Intermodal Challenge: Rebuilt 40' Gunderson Maxi III Stacks

[Donnell Wells]

A friend of mine gave me a set of undecorated Athearn Gunderson Maxi III bodies to experiment with. I decided to modify the 48' wells into 40' wells to represent the rebuilt Gunderson cars used by TTX and BNSF. Here's what I came up with:

[sd50f]

I like it. I've thought about doing that myself, but haven't had a chance to get my hands on the cars.

I did cut down an old Walthers Thrall double stack car to 40' before a model became available. It's still sitting in a box waiting for paint, decals, and details.

[Donnell Wells]

Here is the completed rebuilt Maxi III set next to an unmodified stock set.

[Deleted]

Apr 3, 2020 17:13:07 GMT -8 Donnell Wells said:

Here is the completed rebuilt Maxi III set next to an unodified stock set.

So how did you make the modifications?

[kentuckysouthernrwy]

Donnell, those are nice

[Donnell Wells]

Apr 3, 2020 21:51:36 GMT -8 @mmartin104 said:

So how did you make the modifications?

Hello Matt,

This modification is fairly simple and can actually be done with hand tools. Of course, most of us use the tools that we have at our disposal, so one could use just about any means necessary to reach the same end goal. And that goal is to essentially remove four scale feet from each end of the well.

In the accompanying photos, you will notice that I drew lines on the car to indicated where the cuts need to be made to shorten each well. To mark the lines shown in the photos, I took a small machinist's square and placed the stock (or body) of the square parallel to the bottom of the car and aligned the blade even with the outside edge of the side (container) load guide. This applies to both the intermediate and end wells. Then, I took a scale rule and made a mark four feet away from the first line. I realigned the blade of the square even with the mark and drew a second line. Repeat this step on each end of the car, and on both sides. The material between these lines must be removed, and the remaining sections cemented back together. That is pretty much it.

One other thing, you will note in the photos that a decorated car has marks near the ends that designate the different lengths of containers that can be place in the well. We are, in essence, removing the 45' and 48' container options, and, in theory, you could use these marks to locate your cut lines as they are accurate. The side load guides can be replaced with Plano parts or scratchbuilt from styrene after the cuts are made and everything is back together.

Some additional notes:

I used a NWSL True Sander to square up the ends the the well bodies and used a milling machine to square up the coupling ends of the cars before joining them back together. This actually made for the really nice and tight joints. I will add, however, that I have made splices before by hand that have come out just as nice. Just remember that handwork requires much patience and taking time to make sure that your cuts are square.

For the cementing process, I used Tamiya Extra Thin Cement. I cemented one side at a time, carefully aligning that side before applying the solvent. I let it cure for about five to ten minutes before aligning and cementing the opposite side.

[MrMRL]

Nice cuts! So what is your plan for the final paint job?

(a little inspiration below for you, from a similar project I tackled a couple years back from an Athearn Blue-Box 5x48 kit)




~ Mr. MRL

[Donnell Wells]

Hello Mr. MRL. The set you built looks great! I'll be doing TTX and BNSF.

Donnell