I have built quiet a few of these suckers… they require an extremely sharp knife blade, a steady hand, a great deal of patience and a chunk of good luck to get together without breaking anything. You will find spares for most of the more delicate things on the sprue but you do need to make sure you take your time and be prepared to walk away when it isn’t going to the plan.
They do look great when completed and are worth the effort IMO.
The easiest ways to reduce how much luck you need are to take your time and to use the right tools for the job.
I use three different cutting tools- a knife with a #11 Xacto blade, a pair of plastic parts nippers, and a single-edge razor blade. Which one I use to remove a particular part from a sprue depends on how much stress that part can tolerate. As Grubby says, the tools need to be sharp.
The #11 blade seems to impart the most stress (it has the widest blade), the parts nipper a lot less, and the razor blade the least (due to its narrower blade). As for which one to use to remove a given part, you really have to work that out on your own- after completing one or two kits choosing the right tool to remove a particular piece becomes almost instinctive. The key is to figure out which one causes the part to twist, bend or move the least as you make the cut. Some of the clues are visual, and some you have to learn by feel.
I also find it useful to have small wood or metal blocks to set beneath the sprue to support the part and the sprue as I cut the part off.
They are great kits. Try taking out all the brake rigging without snapping anything. When I built my first kit I broke several things. I emailed Branchline (email is on the box) and in a few days they sent me everything I broke FREE. Since then I used the right stuff, like a very sharp blade, to gently saw the small parts off.
I’ve managed to build several of them now. Yes they are delicate, but that just means you need to take your time. I use a #11 blade to remove the aprts frot he sprues without much trouble. You need to flip the sprue over many times o you care cutting in the way that produces the least stress on the parts. And work gently. I found that heatign the blade helps too. Do not saw back and forth. Once the parts are cut - if you are assembling a painted model, you will want to drill the holes out a bit. The holes for the ladders and grabs are the correct size - until the model is painted. The pant reduces the diameter of the hole and the grabs no longer just drop right in. Applying any pressure to force them in the holes will break them.
Of the kits I’ve built, from easiest to most difficult:
Athearn,Accurrail, Stewart, Branchline Yardmaster, Bowser, P2K box cars and mill gons, Branchline Blueprint, P2K tank cars. None of the P2k’s were the “Timesaver” versions. I haven’t put one of those together to see where they fall on the list.
I won’t buy another Branchline kit because the parts on sprues are simply way too brittle. I have used new blades and tried to be extremely careful, but to no avail. The first kit I tried to build was a total disaster. So I read about this same topic a while ago and decided to try another kit using all the tips mentioned above. Same result. For me, it was a big waste of money and a whole lot of frustration. Too bad, as they have some very interesting cars.
First off: [#welcome] to the forum! Good to have you aboard! [:)]
Agreed. The Branchline “Blueprint” series are wonderfully detailed kits but tend to be somewhat fragile. I have put together 4 or 5 of the reefers.
The key to successfully cutting the parts is to use a sharp#11 (or flush-cutting nippers) and a block of wood - like a 1 x 3. The wood will give you a hard surface to cut the parts on. Yes, sometimes those ladders and handrails can be a challenge NOT to break. I use the corner of the 1 x 3 and maneuver the large sprue to concentrate the pressure ONLY on that particular portion of the sprue.
zephirIT, take your time and don’t rush putting these together. I might suggest starting out with a “Yardmaster” series boxcar first, to see how you do. The Yardmaster kits are easier and cheaper to put together, and they are nearly as nicely detailed as the Blueprint series boxcars.
The only complaint I have with the “Blueprint line” from branchline is sometimes the quality control of what comes out of their plant.What I mean by this is,some of the paint jobs come out blotchy(silver roofs)I’ve gotten a orange RBL reefer with thin paint and lint in the paint. I friend of mine got a Erie boxcar with only one side printed!Dont ask me how he didnt notice this when he bought it[%-)] Now dont get me wrong about these kits.I really like them.Yes the parts are fragile and yes these kits are not for the first time modeler.But they are worth it in my opinion.Now what I dont get about these kits are whats up with the big nuts for weight.Cant they come up with a better system than that.
I did buy some “yardmaster” series and other kits before, and I didn’t have any problem at all! I switched to the blueprint to have something more “refined” - and as a sort of new challenge…
Of course I won’t give up with the blueprint series.
Another question: I found in both type of kits a couple of metal screw; they’re supposed (looking at the instruction kit) to hold the trucks. But they’ll NEVER fit into the designated holes. I used the other plastic pins I found in the kit. How did you solve this issue?
I don’t know what to tell you about the larger screws that came with the kit. The only thing that I can think of right off hand is that those screws may go to the coupler boxes. As far as the trucks, a 1/4" long, 2-56 (or 6 - 7mm long M2*) screw should do the trick. In my opinion, the beveled pins are pretty worthless.
Tom
P.S. *Davide, I think that’s right but best to double-check that equivalent.
[Update: 12:35 PM EST]
P.P.S. Davide, I did double-check that information above. The M2 screw ODs (.0787") appear to be slightly smaller than the 2-56 screw ODs (.086"). That’s less “biting power” for the screw in those holes but you might be okay. Since you are in Milan, obviously metric sizes will be more plentiful for you. However, if you do have access to “Standard” thread screws, the 2-56 is what you want. Hope that helps…
Also remember you can use metal grabs ect by others, I collect and build mdc cars from the mid 70’s, they had individual grabs ect. but were just stapels, tossed those and went to others and my compleated cars have been taken for wood kits, the additinal cost about a buck.
Tom
No joke about the worthless plastic pins for the trucks,Atlas did the same thing.Why in the world they went that route is beyond me.Using 2-56 screws is the only way to go.
G’day zephirIT, The advice you’ve been given so far is all good, and in line with my experience with the Branchline kits. I’ll add two more suggestions. If you haven’t already got one, try one of those “self-healing” rubber cutting mats as your working surface, I find that it is firm enough to cut against when using a knife or razor blade, but is just resilient enough to prevent small parts being damaged when too much pressure is applied accidentally. The other method that I find works well is to cut the sprue into small sections containing the individual part, and then cut the sprue away from the part, rather than cutting the part off the sprue. This often allows you better access to the part, and reduces the stress applied to delicate parts like, brake rigging, ladders and brake wheels. Anyway, if you persevere with the Blueprint kits, you’ll improve your model-building skills no end. All the best, Mark.
I have the “self-healing” cutting mat that you suggest and found that I was still breaking parts using it for more delicate kits. That’s why I suggested using the 1 x 3. It’s big enough to support the sprue frame and more firm than a cutting mat for removing the individual delicate parts.
Actually, come to think of it. I have my cutting mat on a folding card table and the tops of those can be somewhat overly “squishy”. Correction: If the cutting mat were on top of a hard, non-compliate surface of some kind, I think that would be fine.
Two things that help in cutting parts off sprues, besides Mark’s idea. Get the tweezer style sprue nippers, they are finer and fit in between many places on the parts sprue, Secondly, get some double edged razor blades, use thee or four layers of masking tape on one edge and use the other edge for cutting the more delicate parts off. The double edged blades are thinner than single edged blades and don’t put as much strain on the delicate parts like brake rigging. I’ve built a dozen and haven’t had a problem. Take your time, these are excellent cars.
I assume you mean two-sided single-edge blades. The “double-edge” blades are the ones that go in the newer razors and have 2 blades on one side. Single-edge razors have a single edge on each side of the blade.
Sorry, I’m not trying to be nitpicky. Just clarifying terminology. Good suggestion, by the way…[:)][tup]
tstage wrote: <“Mark, I have the “self-healing” cutting mat that you suggest and found that I was still breaking parts using it for more delicate kits. That’s why I suggested using the 1 x 3.”> As you noted, Tom, the cutting mat needs to be on a hard surface. But your 1x3 suggestion has got me thinking… Cheers, Mark.
BXCARMIKE wrote: <" Two things that help in cutting parts off sprues, besides Mark’s idea. Get the tweezer style sprue nippers…"> Yes Mike, I should have mentioned them. I have two pairs, and I couldn’t do without them now. I hadn’t thought of using a razor in the way you describe - it’s a great idea! Thanks, Mark.