Has anyone used sheet brass, copper or tinplate in making rolling stock? Need tips and info. I want to modify plans from april 1968 modelrailroader to make a tri level auto carrier in S and O scale[?]
Whoo! Now THAT’S sratchbuilding! I think you would have to go back to old copies of MR and RMC from the 1950’s to find info on such projects.
I recall as a teenage model railroader in the late 1950’s that an adult member of the club I belonged to had made an O scale outside braced boxcar that appeared in MR. I remember he made the crossbracing for the outside by cutting up tin cans and using the tin! I still find that facinating. These days the few modelers who do scratchbuilding would use premade structural shapes, not quite the same thing!
Good luck in your quest!
Bob Boudreau
There was a series on using sheet brass to scratchbuild locomotives in the 1990s, but there were more such articles back when there were fewer RTR locos available.
If you can hold off, BTS is considering a tri-level kit to accompany the just released S scale F85 flatcar. Option two, Quality Craft once produced a S kit for this
(and possibly O as well), I passed one up fully assembled, so there around.
Dave
Thanks for help and encouragement, Will try brass sheet but must invest in some tools( a vise, a brake, some files ect…).
When I was a kid my Dad and I would visit an O-scale railroad at the LA county fair.
There was a sign on the fascia panel stating how long it took to build each locomotive - supposedly many of them were 100% scratchbuilt. Now those were men!!!
Wow you think there would be more posts on scratch building on the mr forum[:0]
If I were going to do that I would get a resistance soldering unit so I could solder the mainy separate pieces without unsoldering my previous work.
You might also want to investigate a press and some dies to stamp out pieces since you will have many replicated pieces on the car.
That will be a lot of work for that project. I hope you aren’t modeling a unit auto train. 
Dave H.
Here’s a link to a brass project I did.
It may give you a few ideas on working with brass.
http://2guyzandsumtrains.com/Content/pa=showpage/pid=23.html
[8D][8D][8D] Thanks ray for the link to pictures [8D][8D][8D]
Got the latest walthers flyer and Saw a center beam flat that would also make a nice scratch build project. May be a year before I get around to trying out my ideas as I am a full time student looking for a job as well as going to school.