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Post by Christian on Nov 21, 2020 16:03:22 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar Kit By the way I’ve implied all along, but need to make very clear: I have found absolutely no problems with the conception, design and execution of this kit. I’ve spent time on the mistakes I have made simply because if a person is used to reading construction articles or following internet builds one might start to think that everything has to be perfect first time. Not at all true. I’m pretty sure most of us who build models can tell many stories of goofs, blunders and errors made along the way.
A second thing I have to be clear about is that the problems with the end I started whining about in the previous post and will continue whining about for the next couple of posts has nothing to do with the parts Cannon & Company have provided. The Branchline end is the closest possible part out there. It fits well with the addition of the material at the top. I see some things that bug me and I want to fix. You could ignore all my workings on the end and have a fine model. Likely there are three people in the hobby that would notice these end problems without large photographs sitting right beside the model.
Back to your regular program. These are the endsWe’re going to be working on the ends for a bit. When we left off I had some issues about the end castings that needed sleep to marinate. One issue I decided to ignore. One I decided to fix. There is still one big issue, but I think, as I’m typing, that it is going to be ignored. I didn’t get really far today. Some asthma days are good. Some aren't and the little dabs of Tamiya cement did me in for today. Darn. It’s really good stuff for a thick plastic cement. Photograph one is following the kit directions. The height of the side needs to be extended because of the overhanging roof. More on this roof a few days from now. Hussey calls for a strip of 0.020” X 0.040” strip cut roughly to length with a final trim to come later. I didn’t have that size, but did have HO scale 2 X 4. The thickness is the same so I used that. The instructions call for a notch in the center for a crisper bend at the peak. I used a couple swipes of a triangle file. The notches aren’t really visible in photo two, but they are there! I used Tamiya to stick them down as seen in photograph three. The Tamiya has been working out really well on this project since it seems less sensitive to the various formulas of polystyrene than my old friend, MEK. At this point I needed to know how everything would fit together. If I was to follow the directions at this point I would start assembling the box. I don’t do that assembly for real until I’m mostly done detailing, painting, aging, decaling, and weathering the side. Same MO as the Atomic Cafe Build some of you have already witnessed. Photo four shows the roller dots of removable tape I used for this temporary assembly. Masking tape might have worked but I didn’t want to fuss with seeing behind the tape that I might have put in the wrong place. I’m pressing the parts together against a square block in photograph five. Things were looking good in photo six. At the top corner I was following the photo that David Hussey linked in the post above this. More later on the top corner. I decided to test fit the underframe also shown in photograph six. It fit well. And showed me where the draft gear had to be located. Since I am going to use a Moloco gear there will be some work ahead cutting it into the Accurail underframe. But not today. Photo seven. Oh crap! The roof won't fit. It is fixed, but I’ll save you from seeing photos of that inglorious time. Photograph eight calls out some of the issues I have with the end. I’m pretty sure I’m going to live with the sill line/end discrepancy. But I intend to fill and re-cut the bottom of the end. Photo nine is close to the end of today’s work. I decided to just remove the rivets from the batten strip and leave the strip itself. I used a tool I made circa 1980 when there wasn't’ any way I could afford a Hasegawa chisel even if one were available back then. It is a 16d nail that I ground with my Dremel and inserted in a wooden doll head from a craft store. Photograph ten is a detail view of my homemade car end ladder and detail remover. Next up: filling and shaping the bottom of the ends.
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Post by Christian on Nov 23, 2020 6:41:25 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar KitFixing the end
This is yesterday morning’s post, but I just didn’t get around to writing it up. Things went a lot better and I’m now OK with the bottom of the end. All I had to do was fix it. I decided to fill in the bottom and do a bit of reshaping. Preserving the draft gear position. Photograph one shows the 0.040” X 0.040” and the 0.15” X 0.040” strips that I used at the bottom of the ends. I cut away a bit of the bottom flange thing to make for square cuts off the filling material. On the right. Photo two. I cut to fit pieces of the 0.15” X 0.040” strip to fit between the flange things. I use a thick chunk of plastic as a cutting surface. Kraft paper that I use to cover my work surface isn’t a great cutting surface. Photograph three. You can see the ledge on the back side of those bottom flange things. I cut to fit pieces of the 0.040” X 0.040” strip to fit on the ledges. Photo four – the 0.040” X 0.040” pieces are in place. Photograph five. The 0.15” X 0.040” strips are being cemented to the ends. I used the Tamiya again because the Branchline plastic doesn’t much like MEK. It works, but not very well. Photo six shows the filled and sanded ends. I didn’t use putty at this time. It is easier to see where things need filling after the parts are primed. Photograph seven. After letting the cement have some time I marked where I wanted to cat off the pieces I’d just installed. I kept cement off the center of the 0.040” X 0.040” strip to make this a bit easier. I made the cuts by simply chopping down with the single edge razor blade. Photo eight shows the finished for now bottom filler held onto the Moloco draft gear to have a look/see. I’ve indicated a future problem with the cast in place mounting pads for the bracket grabs that Branchline furnishes. It’s a question of carving them away or just closing my eyes and going with the incorrect grabs. I’ll tell you a secret: I’ve carved bits off enough ends in my life. I went with the bracket grabs. Not shown – I held the ends and sides together. The bit of chopping I did on the bottom also “raised” the ends closer to that weld line on the side. Not quite high enough, but without major surgery I am satisfied with that. Heck, who ever looks at the ends of boxcars anyway? Next time (today) I’ll continue detailing the ends with as much stuff as I can put in place and be relatively sure I wont knock those parts off as I continue.
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Post by TBird1958 on Nov 23, 2020 7:59:54 GMT -8
This thread is really helpful as I do plan on starting my own kit of this car pretty soon, your thorough documentation is greatly appreciated!
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Post by cannon on Nov 23, 2020 11:18:39 GMT -8
Christian I had never noticed the extra material at the bottom of the end. All of my images had that area in shadow. I like your solution. Might have to steal that. I’ll also be going back and examine the length of the vertical ribs and tweak the laser cut file.
Dave
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Post by wp8thsub on Nov 23, 2020 16:40:05 GMT -8
I’ve indicated a future problem with the cast in place mounting pads for the bracket grabs that Branchline furnishes. It’s a question of carving them away or just closing my eyes and going with the incorrect grabs. Having now built a few cars using Branchline ends, I've found it very easy to remove the offending plastic around the bracket grab locations. All of my cars have had ladders in that position, so the stock grab mounting would have looked even more out of place. A few minutes work with a scalpel blade, followed by some folded-over 320-grit sandpaper, eliminates all noticeable traces of the excess material.
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Post by Christian on Nov 24, 2020 17:12:10 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar Kit
Just Five Parts!!!I didn’t get a lot done today. I’m starting to get swamped with Thanksgiving and this won’t be a productive week at the model bench. The Just Five Parts did take some figurin’. Posing photos and all the other stuff before this appears on Atlas Rescue also takes some time. I think one more session after this will finish what I can do on the ends before assembly. The first thing I did this morning was tackle the grab that is right at the bottom of the end. The prototype looks like the bolt is through a minimum of metal. Puzzling out how I could get a good attachment has been on my mind for a couple of days. A common way of drilling hole right at the edge of material is to use wider material, drill and then trim. I decided that a kerf would give enough of a mechanical attachment to work for these grabs. Photograph one has weird lighting. I couldn’t get a photograph without my hand shading the objective. So I laid a flashlight on the bench-top and aimed it at the objective. Here I am using a needle and a BLMA grab drilling jig to mark the location of the grab on the bottom, bottom of the ends. I am using BLMA 18 scale inch 0.008” wire grabs. If you are using Details Associates or other grabs or courageously bending your own I'd suggest making a drilling jig from a scrap of plastic. The second photo shows a chisel which I pressed into the marks to give a guide for the saw. Not very far. Just a dent. Photograph three is posed to show that I used a Zona saw to cut the kerf. Not very far into the bottom - I pretended that I only went 0.008”. It was serendipity that the Zona blade is 0.008” thick and the BLMA grabs are also 0.008” thick. Photo four. I tried to avoid work by using the Branchline bracket grabs. They looked like a 1950’s boxcar grabs. So, I had to work. Doing just what Rob Spangler suggested in the post above, I carved off the bracket mountings. I used a curved blade and a folded bit of 340 grit paper. I finished with a folded bit of 600 grit paper and then the folded backside of that same paper to polish the area. It took less than two minutes each end. It looks rough in these huge photos, but it isn’t. I realized that as I was typing this that shooting a primer on these ends would make everything look cleaner in these build photographs. But, that won’t happen. I used a pin and the BLMA jig to mark the drill points in the newly cleaned area shown in photograph five. I pushed harder than usual since I am going to drill into the peak of some slippery bulges. You can also see the kerfs for the bottom grabs. Photo six shows the holes and the electric handpiece that I use for drilling into plastics. If the bit looks enormous, it is. (Think before drilling Tucker.) I usually keep a #80 bit on the drill and had no good reason to remember that I had recently been using a 0.020 bit. Of course I didn’t notice until I had drilled all four holes for these end grabs. Sure, I could plug and redo. But I know that doing that might make a bigger mess with the holes. I have yet to break a bit and I have used that setup for fifteen years. Well, unless I drop the handpiece and I have done that more than once. Its glue time! Photograph seven. I put a drop of CA on a parts bag and work with it for a very long time before it is too thick to continue. My trusty needle is the applicator. I used the blade from my machinist's square to pinch the trimmed bottom grab into the kerf. I put a speck on CA at the top of the wire. After that had set I could take away the blade and run a better coat of CA on the kerf itself. The other grabs got dipped in the CA as squished into the holes. I trimmed them after the CA had set. Photo eight is the sum of my progress today. Four grabs and a ladder. The blue ladder was from the Branchline sprue which came painted. I've been puzzling if it is a bad interpretation of PC green or something else. I’ll spare you the Thanksgiving preparations!!
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Post by valenciajim on Nov 26, 2020 11:09:02 GMT -8
This is a terrific thread demonstrating some great techniques on what will undoubtedly be a contest quality model!
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Post by Christian on Nov 27, 2020 16:06:36 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar Kit O.C.D. Strikes!After a day of being thankful for all we have been blessed I turned to the NP Boxcar. And, darn, the blessings ended. After a couple days away from the car I happened to look more carefully at the prototype photos showing the ends. I was aware of the Miner brake and had ordered the parts from Moloco. But all the other stuff in the photos below caught me. I’m not going to get away with using very much off the Branchline parts sprue. The ladder in the final photo in the above post will go first thing when I start working on the ends again. Grabs and ladder rungs align on both sides of a corner. David Hussey has correctly indicated the locations of the rungs on the side ladders. Spaced about 14” which means more rungs than the Branchline ladder with 18” spacing. A few years back this was called “the eight rung ladder dilemma.” Tichy makes the part and I ordered it a couple hours ago. Now I wait. Actually, I can’t really proceed with much on the B end because the brake rigging relies on the ladder placement. I’m writing this in the evening and at this time am thinking I have to move to a different part of the model. Photograph one is a cropping from a Steve Vincent photograph with some of my observations indicated. The second photo is a Chuck Zeiler photo cropping from the other corner of the B end with the rung spacing noted. As well as a couple other end details. EDIT: I just noticed that the lettering on the photos is blurry. I will replace them, but a few of you will see this before I get to it.
EDIT: Better.
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Post by slowfreight on Nov 28, 2020 7:36:29 GMT -8
The dual horizontal grab on the end was common for cars that had the roofwalks removed. I just added a pair to my latest model. But note that FRA did not require addition of a crossover platform at this time. Since the built-new approach was a single long grab with a center post, I think the dual grab may have been an effort to use stock parts but am not positive.
The L grab is mandatory on the roof of any car with full-height ladders, even if it had no roofwalk. It's a part of the roofwalk if so equipped. As you point out, I forgot to add mine to that latest car (ICG Centralia box car) until after it was painted.
Honestly, I struggle with level of effort on side/end grabs. The grabs should be at the same spacing and height on both sides of a corner. But I replace parts almost 100% of the time with Kadee side/end grabs. Even though the brackets don't line up, not every car has the s-bend on the end ladders, and sometimes the spacing is wrong, the Kadee parts just look *so* *nice*. To me, the fine quality overrides the occasional inaccuracy. After all, I don't strive to make every model on the layout a 100% model, or I'd never get through this mountain of unbuilt things!
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Post by Christian on Nov 28, 2020 16:19:08 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar Kit Wire Work
I got a shipping notice for my Tichy eight rung ladders last evening so I’m doing a bit more on the ends hoping that USPS can move the parts 200 miles before Christmas. slowfreight’s [sic] information on the double grabs called out in yesterday’s photographs moved those grabs into the must have column. Because I don’t like bending wire I used parts I had on hand. Namely, Detail Associates 22” and 27” grabs. The 27” grab is a bit short, but I’m not so enamored by this neat transition detail to actually bend my own 30” grabs! Another thing I avoid if possible is measuring. I prefer to BTF – Build To Fit. And to use a jig or template whenever possible. So, this episode is about a BTF template to layout the grabiron holes. I mentioned earlier that the Branchline hard and slippery plastic makes locating a hole at the peak of one of the bulges pretty difficult. Now I had eight holes to locate. This is one of those jobs that takes longer to read than to do. Photograph one starts the project with a bit of graph paper. Graph paper is handy stuff on the workbench. In this case I put the side on the paper one edge against a line. Then I scooched the end until the rib I wanted to drill is centered on one of the paper lines. Photo two – I traced the perimeter with a sharp pencil and then, photograph three – cut out the template with scissors. Cutting inside the lines. Photo four shows the line of removable tape dots I placed on the back of the desired rib. It sticks well enough that I didn’t feel a need to tape the whole template. I used a piece of EVA foam to back the template in photograph five. I discussed EVA at length in the Atomic Cafe Build.
Photo six shows why the foam backing. I first punched a hole at the location of the right leg of the 22” grab. I then pressed the grab into the template. The right leg of the 27” grab was marked and, again, I used the actual part to locate the final hole. Photograph seven isn’t super clear, but it shows the template pressed onto the end being careful to keep the grid line centered on the rib to be drilled. Photo eight shows the two punches I used to mark the drilling points on the SECOND end. I started with the needle in photograph nine and then used the heaver point to make the divots bigger. When I drilled the first side I had a bit of drill wander with just the needle points. Oops. Not far enough off to fill and re-drill. But that grab needed a twist after the CA had cured. Photo ten shows a drilled end. This time I made sure the #80 bit was in the drill. In photograph eleven the grabs are pressed in place. Eagle eyed readers will notice that the batten is gone between the upper and lower panel of the end pressings. I used my 16d nail chisel and sanding paper to take off the batten and polish the plastic. Photo twelve. Conventional wisdom (printed on the DA baggies and darned near every magazine construction article) is that the grabs should be spaced with a 0.030 gauge. The grabs in the photo I’m using for reference were a lot closer to the end sheets. I tried 0.020” and then settled on 0.015". Photograph thirteen. I left the 0.015" gauge in place and pinched the grab into the side against a steel block. Holding it I applied specks of CA to the protruding stems. And then on to the next grab. When they were cemented on the back I put speck of CA and the base of each grab leg on the face. After the CA was firm I used pliers seen in photo fourteen to twist the grabs into a straight line. I do this before cutting off the stubs so that I can put them back into the holes if I break the CA bond. I seem to do this a lot with grabs. Particularly the BLMA grabs which are soft and distort easily. Photograph fifteen is after I had nipped the stubs of the grabs on the backside of the ends. Tomorrow, tack boards on the ends. As seems to be too often the case with these cars these turned out to not be straight forward. Darn!
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Post by Christian on Dec 1, 2020 4:40:21 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar Kit Ends for now
Those darned prototype photos. Wasn’t life for the model builder a lot more simple before the internet! Back when we might have one photo out of a class of cars printed in Trains magazine? Times change and so does the hobby. Kicking and screaming the entire time! The tack boards indeed needed some thought, but there wasn’t any drama. Just modeling. Looking at a bunch of photographs zeroing in on the tack boards I noticed that they were all/most plywood in a metal frame rather than the conventional planks in a metal frame. I also noticed in the photos I have that the tack boards on the ends were unblemished. Whereas the ones on the doors were covered with paper bills. Lots of the door tack boards were missing altogether. And paper bills taped in the location. On the prototype I’m most following the area of the missing tack board was red primer. It looked like the car was primed, the tack boards fitted and then the green finish coat applied. When the tack board was removed there remained feathered red primer. And a paper bill looking much like a disposable diaper taped in the location. Photograph one is of the Branchline tack boards I decided to use on the ends. The planks are clear. The reason I started with these is that I wanted the preserve the frame showing at the ends. Photo two is the smear of putty on the tack boards. I discovered a new paint remover for Branchline details. Photograph three is of the cleaned tack boards with the paint sanded off the back side for glueing. Photo four shows the tack boards in place – cemented with Tamiya. I also took this time to putty the holes in the ends I’m pretty sure I won’t need. Above the ends is a slit in the paper which has been covering my work surface since the Atomic Cafe Build. It is getting pretty groody. The slit was working as a trap for all sorts of goodies. It had to go. Photograph five shows what’s under the paper. It is a solid vinyl floor-covering much used in the performing arts. Often under the slang, “Marley.” Now retired I no longer have a source for scrap so I’m pretty careful with what I have. Drafting board cover is a thinner version of the same stuff. And sorta pricey. Battleship linoleum is much better, but is gotten very expensive. Small pieces are readily available at art supply stores because battleship linoleum is used as a covering on blocks that are cut by print makers. So I use heavy kraft paper from the paint store over the Marley cushion. Back to work. Photo six shows the new covering with the ends ready to be cleaned. Photograph seven is of the cleaned ends which are ready for ladders and brake parts. Since the brake parts depend on the ladder for location I will set the ends aside for now. My USPS Informed Delivery notice indicates that the ladders will appear tomorrow. Photo eight is the next project. Molocolating the under frame.
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Post by TBird1958 on Dec 1, 2020 8:04:38 GMT -8
Christian, your attention to the finer details is impressive, I hope that i can follow in your footsteps when it comes time to put my kit together - great stuff so far, bring it on home!
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Post by slowfreight on Dec 1, 2020 11:45:21 GMT -8
I may follow your lead in many places on this car, but likely not with the underframe. I found with my previous Cannon car that the underframe details are just not visible at eye level. In the prototype photos, I could never pick out any under-car detail, so I was ok leaving them off.
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Post by Christian on Dec 1, 2020 16:21:58 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar Kit Scraping Away
Two chapters in one day? Do I hear an oink in the sky? I’ve been stalling on fitting the Moloco draft gear because it means carving into the Accurail under frame. So I did it. And a couple other things. Looking ahead and answering slowfreight’s comment – there isn’t much I’m going to do on the under frame. Only a bit of the triple valve shows in all the reference photos I have. Including one taken below track level. I think that the prototype is about three inches lower than the model. I can’t think of a good way to lower it without more work on the ends which is beyond me. I’m going to do the ends, plumbing and wire-work. All that stuff is visible. Speaking of the ends. Way back when, I mentioned that a test fitting indicated that the Accurail floor was the correct height for the Kadee gauge. All I needed to do was remove Accurail’s coupler pocket down to the floor level and fit the Moloco draft gear in place. First I needed to get serious about mounting the trucks. Photograph one pictures the longer screws I used. I bought an assortment of 2/56 screws a while back for not much money. I chose one that would not come through the floor, but would be close. I used the screw to “tap” the Accurail hole which was intended for a press fit peg. So long as I don’t get carried away with the driver this way of making threads works fine. The trucks will come off and back on lots of times during construction and finishing. Photo two is the test of height to confirm that the floor is the correct height. One end was right. The end pictured was a bit high. Of course. A bigger issue was that the trucks wobbled and the floor tilted. So I filed down the Accurail boss on one end until it was thinner than the wall of the hole in the Moloco trucks. Photograph three. This let me tighten this truck leaving only enough slack to pivot. The other truck can flop around all it wants and the car will stay level and track correctly. I turned to the draft gear. Photo four. The length needed to be cut to the same as the existing Accurail pocket. Photograph five shows that things don’t always work out. Photo six is the fix. Time to make a mess. Photo seven is of all the tools I grabbed to do the job. I took the plastic down to just leaving the wood grain in the floor. Photograph eight with the trucks back on shows that the height is correct on this end. As I type the other end is still virgin awaiting another day. On to the hole for mounting the Moloco screw. I used the square in photo nine to mark one axis. Photograph ten: I stuck a pencil in the draft gear hole and rubbed it against the bolster to mark the Y axis. Photo eleven. I punched the center and used a bit sized to allow me to make use of the screw as a tap again. Finally I screwed the pocket in place to see if it all fit. Photograph twelve. What I didn’t do is put the trucks back on, fit a Kadee coupler into the Moloco box, and run it up to the gauge. Another day.
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Post by Christian on Dec 3, 2020 10:16:34 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar Kit Boxcar Sausage Timid in Des Moines writes; “I see all those tools around the end of the underframe, but the next photo shows that the coupler pocket is gone. Whaaa?” In a reply to an off the forum question this episode of “How the Boxcar Churns” is brought to you by “sausage.” Building a model sometimes gets ugly. And removing that Accurail coupler pocket got really ugly. When we last visited I had only done one end. Timid’s (not a real name, of course!) question arrived in time to photograph the other end. Those of you with milling machines can skip right to the super-detailing at the end of this chapter. First I needed to get the top of the underframe flat by removing the lugs at each end. Photograph one show the result of clipping, chiseling and, well, that was it! Since I was using a couple of big files on this little underframe I clamped it firmly to my workbench as seen in photo two. First I used my trusty Zona saw to make a slit right along the bolster. The files, sanding blocks and scrapers would leave a bit of a filet without this cut. Or so I believed. Photograph three. Photo four shows the big bastard. As bastard files go this is a fairly fine cut. It makes quick work of the bits at the end. I stopped a long way from the end because this file has no finesse. I followed with a few strokes of a finer cut bastard and then a few strokes of a mill file. I turned to the Vallejo sanding blocks shown in photograph five. I left the grain in the underframe wood planks as the marker for deep enough. Photograph six shows the riffler I used to clean things up back by the bolster. I believe that rifflers - AKA “riffler files” - are an essential tool. They aren't very expensive and can get into places an ordinary file can’t. Finally in photo seven I turned to scrapers to smooth things out. A chisel blade in my Olfa knife and a single edge razor blade for the final scrape. The drilling and other work mounting the Moloco draft gear is the same as at the other end of the underframe. I left off the previous installment mentioning using a coupler to check everything out. And that’s what is next. I bobbitt my Kadees. Don’t use rail cutters or flush cutters for this. It will leave a notch in the cutter. Just use common diagonal cutters and watch your eyes if you aren’t wearing protection. Photograph eight. I assembled the Moloco pockets with Kadee #178’s and screwed them down to the underframe. I understand why the pockets use screws for assembly. You’ll notice that the white shim I put at the back of my first draft gear is missing. It fell right off despite having used Tamiya cement. I put the trucks on and rolled it up to the Kadee gauge. It is a universal truth that the first end of a car will always check out correctly and the second won’t. That was the case here. I pulled off the truck and gear at the low end and did some more sanding and file work. I put it all back together stripping one the coupler mounting screws. Still too low and the darn car wobbled and tilted. Photo nine shows the problem. The Accurail bolster “pad” just doesn’t give enough bearing surface for the Moloco truck seen at the top of the photo. So I sanded/filed it off flush to the top of the bolster. Photograph ten shows the result. Bingo. So I did the other end and put all of it back together. And, it also was correct. I checked back and forth several times because I just didn’t trust the result. It continued to match and the wobble was gone. All was/is not well. There is still a tilt. I eyeballed along the length and there is a twist in the underframe. Photo eleven shows the floating end as I held the other end firmly to the block. I’m pretty sure that this twist can be forced out when the underframe is cemented into the car sides. I don’t plan to do anything at this point. Besides I was super excited to get to the point of superdetailing the brake system. And photograph twelve shows the superdetailed brake system. I pressed the Accurail parts in place, checked with one of the sides and, indeed only a bit of these components is visible. Any other rigging would not be seen without picking up the car. I’m not big on picking up cars. Next time back to the ends. I’ve got the Tichy parts in hand.
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Post by Christian on Dec 4, 2020 12:00:55 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar Kit Back to the EndsThe Tichy ladders arrived and I finished the ends for now. After the box and floor are assembled there is more brake rigging. Interesting to me – there is no retaining valve with the high gear. That eliminates some fiddy part and wire work. I found plenty fiddy jobs with what I did today. First off – I thought I had the Plano high brake platforms in my Plano pile. I didn’t. So I went looking though my parts. The best looking was the Branchline part on the sprue that came with this kit. I’ve turned to that sprue many times so for and have not been successful in using the parts. Same with this step. Photograph one is the end with the step and it’s brackets. (I kept the brackets.) The platform met with typical Tucker disasters. I broke the part taking it from the sprue with nippers. I stripped it in alcohol and then attempted to glue the parts together. I used Micro Weld, MEK, and Tamiya. That darn Branchline plastic was not going to weld the pieces together. Finally I reached for Micro Kristal Klear. ( Canopy cement or Weldbond will work the same.) That worked after a fashion. I thought maybe the Branchline plastic might be ABS, but my Ambroid Pro Weld didn’t work any better than the others. The platform didn’t look very good. So I pulled off the platform and sent it to the trash can under my desk. Photo two. Back to my Plano pile. I did have a bunch of crossover platforms jumbled together in a bag. The one I chose is in the photo. I don’t know the part number. But I would not have chosen this part had I read the Cannon & Co parts list more carefully. I’m done mail ordering stuff for this project! In photograph three you can see the trimmed and shortened platform. The size was about right compared to end photos of the prototype. “About right” on these ends from heck means right on the mark! Photo four shows the cut out for the brake rod and chain. I used a chisel against a steel flat to cut these pieces. It was not good for the chisel blade. It worked and after a bit of sanding on the nubs and divots I attached it to the Branchline brackets with Kristal Klear. I turned to the power brake housing. Looking at pictures of the prototype I can identify Ajax, Universal and Miner power brakes from head on or silhouettes. The car I am following had Miner so that’s what I used. Specifically, Miner D-3290-XL. No, I’m not a brake nerd. Moloco had a part that matched the photo and I read the package! It is extra neat because of the lever on the side. Photograph five to the right. Photo six is the brake in place. It should have risers at the four corners. The ladders should have risers and the grabs should have bolts. 20 years ago I would have added those, no big deal. But, the days of a steady hand that could do that have passed. It’s a good thing this car has very dark paint. Lots of things can be overlooked in the murky shadows. Photograph seven is the back of the ladder. Showing the needed trimming. In every one of the prototype photos from the late seventies on show these end ladders quite bent and banged. The sort of damage that would look like bad model building without a photograph sitting by the car. I elected to keep them straight although the parts are certainly bendable. Photo eight, the long ladder is in place. Again, Kristal Klear. Photograph nine is the other end with a short ladder. The straps at the tops are small and look like afterthoughts. 0.005” X 0.010 styrene would have been about right and there isn’t any way I could manage that! So I used 0.010” rod. Kristal Klear again. Cut to length after an hour. Photo ten shows both ends as they are for now. There is still brake stuff on the B end which will be added after the floor is cemented into the body. Before taking the photo I went through all the joints made with Kristal Klear and added a speck of CA. Next up – I think – the plug doors on the sides.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Dec 4, 2020 15:05:20 GMT -8
Hi Christian, will you be adding levers and brake lines? Seems a bit inconsistent to use Moloco pockets, nice couplers and do all this heavy duty body work and not add brake lines and levers. Our models get picked up all the time and adding the lines provides additional modelling entertainment. Same with the air hoses at the ends and uncoupling levers.
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Post by Christian on Dec 5, 2020 0:44:56 GMT -8
Hi Christian, will you be adding levers and brake lines? Seems a bit inconsistent to use Moloco pockets, nice couplers and do all this heavy duty body work and not add brake lines and levers. Our models get picked up all the time and adding the lines provides additional modelling entertainment. Same with the air hoses at the ends and uncoupling levers. I'll do all the end stuff later in assembly. Not likely on the rest of the underbody doo dads. I don't pick up my models often. None of it is visible at eye level on the prototype, let alone the model. Then again, Moloco, Tichy and so forth make brake rigging fairly simple. So long as you don't have a prototype diagram of the components and just go with what is cut off the model sprues. I don't have a prototype diagram, I do have the parts, and it is really early days in the construction of this model. We'll see what happens. "Early Days!" [GASP]
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Post by sd40dash2 on Dec 5, 2020 4:58:14 GMT -8
Adding basic levers and lines is actually pretty simple. WAY easier than almost everything you've done to date on your NP box and a lot of brake rigging is certainly visible from the sides when at prototype track level. Do these photos help inspire?
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Post by markfj on Dec 5, 2020 5:11:45 GMT -8
This has got to be one of the top 5 build threads I’ve ever seen on this forum. Great information and close-up photos.
Hats off and thumbs up to Christian!
Thanks, Mark
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Post by slowfreight on Dec 5, 2020 5:33:56 GMT -8
Sd40dash2, you and I discussed this, and these cars with the side sills extending well below the ribs hide everything, even from down at rail height. If I could see it, I would add it but there really aren't visible parts beyond the very bottom of the reservoir, cylinder, and triple valve.
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Post by Christian on Dec 5, 2020 6:01:31 GMT -8
Adding basic levers and lines is actually pretty simple. WAY easier than almost everything you've done to date on your NP box and a lot of brake rigging is certainly visible from the sides when at prototype track level. Do these photos help inspire? Model photographs always inspire. I always see different ways of doing things. The first photo shows that I can indeed do brake rigging. But look at the second photo. This is a side view. Notice all the brake gizzards are hanging out for viewing. The third photo is a Matt Herson photograph showing the NP box prototype circa July 1986. (A month before my model building cutoff.) This is a low angle photograph. Notice that only the bottom of the triple valve is visible. Nothing else.
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Post by Christian on Dec 5, 2020 13:23:30 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar Kit Uneasy in Winnipeg writes, “What if that boxcar was on the DWP and had an accident and rolled over. Wouldn’t the Bureau de la sécurité des transports du Canada inspector notice that there were no brakes and have to go and lay down with a cloth over her/his/their eyes? Dear Uneasy, (A fake name if I ever saw one!) Sure I can do that. It will have to be simplified because the train has already left the station for some of the work. The essential levers and rods and some minor other plumbing will have to do. It is too late to put in a train line which would now mean hogging through a lot of underframe structural members. Photograph one shows some anticipated parts for this episode. Some were going to be used anyway at a later time. The Hi-Tech air hoses shown in photo two most closely matched the prototype photo I was using. The “bungee” cable needed to be removed. I marked, punched and drilled the mounting holes. I started out too close to the face. I marked again and drilled new holes. Out of six eventual holes, two were correct. Photograph three illustrates the “system” Hi-Tech uses. Nice theory. But these darned things are very, very thin rubber and don’t appreciate being told where to go. Or being gripped with tweezers. Or shoved into holes. I changed my visor to a stronger lens and that helped. I used globs of Kristal Klear in the pegs closest to the brake lever. With stronger magnification I was able to wrestle the hoses into the “new” front holes. I then took a break so that the glue could dry without my assistance and fiddling. Photo Four. Photograph five shows the CA accelerator I used after I put specks of CA on all the gluing spots forcing the rubber to submit. Be sure to move your baggie with the drop of CA way out of the way when you spritz accelerator. I decided to use the Moloco brake parts. The Tichy parts are superior and also include more of the brake system details. The Moloco parts are a lot like older Intermountain. Since the central part of the rods/levers is one piece and it really would not normally be seen, I went with Moloco. Photo six shows my beginning attempts to get these parts off the sprue without damage. Not well designed IMHO. I used my JLC saw on both sides to work my way through the gates. Photograph seven shows the rail nipper and parts of the heavy sprue that I cut away so that the JLC saw could get in more tightly. Look at how clunky the chain is molded. I got the part loose and cleaned it up with nippers and knife. Photo eight shows the lever/rod piece in place along with the reach rods to the trucks. I pulled off the Accurail brake cylinder and glued the Moloco to the mount. I cheat the reach rods at the trucks so that swing won’t be blocked. I decided to replace the AB valve with the Moloco part because the Accurail part was in the wrong place for a common car layout. It may have been fine for the Accurail car that donated the underframe. For some nutty reason I decided to put the pipe between the valve and the brake cylinder. I drilled the valve for the pipe before mounting it to the underframe in its own freshly drilled hole. I sure wish I had drilled the brake cylinder before I glued it all down. Photograph nine shows the cylinder which has been broken away to drill the hole. Photo ten is taken head on to the side showing all that can be seen at this time. Note that I didn’t get the cylinder glued back correctly. I fixed it and took photograph eleven. Here’s what I’ve been getting at for the past few days. I am holding the side in the correct place. Note that the super deep skirt hides all but a few scale inches of the AB valve and cylinder. Never the less, if I can contribute to peace north of the 49th by putting in brakes, it is the least I can do!
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Post by sd40dash2 on Dec 5, 2020 14:00:02 GMT -8
Outstanding! Keep up the great work!
P.S. I went through something similar to this many years ago when I started putting simple gear underneath everything. It has offered me more learning experiences and modelling enjoyment and I've never regretted it. I can see this isn't your first rodeo though and you have an impressing selection of parts on hand.
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Post by Christian on Dec 6, 2020 2:34:57 GMT -8
Not my first. At least I've stopped putting pipe elbows on the brake plumbing! OCD is interesting. Parts: When ever I make an order for something I need/want I pad that order with speculation. In this case I bought both Moloco and Tichy brake parts. The Moloco underbody brake parts were surprisingly average. They remind me of Intermountain parts sprues from back when Intermountain sold parts. I'll be using the Moloco end parts when I get back to those ends. Those parts of the Moloco sprue are fine. Having fooled with both the Moloco and Tichy I feel that the Cal-Scale parts which date to the 1960's are still the best out there. NOTE: I haven't tried Tangent brake parts which you have to drill down by specific car to find. The Tangent photos of the parts look good.
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Post by Christian on Dec 6, 2020 14:33:58 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar KitTracking
Finally working on the sides. It’s been awhile. I did some quick policing and then picked up the Cannon & Co instructions. I skipped making the box for now and next on the list were door tracks. That’s what this is all about. I got a little punchy toward the end and came to a stop. Tomorrow I’ll take a closer look and see what might need to be rebuilt. Doing photographs interrupts the flow and sometimes I don’t pick it up again very well. The door tracks are covered in both the main instructions and in the sheet of general Cannon boxcar notes. A template is part of the instructions. Hussey suggests making four and tossing two. Not a bad idea. I should probably have taken note. And away we go!Photograph one is me being a smarty pants. Hussey calls out the length for the upper door tracks in the instructions. So I set the caliper to that length and had at it. Truth of the matter is that these upper tracks can be cut to fit. There are etched marks on the top rail that mark them off. Kinda hard to make out photo two. Remember that there is a set back at the top for the overhanging roof. I wanted a steel edge right against the top rail so that the door guides would be flush at the top. The black under the ruler is a scrap of foam the same thickness as the sides with their braces. Much merriment with Micro Weld ensued. Photograph three is of the installed track for the sliding door. This is why I waited to cement the door until this point in the assembly rather than a few steps back as Hussey advises in the instructions. Photo four. Smarty pants strikes again. This is the upper part of the upper track for the plug door. Photograph five. The instructions call for a strip of 0.010” X 0.010” styrene. It is manufactured, but my usual sources were out of stock. So I made my own. I used a scrap of 0.010” black styrene that was longer than the pair of track that I needed. I squared up the cut edge so that at least three out of the four sides would be square. I didn't kid myself that the side I was going to cut would be square. Folks – this is a tiny strip of plastic. Really tiny. Photo six is posed to show how I made the cut. No caliper this time. Just a good ole eyeball. I was more careful to keep my fingers back from the edge than I was to make a square cut. Photograph seven shows the parts to finish the upper plug door track. A piece of 0.012" wire is used as a spacer between the 0.020" square strip and this 0.010” square strip. I slapped on the Micro Weld and photo eight shows the result. The lower door tracks are built up over a template in the instructions. Photograph nine is the backside of the template. I used removable tape to press the page flat against my work surface. Then I put a layer of removable tape right over the template as shown in photo ten. Photograph eleven shows me placing the pieces that will become the risers for the tracks. The plug and sliding door track have different risers. Twelve is the photo showing the installation of the rail. All this was eyeballed. I then weighted the tracks for an hour so that I wouldn’t fiddle with them. Deli wax paper over the tracks. On the left a scrap of 0.010” styrene since the left and right heights are different. Photograph thirteen. Photograph fourteen show me chopping the risers following the template. This is where I got sloppy and have to sleep in it over night. AND photo fifteen. The tracks posing with the sides. Tomorrow will be a new day! Profound, huh?
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Post by wp8thsub on Dec 6, 2020 15:37:15 GMT -8
A departure I make from the kit instructions is to build the lower door tracks directly on the car. For the examples I've built so far, the templates have been at least a bit off the necessary dimensions (probably to be expected from the printing process), so I mark the supports on the carbody, secure them first, then add the horizontal portion of the track. I made a jig for cutting the supports, and toss any that end up the wrong size. Assembly goes pretty fast.
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Post by Christian on Dec 8, 2020 6:31:05 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar Kit Doors and tracksI spent Monday looking at pictures of doors and studying what I was not happy about vis-à-vis the lower door tracks. Rob Spangler’s comment had me checking the length and questioning whether I needed to do a rebuild on those parts. So, instead of working on the model I read a deco/punk detective novel. Life isn’t all about trains, is it? Darned prototype photos got in the way again. Photograph one is a chunk out of a photo that I’m using for a reference. The sliding doors came to my attention Monday. Particularly the two tack boards. Photo two is of the Kadee doors furnished in the kit bundle from Cannon & Co. Almost all the prototype photos I viewed were similar to photo one – tack boards higher, closer together and the small one a bit larger. OR, totally missing on more that one car photo I collected. Carving tack boards off a door is one of those skills that I don’t really have anymore. And I’m fooling myself if I think I ever did have that skill! I thought that I could try one of the small boards and if I screwed it up I could cover the mess with one of the Branchline small tack boards that came in the bundle. Photograph three shows the tools I anticipated using. And I did use all of them. Photo four shows the result on the left. It’s OK – Branchline plastic looks awful in photos when it’s been violated. There was enough collateral damage and anxiety that I decided to not carve off any more. I did scrape the lines off the larger boards to simulate plywood. Photograph five is the cementing of the doors. I spaced them in the etched guidelines and checked with a square. When the Micro Weld had grabbed I trimmed the sub-wall at the bottom where a sliver crept past the door. Next came the tracks for the sliding doors. It looks wiggly in photo six, but checks out with a straight edge. And, photograph seven (short session today.) What I was unhappy about with the lower door tracks was that I eye trimmed the blocks under the track. The result was raggedy. THEN, I read Dave Hussey’s directions. He used a 0.020” spacer as a cut/chop guide. I took a look at what I had and it looked like most of mine were cut longer than 0.020”. So I used a 0.020” spacer after the MEK had set and trimmed the tracks. Now I’m OK with the look. The avocado is courtesy of my cell phone camera's new doodads. (At least, new to me!) Detailing the plug doors is next. Serendipity struck Sunday when TBird1958 posted unpainted photos of his Cannon SP boxcar build. Specifically the plug door bits. Doing those bits is next. Footnote: Indeed, the tracks were a bit short. I think that the door stops will cover the visual issue.
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Post by cannon on Dec 8, 2020 7:44:24 GMT -8
When all else fails, read my instructions. 😂 I’ve tried to do my best to make cars that are as close as possible and explain how to achieve those results without taking a dozen pages to do so. It is also rewarding to have modelers like Christian and Mark taking the time to share their results and point out any errors. Thanks guys Dave
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Post by csxt8400 on Dec 8, 2020 14:11:42 GMT -8
And here I am adding air hoses, standing back a bit, nodding head in success, and then figuring out what else I can accomplish with the last three hours of my day.
This is a very in depth tutorial of your tribulation, sir.
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