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Post by Christian on Feb 5, 2021 9:02:00 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar Kit
This is it!
Photograph one shows the remaining parts. The roof grab and braces on the end ladder. Not much to say. (huh?) I bent wire, drilled holes, drilled the correct holes, cemented the parts. Not shown in detail are a lot of final dabs of paint. Photo two. And then it was gone! Way back on October 3rd I had no a clue as to how long this project would take. I would never have imagined 33,145 words, 1289 photos taken, and 404 photos posted. This has got to be the longest construction article ever published! The article is long but the construction really wasn’t. Each step I’ve posted was less than an hour of modeling time. Most right about a half hour. And I took many days off over the holidays. Lots of consternation in the build but it was all on the builder. Not the kit. Following the instructions will get you a beautiful car. I went further because I wanted to. A BIG thanks to all of you who chimed in with information and comments. Every bit of that was helpful. Photograph three. Early on I said that I wanted a model of Dave Hussey’s model. I’ve got one!
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Post by cannon on Feb 5, 2021 9:19:55 GMT -8
Christian, thanks so much for your efforts to build and showcase one on my kits. I really appreciate (most of the time) some of the errors and missing information in the instructions that you have pointed out. They made me go back and both make some revisions to the instructions and add more information to the pBase album.
Writing instructions is never easy. Since many of the cars I make are similar it is both easy and lazy to cut and paste some of the steps. Having someone do such a detailed build is both a godsend and millstone. I hope you didn’t scare too many folks off.
Thanks again for your efforts. The end result looks great.
Dave Hussey Cannon and Company
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Post by slowfreight on Feb 5, 2021 10:41:56 GMT -8
How did you do the corner grab on the roof? Is that a lift ring or a soldered post?
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Post by sd40dash2 on Feb 5, 2021 10:53:45 GMT -8
Hi Christian, many thanks for taking us through your boxcar project. The quality of your photos, tools, supplies and workmanship are all very humbling indeed. That your work holds up so well to the harsh digital camera lens is definitely a testament to your top skill level. Take a bow!
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Post by riogrande on Feb 5, 2021 10:54:16 GMT -8
Now it's just another grungy boxcar rolling by in a freight train. Wow, this has been very amazing to follow!
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Post by Christian on Feb 5, 2021 11:07:21 GMT -8
both a godsend and millstone. I hope you didn’t scare too many folks off. I sure didn't want to put Cannon & Co on the spot. I made screwups that weren't the fault of the kit. My intention was to show that the kits are easy to build if you take time and care. I got lots of help through my personal rough spots from folks who have built this or another Cannon & Co kit. As for the instructions: I found no fault with them and they got me through a couple of rough spots which would have been easier if I had read the instructions! One suggestion is to put the instructions on-line in a downloadable PDF file. That lets someone read before buying and lets a buyer understand all the bits and dribs that are needed to finish the kit. Bits and drabs including the paint used on the prototype models. Now that local hobby shops are pretty much a quaint relic of the past getting started on mail ordering all the finishing parts would be really helpful. I'm immensely satisfied with the build. I know that when I'm in the mood for another Cannon boxcar that I'll be able to slam right through it. No more waffles!
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Post by Christian on Feb 5, 2021 11:12:54 GMT -8
How did you do the corner grab on the roof? Is that a lift ring or a soldered post? I did the post first and trimmed it to length after the CA had set. Then the grab is CA'd to the post. It's not the most secure of joints, but It's not likely to get bumped unless I have a rollover. The hardest part of the job was getting three holes drilled in the right place. It took me four holes with a NBW to fill the oops hole. In retrospect, I should have made a little card template. I've done this sort of roof grab before and they seem to hold. Truth be known, I usually leave off the roof grab. But I couldn't do that with this build.
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Post by Christian on Feb 5, 2021 11:18:13 GMT -8
Hi Christian, many thanks for taking us through your boxcar project. The quality of your photos, tools, supplies and workmanship are all very humbling indeed. That your work holds up so well to the harsh digital camera lens is definitely a testament to your top skill level. Take a bow! Ouch! I banged my nose on the table. So much for a sitting bow. Your threads last year inspired me to first do the Atomic Cafe and then this build. They were not only a motivation to publicly build, but a motivation to finish a project before moving on. Yes folks, run for the storm cellar, I know my next project!!!
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Post by TBird1958 on Feb 5, 2021 11:40:10 GMT -8
Christian, very well done. There's a rare satisfaction that comes from completion of such a project - Cheers!
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Post by drsvelte on Feb 5, 2021 12:06:05 GMT -8
Thanks Christian, for posting such a detailed and informative model-building travelogue. Your self-deprecating humor added to the enjoyment along the way but clearly your craftsmanship is top-shelf. Crack out the bubbly!
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Post by champagnetrail on Feb 5, 2021 16:09:45 GMT -8
Writing instructions is never easy. Since many of the cars I make are similar it is both easy and lazy to cut and paste some of the steps. Having someone do such a detailed build is both a godsend and millstone. I hope you didn’t scare too many folks off. On the contrary, Dave. I think having someone go through a build like this on a forum where one can ask questions is more likely to give people some confidence to try one of your kits.
-pat
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Post by wp8thsub on Feb 5, 2021 21:37:25 GMT -8
Having someone do such a detailed build is both a godsend and millstone. I hope you didn’t scare too many folks off. The thread inspired me to get one of the same kits built, which is painted and awaiting decals. I'd suspect that most hobbyists willing to take on a project like this aren't scared easily, and the more ideas we can pick up from how others do it the better.
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Post by Christian on Feb 6, 2021 3:44:51 GMT -8
Cannon & Company Northern Pacific Boxcar Kit
It’s all over Some final (maybe!) notes.
Photos were taken with my Pixel 2 cellphone with two posted exceptions. There were from my Leica lensed Lumix. They were no better than the cellphone photographs and more cumbersome to take. I didn’t pay much attention to color balance because my workbench is a dogs breakfast of mixed lighting. From each session I chose photos that I though best satisfied my objective. Those photos were edited in Corel PHOTO-PAINT X5 (old.) Mostly for color balance. Some had contrast, intensity, saturation, or intensity tweaked. Plenty of free photo editors out there for computers or cellphones. The “fixed” photos were batch resized for web posting using a Microsoft picture resizer from MS Power Toys. Photographs are hosted on Imgur. Because of the quantity I felt guilty and have a little paid account with Imgur. (Paid wouldn’t be necessary except for guilt!) If you are a creature from the future reading this topic and all you see are broken links – I’m sorry. Way too many photos to move to another host.
The text was first composed and edited in LibreOffice Writer, a free clone of MS Office. It was then copied and pasted into the preview mode of the Atlas Rescue Forum (ProBoards.) Initial spelling and grammar check was in Libre. A second spell and grammar check was after pasting into Atlas by the free version of Grammarly. Because of a quirk between Libre and ProBoards some formatting issues weren't visible until after posting. So I immediately went back into ProBoards edit mode and fixed those problems. And other errors I didn’t notice sooner, like omitted photos. And, yes, I felt guilty taking up so much Atlas Rescue Forum space that I did a ProBoards subscription.
Today I finish clearing my workbench/desk and will look at the boxes on the shelves containing future model building challenges.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Feb 6, 2021 5:40:17 GMT -8
You forgot to mention the kitchen sink and the box. No mention and photos of the storage box for the finished model?
LOL
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Post by sd40dash2 on Aug 22, 2023 15:44:47 GMT -8
Reminder of this epic thread. Any more projects you wish to share with us like this, Christian?
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Post by Christian on Aug 23, 2023 1:34:05 GMT -8
Reminder of this epic thread. Any more projects you wish to share with us like this, Christian? Wow! A zombie topic. Nothing currently worth sharing. I'm watching cabooses and vans. As well as all other model building topics.
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