Amalynn Rolling Stock Kitbuild Challenge ‘24

[Amalynn]

For my entry I am building a kit for EBT Tank-on-flatcar 116 from Funaro & Camerlengo. This is my first resin kit so should be a fun challenge. So far I have taken stock of all the bits and I am aiming for having the kit ready for painting by the end.

[Amalynn]

Here you can see my instruments arrayed for battle. I have already cleared all of the flashing from the major molded components. The flat car frame is a little warped but I think should hopefully still be useable.


Closeup of the tank and special floor casting that represents the decking that attaches the tank to the car.

I did already make my first mistake in drilling the bolsters for truck screws. Both holes are off-center. I filled the holes with putty and am going to try again.

[Amalynn]

Got some more work done this evening.



Got some advise from a friend for getting the truck screw holes centered. She recommended using a punch or dental pick to make a pilot dimple and prevent the bit from wandering. Tried that and got two successful holes drilled and threaded for truck screws.



Then I drilled two #74 holes and added this tiny molded plastic stake pocket detail.



Here’s the whole side done.



And here’s all 12 installed. I’m gonna let the glue dry overnight while I try to work out how I am gonna weight the car and try tp get weights installed tomorrow, followed by the brake detailing. Any suggestions on weight would be much appreciated.

[tompm]

Nice job!

[Charlie B]

This looks like a great build. The punch is a good trick. I use a straight pin, it's amazing how those bits want to move around, even with a drill press. 

Charlie

[Amalynn]

Here’s today’s only real progress. I measured the car and added some weight. Unfortunately this is all I could fit in, at least for now. I’m hoping maybe I can figure out a solution to add more if it ends up being necessary… I used lead split shot fishing weights cut in half and mashed in pliers then white glued them in.

In the meantime I am having a bear of a time working out how to put the brakes together. The brake details are a sprue of Kadee’s KC brakes (normal K brakes, not the split K). The kit includes a poor drawing for the assembly. I found a couple grainy photos from Kadee and instructions from one of their kits but a number of the brackets for things aren’t included in the kit and I am at a loss as to whether to just skip them or what. I have a booklet which includes photos of the car’s brake rigging but can’t clearly see if anything needs brackets or bits. I’m also not entirely sure where the bits on the triple valve/reservoir are supposed to lead to.

[Amalynn]

I’m not sure why the image isn’t showing up.

[ezdays]

I’m not sure why the image isn’t showing up.

Not sure either, it appears to be a linked image, just like your others. Uploaded images to here do not have alpha characters. It may be too large, but then again, I think there's no restriction on linked images. You could try to upload it to Big Blue and if it's oversized, it will tell you.

[Amalynn]

I’m not sure why the image isn’t showing up.

Not sure either, it appears to be a linked image, just like your others. Uploaded images to here do not have alpha characters. It may be too large, but then again, I think there's no restriction on linked images. You could try to upload it to Big Blue and if it's oversized, it will tell you.

I can’t upload photos to Big Blue directly on mobile for some reason. Never been able to. Not sure why that is, either, actually

[ezdays]

I’m not sure why the image isn’t showing up.

Not sure either, it appears to be a linked image, just like your others. Uploaded images to here do not have alpha characters. It may be too large, but then again, I think there's no restriction on linked images. You could try to upload it to Big Blue and if it's oversized, it will tell you.

I can’t upload photos to Big Blue directly on mobile for some reason. Never been able to. Not sure why that is, either, actually

Do you know the size of the photo and the file size. It should be no bigger than 800 x 600 pixels and 500K in order to upload. Any larger and it won't. You can link to a larger photo, but that's all you can upload. I try to keep my files below 250K and most times, 640 x 480 will suffice.

[Amalynn]

I’m actually not, it’s whatever the default for my phone is I will do a bit of digging and see what I find.

[Amalynn]

Let’s try it now

[Amalynn]

Made more progress this home time:


Here the brake gear is installed


Stirrups are added


The grab iron on the stirrup added


The styrene sill extension is added


Grab irons on the end sill are added


Roughly painted the flatcar frame


Rough painting on the decking


Glued the decking to the frame


Vent added to the tank car dome


Handrails added to the end of the tank


And finally the tank drain pipe added

And the next steps are painting and decaling. I said my goal for the project was to get to this point so I am happy to have made it here. I understand if not 100% completing the kit means I fell short of the challenge parameters, but I am satisfied with this. Learned a lot of lessons in it all, too. I’m quite proud of the final product.

[TMo]

Welcome to the unfinished club! At least it's a good jumping off point and we can continue to share our post-Challenge progress.

[Amalynn]

I mean, I *did* at least meet my stated goal. That’s gotta be worth something, right?