Joe's 1/22 Artesania Latina San Francisco Cable Car

[flyjoe180]

I then painted this metal part, some sort of crank handle, and inserted it into a cog piece that is glued to the base against the rear middle section. Those who have experience of these cable cars might know what it is... (my guess is some sort of coupling crank?)





Close of play at this stage was:

[flyjoe180]

Then I reached a point where the build failed me a little. Reading the one other build report/review on the internet for this thing, it seems I was not alone...

At the rear of the Powell Street cable cars is a trellis-style retractable barrier. Seen here indicated by my rather obvious arrow:


These parts go to making up the trellis barrier. Nice, except those brass rods will need straightening, some brass strips will require shortening. That's pretty straight forward now and 'run of the mill' stuff having got so far into the build.


The strips are prepared, some cut to shorter lengths. No problems here, I'm ready to assemble the trellis.


For rivets, and to ensure movement of the barrier once assembled, Artesania Latina provide brass 'rivets' The theory is the 'rivet' is passed through the two pieces, as here, and then crimped using pliers to form a rivet. Seems pretty logical.


Nine attempts in, one okay, one that fell out after this photo, and seven complete failures.


Rivets need to be malleable by nature. It's important that the rivet is of a softer material than the substance it is securing. The problem here is that the brass rivets provided by the manufacturer have the appearance of short brass nails. Not only do they snap when compressed, they are stronger than the brass trips, causing bending and damage.

After hours of thinking, exploring and looking at my insufficient supply of brass 'rivets', I put this stage to one side, and continued with other aspects of the build. I have been unable to locate any 1 mm rivets that are suitable, or any jewelers/watchmaker nuts and bolts that may have worked in lieu of the supplied 'rivets'. I have since come up with a solution I think will work, which involve small sewing pins and jewelry making crimps. I will not be defeated by cheap or improper parts. Nothing to lose by trying, I'll revisit the trellis again soon. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I've prepared the next stages of the build. These are metal decorative corners for the front section, and an arm rest for the shorter length seat:


These boards will be attached to the sides of the cable car and painted black:


This is construction for the steps at the rear of the cable car:



All of these parts have been primed and will be painted black soon.

Thanks for checking in again mates, I'm off now for a cuppa and a breather before trying out my trellis-making alternative plan. :relieved:

[Mini Me]

Joe, your rivet problem is not uncommon. Amongst us aircraft types rivet swelling softer material is always a consideration. In your case I could recommend making the little b*ggers out of copper wire. Much softer than brass and given just enough length to form a bucktail they should not bend or "toenail" on you, provided the clearance holes are of close tolerance. Hope this helps. Rick H.

[flyjoe180]

Joe, your rivet problem is not uncommon. Amongst us aircraft types rivet swelling softer material is always a consideration. In your case I could recommend making the little b*ggers out of copper wire. Much softer than brass and given just enough length to form a bucktail they should not bend or "toenail" on you, provided the clearance holes are of close tolerance. Hope this helps. Rick H.

Thanks Rick, I'll file that for reference in case my solution doesn't work as expected. I do have some electrical copper wire handy too. Thanks mate.

[papa 695]

Some great work Joe, it's really coming together nicely, and looking very good. I hope you can sort the rivet problem out. Looking forward to the next update.

[Tim Marlow]

Just had a catch up on this. Great work so far on a really interesting build. Did you find out what the crank was for? I wondered if it was the mechanism used to grip the car on the cable, or the brake for when the cable was released when the car stopped?

[JR]

Some great work Joe.
Yes what was the crank for ?

[Guest]

Fantastic modelling Joe :smiling3:.

[dave]

Based on the older tramS in Brussels Tram museum, it is probably a brake for the rear wheels for use by the conductors on steep hills.

[Mini Me]

There is only one crewman aboard these little vehicles and that would be the "gripman" or cable car operator. He uses the grip lever (located between the opposing bench seats up front) to engage the cable (which is moving under ground) to get the car going. I have watched these guys operate these cars but never paid any attention as to how they stopped them, other than releasing the grip lever. As to the crank on the rear of the car platform....never seen it used that I can recall. UPDATE ALERT ! SWMBO (a former Bay Area Native) has just informed me that there were actually 2 crew members and the second one acted as Brakeman/Conductor and he rode on the rear platform. Never saw him as he was blocked by the closed compartment and the crowd of people standing at the rear of the car. Sorry for the confusion. Rick H.

[flyjoe180]

There is only one crewman aboard these little vehicles and that would be the "gripman" or cable car operator. He uses the grip lever (located between the opposing bench seats up front) to engage the cable (which is moving under ground) to get the car going. I have watched these guys operate these cars but never paid any attention as to how they stopped them, other than releasing the grip lever. As to the crank on the rear of the car platform....never seen it used that I can recall. UPDATE ALERT ! SWMBO (a former Bay Area Native) has just informed me that there were actually 2 crew members and the second one acted as Brakeman/Conductor and he rode on the rear platform. Never saw him as he was blocked by the closed compartment and the crowd of people standing at the rear of the car. Sorry for the confusion. Rick H.

Great, Thanks for the clarification Rick. I knew you might know, or in this case, SWMBO

[Jim R]

Hi Joe
This is coming together a real treat. It looks superb.
Jim

[flyjoe180]

I cracked on with things, but not as much time lately as I got stuck in Australia which caused more than a few issues on return home. All those things you saw earlier were painted black:


I created the arm rest for the front right passenger seat:


And glued it to the seat after a varnish job:


Next, the painted decorative metal corner parts (unsure what you would call these things, sort of what we here in NZ might describe as a 'Colonial look') were set into place. Some required resizing with a file, others just a light sanding to fit.

[flyjoe180]

Next up was a handle, and latch and bolt for the front door. Very tiny parts as you can see here next to this standard Humbrol 14ml tinlet


Handle, latch, and bolt mechanism installed:


Frustratingly the U bracket into which the bolt slides was a bit tight and so the mechanism doesn't open freely. That could have been my fault. But the door remains closed and still opens so at least it's functional.


The black step boxes and side bottoms painted earlier were brought together and the rubber mat installed into the steps.

[Mini Me]

Beautiful work on this Joe. Rick H.