...lame attempt. This isn't actually a kitbash (feel free to disqualify it) as it only involves one "shake the bag" kit.

Well, two kits, but they're both the same and both were, as you can see, cheap :


Here's the parts which I used from the kit:


Here's those parts again, with a few extras added on:


The extra "boards" (for lettering) are strip styrene from Evergreen, with drop steps from A-Line and grab irons bent from .012" brass wire. The lower door runner is a piece of .015" music wire, allowing the doors to open:


As you can see, I used two different trucks on this car, (and another two different ones on the sister car). This used-up most of my "one-of-a-kind" trucks from the parts department and duplicates a situation at one time often seen on the real railroads.

Because the sides are so thin, I added styrene blocks to allow enough material to drill for the sill steps. The floor of the car was altered to suit:


Here's the "A" end, showing more custom-bent grabs, including those on the roof walk laterals:


And the "B" end, with a brake wheel from Tichy and a modified brake platform from Bowser. The brake staff is more .015" music wire, and the support brackets for the roofwalk and brake platform is .010"x.030" brass bar. I added .010"x.030" styrene tabs to represent the attachment points:


Paint and lettering, hopefully next week, will finish these two cars.

Wayne

Doesn't look lame to me!
Ralph

Great work, wayne. How did you make the roof grab irons?

"the support brackets for the roofwalk and brake platform is .010"x.030" brass bar. I added .010"x.030" styrene tabs to represent the attachment points:"

I have to ask, did the .010" X .030" styrene tabs actually create a stronger attachment than simply extending the bras bar stock?
I am assuming the styrene to styrene bond was easier to achieve.
........careful "Doc", I'm learning from you.

Sumpter250 Wrote:"the support brackets for the roofwalk and brake platform is .010"x.030" brass bar. I added .010"x.030" styrene tabs to represent the attachment points:"

I have to ask, did the .010" X .030" styrene tabs actually create a stronger attachment than simply extending the bras bar stock?
I am assuming the styrene to styrene bond was easier to achieve.
........careful "Doc", I'm learning from you.

The styrene tabs are simply for appearance - the brass, while only ca'ed to the underside of the running board, is inserted, on its lower ends, through the car's ends, bent-over, and ca'ed in place. You can see the bent-over tabs in the view showing the car's interior. The supports for the brake platform are also brass strip, both ends of which can also be seen in the same view (the two lower pairs). I found that strip styrene, while easier to get a stronger styrene-to-styrene bond with the car, sometimes can be more easily damaged, depending on how the car is stored when not on the layout.
I am not a big fan of ca unless I can also make a mechanical connection, as with these straps and the grab irons. The joint with the brass strip to the underside of the roofwalk end is a weak point, but should be easier to repair than strip styrene, which could be subject to breakage at a place other than the joint.

For attaching grabs, I bend and install all of them, then slip a spacer of suitable thickness between them and the car body, bending over the ends which protrude into the body shell. After all have been thus installed, I apply ca, using the tip of an otherwise-spent X-Acto #11 blade, to the area on the inside of the car. Capilliary action draws it into the joint (the same method is used for installing the sill steps - the steps are inserted into the pre-drilled holes, spaced at the correct height, then ca is applied to the point where the legs of the steps enter the holes - there is no excess to clean up and no struggle to get a ca-coated step or grab into the holes before the glue sets). By the way, the spacer should not be in place when the ca is applied - if it's at all in contact with the wire where it enters the hole, glue will be drawn through the hole and under the spacer, marring the visible surface of the car (and cementing the spacer to the car's side. )

Wayne

"By the way, the spacer should not be in place when the ca is applied - if it's at all in contact with the wire where it enters the hole, glue will be drawn through the hole and under the spacer, marring the visible surface of the car (and cementing the spacer to the car's side."

You mean I'm not the only one here that has "learned that lesson"?
Thank You for the "how to", I hadn't thought about using that technique, but it makes real sense, and is far better than "surface attachment" of those details.

I think that an even better method of mounting metal details is to "pin" it in place, as on these boxcars:


The brass mounting strips for the tackboards were drilled for .012" brass wire at the locations where there was a bolt on the prototype. A length of wire was then soldered in each hole, with a small amount protruding on the visible face of the strap and a longer length sticking out from the rear. After using a cut-off disc to trim the simulated "bolt heads" to length, the wire was inserted through holes in the car's end, and, while holding the assembly tightly in place, the protruding ends were bent-over inside the car. As before, ca was applied, from the inside, to all such joints.

Wayne

nachoman Wrote:How did you make the roof grab irons?

Sorry, Kevin, I missed your question earlier. :oops:

I made a jig for making roofwalk grabs, as I have so many of them to make. I'll post some pictures later, but the basic procedure is to make an open "eye" at the end of a length of .012" brass wire, then thread it onto another length of wire that has been bent into an "L". These are assembled on the jig, then soldered together while held by the jig. The arms of the "L" are then bent to suit the pre-drilled holes on the roofwalk lateral, adjusted for height with a spacer, then ca'ed in place. The jig holds four grabs, enough for two cars. I usual make a dozen or two at a time, so I usually have some on-hand.

Wayne

Okay DocWayne, this is just too much. How in the heck do you handle all the itty bitty parts and still keep them straight? And making pins out of wire so tiny you can hardly see it? And soldering it? Do you use a magnifier while doing all this?

Seriously, your detailing is some of the best I have ever seen. It's one of those things that I just can't get enough of.

Gary S Wrote:Okay DocWayne, this is just too much. How in the heck do you handle all the itty bitty parts and still keep them straight? And making pins out of wire so tiny you can hardly see it? And soldering it? Do you use a magnifier while doing all this?
Seriously, your detailing is some of the best I have ever seen. It's one of those things that I just can't get enough of.

Amazing, isn't it!

Assembly jigs are one sweet way of handling all the "itty bitty parts". the building of accurate and easily used jigs is an art, like any other, and extremely useful for any model builder. I'm still working on learning that art.
Optivisor! I've been using one of these since 1968. 5X magnification, I wouldn't be caught splicing an eye in sewing thread, without it!
As for soldering?, another learned skill, that needs some amount of practice to get right.
If you want to learn, Doctorwayne is one of the "people to keep a close eye on".
One thing I learned a long time ago is, "don't envy a skilled modelmaker", learn from him. It is because of folks like Doc', that I have been able to improve my own skills. As I've stated in other threads, when I see work of this quality, my first reaction is "It can be done!"..........my second reaction is, "so...I should be able to do it!".
My third and last "reaction" is, "first time failure" is to be expected............... keep trying!

Sumpter, thanks for the wise words.

Like you said, if docwayne can do it, anyone can do it!

Just kidding Wayne!

Geez, you guys are makin' me blush. :oops:

For a long time I was too lazy to make jigs, instead "making-do". Most jigs are simple constructions that usually take more time to dream up than they do to build. In the end, they'll save you tons of time (that you can waste elsewhere) and, if they're carefully constructed, will ensure more consistent results. (I still intend to post some pictures of a few, although most will require an in-progress demonstration to make them understandable.)

Gary S Wrote:Sumpter, thanks for the wise words.

Like you said, if docwayne can do it, anyone can do it!

Just kidding Wayne!

Actually, I believe that you're correct, Gary. I have no special skills beyond what anyone else has, and no "secret" techniques. There are many here who can do stuff that I wouldn't even dream of attempting. The key, in part, is the degree to which you want to accomplish something. If you're really interested in a subject, your projects related to it will likely be of a higher calibre that those that hold less interest. Some stuff we do because we "have to", and we often settle for our own personal version of "good enough" for those scenarios.
Of course, "good enough" can vary for each project (as well it should), although I find that if I "up" the value of good enough for one project, it tends to elevate it for most subsequent projects, too.
This can make it difficult to get projects done, as each becomes more involved, so it's a double-edged sword. Personally, I'll be glad to have all of the current freight car and locomotive projects done, so I can get back to working on the layout.

Wayne

This isn't a kitbash for you...After seeing your other work, this is just another "project".
Always great!

Thanks for the kind words, Ed, that's why I labelled my attempt "lame".

While painting a couple of locomotives, I managed to squeeze in these two cars, too:


My shop lights seem to be able to occasionally fool the camera - the previous picture is closer to the actual colour:


Wayne

It just dawned on me. This is O scale, right?

As usual, terrific work DocWayne.