Hi all,
Scratchbuilding and kitbashing locos and rolling stock is one of my favourite aspects of the hobby, and On30 is a good scale for this. As such, about a third of the rolling stock on my layout is scratchbuilt. The most recent addition was a 16’ logging flatcar. This was built with the method I usually use for my scratchbuilt rolling stock. I’d like to share this method here, in case someone else finds it useful.
I started out with a Tichy Train Group HO scale 40’ boxcar chassis. This is from their outside-framed USRA boxcar kit, however they sell the chassis separately. It’s part no. 3019 on their website. This part comes with built-in coupler boxes and bolsters which need to be glued on. These ensure that the couplers and bodies are all at the same (correct) height, and also allow me to build rolling stock to a consistent (20’) length.
My first step was to remove the two hexagonal sockets cast into each end of the chassis. On the original kit they’re used to hold two nuts as weights, but here they won’t be needed. I carefully cut down as much as possible using a hobby knife, then use a file to remove the rest. In the above photo, the one on the left has been removed, and the one on the right is yet to be filed.
If I were making this a 20-foot car, my next step would be to cut off the two protrusions for the door sills in the middle of each side. In this case, however, I was making a 16-foot car.&
tb,
Thanks for sharing. It’s great that you break scratchbuilding down into many small steps. In many ways, scratchbuilding is a variety of small things, often simple, some times more complex, that accfumulate and pretty soon you have a model – and a nicely finished one, as I particularly admire that on models given my own limited skill in that area.
Gidday tb, I too would like to thank you for sharing your methods. I must admit that I thought that using the Tichy chassis as a starting point and then adding to it is a rather convoluted method but with more reflection can see your logic as it gives you constant correct heights, without going through the different convolutions that I do to achieve the same thing.
Besides the end results do far more than just speak for themselves; like your #7 kit bash, outstanding!!![bow]
Cheers, the Bear.[:)]
tbdanny!
Great models! Excellent and very thorough tutorial.
Thanks.
Dave
Interesting construction methods and you’ve certainly achieved good-looking results. [tup][tup]
I, too, wondered about the use of the Tichy underframe, though, and some of the construction methods, too. The following isn’t meant as a criticism, as your cars certainly look good, but is merely my thoughts, along with some suggestions.
If you use this car as a standard to set coupler heights, it would be much easier to simply duplicate the measurements involved, such as thickness of the bolsters and centreline of the car.
The entire car could then be built in styrene: A single piece of .060" sheet styrene (or two sheets laminated together) could replace the Tichy part and the end and side extensions, too. This would eliminate especially the side extensions, where ca is a less than reliable and often a not-very-permanent choice for such type of joints. Styrene-to-styrene joints using solvent-type cement are far more permanent, and such construction would permit the fishbelly underframe to also be of the same material.
While the car’s sides are intended to represent wood, they could be done as such in styrene, although a car with a steel fishbelly underframe would usually have steel sidesills, too. Regardless, you could have used strip styrene ( Evergreen ) to represent steel sides or used sandpaper and/or a razor saw to distress strip styrene to represent wood…again, the bonus in using this material is the strong bond offered by such all-styrene construction.
For weight, sheet lead is a good option. It can be cut with a utility knife and used either in sheet form to cover the underside of the floor to either side of the fishbelly frame, or rolled into a solid mass to
Thanks for posting this. I’ve been wanting to try something like this myself. I appreciate you sharing your efforts!
Scott