Beyond just glue Making solid structures/Bob Walker
glue sort of thing. Well, not all attach- ments are created equal. Some require a degree of reinforcement more than others. I’m going to take another bite of the apple here and cover some fairly specialized attachments. I will be the first to admit that most of our model structures will be placed on a perma- nent layout and more or less be left alone.
A Barring earthquakes, torna-
does or other natural disasters, there may be an occasional elbow or other man-made involvement that put the attachment methodologies to the test. Even that only applies to those close to an aisle; those further back usually avoid flailing body parts and the meat hooks of the rudely curious. Even so, many of our creations seem to be am- bulatory, if for no other reason than a trip to a friends for show-and-tell be- fore planting it firmly into the scenery. If you are building for a contest, modular layout or in any way have to transport a model, reinforced joints are a must. We have all read accounts in the model press about the contest en- trant who was up all night in a hotel room making repairs to damage caused during transport. Of the two contest models I have built, both were con- structed for some fairly rough han- dling. I wanted to spend my nights so- cializing with friends, not repairing models. The model of RGS 4-6-0 No. 20 that I took to the National Narrow Gauge Convention in Colorado Springs (2010) took a wicked beating in the back of our Trailblazer. We had already been on vacation for ten days when we arrived at the hotel and that poor vehi- cle had been involved in a few less than smooth off-road experiences. As I re- call, it was one of the few times I heard Donna say “bad words.” The only dam- age it suffered was a broken whistle valve that old ham-hands here busted off getting the 20 out of the box. For most of our work a little of the proper cement is all that is required for construction. There are, however, in- stances where a little more strength is imperative. Do you really want your most expensive (either in time or mon- ey invested) locomotive venturing out onto a trestle that is only glued togeth- er? I think not; adhesives and butted joints are at times less than trustwor-
66
little over a year ago I did a column on materials and adhe- sives, a sort of a sticks and
Scratchbuilder’s Corner
thy. The judicious addition of pins at the critical joints will be cheap insur- ance. Make that joint physical as well as chemical. I have some fairly sub- stantial trestles on my layout that sup-
port large, heavy, double-headed die- cast On3 2-8-2’s with no definable de- flection whatsoever. It is also my rec- ommendation that typical prototype construction practices be observed when building bridges. Those engi- neers knew what they were doing. I followed prototype practices and
used ¹/₂″ long (actual) steel pins at every butt joint. These pins are avail- able at any craft store. I got mine (1,000 count) for $3.99. For sizes small-
To improve the strength of structural elements one can get creative with bracing and re- inforcements. Here (top), gusset plates across the roof are secured to the substantial square bracing. These butt joints (above) will be stronger if pins are used as well as glue.
JUNE 2012
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