jeff train: naperville door prize

Sýnir færslur með efnisorðinu naperville door prize. Sýna allar færslur

fimmtudagur, 17. júlí 2014

Naperville Door Prize 2: Chicago Burlington & Quincy FM-11/11A Flatcar, 2000 Prototype Modelers Seminar Kit

Time for another Naperville Door Prize Project. In 2000 Sunshine Models surprised attendees not with a conversion kit (like the MoPac box shown here) but with the basic components for an entire CB&Q flat car.

The model is based on the CB&Q's FM-11 flat. The railroad built 850 of these "home-built" cars in its Galesburg (IL) shops between 1928-30 - indications are building flatcars like these were a great way to keep the shop crews employed during the Great Depression. Two virtually identical classes were built - the FM-11s (91000-91249) and the FM-11As - numbered 91250-91849. The one obvious difference was the trucks - the FM-11s had Andrews trucks while the FM-11As were equipped with AAR cast steel sideframe trucks (better known to modelers by the brand-name "Bettendorf"). In 1953, some of the cars were converted for early TOFC service.

A request for prototype photos on the Steam Era Freight Car list led to this one from Rob Adams - the instructions didn't include a prototype picture, so the project was stalled until I could find one: what I can tell the load is a pair of military trailers - I think they are generators but they're hidden beneath the tarp. Don't plan (at this point) to model the load - I'll be happy to get the flat built!

The door prize includes the basic parts needed to build the car - I'll need to supply the various detail parts.

The first step was to clean the resin parts in warm soapy water and then rinse them well. Assembly was extremely straightforward � remove the side stake pockets from the resin sheet, install a few additional resin parts including the coupler boxes, and drill holes and install two grabs on each end and one of each corner on the sides of the car.

I build most of my freight cars to run on the layout, not to enter a contest. This means I leave off the parts and underbody details that (1) interfere with operation or (2) can't be seen profile with the car sitting on the track. I might ignore Rule 2 sometimes, but never break, or bend Rule 1.

Flatcars are tricky since you have to get enough weight to get them to track reliably. You could weight a flat car by adding a heavy load, but it�s nice to have an empty car that tracks reliably.

I used A-Line "BB" style lead weights for this. The photo shows about half the weight in place. - I apply a thick coat of Canopy Glue to the "voids" between the center sill and cross stringers above the trucks. Then I dropped the "BBs" into the glue. I also filled the space between the two centersill halves with Canopy Glue and added more weight.
One assembly trick that you might find useful on a resin kit is this method for removing smaller details from the resin flash "sheet.". Before you spend hours anxiously trimming away the resin �flash� from the smaller detail pieces with a hobby knife try sanding it away.

I remove these pieces (in this case the 26 stake pocket castings on this car) by cutting about 3 or 4 stake pockets out from the main sheet. Then I gently rub the piece of sandpaper (in this case I'm using a sanding stick, since it's what I could find. Move the part in a gentle circular motion until the resin flash gets extremely thin � and you�ll find the pieces will pop right out!

laugardagur, 5. júlí 2014

Naperville Door Prize Project: 1 Missouri Pacific 1942 ACF 40-foot boxcar (2005 Naperville Gift)

One of the neat things about the Naperville Prototype Modelers meet were the "door prizes" provided every year by Sunshine Models (the company that founded and sponsored the meet).

Most of these consisted of a small sheet of resin parts (doors, ends, sills, sides, etc . . . ), a short instruction sheet, and decals if appropriate to convert a "stock" plastic kit into a different prototype. Most were boxcars, although there was a couple of hopper car conversions and even a complete CB&Q flatcar. In other years, it was a load of some type. One year we even got a set of coupler boxes and draft gear.

I started building some of these when before we moved into this house, and put them aside when I started building the layout. Now, with the layout up and running I've been getting these "half done" projects off the "in progress" shelf and onto the layout.

Missouri Pacific 1942 ACF 40-foot boxcar

2005 Naperville Gift

Here's a picture of the first of these door prize cars I built - a Missouri Pacific 40-foot, 10'-6" height boxcar. The basic car is an Intermountain Modified AAR boxcar kit - the Sunshine modification kit includes new doors, ends, and new sidesills. Here's some views of the car after I finished construction and before painting.

I used very little of the "stock" Intermountain car for this project. I replaced the Intermountain underbody details with Detail Associates parts and wire piping - my rule for piping is "if it interferes with tracking, or can't be readily seen with the car on the track - leave it off." I bent my rule a little bit on this model, and added some additional piping from the triple valve that frankly, is invisible unless you flip the car over! I also replaced the Intermountain roof with a Red Caboose Murphy rectangular panel roof since I think the panels on the Red Caboose roof look better than the stock Intermountain part.

Some of the other aftermarket parts can be seen in this view of the brake end. These include:

A-Line
Stirrup steps (these always outlast the styrene or Delrin ones!)
Plano:
Running board and brake platform - Plano
Kadee
Brake wheel
couplers
Detail Associates
Brake housing
Uncoupling levers
AB-brake set
Tack boards
Bracket grabs
Ladders
Grandt Line
Release valve
Intermountain
Body
Underframe
33" semi-scale wheelsets
Red Caboose
Murphy Rectangular Panel roof

The addition of the side sill was the trickiest part of this conversion. I glued it along the length of the Intermountain body (after removing the "tabs") but such a long butt joint was difficult to keep even. I need to do this same type of alteration with another of these conversions - I think I'll add a strip of styrene to the inside of the Intermountain sill that extends down enough to permit a gluing surface.
While not really "weathering" I added a painted over reweigh date that fits the era of my model railroad - often these patches didn't match the color of the car - they were also usually rolled on with little regard for making them square or too neat. I also added some chalk marks - these were done with Sunshine decals.

This one has been on the "in progress" shelf for a while. You might recall I had an issue with the clear acrylic finish (Testors) I used on this model - it dried streaky and white. I overcame that by applying a coat of Future floor polish. I blogged about that in this post. I followed that up this past week with some Tru-Color Flat finish.

The car is ready for final weathering. But that will have to wait until next week.