doctorwayne's New Years Resolution Challenge...

[doctorwayne]

Work continues on the boxcars. For some stupid reason I had forgotten to add tack boards to the cars' ends and doors, and for some even stupider reason , decided to make them built-up from five pieces for the larger ones and four pieces for the little ones. Normally, I do the "board" area as a single piece, with the two "metal" strips on the sides as separate parts.
The first task was to distress some 020"x.060" strip for the larger ones, and some .020"x.040" for the small ones. The metal channel of the side strips is represented by HO scale 2"x2", which was used in order to have the extra .002" thickness represent the thickness of the steel holding the "boards" in place.

Cutting thin stock to very short lengths on a NWSL chopper can be challenging, and I was soon as distressed as the prepared styrene strips.
Long ago, I began using a sheet of thin aluminum under the blade, in order to protect the Masonite cutting surface. It works well and doesn't affect blade life. However, the method for securing the stops for stock length is not especially positive, and I finally ended-up using a block of aluminum as the stop, securing it with a "Quick-Grip Handi-Clamp". Here's the set-up, along with the pieces needed to construct the large tackboards, to the left, and the small ones, at right:



Working on a sheet of glass, the boards were cemented together with one end pressed against a straightedge and a small brush loaded with lacquer thinner touched to the joints between boards at the free end. By the time all were so-assembled, they were dry and could be turned around so that the other end could be cemented. The next day, I used a #18 blade to lift the assembled boards from the glass, then added the "metal" ends. Here's a photo of a few, surprisingly even showing some of the woodgrain:



When not busy enjoying the tackboard construction, I amused myself preparing the Tichy ladders for the car sides and ends.



Both needed the mounting tabs removed and both needed to be shortened. I removed the bottom step, bottom rung, and the stiles up to just below the next rung up. For the end ladders, four 2"x2" blocks were added to the rear of the left-side stiles - this is to compensate for the thickness of the ribs onto which the right side stiles will be cemented.
For the side ladders, I cut three lengths of .010"x.020" strip styrene, then cemented them into the angles on the rear face of the stiles:



After cementing the ladders in place, I added pre-blackened Tichy drop-style grab irons below the side ladders, then used blackened .012" Detail Associates brass wire to form the straight grab irons for the left end of the cars' sides.
Here's how the cars look now:







The next task is to make some moulds for casting new weights for these cars. Once the weights have been installed, the cars will still need those Archer rivets to be applied, then it's off to the paint shop.

Wayne