Heywood TOPS Kit from 6point5 minimum gauge

It's been a grey old day on the prairie, and once the Royal wedding was out of the way, and with little interest in the FA Cup final. I thought I'd try to assemble the pack of Heywood TOPS wagons from 6point5 minimum gauge. I've had them a while, I just hadn't had the time, what with moving house and everything associated with that. 

So let's take a look at the experience.
The kits arrive in a very nice looking box that belies the fact this is a small cottage industry.

A very nicely designed box.

The instructions too, are clear and well designed. I'm liking everything and I haven't even seen the parts yet.

Well designed instruction sheet

Then there's the parts themselves, all nicely presented in small clear bags. The 3D parts, wheels, etched brass detail and neodymium coupler magnets. I had no idea of the physical size of the parts or even what 3D printed parts looked like.

The 3D printed parts are small.

The parts were small, but perhaps a tad larger than I was expecting. As for my first impressions of 3D printed parts. I'd never seen anything like them before. They're not clean and smooth like injection moulded plastic parts, but rough and ridged from the 3D printing process. So I set to and followed the instructions by cleaning the parts up with varying degrees of wet'n'dry paper and cleaning them off in white spirits.

So, to the assembly. There's not much you can say about putting three parts together. The underframe and deck fitted together very nicely indeed. The locating ridges doing their job perfectly. These were my first kits of this type and I had no plans to make my tops removable so they were glued in place. As I put the parts together I noticed bowing on some of the surfaces, doubtlessly down to my bad sanding to start with. 

There was however one thing I had an issue with. Now I don't know if this too was down to my sanding to clean things up or what. 

The wheels fit in the frame with a lot of play (sloppy fit, I think is the technical term). The wheels fit really well and a wheeled up frame is very free running. I was most impressed. However, because the wheels fit so loosely, when the deck is in place and the wagon sits on the track, the wheels bind against the underside of the deck, and the wagons don't run at all.

The fix I came up with was quick, simple, and invisible. I glued a strip of .25mm x 1mm strip to the top of the underframe. See the video below for a demonstration of the problem and solution. 

Strips added to the frame to raise the deck to clear the wheels.

As I say in the video clip, I had one wagon assembled before I figured out the problem and how to solve it. I tried to disassemble the wagon, with little success other than breaking a buffer beam off. No worries, this is all a learning experience.

Next, was to add the tiny pieces of etched brass that represent the prototype locating ridges and corner strengthening plates. It was my first time gluing things this small with super glue, so that technique needs work as well. Still I was very happy with the way things went, so I make no apologies for posting couple of cliché photos of these OO6.5 TOPS resting on one of my Scratchbuilt Gn15 versions on Bachmann Thomas the Tank Engine troublesome trucks chassis.

TOPS in a TOPS

TOPS on top of a TOPS

I still have to add the end handles from brass wire, (the only thing not to come with the kit), the coupler magnets and then paint. I'll wait until I order another pack of the wagons then I'll do them all in a batch.

Overall, my first experience with 3D printed kits of any kind was positive. My experience with these from 6point5 minimum gauge just as much so, my one issue with the binding wheels aside. These are well thought out kits every single step of the way from the packaging to the kit construction. I recommend them. I will be ordering more soon.

UPDATE: I have since been informed by James Hilton, the kit designer, that indeed, It was my overzealous sanding of the top of the underframe that caused the wheels to bind on the underside of the wagon floor. Lesson learned for next time them.