A Turnout - Part 2
The Saga continues… I let the CA dry overnight and then checked and re-glued any that were loose (there is always one).
I placed the tie plate guide on the template using the guide pins that are installed on the tie template. That was easy!
The tools I used to install the tie plates are shown below.
A toothpick with a pointy end and a blunt end.
Some small scissors*
Tweezers
Medium viscosity CA
Some Green Tape
Using scissors, I cut out the tie plates from the etchings one strip at a time, that way, the remaining tie plates remained in one big piece rather than a pile of millions hundreds of pieces.
I was also careful to note where the cosmetic pieces on the sides of the etching when wielding the scissors about.
Using a spare copy of the turnout template for reference, I placed the cut out tie plates in there correct orientation. There is a tiny D shaped hole in the tie plate and the curved part of the D points out, the flat part of the D faces to the inside.
I put some medium viscosity ca on the tape (better than trying to get the correct amount out of a bottle) and with a toothpick I placed a small drop of CA into the hole of the template on the tie where the tie plate would go. Using the tweezers I picked up the tie plate and placed it into the hole, pressing it down with the blunt end of the tooth pick. Then I lifted up the tie plate template to ensure 2 things: firstly, the template would come off without ripping the tie plate off, and secondly, I hadn’t glued the template to the turnout.
I repeated the process of installing the tie plates working from one end of the turnout. I just did a few at a ties time, as my mood suited me.
As I am modeling HO and not proto87 there the instructions say to cut the guardrail tie plates in half. I was worried about this for some reason and it turns out that the tie template is for HO scale. Makes it easy.
Here’s a guard rail tie plate as it comes in the kit, note the hole is bigger for the wider flange ways that HO requires.
So chop-chop it is:
The installed guard rail tie plates on the ties:
You may have notices that the tie plates, or frog strips haven’t been installed yet. Since I have the magnesium insert type frog, the instructions say to leave them for later. Which I shall do.
A few days later here’s the progress I had made:
I actually used this photograph to identity some CA that had leaked onto the ties. I used a chisel blade in and X-Acto knife to scrape the CA off the tie tops. Then followed up with a dab of India ink wash (the same one I used to stain the ties initially) from a brush.
To install the longer head block ties I had to remove the curvy tie template by cutting the tape holding it down and removing the spacers that hold it to the other side of the template.
This gives room to install the longer ties and still leaves the guide pins in place for the tie plate template.
I glued the longer ties down as before using the paper template below as a guide after trimming them to length and applying the India ink wash to them to cover the cut ends.
I also ensured that the moving thowbar piece would fit and slide between the head block ties. This is also when I realized that I had glued the Gauge Plates to the wrong tie. Whoops.
Using a chisel blade in the X-Acto knife u removed the misplaced plates and scraped the tie clean. I also scraped the CA off the back of the plates.
A little touch up with some India ink -- It will be our little secret
I let the ink dry for a few hours before adding the final tie plates.
After installing a bazillion 250-ish tie plates here is the method I used:
Step 1: A little drop of medium viscosity CA applied with the pointy end of a tooth pick.
Step 2: Drop in the tie plate using tweezers.
Alternatively you can moisten the blunt end of the tooth pick and pick up the tie plate that way.
Lick your finger, touch the blunt end of the tooth pick to your finger, then touch the tie plate – it should stick to the tooth pick. Don’t be tempted to lick the end of the tooth pick, bypassing the lick finger step.
Step 3: Press and hold the tie plate down using the blunt end of the tooth pick.
Step 4: Carefully lift the template up over the tie plate to ensure that the template is not glued down. Then put the tie plate template back down. You do want to survey your tie plates during this step and re-glue any that get knocked off. They tend to fall in between the ties so that’s a good place to start to looking for them.
And here it is! All the tie plates in the correct locations and ready for some rail.
I think I will build the frog next.
Andrew
* Note on scissors – use your own NOT your wife’s or mothers fabric scissors -- lest you end needing your SHED (Scared Husband Emergency Domicile).