# O.C.D. Railgon Scratchbuild



## DTI356 (Jan 3, 2008)

Hey all,

Well, I'm wrapping up the construction, and it'll be a little while before it gets painted and decaled.

Now the one teaser shot I'm posting.....I'm quite happy with the results.....more will follow, just not necessarily soon.

Enjoy!


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Sweet Brian Sweet..........


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## Dr G (Jan 16, 2008)

Brian, 

That is awsome!!!! I can't wait to see the rest of it. If I might ask, whose NBW castings are you using and the grab irons--did you bend them yourself? I am working on an endless Ortner hopper project and I am about at the stage I need grab irons. 

Matt


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## DTI356 (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks Nick and Matt,

Matt: The NBW's and the rivet heads I used are from Tichy Train Group.

I bent the Grab irons myself. I used .028 dia. brass wire. 

To get consistent results I cut a piece of 1/8" acrylic to the width of the inside of the grabirons (approx. 9/16" for the grabs I did). I softened the corners a little on the acrylic. Then clamp that in a vise and bend the wire around it. That makes it easy to get consistent width pieces.

As for the grabs that are then bent down I made another jig that gets clamped in a vice and establishes the depth and holds the vise open enough to slip the already bent grabs into...nest it at the proper dimension....then just pull down the legs. 

I found that doing it this way it was quite easy and fast to make all the grabs. I hope you understand my explanation.


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## Sourdoh (Jan 6, 2008)

Ozark Miniatures also has some grab irons that incorporate the NBWs into the casting. they come in several sizes. 

http://www.ozarkminiatures.com/Scripts/default.asp


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## Dr G (Jan 16, 2008)

Brian, 

That sort of makes sense, but I am a visual type. Got any pics of those jigs you made? 

Really would be appriciated. 

Thanks, 

Matt


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## DTI356 (Jan 3, 2008)

OK Matt,

I'll try to explain better with some pictures.

This picture shows both jigs (I use that term loosely....more like Primitive Pete tools)

I'm using a paper clip (also in the picture) for this demonstration since I don't need to bend up an extra brass piece just yet.

The clear piece is for the first bends and the grey one is for the secondary (turn down) bends. The white strip is .03 plastic placed the distance down from the top that is required for the second bend.










This picture shows the paper clip bent around the acrylic jig. Don't try to bend both legs at once. Do it one leg at a time. Hold it in place with your thumb.










Once that bend is done then that finishes some of the grabs. But for the others with the turn down bend you need the next jig. Here I'm putting it in the vice...lining up the top of the jig with the top of the vice.










Now feed the grab iron into the slot.










Press down on both legs as you push them over.










Tah-Dah! A finished grab that will always be the same width as the next one and the same depth of down-turn also.










Now, Just because I was walking past it with the camera here's a picture of it drying after the primer has been applied. Notice the 2 grabs on the side are the one bend type while the end grabs are the double bend type.










I hope this helps everyone.


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## up9018 (Jan 4, 2008)

Great looking model Brian.


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## Dr G (Jan 16, 2008)

Ahhh, said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw. That is simple and elegant!!! I'll be building a couple of them jigs!!! 

The rail gon is amazing as well. Can't wait to see the finished product. 

Thanks Brian, 

Matt


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## fsfazekas (Feb 19, 2008)

Brian - I looked over Tichy's web site but I didn't see any parts listed larger than O scale so what are you using ?


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## DTI356 (Jan 3, 2008)

Frank,

Overlook the advertised scale and look at the actual sizes. An example: the rivets I used at the bottom of the side ribs on the gondola are the Tichy #8077 - .06" dia rivets (that's about 1.75" in 1/29 scale) They make rivets up to .08" dia (just under 2.5" in 1/29) and down to really way too tiny.

As for the NBW that I used on the grab irons - Tichy #8080 (they say it's HO 4.5" across the flats of the hex nut - that's 1.5" in 1/29....perfect!)


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## fsfazekas (Feb 19, 2008)

Great Brian - that's what I was thinking you'd have to do


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