cnw1961 challenge #1

[cnw1961]

Here is my entry. I want to build a wood boxcar like the accurail car in the pic. I want to use styrene, stripwood and some Tichy Train detail parts. I already scratchbuilt some structures and was satisfied with the results, but this is my first attempt to build a freight car – it might end as a monumental failure. In this first pic you can see how I started to build the styrene body. Next step will be to apply stripwood.

 

[eightyeightfan1]

Off to a great start...Can't wait to see the finished project.

 

[TruckLover]

Already better than I could do.

Good job Kurt :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Herc Driver]

Wow...I can't even glue stuff straight. Keep up with the pictures of your progress and tips how you're working things out along the way.

 

[cnw1961]

Thanks for your encouragement, but I am afraid, it’s the finish that counts, not the start., OK here are some more pics of my progress.
To build the body of the car I use .040 styrene. For finer detail I sue .020 or .012 styrene.
Before I started, I thought I should apply the stripwood right at the beginning, but now I see there are some other tings to be done first. First step: work on the ends of the body to prepare for Kadee coupler boxes.

 

[TruckLover]

Lookin Good :thumb:

 

[cnw1961]

To see if the coupler boxes are at the right height, I need to build the underframe and install the trucks. The underframe is made of strips of .040 styrene. For the thicker parts I glued the styrene in some layers and filed and sanded it until it had the right shape.

 

[cnw1961]

In the next pic you can see the underframe glued to the body, the holes for the trucks are already drilled.

 

[cnw1961]

I installed some Kadee Bettendorf trucks and put it on rails for the first time.

 

[N Gauger]

Oh Man - That's great!!!! And you need a good foundation (Start) to make the end come out right Dont sell yourself short - I've scrapped plenty of things part way through because i didnt start right

Great stuff so far!!!

 

[ezdays]

Hey, it ain't fair, you're gunna be done before I even decide what I'm going to do...

That's one fantastic start you have there I might add.:thumb: :thumb:

 

[cnw1961]

I didn’t plan to get so far this weekend, but I got carried away the moment I started. Now that the weekend is over, I’ll have to slow down.

O.K. One more update for today. I glued thin .040 stripwood to the sides. It really starts to look like a boxcar.

 

[eightyeightfan1]

Wow...That looks great!
And I thought I was humming along......

 

[cnw1961]

I did’nt make much progress today. I cut some .040 x .040 and .070 x .012 strips of styrene to make the braces on both ends of the body. And I installed coupler boxes and Kadee #58 couplers to see if they are working properly. That’s it for today.

 

[wickman]

Wow nice job it looks great with the strip wood I never realized this could be done. I'll have to show my son this thread he's 15 and very adventurous . I bin trying to line him up with summer RR tasks so far I have him pretty busy on the electrical end, but I bet he'd like to do something like this.

 

[cnw1961]

I continued to work on my boxcar today. The next step was to build the roof. I made it of .040 styrene. I didn’t cut two halves for the roof, I just made one piece, cut the styrene half way through in the middle and bend it along tihe cut. It is much easier to assemble it in one piece. I cut it slightly bigger than necessary to sand it down after assembling to achieve a perfect fit.

 

[cnw1961]

The roof should protrude .020 on both sides. To achieve this, I laid a sheet of .020 styrene on the sandig paper. Then I took the boxcar and laid it on the styrene with only the roof touching the sandiing paper. I sanded the roof until the side of the car was firmly touching the styrene.

 

[cnw1961]

In this pic you can see the result of my efforts. I am glad it is really looking like a boxcar now. I wasn’t so sure when I started this.

 

[jim currie]

looking great Kurt you guys are killing me i won't have the stuff i need to start till the end of the month

 

[wickman]

I bet that car has some descent weight to it she'll just humm along