HOn3 cars for TrainNut

[doctorwayne]

The truss rods would have made it very difficult. Plus, the instructions gave me a very good tip on the truss rods - glue the car sides to the floor before pulling the truss rods over the needle beams. This will stretch the "fishing line" truss rods so they don't look slack, without warping the floor! The instructions suggest leaving the cupola roof loose to allow for interior lighting using a battery. I don't know why someone would want to put interior lighting in this thing, the prototype did not even have a restroom!

You're right, Kevin: I didn't consider the truss rods. :oops: However, with the high position of the car's windows, you could have cemented .060" sheet styrene stiffeners to the top of the car's floor, their tops just below the sills of the windows. Placed on the outside edges of the floor, an interference fit would probably have obviated the need for screws.

Another idea for truss rods is to use clear monofilament fishing line of suitable size. If you mask the turnbuckles during airbrushing, then carefully brush-paint them afterwards, their centres will appear open. I like to tie-off the truss rod lines and cement the knot, but not cement them to the floor or the queenposts. By using a continuous line for all, it's a simple matter to add spacers under the line wherever it crosses the floor to form the next line, in the event that the lines need tightening (as did the prototype) over time.

Wayne