Building the Fence Houses 21t hopper Part Two

The next job was to fit the side stanchions, this is a double thickness etch which is tinned on the inside, folded over then sweated together, the tabs are left on between the two halves to hold all in place whilst sweating the two parts together.

These are then tinned on the back and with the hopper body upside down and sat flush on a flat surface, with the stanchions held in the right place they are sweated onto the hopper sides, again I found it easier to do a bit at a time starting with the top rail checking all was in it's correct position as i went along. Their is some overhang at each end of the top rail, do not remove this until after the end stanchions have been fitted.

We now do the same with the end stanchions making sure the slots in the lower legs are on the outside when the two halves are joined together, this slot will help locate the end supports when fitted later in the build. These end stanchions need the two lower legs folded on their etch line to follow the angle of the hopper, to do this i found it easiest to sweat the two halves of the top rail first so all was flush then to bend the two lower legs to the correct angle, once happy with the angle I then sweated the lower halves of the legs together. Once happy all was a snug fit and with the hopper body upside down on a flat surface I soldered the end stanchions to the body starting at the top rail first and making sure the two slots for the end supports were on the outside. Once fitted the excess top rail from the side stanchions can be gently filed flush with the end top rail, would suggest when doing any filing that you give the body a quick rinse under the tap to remove any flux residue first, otherwise your needle file will be clogged up in no time.

The next job is to fit the gussets, this is done in the same way as the stanchions by tining the inside of the two halves then then folding and sweating together, their are also two modified gussets on the etch with the 45 degree angle for those who need to fit them on the centre stanchion as was to be found on the prototype in a later period. Once the gussets have been doubled up it is worth cleaning the edges up with a file so they are a good fit, the bottoms of the gussets need to be flush with the bottom of the gap between the two chutes, this is worth a few dry runs to get it right before soldering in place. Once fitted you can gently run a file over the bottom of the gussets if required to get them all level and also file the excess from the bottom of the stanchion, this will all determine the height of the wagon when fitted to the chassis later in the build. Finally you need to sweat the basher plates on to the sides of the hopper body, this will dependent on your chosen prototype as not all were fitted with them.

At this stage the body can have a good clean and be put aside whilst we now turn to the chassis.