Very cool Eric. It’s almost a shame to sheath that beautiful frame. Maybe you need two. One unfinished parked outside your shops and another finished to roam the rails!
I got the car ends framed in and have started siding.
I sawed strips for siding from pine that I sawed from a tree that I cut next to the W&Q. Its fun to know right where the wood grew! It seems to be pretty good stuff too!
The strips were milled with a ship lap for the edges and a beaded edge to look like the prototype.
this is what it looks like on the end of the car. note that the prototype car had three widths of plank…now one living knows why though!
This afternoon, I finished the siding job and started on the roof. I had made enough strips to cover the ends, sides AND roof using the same stuff…of course I forgot about the door and had to mill some more wood oops! fortunately the tools were still set up.
and a view of the inside…the whole reason for building the frame:
Eric… What bits, and where did you get them, to mill the ship lap siding with bead work?
I love it and want to make some of my own, if I can get it to look right in 1:20.3.
I didn’t take any photos, should have, sorry about that.
I actually did it all using table saws. the basic plank is cut on my full size contractor’s table saw.
I then set up my mini saw with a wide kerf blade to mill the ship lap notches on each edge. I used a feather board and the fence to hold the strip in the right position to get a consistent size. I had to measure carefully so that the tongue was just less than half the total thickness.
the next step was to cut the decorative beading. I have a 0.016" kerf blade for my mini saw. The saw is an old Preac made on Long Island, NY. It is probably 20 years old but may no longer be available. the blade was manufactured as a slitting blade for metal work…stuff like making the slot in a flat head screw. they are available form machinist supply places in a huge variety of diameters, kerf widths and tooth sizes.
the beads were cut one slot at a time- for the whole batch of wood. the strips shown above were actually what I used for the Milk car in the first photos in the thread. they have two beads–4 slots. for the box car, I used strips with one bead, two slots. the first slot starts at the edge of the ship lap so a consistent groove shows. the second slot is a scale quarter inch away --something under a 16th of an inch in 7/8th scale.
Some more progress on the box car… the skiing and snowshoeing are not so good anymore…is spring coming?
I stained all the wood work with alcohol and ink and some rusty vinegar solution to get a dark slightly reddish look. then applied a little rubber cement in a few spots where I wanted the paint to be peeled. I sprayed the car with a fairly light but complete coat of “brick” red Rustoleum. the rubber cement peels off with a rub from an eraser ( or rubber sanding belt cleaner ) leaving the darkened wood showing.
the number was stenciled on using a foam brush and light gray acrylic (white with a dab of black). the stencil was cut from heavy printer paper printed with “stencil” font.
I made door hardware from brass strip. the door hangs from a wire track at the top behind the cover board.