Article: Re: Western Buckboard build

[xken]

Here the platform boards are being joined with the cross braces that were screwed to the platform.


This is a close up showing the holes drilled for the screws, keep n mind these are the first prototype parts to be used to develop the laser cut parts.


Here the cross boards are being glued with the #8 pin heads representing the screw heads. in this picture the laser cut platform can be seen with all the hole locations cut into the platform and cross braces.


This shows the finished platform with the cross braces in place which is the "chassis frame" for the rest of the parts to attach to.


Here I have cut the seat brace and showing how to drill #55 holes using a drilling jig to hit the center of the 3/32" thick wood.


This build will show various kinds of images so for a point of clarification the brass metal parts are my hand fabricated parts and silver parts are the cast Britannia metal parts made from my master patterns.

[spinellid82]

Congratulations on a new forum dedicated to the oat eaters Ken! I for one am looking forward to watching your builds. Maybe this will even prompt me to get into my horse drawn hearse?

[chassisdude]

This will be a great addition to the site !! Congrats Ken and ....Thanks SMC

[xken]

Once the platform was made I then moved on to the rest of the wood parts which were needed before making the brass parts.
I also completed the 2D Cad drawings of each part and placed on sheets of different thicknesses. This just shows the 1/16" and 3/32" basswood parts. These are the hand made patterns not the laser cut ones yet.

This shows the apron being formed. This part has a curve to the front that had to be formed. It was soaked and heated in very hot water and then the curved formers were used with clamps to hold until completely dry.


I will not bore you with the detail build of all the brass parts; but springs also have car application as well. Keep in mind this is 1/12th scale. Using a copy of the plans spray glued to a scrap board I drilled two 1/16th holes and inserted tubes into them. I used tube because round headed bolts and square nuts will be added later in the tubes.



Here you can see the leaves being added and soldered to the tubes while fixtured in place and being held perpendicular. At this stage as many leaves can be added as needed. Once removed the tubes were sawed to length, filed square and excess solder cleaned away.


Here is an overall view of all the brass master parts for the buckboard. And this does not include all the round head bolts that were sized as the build progressed. Once the prototype was assembled these were all sent off to be cast in Britannia metal at Accent Casting LLC (Bob Ricci) in Florida. If you need quality parts cast check him out. To give you an idea of scale (since Andy stole my penny) The railing rod is 3/64" and Bob did a fantastic job of casting which I will post later on.


Ken

[GusSMHDV]

Hi Ken - thanks for the post on the build. But...............

I will not bore you with the detail build of all the brass parts; but springs also have car application as well. Keep in mind this is 1/12th scale.

.......if you decided to post some of this process I can assure that it won't be boring in the slightest. I followed your 'T' build and picked up all kinds of hints and tips - I'd love to be able to do the same here (for the simple reason that modelers will, with no shame at all, happily steal methods and techniques)

I do realize that the build is complete and there may not actually be photographs of the 'nuts and bolts' portions of the build............but............on the off chance that there are some photo's hiding way in the back...................

Cheers - Gus

[xken]

Gus, Great to see you here. I will see what I can dig up in the way of photos then. I have a bunch but not much on the brass parts.

You need to post some of your work here as well especially your 1/8th Walnut and Brass Buckboard. Then start a thread on your next build.

Ken

[Tage]

Ken,
1/16" AND 2/32" ? Giggle

[xken]

Daniel,
Thanks at times I forget to proof read while typing.

It really was 3/32".

[B]HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! [/B]to all the Marines out there.

Semper Fi! Ken

1965 - 68 USMC

[Dr Dave]

Beautiful work as always Ken.
For a long time I've been wanting to build a stage coach and this might be just the inspiration I need.
The book will be on it's way soon, thanks for the info.
Cheers mate.

[xken]

David, Glad to hear you were able to locate the book. heck out Model Expo's site they offer a stage coach. Here is a link to it:

http://www.modelexpo-online.com/product.asp?ITEMNO=MS6001

Here I am adding the 90 degree support brackets to the apron and am using toothpick to align the holes while the glue sets.

Here I am adding the beefy support brackets to the underside of the front cross brace. You can see the front spring bar in place as well with the holes aligned.

Once both sets of brackets were in place the front apron was slipped down to sit flush on the brackets surface and flush with the platform.


Here are the two sets of steps. They were made by cutting a grid on the milling machine into 1/16" flat sheet and then cut into squares for the step plates. The T attachment plates were sawed and drilled (4 identical) with a small indexing hole for the tapered rod. The tapered rods were turned on the lathe to the proper length with an indexing shaft that press fit into the T bracket. The rods were then annealed (heated with a flame until turning red and then quench in water to soften) and bent to the correct shape following the plans. Then all were soldered together. The rods were filed flat where the step plate rested and once soldered the step plate underside was filed to the bevel needed.


Here the steps and Shuler spring were added to the platform.


This was then set aside for glue to dry to build the seat assemble.

Ken

[xken]

Stepping back a little here are all the basswood parts that were needed and that I used to draw the CAD filers for laser cutting.



Here I have drilled the first hole for the platform seat spring bracket and marking the second hole locations. This is where the drill jig comes in handy getting the holes centered through the 3/32" thick parts.

Both sets of brackets were drilled for the bolt locations and then the cast 00-90 bolts were added while the parts were all glued together. These are great castings and the threads are good enough the thread a nut onto.

This shows the carving of the angles needed to locate the sides and back of the seat walls with a couple of rounds of dry fitting to get good tight fits.

This shows the assembly of the seat side walls using the building square that will be provided in the kit.


I had to recreate an image showing the side walls being attached to the seat platform also with the seat rail attached. For reference the seat rail rod brass master was made using 3/64" rod, which is the smallest that can be cast with the part configurations required. Note even the holes in the mounting brackets were cast in place.


Ken

[GusSMHDV]

Ken - I am very taken with the 'kit' aspect of this build. This will, of course, allow many others to take great pleasure in putting together a vehicle that they can proudly display. In addition, I suspect that there are a rather large number of people who would love to build one (or like it) from scratch but for various reasons simply can't (no time?...no proper tools?....lack of knowledge/skill...etc). Completing the kit might well give them the 'push' needed to get into the hobby a bit deeper and start to explore and build on their own talents which will lead them to ...who knows where? Gerald Wingrove had to start somewhere after all

Congratulations on a job well done.

Cheers - Gus

[RickyGene]

I was reading on another forum your building of the prototype for ME.
I have built many types of models and just discovered the wonderful world of model wagons, thanks in part to Model Expo.
So know you have a fan here and I hope to soon be posting a Conestoga Wagon build here from a ME kit.
Again, I am happy to see you here and look forward to gleaning from your knowledge.
Rick

[3.Star]

Hello Ken,
does the moon care about howling wolves?

Cheers
Michael