Tramcar Tribulations

Time to catch up with the O9 Tramcar project. The Milliput around the joins has now been smoothed back, most noticeably on the fake clerestory on the roof. I was then able to add the resin sides to the plastic superstructure, fixing one side at a time using Araldite, clamping along the bottom of the sides to get a firm bond and to straighten out any warping in the resin parts. 

Whilst the Araldite was out I created an impression of handles on the controllers and brakes by creating a blob using the end of a cocktail stick, they are not perfect but should look OK once painted.

Sadly the more I looked at the tram after taking this photo the more something did not look right - Trying to tie in the bulkheads with the window dividing bars was showing up a discrepancy between the two bulkheads and the more I looked some of the bulkhead window openings appeared wonky and I had doubts about the squareness of the whole thing in places. 

So I took the sides off, and re-fitted them, but the issue still wasn't fixed and more drastic action followed with the sides coming off again... After trying to work with the existing seats and supports I opted in the end to clear the decks between the front seat supports and start again. New supports and seat bases were created from 40 thou styrene and new side supports cut from 60 thou x 3.2mm Evergreen strip.

I started work on two new bulkheads, 10 thou styrene backed with 30 thou strip and sheet sections. The intention was that they would be thinner than the originals and align directly with the window dividing bars. I had made the window openings taller than the originals - too tall in fact as I had to reduce them along the top edge. However on offering them up into position I found that the outer supports, combined with the thickness of the sides, just looked too bulky.

So I had a bit of a rethink and the decision was made not to have a bulkhead but instead just a seat back. In a lazy mood I decided to use more Chivers seat back mouldings, "borrowing" these from a kit in the stash (you get one spare in each kit so I'll have to owe this kit one!), setting these in place with careful measurement against the sides and the window dividing bar location.

In front of the chassis can be seen the parts that will replace the top part of the bulkheads, cut from 40 thou styrene using the better of the old bulkheads as a template. The triangular pieces will re-enforce the joint with the sides and provide a greater gluing area.

The resin sides were then Araldited back in place and unlike the earlier attempts both were fixed in place at the same time and less clamping pressure applied - I realised that this may have contributed to the warp apparent in the original attempts. 

With the sides in place I them added the upper divider parts into place, again using Araldite, having carefully marked their position directly above the seat backs. The roof was used as a guide to get the height correct. With these parts set I then added new 60 x 40 thou dividers in the side windows, directly in line with the edges of the seat backs and looking a lot neater than their predecessors. Despite saying there would be no bulkhead I then added an upright of 40 x 40 thou styrene from the centre of the seat back up to the roof support to tie the two parts together.

I do not intend to glaze the new openings, I feel that the new arrangement here is a lot better than the original and certainly gives the central compartment a more airy feel than it had previously (in fact it had looked rather claustrophobic).

Work has now moved on to the roof - adding false roof supports on the underside. More soon...

Colin