Kitbashing a Conrail-CNJ fire car
The rounded “coal boards” on the top of the tender side are cut to be even with the rear deck on the tender (left). Next, the top of the
chisel blade, and then remove the doors, cutting along the outer edges. A final cut can be made along the top edge of the doors. Once the doors have been re- moved, the top edge of the upper front slope sheet will need to be modified to accept the add-on roof. Make a cut on each side, sloping downward from the center to the outer edges to allow clear- ance for the roof edges to mount to the tender side walls. To complete kitbashing the body, re- move the mounting tabs, the grab mounting dimples and headlight from the rear of the tender, and then remove the three mounting “fins” from the ten- der deck. This can be all done using a chisel blade to make the cuts. The score line may be cleaned up using 1,000-grit sandpaper taking care not to remove the molded rivet detail. Once all the cuts have been sanded, the tender should be stripped in a plastic compati- ble stripper, such as Chameleon, then washed and fully dried before moving on to rebuilding the body.
When the CNJ converted the steam tender into the fire car, a roof was added over the coal bunker. Part of this
end is cut at an angle on both sides as shown (right). Finally, the doors in the end and the platform are removed from the tender shell.
conversion included adding a wall across the front of the tender to bring the height of the front even with the height of the sides. To add the side walls, cut .020″ sheet styrene to create wings for each side, cementing them in place in the beveled edge of the tender. To complete the front and rear walls of the coal bunker, cut two pieces of styrene sheet to the inside width of the tender, then mark these with a center peak so each is even. Cement one in place at the front of the tender and ce- ment the second in place directly in front of the rear deck. Thick styrene strip may be added to the joints inside the tender body as bracing if necessary. To finish the major body work, fill
the cutouts in the front wall using .020″ sheet styrene cut to fit in the openings and add strip styrene to bring the lower edge of the ends in line with the sides. Sand these strips to match the rounded contour of the ends. Once the large holes in the body have been filled, putty the joints, as well as the grab and ladder mounting holes on the body and tender deck; then sand these smooth using 1,000-grit sandpaper.
The large hole left from removing the headlight can be filled by cementing a piece of styrene rod in place, then cut- ting off the excess using a chisel blade. Prior to adding the roof to the car some thought should be given to a min- imal interior due to the large door opening at the front of the car. A false floor can be added to the tender floor, and to ease the transition a false step of styrene L angle slightly wider than the doorway can be cemented to the in- side of the tender body. Adding the roof is simply a matter of cutting .020″ sheet styrene to the width of the openings between the front and rear walls of the coal bunker and mark- ing the location of the peak. Scribe along the peak line, then bend the styrene at the scribe line and place the styrene back onto the car. Mark a cut line along the edge, remove the styrene, cut it to size and install it on the car cementing it in place from the interior. Once the roof has been installed file down any rough areas along the edges and the peak us- ing 1,000-grit sandpaper. The tender body can then be set aside.
Converting the IHC tender will re-
Styrene pieces are needed to fill out the corners where the coal boards end (left). A new piece to hold the peaked roof is then glued
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across the top of the end, and the gaps in the end wall at the bottom are filled (right). A new sill (square styrene) ties the bottom together.
FEBRUARY 2014
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