Very nice job. I had to go back to the first post to figure out what scale it was - clearly too long for a narrow gauge car. Beautiful work! And reusing the roof makes a lot of sense - I've shortened and lengthened Accucraft Fn2 coaches to make models of different coaches.

Matt,

This was wonderful!  The end product, of course, is magnificent!  I am especially appreciative of your tips for railings and truss rods, as both items will factor prominently in returning a recent Craigslist find to service!

Eric

Hi guys,

Thank you so much for the compliments. They make it all worthwhile. And thanks Pete - I should have mentioned it is 1:29 scale. Can't wait to run a mixed train!

I worked last night and a little this evening wrapping things up. The truss rods have been painted green per Grande standards. The ends of the letterboards have been trimmed using a circle template (anyone else remember circle templates?) The roof end beams were cut from 1/16" basswood and attached to the roof.

For the roofing on this project I tried something different. I am using 220 grit sandpaper from Auto Body Now. It comes in a 2 3/4" wide roll, 20 yards long and is self-adhesive. I posted a link to a pic of the prototype from the Denver Public Library at the beginning of this thread, but even zoomed in all the way I am unable to see how the roofing was laid down. I began cutting strips and attaching them:

Bad idea. I sent a pic to my son. As he is wont to do when dad goes astray, he offered a gentle correction. He sent along the pic below of a narrow gauge coach that clearly shows how roofing was applied on the ends:

I cut approximately three million more strips of sandpaper and coated the rest of the roof. I can tell you that cutting sandpaper eats #11 X-Acto blades up in a hurry! Here's how the roof looked when completely covered:

I then spray painted the whole roof black. Next I added the roof vents and smokejacks, all from Ozark Miniatures. The sandpaper adhesive is not as fierce as I had hoped, and this evening I will be adding tiny drops of glue to the undersides of the roofing in spots:

I am still waiting for some marker lights from Shapeways, but once I add those this project will be complete. On to the next!

Cheers,

Matt

Matt:  Really nice.  

One comment regarding the choice of roofing material.  In my experience with using self-adhesive sandpapers for finishing work I would be concerned about their long term adhesion properties on your roof, especially the curved ends.  I'm assuming that you are using a product such as 3M's Stikit pressure sensitive adhesive paper and those are designed to be both easy to apply and remove from a smooth surface such as a sanding block.  I hope I'm wrong but I'd worry just how durable this will be over the long haul.

Mark

Thanks Mark. The adhesive was already on the sandpaper. I may have to re-do the whole thing; I will just see what happens.

Cheers,

Matt

Matt,  Some of us have had very good luck with masking tape.  It is forgiving to put on and, once painted, is very durable.

Doc

Loved your attempt to use sandpaper. When I made my boxcab they supplied some for the roof but recommended softening the roughness with paint, etc.

Matt,  Some of us have had very good luck with masking tape.  It is forgiving to put on and, once painted, is very durable.

This is JackThompson's "Tarpaper Tutorial" using masking tape.
http://4largescale.com/Thompson/49.htm

Kevin and I usually use aluminum duct tape, which is also self-adhesive. It doesn't have the same texture but it works.

Thank you for the tips and comments. I used aluminum duct tape on a past project, but one afternoon in the sun and it expanded a lot and had to be replaced. For this project I was trying to find a roofing material that could be outside for half a day or so, and maybe even endure a little rain.

I was able to fix the roof this morning using super glue gel. During my lunch break I took it for its first laps:

It's not going to spend much time playing in the snow, that's for sure! I'm calling it finished.

Cheers,

Matt

Ken Brunt said:

 

I agree. Nice job.

Wow!   That IS rather impressive.   Well done!

Beautiful!

Terrific work!

Rooster said:

Watching

Nice work and in about 30 days!!