Modeling a B&O P-31a TOFC flat car 1. 2.
1. Begin by drawing a pencil line 26′-9″ from the A end of the car, then cut the car apart using a razor saw and miter box. Do this to two flat car bodies. 2. Glue the two A ends together to make a car body 53′-6″. 3. To make the central well on the car, first draw pen- cil lines 3′-6″ in from each side, and 7′-0″ in from each end (car-
3.
body on right). Then mask off the deck along the lines to protect it while cutting (middle car). Finally, using a moto-tool with circu- lar saw blade or cut-off wheel, remove the unmasked deck sur- face (carbody on left). Finish it up with needle files. 4. Notch the ends of each board inside the well with a saw blade.
4.
to fit over the new bolster location. Find the length-wise center of the weight (e.g., ½ of the width, about .500″) and scribe a line. Measure in .315″ from each end, and scribe a line perpendicular to the centerline. This marks the new bolster location. Drill it out with a ⁵₁₆″ drill bit. Place masking tape over the old holes, and fill them with five minute epoxy. The side with the tape should face down when you do this and will then be the “up” side when placed in the car. Alternatively, you could cut two weights such that when placed in the car, they make one, longer weight. If you do this, however, you need a nice, clean cut that won’t show a visible seam in the well. I did the last two cars I built this way. Natu- rally, you would want to cut the weights to differing lengths so that this seam would not coincide with the seam in the two, even length, joined carbodies. Once the weights are pre- pared, glue them in place with cyano- acrylate. Now it’s time to assemble the new underframe. Cut the two underframes so you have two 26′-6″ long pieces, then pop the brake detail tree into each piece, and cut off the excess. Remember that each end should have differing brake details. (See Fig 5.) Now, glue
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each underframe piece into the joined carbodies, with cyanoacrylate. Don’t forget to brace under each coupler box with a square of 6″×12″, approximate- ly .315″ long. Finally, if there is any kind of gap where the two carbodies are joined, fill it with Squadron Green Putty, allow it to dry, and sand smooth. Distressing and adding texture to the deck is the next step. Begin by us- ing a razor saw at a forty-five degree angle and cutting the edge of each board apart. Once you have done that, use the razor saw to cut lightly across the deck to emphasize each board be- ing separate. Finally, using the saw teeth, a wire brush, a Micro-Mark dis- tresser/scratch brush, and/or your fa- vorite tool, distress the deck to add wood grain and weathering. At this point, you can also remove the cast-on stirrup steps and grab irons from the sides and ends, and install the trucks and couplers. I used the Athearn Bettendorf trucks
included in the kit, with Walthers’ Proto 2000 ribbed 33″ wheels, and Kadee No. 5 couplers, held in place with the At- hearn clip. I then drilled No. 76 holes into the bottoms of each side aligned with the rivets left from the cast-on stir- rup steps and, using cyanoacrylate, glued A-Line Style “A” stirrups in place.
The uprights are Evergreen No. 291 angle (.060″) cut 4′-0″ long (two pieces), 5′-0″ long (four pieces) and 2′-0″ long (18 pieces). Each upright will need to be notched slightly to fit into its desig- nated stake pocket. (See Fig. 9.) Fig 10 shows how the stake pockets are arranged down the length of the car. Note that the open end goes to the right, and that the notch is in the leg facing the outside of the car (e.g., to- wards you).
The pipe sections are made of .030″ brass rod, cut 48′-3″ long. I glued these into place by putting the car in my Panavise so that the angles I was at- taching the pipe to were horizontal and the inside face was up. Then I laid four pieces of 4″×6″×5′-0″ stripwood be- tween the deck and the pipe, and tacked the pipe onto the uprights with cyanoacrylate. After that set, I re- moved the wood, and tacked the pipe to the uprights that had been blocked by the wood. Once one pipe was in place on each side of the car, I went back and added the second pipe, repeating the process as above, except for placing the wood spacers between the first and second pipe.
Next up are the 10 zillion eye bolts on the deck, between the stake pockets, and supporting the brake wheel. I’m
NOVEMBER 2013
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