Ric convinced me that a forum was a better place to start this. I can show my work and answer questions better. Later, I’ll finish the article so it’s more easily found. Today I stared with the wood sheathing. I “goofed” up to start with. I did the sides first, where I should have done the ends. The ends are really sandwiched between the sides and it’s easy if you start there. Then you can just sand each end flush with the side and you’re ready to go. I had to do a bit more cutting and fitting. Anyway, to answer Bart’s question, I’m using siding I got from Micro Mark. (http://www.micromark.com/SCRIBED-SHEATHING-3and16-SPACING-1and16-THICK-x-3-1and2-WIDE-x-24-LONG,7244.html). It’s a lot cheaper and much thinner than the siding from Ozark Miniatures. It also is scribed the wrong way, so you have to do some more cutting. But, this is why the acrylic frame is so nice - it provides a LOT of strength to the car. I cut the siding to the height of each side, allowing for a little extra. I glued each piece flush against the top end, leaving the extra at the bottom. Later, when the glue is dried I sand it flush with the bottom, creating a nice smooth and straight line.
The end piece is also straight across. I glued two pieces in place on the end and cut the angles after the glue dried, again sanding it flush with the roof line.
The reason I’m not too concerned with the fit and finish at the roof line is that this will be covered by the trim board. It’s starting to look like one of the AMS boxcars.
I think this is the neat part about these “kits”. I can easily decide what I want it to look like. For instance, I’m not sure right now if I’ll add the end doors like the AMS car. Also, I may decide to go with ladders at each end instead of grab irons. We’ll see.
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I’ll remove the couplers to paint, and when I re-install them I’ll put on the chains to the lift bars. I’ve got some strip wood that I’ll stain gray and use for the roof walks.
