Building the Fence Houses 21t hopper Part Three

Building the chassis

The next job is to build the chassis, at this stage it is worth running a 0.3mm drill through all the etched holes to check clearances, whilst you may also need to open the holes for your wheel bearings, check with a dry run.

After removing the main chassis from the etch you need to bend the half etched part of the the two internal cross members down to about 45 degree, these will eventually join to the hopper ends. You also need to bend the two sides with W irons down at 90 degree, followed by the buffer beam and then solder wheel bearings in place. Fit wheels and check all is square on a flat surface and if happy solder in corners between buffer beam and sides and then check all is still square with all four wheels touching the floor.

Next job is to bend the brake unit at 90 degree and fit this to the chassis, this can only go one way round due to the slot and tab method so it should be impossible to get it backwards. It is a good idea to have wheels in place when fitting to brake unit to chassis and to thread a piece of 0.3mm brass rod through the vee hangers and brake unit with plenty of spare either side to fit the brake levers later in the build, when all is in position lightly tack the brake unit to the chassis and check you have equal clearances between wheels and brake blocks, otherwise adjust to suit and when happy solder unit in place.

The brake lever cam found on the one side of the chassis needs to be bent to shape which is aided by the two half etched lines and the footstep need to be folded up. Next job is to fit the inner chassis channels, these have a small cut out to fit over the brake unit and slot and tabs at the ends, these need to be soldered 90 degree to the chassis floor.

Next job is to make up the solebars, these are double thickness and are made up in the same principle as the side stanchions you made earlier for the hopper body. The etched tail is for the brake lever guide and needs to be cut at the right place from the main etch, this is important and is clearly explained in the instructions.

These can now be fitted to the chassis, to save less chance of damage I have bent up the brake lever guide and fitted it through the hole in the solebar, but haven't soldered it in place yet as i need to fit the brake lever in place, their is also a small strap at the bottom of the lever guide which is bent to the right angle and fitted to the bottom of the W iron.

At this stage I would fit chosen axleboxes and springs, but I don't have these at the moment, then bend and fit the two brake levers, so I will omit these for now and fit later. Also the door operating levers will need to be fitted, I opted for the ones without the half etched lines which should be substantially stronger. You can also fit the coupling hook and backplate and your chosen buffers at this time if you wish or you could leave till later in the build.