A Look At – Building The LX050-OO Laser Cut Catenary Kits (Part Two – The Head Span)
Building The LX050-OO Catenary Kits -Part 2
(The Lattice Style Head Span – Pack C)
In second part of the catenary series in which we are looking at the LX050-OO catenary Laser Cut range of kits. This time it’s the lattice head span kit. So to recap on the previous article for those who may not of seen it:
The Scale Model Scenery catenary range of kits have been designed so can they can be mixed & matched. The range contains a ladder style mast, lattice style mast, lattice head span, castellated head span. Also included is head span expansion packs for both the castellated & lattice head spans. So the range will span any thing from a single, double, triple, quadruple tracks upwards.
All packs will build 10 pairs of masts or 10 double track headspans, or for the extension packs to span more than 2 tracks, they will do up to 20 triple track or 10 four track spans. Register arms, wirings & pulleys are not included with this kit (stay tuned for our tutorial fashioning your own!)
Each kit Contains: One or more sheets of Laser Cut Kit parts & instruction sheet. Designed for OO/HO scaled layouts.
For this article we assemble Pack C the lattice head span with the expansion spans article to follow…
Lets get started….
So as regular readers know by know here’s the tools & glue that you need:
- Cutting mat
- Craft knife with fresh sharp blades
- Roket card glue by Deluxe Materials or similar
- Steel rule or straight edge for cutting against
- Sanding stick
- Old cloth for wiping away excess glue
- Tweezers
- Acrylic paint (suitable grey or galvanized colour of your choice)
Familiarize your self with the parts on the kit parts sheet.
Lets Get Started….
In the head span kit pack a jig is included for use with assembling the lattice girder. The two sides fit into the base of the jig as shown on the right. It’s a nice tight friction fit so no glue is needed, just tap the sides fully home.
Start by cutting & removing one of the lattice sections as marked out in orange on the right. ONLY cut the pips that hold the head span to the parts sheet. DON’T cut through the pips on the fold joints.
Sand flush any pips off the edge of the part sides.
Cut & remove the two head span joining pieces marked out in orange on the right. Sand flush any pips on the parts edges.
Next identify which is the front & rear side of the head span sections. The rear side has the fold pips flush with the joint fold lines. The front side has the deeper recess with the joint fold pips in the bottom of the recess. You’ll notice that the front side is a little more shiny than the rear side.
We are going to be working on the rear side – the side with the fold pips being flush with the top of the fold joint lines.
Take one of the two head span joint pieces you cut & apply glue to one half as shown on the right. Place the half you’ve just glued on to the lattice frame so that one half is hanging clear. This hanging half will fit in to the second half of the head span. The long base edge sits along the outer edge of the head span as shown on the right.
Repeat with the second brace piece. This again over hangs as shown on the right but goes opposite way round to the first brace.
Run a bead of glue along the two fold lines as seen in the orange box on the right.
Place onto jig & start to fold the sides towards each other whilst at the same time pushing (what will be the girder bottom) into the jig.
The head span section should now be sitting in the jig like so on the right.
Run a bead of glue along the edge with the raised tabs as shown on the right.
Run a bead of glue along the fold line on the opposite side as shown on the right.
Now carefully fold the last section down making sure that the tabs fit into the recesses on the last section. All edges must be square & true.
Hold the fold piece down with a little pressure as shown on the right with the orange arrow.
Allow a little time for the glue to set & remove piece from the jig.
Run a bead of glue along the outside of the four fold lines to help reinforce the folds.
The assembly of the second half of the head span.
Run a bead of glue along the two fold lines as before. Again make sure the fold pips on the fold lines are flush with the fold line side you are working on.
Place into the jig & fold the two sides as shown.
As before run a bead of glue along the top edge with tabs & another along the other fold line.
Fold & hold the last side in place whilst glue sets a little.
Again to help reinforce the fold joints, apply a bead of glue along the outside on each of the four fold joints.
You now should have the two pieces of the head span assembled.
OPTION TIME..
If you are wanting to span two tracks read on…
If you are wanting to span three or more tracks please see part three of this catenary build series…
Spanning Two Tracks
To span two parallel tracks such as on a twin track mainline we’ll now assemble the two head spans.
Holding the joint brace pieces gently squeeze the ends together as shown on the right.
Apply glue to the outer sides of the two braces & along the four end edges of the lattice girder.
Carefully insert the brace sections into the other head span as shown on the right till the girder ends butt up to each other.
The butted joints should look like this.
Using a knife or flat blade screwdriver push & hold the two brace pieces flat against the insides of the girder.
Now run another bead of glue around the outside of the butt joint to further add strength. Place head span to one side to allow glue to set.
Four fitting to the masts go to part four of this catenary series.
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