Drillin' for fillin'... - Printable Version +- (https://bigbluetrains.com) +-- Forum: The Back Shop (https://bigbluetrains.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=52) +--- Forum: Tips and Tricks (https://bigbluetrains.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=30) +--- Thread: Drillin' for fillin'... (/showthread.php?tid=2615) |
Drillin' for fillin'... - doctorwayne - 04-27-2010 ...for more drillin'. That's right: this has nothing to do with a trip to the dentist. Instead, it re-visits an old trick from the days of cast metal locomotive kits. In those prehistoric years, modellers wishing to add brass details to cast zinc and zamac locos had to use either the less-than-ideal glues of the day, or resort to soldering (a more widely-used skill at that time). Unfortunately, the metal used to make those locos was not a solder-able material. The solution was to drill and tap a hole where one wished to add the detail part, then insert a brass screw of appropriate size. The screw head was then removed, leaving a brass plug to which the brass detail could be easily and securely affixed. I've used a similar technique to add rudimentary brake rigging to some Proto1000 boxcars with cast metal floors. Using small drills (#79 in this case) to drill metal can be difficult - even with the #47 drill used for this method, the task was not that easy. I chose a #47 drill (.0785") because it's slightly smaller than the .080" styrene rod which I used for the filler plugs. By coating the end of the rod with lacquer thinner or other suitable solvent, it can be pressed into the holes for a tight fit. To be doubly sure, I also added ca where the rods protrude above the car's floor. Here is a couple of floors, one showing the drilled holes, with one filler plug inserted, the other with all four plugs installled and trimmed flush with the main frame members: Since the brake detail is merely to suggest a more fully-modelled system, it's much simplified. I used a #79 bit in my pin vise to drill into the soft styrene plugs, then bent .012" brass wire to represent the brake actuating rods. The levers are Tichy parts: While this overly-bright photo shows a little too much of the ruse, :oops: once the car is painted and weathered it should look convincing enough in service on the layout. The floors of these otherwise well-detailed cars are a bit of a letdown due to the lack of detail. I had previously bought six car bodies, with no floors or trucks, and added scratchbuilt floors. The ones currently under construction needed some improvement, in my opinion, as I replaced all of the cast plastic grabirons with custom-bent ones of .012" brass, and also replaced the roofwalks, which were about 6" too short on both ends. Here's one of the earlier cars after reworking. The lettering is from C-D-S: Wayne Re: Drillin' for fillin'... - Sumpter250 - 04-27-2010 Doctorwayne, The next time someone gives me some grief about working an eye splice in sewing thread, I'll send them a link to this! I had almost forgotten that "procedure", but, yes, that was what had to be done most of the time. Now, it's more common to see ACC used to secure the mounting brackets, or "post platforms" that detail like this is fastened to. Still, some of the old tried and true methods deserve mention as they were, and are, useful. Re: Drillin' for fillin'... - MasonJar - 04-27-2010 doctorwayne Wrote:By coating the end of the rod with lacquer thinner or other suitable solvent, it can be pressed into the holes for a tight fit. To be doubly sure, I also added ca where the rods protrude above the car's floor. If the plastic plug is soft from the solvent, and the interior not visible, would it be possible to squish the plug into a kind of "rivet" to better secure it? Andrew Re: Drillin' for fillin'... - doctorwayne - 04-27-2010 Thanks, Pete. I had to look up eye splice, though. Wayne Re: Drillin' for fillin'... - Gary S - 04-27-2010 Learned something new. Never thought about the brass screw trick for soldering before. Wait... On second thought, I have already used that trick, just didn't consider it for rollingstock and locos. On Atlas customline turnouts, to feed the frog, I tap a 1-72 hole and add a screw at the frog, then solder the feeder wire to that. Nice work on the car underframes, and thanks for sharing, DocWayne. Re: Drillin' for fillin'... - nachoman - 04-27-2010 Interesting technique. When attaching details to cast metal parts, I usually drill a small hole in each part and make a little brass wire pin to span the joint. The whole thing can then be glued with CA or epoxy, and the pin makes it tremendously stronger. Your situation is a bit different in that you needed some kind of a post to secure the plastic lever to. Just using CA to attach the lever to the metal would not have held for long, especially with the lack of surface area to attach to. I think your solution is perfect. Re: Drillin' for fillin'... - doctorwayne - 04-27-2010 MasonJar Wrote:doctorwayne Wrote:By coating the end of the rod with lacquer thinner or other suitable solvent, it can be pressed into the holes for a tight fit. To be doubly sure, I also added ca where the rods protrude above the car's floor. Definitely. As you can see in the first photo, the rods squish as they're pushed into place, so no reason why you couldn't apply more solvent and squish-over the ends on the inside, too. Or, heat the tip of a screwdriver and use that to do the squishin'. Wayne Re: Drillin' for fillin'... - e-paw - 04-27-2010 Quote:As you can see in the first photo, the rods squish as they're pushed into place, so no reason why you couldn't apply more solvent and squish-over the ends on the inside, too. Or, heat the tip of a screwdriver and use that to do the squishin'.Sounds like a plastic rivet Doc. Nice Idea. Re: Drillin' for fillin'... - BR60103 - 04-27-2010 When I did this with Peco wagons, I used a bit larger drill to countersink the top of the hole to make a flat-head rivet. Re: Drillin' for fillin'... - nachoman - 04-27-2010 BR60103 Wrote:When I did this with Peco wagons, I used a bit larger drill to countersink the top of the hole to make a flat-head rivet. You could also cut a slot in the plastic peg, drive in a tapered plastic wedge, and cement the wedge in place Re: Drillin' for fillin'... - bob_suruncle - 04-28-2010 Brilliant! Now why didn't I think of that... oh wait because it was brilliant that's why Re: Drillin' for fillin'... - doctorwayne - 04-28-2010 nachoman Wrote:You could also cut a slot in the plastic peg, drive in a tapered plastic wedge, and cement the wedge in place Kevin, that sounds like Japanese furniture making. Anybody for the jigoku-kusabi? Wayne |