Scratchbuilt 006 flat waggon

One of the things that attracts me to using an odd gauge is having to design and work things out for myself. For example I want a small fleet of tiny waggons loosely based around the same design. To simplify matters I'm making them inside framed, which also suits the type of small mining tubs that I want to build.

For the bearings I started by soldering 5mm lengths of brass rod, 1.5mm outside dia. 1mm inside, to a length of scrap etch;

After a couple of saw cuts this gave me two bearing assemblies which could then be blackened and fitted with my own 4mm dia. wheels;

For the frame I started with a 26mm long piece of 4.8mm x 3.5mm C section plastic strip. This was filed down to 2.8mm high to give me a coupling height of 6mm when the wheels are fitted. 3mm square plastic rod is used to turn the section into an open box, the void filled with lead shot cyano'd in place and the ends filed to a gentle curve. 

The bed of the waggon is scrap etch (you can still see the remains of lettering), blackened and epoxied in place. A layer of Squadron Green putty seals the lead in place and gives a flat surface to glue the bearing assemblies in place;

For painting I started with a coat of Hycote auto primer, followed by Vallejo 862 Black Grey. I initially brush painted this, but as I can't paint flat surfaces for toffee I rubbed the bed down and broke out the airbrush;

The little spoon is of a type sold for melting sealing wax, and is perfect for mixing small amounts of paint. I used my Aerograph and set the pressure to 23psi.

The finished waggon;

Numbering is done with white ink and a mapping pen.

I'm following the prototype (after a fashion) and using link-and-pin couplings. The link itself is a Smiths PL3F 4mm scale 3 link job held in place with a split-pin made from .4mm brass rod filed to a half-round profile. 

Underside;

Wheelbase 9mm, weight 2.6 grams.

And my entire 006 stock to date (not including the Busch waggon);

This waggon is, like everything else I'm making at the moment, a test piece. Firstly I'm trying out a design that I hope will work for me and is easy to make. Secondly I wanted to try out holding a link with a split pin, which I'm hoping will save a lot of searching for dropped links. So far so good.

Paul.