39 - O Scale Trains Magazine Online

“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 Scale Trains • 43