Well, the main reason that the car was cut apart was to get the baggage door where I wanted it, as it was too far towards the front for what I had in mind.
It helps to consider how you'll hide those joints before making the cuts. If you look at the second b&w photo, the seams are at the front edge of the door for the postal section, and one panel behind the door of the baggage section. I used a razor saw to make the cuts, one side at a time, then cut across the floor. Because I had to later splice the frame section from the Athearn diesel into the floor, I wasn't too concerned about the cuts through the floor. I didn't want to remove any more material from the sides than was absolutely necessary, though, as that would have also necessitated shortening the roof. As it was, I had to file only a small amount from the front of the roof where it fits inside the carbody - this was later covered with a styrene facia. Once the sections were separated, I
very carefully dragged the cut surfaces across a sheet of medium grit sandpaper, taped to the top of the work bench. (By "dragged", I mean very slowly and deliberately, in one direction only - this decreases the chance of introducing an unwanted curve into the cut-line.)
If you look closely in the appropriate photos, you'll see that the edge of the body immediately in front of the postal door has no rivets: they're now part of a vertical double row of rivets one panel behind the baggage door. (The cut-out baggage section was turned 180 degrees to place the door closer to the passenger section of the car.) So, the front joint, ahead of the postal door, forms the front edge of the door - the seam at the bottom edge of the car has had a "kick plate" applied over it, leaving a short visible seam only above the top front corner of the door, in the letterboard area.
The seam one panel-width aft of the baggage door is
completely visible between the double vertical rivet lines, and also visible above and below there, in the sill and letterboard area. While the double rivet line is not particularly prototypical, rivets look more "natural" than a seam, and most viewers (I hope
ops
don't really notice. Of course, now
everyone will notice.
:-D:-D
I don't recall if I used any filler on those joints, but I doubt it, as sanding the surface would have also damaged the rivet detail in that area, making even a smooth joint more noticeable.
If you look at the shots of the interior, you'll notice that I used sheet styrene to reinforce the inside of the joints: the postal door itself is the reinforcement for that area, while that for the baggage door joint covers the entire wall area between the door and the partition for the seating area. The floor joint here is strengthened with a piece of .060" sheet styrene.
Here's a photo of a similar Rivarossi combine, with its door in the original location.
I've added some windows in the baggage section (taken from an Athearn Pullman), and added more windows in the passenger area (from New England Rail Services - this necessitated plating-over the transom windows and adding a new letterboard to disguise the alterations), but the car is otherwise "stock".
:-D
Wayne
