Fitting uprights to Farish BDA Bogie Bolster Wagon

[Gyppy101]

Not sure if this is the correct place to ask this question but, being a bit long in the tooth an short in the sight I cannot seem to be able to inset the uprights in the BDA bogie bolster wagon. Can anyone tell me and easy way?  is there something I'm missing?  Any advice will be gratefully received.

[petercharlesfagg]

Not sure if this is the correct place to ask this question but, being a bit long in the tooth an short in the sight I cannot seem to be able to inset the uprights in the BDA bogie bolster wagon. Can anyone tell me and easy way?  is there something I'm missing?  Any advice will be gratefully received.

Rest assured you are NOT the only one!  I look forward to an answer on this one!

Peter.

[Ben A]

Hello all,

They are fiddly.

I found the best way was to decide on the holes I wanted to mount them in, then use a fine drill to widen the holes, then use a tiny drop of polystyrene cement to glue them in.

Having said that, they doo have a tendency to come out during use, and on our club layout Horseley Fields one of the more tedious jobs is replacing those that come out after a show.

cheers

Ben A.

[Gyppy101]

Thanks Ben, your advice is greatly appreciated.  I'll give it a try. PS Thanks, too, for such a prompt reply.  This forum is certainly useful! 

[BernardTPM]

If the uprights are metal it might be an idea to use a soldering iron to melt them into place - I did this with my scratchbuilt version 30 years ago and they've never come out (one broke off after being straightened the xxth time though)

[Buzzard]

Another approach is how I fitted uprights to the BDAs I built from N Gauge Society kits.

First off I built each wagon to the stage of having all of the bodywork complete except for the buffers.  The wagons were then painted.

I drilled all of the holes in each wagon from the top right through the floor (it's not necessary to do all of them but I wanted flexibility and had the time to do the work).  If you do this with the Farish example I suggest removing things like bogies before you start.

Having chosen where I wanted the uprights, and with an ample supply of dark track pins, I pushed each pin through from underneath and stopped when the head prevented further upward movement. 

Some pins came through at funny angles despite drilling each hole vertically (more of that in a second).  I then superglued each pin in place, also from underneath. 

After the glue had set I got a pair of thin-nosed pliers and bent all pins to a vertical position, taking care not to damage the paintwork.

I then estimated how tall the uprights needed to be and snipped the appropriate amount off each pin, this included the points  A small dab of black paint was put on the cut end of each pin and they were finished.

Finally the buffers were then fitted, bogies attached, and it was job done.

In real life the uprights get bent every which way and as I used metal uprights this could be replicated using two pairs of pliers.  I've just stuck with all vertical i.e. Rule 1.

The BDAs I'm currently building have had the holes drilled before painting, hindsight is a wonderful thing. 

Sorry not photos as I don't have my BDAs with me at the moment but if anyone's interested I could add some to this thread in a week or so.  I might take a few wagons to the Meet on the 15th so you could see them for real.

Nigel

[Gyppy101]

 :thankyousign:thanks Buzzard. Had a go yesterday following your advice. I'm pleased with the end result.