42 • O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> - Jul;y/Aug ’08
“whale belly”, or you’ll have two partial top and end assemblies and the new belly. Now it is time to determine your individual need to add weight. I, personally, do not. For me, the weight of Weaver die-cast trucks and Kadee® metal couplers is sufficient. My way is not as heavy as NMRA recommendations. You choose, but now is the time. Add your weight (if desired) then glue the three subassemblies together. The Sub-Frame Knowing that the cylindrical ends of the car are ten feet in diameter, I scribed an arc on a piece of 0.060” styrene to that dimension (2-1/2”) and, from the same center point, another arc 1/4” larger. I then made the somewhat crescent-shaped section (that becomes the web of the saddle) to fit. The flanges of the saddle are made from 1/4” x 0.030” styrene, long enough to fit the arc, plus about another 3/16”. The extra will be trimmed later. Now here comes a process which can be done (at least) two ways, either by cutting the crescent, or by cutting the center beam. At any rate, I’m not a measure-and-cut kind of person, more like a cut-to-fit kind of modeler. Some parts of the assembly are a bit like the old Popeye cartoons, where he’d throw the parts and nails up in the air and they’d come to earth assembled. To me, this is sort of how I approached the sub-frames. 3 4 The center beam of the frame has to be notched for the Kadee® coupler boxes. The trucks one chooses and the wheel diameter will determine the coupler pad height. This car should have 36” wheels, and that will influence the height of the coupler. That said, I shaped the 3/8” square styrene tube to fit the slope of the tank bottom. Let it be 3/4” to 1 inch longer than needed and just let it hang way out from the end of the car for the time being. Do both ends, and tack the tubing to the bottom of the car to determine the length needed to match up with the drawing. At this time, using a Kadee® coupler gage, cut the notch in the bottom of the beam for the coupler box. I then cut the square tube and glued the crescent web in place. Add a half-cylindrical piece of 1/8” tubing on the web where the truck screw will eventually be (refer to Photo 4). Now, the flanges can be glued to both of the web assemblies. You might prefer to leave the center beam in one piece and cut the saddle to fit the center beam. I can only say it’s personal preference. Mounting the coupler box, with a bit of structural integrity, is next. After setting the box in place and drilling with a #50 bit up through the box’s center hole, I screwed a 2- 56 screw down far enough to allow a nut to be spun on at the bottom of the box. A touch of CA will hold the screw for the time being. Remove the box, pour some baking soda in the opening of the bottom of the square tubing, solidify it with CA, and repeat until the space from the web of the saddle to the end of the center beam is solid baking soda and CA. You now have a solid anchor for the coupler box. Clip off the head of the screw up top and file smooth. Smoothing the Tank Car Body The heavy, major construction is finished. If you are a poor /sloppy modeler like me, it is now time to break out the Bondo (auto body filler) and some 200-grit wet/dry sandpaper. Eventually, you’ll get it smoothed out enough to go with something a little lighter. I used Squadron White Putty, and finally a quick-fill primer sealer (Photo 5). 5 Good modelers can skip the heavy filling and go directly to the white putty. Now, you’re ready for the process of installing the cross braces, those nine curious (to me at least) protrusions along the centerline of the trapezoidal flats. When reading the Mainline Modeler article, the explanation was that they are pipe cross braces, welded in place. Pipe is used for strength, and the ends are left open to help prevent rust from forming in the pipe. Anyway, July/Aug ’08 - O <strong>Scale</strong> <strong>Trains</strong> • 43