I had a look through my bits box today and found that I have enough spare van ends (mostly from N Gauge Society kits) to make about 20 vans !
Are there any "cottage industry" suppliers out there who would be willing to produce some etched/3-printed/laser cut van sides so that I could use up my stock of ends and add variety to my goods trains ?
Best regards,
Joe
May be possible, depending on what you have in mind.
The majority of my collection of van ends come from the N Gauge Society kit no.18, LMS box vans, so I would be looking for LMS van sides.
Unfortunately I don't have any books about LMS vans so I can't give any diagram numbers.
Outside framed sides would be nice, or how about special sides for a meat van or a beer van ?
Best regards,
Joe
Joe I'll look into it for you but I am very busy on other projects at the moment, so please PM me and remind me occasionally.
Thanks Richard.
There was an article by Chris Tungate in issue number 3 of the N Gauge Society journal in 1998 listing vans that could be kitbashed from the NGS kit.
I would be interested in sides for the following diagrams (all with wooden ends) :
Midland 633
Midland 634
LMS 1670
LMS 2070
There's no rush - plenty of other stuff on my workbench !
Best regards,
Joe
It is quite easy to make your own sides with Evergreen V-groove sheets; reference 2050 for 1.3mm planks, and the sheet is 0.5mm thick. They also do a 1mm thick sheet with same plank spacing, but I can't find the reference number; the 1mm thick is better for sides.
Doors are made with an overlay of sheet 2050; strapping is made from various strip plastic, and L-or U section. Rod can be used for hinges. The result may not be 100% accurate, but it takes a very close look to prove it! It is also surprisingly quick and easy. It also uses up spare roofs, and I use Peco or Parkside underframes, and Peco coupling sets (can't find the reference number-it is a kit of coupling hook, U-shaped mount, and a lockingbar for the coupling, and the whole lot glues to the floor). The end result looks very convincing in a rake of other wagons.
If the wagon has ply sides, you could even use plain Plasticard..........
HTH
Martyn
Hi Martyn.
Sounds good.
Do you know of any on-line source of LMS van drawings ?
Best regards,
Joe
To answer my own question there is this :
http://www.barrowmoremrg.co.uk/BRBDocuments/Book320Part1Issue.pdf (http://www.barrowmoremrg.co.uk/BRBDocuments/Book320Part1Issue.pdf)
Will look for some ex-LMS van drawings this evening.
Best regards,
Joe
Unfortunately the BR wagon diagrams don't indicate the pre-nationalisation origins of the wagons so you need to be an expert to find any ex-LMS vans amongst them, which I'm not.
Best regards,
Joe
Quote from: martyn on July 01, 2014, 08:55:51 PM
It is quite easy to make your own sides with Evergreen V-groove sheets; reference 2050 for 1.3mm planks, and the sheet is 0.5mm thick. They also do a 1mm thick sheet with same plank spacing, but I can't find the reference number; the 1mm thick is better for sides.
That definitely helps, Martyn. Would the 1mm sheet be the right one for making custom open wagon planked sides, from 1-plank to 8-plank open wagons? I'd love to put together some 1-plank and 3-plank open wagons on spare Peco chassis.
Peter
I have built open wagons on Peco chassis using the very thin wood used for strawberry punnets etc. for the sides/ends.
It's easy to scribe the planks on this soft wood and you can vary the plank width as desired.
Of course you need a drawing to follow.
Best regards,
Joe
I would make sure you have some internal bracing as plasticard is a pita for warping and distorting. Also drill a hole in the bottom so glue fumes can't build up and wreck it later.
For a lot of vans quite honestly if you know the length (varies by age) you can work the rest out by common sense and guestimating the door size given a couple of photos.