I know I said this update will *probably* be of the finished car..
well..it isnt! 
sorry..
but its almost done!
 

New end platforms had to be built.
I used Grandt Line On3 end beams and railings.
Because the G.L. parts are designed for 3-foot gauge cars, they are too
wide for my 2-foot gauge car.
they are 47mm wide and I need them to be 41mm wide.
simple solution..chop out 6mm from the middle and glue them back together!

The original, unmodified beam is on the top,
the chopped one on the bottom:

Now new end platforms have to built from styrene.
cut two rectangles 14mm by 32mm by 1.5mm thick:
(I only used the 1.5mm because I happened to have it, but its pretty close
to what I needed..)

A few more bits of styrene make up the finished platforms.
and the G.L. end beams are glued on.
Left platform is top view.
Right platform is bottom view.

I use Plastruct "plastic weld" for any plastic-to-plastic gluing.
super-glue for anything else.

The location of the trucks had to be moved inward a few mm from the prototype
position, so they would clear the platform and still pivot properly.
On the prototype, the trucks actually sit *between* the platform supports!
but the curves of our model railroads always require some compromises..
this is one of them.
I doubt the difference will even be noticable.
they are moved inward 6mm from where they "should" be..
If I didnt tell you they were too far inside, I bet no one would have ever noticed!

New steps scratchbuilt from brass strips.
I used brass rather than styrene so I could bend the step supports into an "L" shape
to hold the step itself.

I used the Grandt platform handrails as-is.
the opening in the center between the two sets of handrails ends up being a bit
narrow, because of the 6mm taken out of the center of the end beam, but I can live with it! 
again, thats another example of "if you didnt know it was there, you probably wouldnt
have noticed"!
im giving away too many flaws! 
these are all just tiny compromises we have to make to build an operating model.
no model is ever 100% to scale anyway.
 
 

Since I have no immediate use for the Bachman On30 trucks, I chopped off the brakes
to add to my new trucks! makes a big difference in apperance!
I cut the brake shoes off of the Bachman trucks, built a brass strap connecting
the brake shoes, and glued the assembly to the trucks.

original, brakeless truck on the left.
new truck, with brakes, on the right.

How to attach the roof??
I didnt want to glue the roof on..because the bolts for the trucks extend up
into the coach body, im going to add seats, the window "glass" might fall off
someday...having a roof glued on is just asking for trouble..
Why taunt Murphy??..you know he will make you pay for it! 
you *know* you are going to need to get back inside someday for something!

so..I came up with a styrene "frame"..the outside dimension of the frame (37mm) is exactly
the same as the inside width of the coach body.

Then the new styrene frame is firmly glued to the underside of the roof,
making sure its all nice and centered.
Now that frame slides down into the coach, and since the outside of the frame
is the same width as the inside of the coach, and the coach walls naturally bend
inward a bit as well, the roof is held on quite tightly by pressure alone.
and can be easily lifted off as necessary.

Painting underway! 

I used Tamiya AS-13 Green (USAF) for the green of the coach body.
and Floquil 130601 Zinc Chromate Primer for the roof.
both are spray cans.
(the Floquil Z.C. primer is an *exact* match to the Floquil Oxide Red in the bottle)
Looks good!

almost done! 

Ok, the next update will *really* be of the finished car!
I mean it this time! 
 
 
 
 

On to Page 5! 
 
 
 
 
 

sscotsman@yahoo.com

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