molded-on rivets in the first level un- der the cut at the floor of the car as we will be changing the panel arrange- ment with the new sides.
Remove the top rib on the car ends to
Once the car ends match the prototype height, with its resulting 4/5 Dreadnaught end after the top rib is removed, strips of styrene are added inside the ends and along the roof interior to reinforce the body when the sides are replaced. Use the side thickness to locate the strips.
extension, Evans Auto-Loaders and with the 1937 white monogram. I started with Southern No. 40148 and used the Life-Like 50-foot single- door boxcar kit. This car was actually the last car I built as it took me a while to figure out how to approach a 50-foot car with a 10′-0″ inside height. I looked at the Red Caboose ten-foot cars but didn’t feel I could do the cuts properly and square them enough to hide the seams. Then, I discovered the new rivet decals by Archer and I was in business. The first step is to make this into a “flat kit” and remove six inches from the height of the ends. (I have a friend with a band saw, which worked nicely. The width of the cut measured just about six inches in HO scale, which is a straight cut and kept me from having to use a razor saw and filing to keep it square, not one of my strong points.) Make this cut right under the top rib of
the kit’s 5/5 Dreadnaught end, and go about ¹/₈″ into the car sides. Next, use a rotary tool with a saw blade to cut the sides out of the car. (Make sure you use safety glasses, and watch your fingers; the saw doesn’t care what is in its way!) Cut directly and carefully, as close as you safely can right under the rivet strip for the roof. Go all the way across. Now use a razor saw to cut just inside the rivet strip and seam for the ends but stop at the rivets at the bottom of the car side and side sill. The cut to free the sides is made
along the bottom of the carbody just un- der the line of rivets on the sides; you want to leave just a little of the bottom edge of the car side and the side sill. As you make this cut the sides will fall into two pieces, a top half and a bottom half. File the cuts smooth and true to keep the body putty filling around the new sides to a minimum. Also remove the
make this a 4/5 Dreadnaught end to match the prototype. Also remove what is left of the two partial ribs on either side and underneath the top rib and sand the area smooth. Now is also the time for drilling out the holes for the running board if you choose to do so. Once you are satisfied with the filing of the car to accept the new sides, glue the car back into one piece. I used short pieces of Evergreen Scale Models styrene strips cemented inside the end pieces to help align the ends for gluing them back together. I also used Ever- green .040″×.125″ glued inside the roof and ends to back the joints at the sides. See the photo. The original kit floor is re-used and it positions the new sides at the correct floor height. Add the kit’s weight and any additional weight you need to get the car to your standards and file off the catches on the tabs of the floor. This makes it a little more diffi- cult to detail the underbody later on but it does give a backstop for the sides. You may opt to add styrene filler strips to the lower sides as well to allow an easi-
The doors (left) are off-center on the car and are modeled with two cast resin doors from Westerfield. These were sanded to fit
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
the door tracks and applied directly to the new sides. The sides are cut from styrene with scribed panels and Archer rivets.
63
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100