheel flanges to strengthen the wagon and to provide something to glue the platform of the armoured wagon to.


Once the glue had cured, I glued two short pieces of plastic strip inside the front of the raised part of the boxcar to provide something to glue the new front of that part to.


Once the glue had cured, I carefully cut two pieces of Plasticard to the right size, and glued them to form the platform of the armoured wagon ...


... and the front of the raised part of the armoured wagon.


I then selected a discarded roof from a passenger carriage.


I carefully cut the sides off using a razor saw ...


... and trimmed it to the length I required.


I then glued it on top of the roof of the raised part of the boxcar.


I wanted to fit some sort of casemate to the front of my armoured wagon, and I found two sponsons from an Airfix World War I tank in my spares box.


I glued them together ...


... and once the glue had cured, I used a razor saw to cut off part of the assembly to form the casemate.


I then trimmed a piece of Plasticard to the right size and shape, and glued it over the holes that were used to locate the original model's 6-pounder gun mountings.


Another part of the tank model provided a suitable mantlet for the gun that I wanted to fit in the casemate, and after a small amount of trimming, I glued it in place.


Once the glue had cured, I glued the whole assembly onto the armoured wagon's platform.


Whilst the glue was curing I made the armoured wagon's armament (a cannon) from two pieces of plastic tube, and when the glue had cured I glued the cannon barrel in place.


The final task was to fit the armoured skirts to the wheel flanges. In this case I chose to give each wheel flange a separate skirt made from Plasticard.

10 comments:

  1. Bob
    Very taken with this series - perhaps getting a little repetitive. I think the photos alone would largely tell the tale (particularly of the removal of wheels and cutting away with a razor saw).

    However I am impressed not so much by the modelling skills (which I could match) but the vision(which I simply can't). It's the business about the sculptor spotting the statue in the block of marble. You talented lot infuriate me!

    I think these will really come together when unified by an undercoat. Looking forward to that.

    Cheers

    Andrew

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rumblestrip (Andrew),

    I am please to read that you have enjoyed this series of blog entries. I take your point about the repetition that has crept in, and any further blog entries will hopefully avoid repeating what earlier blog entries have already covered.

    The ability to 'see' the potential of model components is something that I have learned, although I suspect that being left-handed may have helped.

    I have a few more ideas that I want to try out before I begin the painting process, but that should be underway early in 2015.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bob, this is probably your best of the series yet, and oh to have just 5 minutes alone with your Airfix spares box :-) Cracking stuff once again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Blaxkleric,

    I must admit that building this armoured wagon gave me a lot of satisfaction, and I am pleased that you enjoyed reading about how I made it,
    .
    My box of spare parts contains all sorts of odd bits and pieces, and I always try to salvage bits that I think might have potential. Some of the stuff has been in the box for years because one never knows when one might find a use for it.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've been following the progress of your train with great interest, Bob.

    I do hope that there will be a red star and some flags :O)

    Best wishes to you and Sue for 2015,

    Chris and Suzanne

    ReplyDelete
  6. Chris Kemp,

    I thought that it might appeal to you ... and I am certainly thinking about adding a Red Star or two (and suitable slogans!) to one or more of the armoured wagons.

    I hope that both of you are well and have a great New Year!

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  7. Aha! Left-handed, that explains a bit.

    There were always a couple of guys at work who did things differently to everyone else, not better just different. It turns out they were both left-handed.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jim Duncan,

    Left-handed for most things, although I learned to eat, shoot, and bat right-handed. Being left-handed is supposed to give me better spatial awareness ... but I don't know if it does.

    Years ago I tried out a Royal Navy helicopter flight simulator ... and landed a Merlin 'copter on the deck of a moving Type 23 frigate first time. The CPO in charge was sure that I must have used the simulator before until he found out that I was left-handed. He then told me that most 'natural' helicopter pilots were left-handed as they had learned to use both hands on different tasks at the same time as well as having better spatial awareness.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your best work yet- inspired reuse of the Airfix parts.

    Cheers,

    Pete.

    (Another left- hander.)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Pete,

    Many thanks for your kind comment,

    All the best (left-handedly, of course!),

    Bob

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment. Please note that any comments that are spam or contain phishing messages or that come from Google Accounts that are 'Unknown' will be deleted.