Large Scale Central

Composite Boxcar

Modeling
#21

Bruce, how’s ya gonna load that thing??? :slight_smile: When I did the roofwalk supports for my Dolly Varden car, I cut strips of wood to length, crimped them in the middle with wire cutters, and bent them to match the peak of the roof. Once the glue dried, I ran the roof by a belt sander to sand the top peak off. Much easier than notching a bunch of roof supports.

This may not work quite as easily with styrene because it tends not to be as fond of the belt sander as wood, but I would think a sharp file would work just as easily. Instead of using wire cutters, just scoring the center of each block would be enough to bend or split it to match the peak of the roof. BTW, I love what y’all are doing with this car! Later, K

#22

Here’s 2 poor quality photos of the roof. The contrast is all wonky, but it gives you the idea. Styrene roof with styrene batens. next up are the roof walk supports… I may try Kevin’s idea.

Still waiting on more RTV to show up to make the mold for the doors.

#23

Forgive the intrusion into what looks like becoming a good model , but why do you wish to repeat the roof walk saddles all along the roof with accurate inverted “vee” shapes cut in ? I think you may find that you can only see the end ones complete , the ones positioned elsewhere only have a bit of the saddle showing , so a piece either side would suffice . Yes ? No ? Do not make the saddles too high , they really aren’t very thick because they only need to provide a level surface to walk on . Whatever , it’s looking good .

Mike

#24
Mike Morgan said:
... but why do you wish to repeat the roof walk saddles all along the roof with accurate inverted "vee" shapes cut in ?
Mike, in my case, because it's just as easy to do it that way than any other way. It probably took me all of 15 minutes to do the roofwalk supports, and that included waiting an extra few minutes for the glue to set up enough for the supports to be sanded on the belt sander. (It has a tendency to launch loose supports into a parallel universe.) I completely agree--notching each support to match the peak of the roof is tedious. That's what led me to come up with this method instead. I can be prototypic and efficient. Doesn't happen often...

Later,

K

#25

Would nt cutting in to the roof a little (2 slots) and putting a square section in be easier ?

#26
Rod Hayward said:
Would nt cutting in to the roof a little (2 slots) and putting a square section in be easier ?
Hmm...now that's interesting. Might be worth a shot on the next one.

So, anyone have any easy to make "support for the bottom of the brake staff " ideas? I’m sure there’s a RR term here…

#27

Rod ,
You have to be fiendishly accurate not to have a series of little cavities in the roof alongside the supports .They also have to be dead level . No , I wasn’t . Yes , I did .

Mike

#28

Ya mean something like that Bruce? I can get close ups of the piece if yer interesed. Its basically a plate with 4 bolts on it with whats basically a stirrip welded to it…theres a hole in the botom the stafff goed in , and on the real thening a retaing nut… DAng it Kevin…I’ve been trying to think up something like that litterally FER YEARS! Whodathunk it! Wonder if NASA has done any research on using “The V\Belt Sander Principlle” as a means of propulsion for exploration of alternate realities? Sometimes a Table saw can produce identicale results!

#29

That’s the part, Bart. I’m thinking of just using some brass strip to make one…

I’d be interested to hear about how you made it

#30

These may be of some help to you , they are the ones on the caboose in the other thread .

The brake staff bottom bearer has a hole at the bottom , the staff goes through , and a chain attached to the shaft is taken round the pulley block inboard of the bearer ,just below the hand wheel .thence to the brake operating rod . The pulley block is the piece partly hidden , it has an angled side to the left of the pic . Because this a a caboose , there is a flat bracket runs off the top of the buffer beam that has mounted on it a ratchet . This device is mounted on the little bracket at the top of the brake staff on a box car . If you want any more , I’ll try to help . Mike ps , just noticed another point of interest , nothing to do with brake gear , but everything to do with mounting couplers . You will notice that there is a wood shim in the top of the coupler pocket , it stops the coupler drooping and gets it to the correct height .

#31

I know about the part; I’ve used some I had on other cars. I can get one from Ozark Miniatures. I was just wondering if anyone had a slick way to build one…

#32

Well , the one in the photos came from Hartford , they sell them . Also all the rest of the brake gear .
I have made them , if you vertically bisect the square mounting plate that has the bolts in it , then "unfold " the thing , you can make a pattern out of brass , preferably softened . It is then a simple case of bending to suit . But if you can buy them , why not use your modelling time on something that you can’t buy ?

Mike

#33

Well, I may buy them in the future, but I didn’t want to wait until they showed up. Then again, I bent some brass strip, soldered a back to it, and there you go. Didn’t take long. Maybe doesn’t look as nice as the store bought, but it works.

Bob was having trouble with his door molds, so I went ahead and did some in styrene. Tedious.

And, it’s ready for the paint shop.

#34

Great, Bruce. I like your doors better than mine… Ill have to modify the mold and see if I can make a slightly thicker door…

#35

#36

That’s too funny, Bob. After talking with you, I made mine thinner! I’ve been using some .060 scribed siding for my other cars. I think these are .020 sheets with .040 strips on top. I’m really not sure how thick the sheet is…I guess I could measure it.

#37

Thats the stuff right there Bruce…on more modern cars that brake staff doohickey gets smaller and less pronounced…I guess with the advent of air brakes its doesn;t have to be as robust as id did with manual brakes…not haveing to take as much tension on itself. BTW Bruce…I’ll take my mojo back anytime! heheheh I’m redoing some things in The Shop thats been bugging me a while…then I suspect I’ll be off to the Races again!

#38

Bruce, I think the Brake Shaft Support Thingy looks great!

BTW, what is attached to it that operates the brake mechanism?

SteveF

#39

I go with imaginary brakes. My underbody detail is less than minimal. I figure if you can’t see it, no sense modeling it. So, there will be no chain for the brakes; there’d have to be something for it to connect to!

#40

Steve ,
you can see part of what’s attached on my cabosose a couple of posts above ,along with an explanation
Mike