Tips &
Instructions for| Home Purchase Kits Tips & Info About On30IMA Contact & Feedback Links Site Map |
The following
information and photographs are what I did to build the kit.
Your methods and needs may differ from this which is fine.
There
is no right or wrong way if you are used to scratch building.
The idea is to make a final model that fits your railroad. You can print these instructions by selecting them (highlight with your mouse) and choose 'Print', 'Selection' in your printer. Or you can copy and past into MS Word or similar program and print from there. I do recommend having trucks and couplers on hand so they can be used to determine your final dimensions. Most kits include grab & step irons, truss rod wire & turn buckles and other various items for each particular car. You can add additional items as you desire. Most detail parts are available from Grandt Line, Tichy and others. You can also modify the wood parts to get a shorter or narrower car, or you may want to make a full width bolster or you might want to add a name board or an end beam. The point is, make it your own. Now for my tips. style="color: black; font-family: Century;"> Stock
Car Assembly
Make
sure you have all the parts shown in the photo. Any
missing
parts will be sent free of cost. Also, have your
trucks and
couplers on hand so you can complete your assembly to work with
them. Some of your parts and modifications will
depend on
these and on you making them match the other cars on your
railroad. The procedures given here is how I built
the
model. You may find better methods and of course
are free
to use what works for you. Just try not to get
ahead of
yourself and get blocked into a corner. Note: I have made some changes to the kit since this was built. Side bracing and diagonals are in the kit as stripwood and must be cut to length. The door slats are in a horizontal orientation and diagonal braces (included) should be added accordingly. Bracing for the ends is also included. The ends are NOT notched as shown in the old assembly, just a butt joint is used. And there now is sliding door hardware in the kit. Finishing & Details Reference: The following link is to photos on Mario Rapinett's website and has some fine photos of D&RGW and C&S stock cars. If you want to know how to detail or weather a stock car, you can find it here. Stockcar-Golden,CO   Stain or color all parts, (I use A&I lightly first on both sides to prevent warping). You can also choose to paint your sides, ends and floor before assembly. Excessive A/I on the floor, ends or roof will cause expansion of the part. You will need to cut the side and end braces to length and glue these to the sides and ends. You should also add the diagonal bracing to each side and end now. Next, using a #77 drill, drill the holes through the braces for the grab irons, from the inside of the walls and ends using the existing holes as guides. The grab irons are included in the kit. Put a drop of super glue on the ends of each iron inside the car. Use a piece of scrap .062 (1/16") siding scrap as a spacer by slipping it under the grab irons. After the side grabs are glued, clip the inside ends at the corner edges as these will hit and interfere when you try to put the sides and ends together.   Next, add the needle beams and queenposts to the frame. Mark the needle beams for the queenpost holes using the engraved marks on the top of the frame for a location guide. Glue the needle beams located 1/3 of the distance from each bolster. Drill the needle beams with a #58 (.042) drill. Insert the queenposts and glue with CA (super glue). You can use the round wood spacer on the bolster or make your own tapered full width bolster spacers, as I did. I needed the extra height for my trucks’ 24” wheels to clear the truss rods. If you use trucks with smaller wheels, this may not be necessary. Each builder may be different.   You need to decide how the ends of your truss rods will terminate. You can drill holes through the end of the frame and into the bolsters as the prototype is made. If you do this you will have to supply your own wire/nylon line. Or do as I did, there are grooves on the top surface of the bolster to accept the ends of the rods. Make sure your holes or grooves are centered in each open bay and align with the queen posts. The laser scribed grooves need to be about 1/8 of the depth of the bolster. Next, I used .025 brass wire in the kit (you can use any size around that diameter that will fit your turnbuckles) and cut four pieces to a length, a little longer than from bolster to bolster to allow for bending. An option to brass wire is .025 fishing line or beading wire which can be strung and will form its own bends when tightened. Bend these to fit the queenposts and bend to sit in the notches or into your holes. Use of a jig is helpful here. Slide the turnbuckles over each truss rod and glue in the center (I didn’t bother to cut the rod). Then lay the rods in place and apply a drop of super glue at the queenposts (accelerator helps here). When solid, put a drop of glue in each groove and hold the rod ends down flush in the groove until dry.   The roof is scribed boards and the center line needs to be cut slightly deeper to allow the roof to fold over the trusses. You could also use plain basswood instead for the roof and cover it with canvas or metal. Turn the roof upside down and layout the roof trusses equal distance apart from the ends. You only really need four (4) trusses and can save two of them to use as end boards at the outside of the end tops. And you do not need a truss at the inside ends as they are already supported. Use of a spacer and tape (as shown) to hold the roof at the correct angle will aid in assembly. Then glue the trusses in place.   Add the roofwalk supports spaced on two foot centers. Do not glue the roof onto the car yet.Glue the three roofwalk boards. They should overhang the roof slightly, like the final photo (not like here).The roof angled grabs should have the eyebolt added to them at the corner bend and then glued in place before installation. Installation in the roof will then be a simple drop in. Then glue these from the underside of the roof.   You may now want to paint your sub-assemblies to avoid getting paint on the inside of the slatted sides. I sprayed mine after assembly and had to tape the interior to avoid overspray on the inside and floor. This was NOT the best method! Now glue the two sides and ends together and make sure your corners are square. You can also glue the ends to the floor and frame assembly (see next step) and then the sides to the frame and ends. This is probably the better method. The new kit does NOT have notched sides and ends.....use a butt joint instead.  Place a thin amount of wood glue on the bottom inside of the car walls and slide the frame up in. The frame should be flush with the bottom of the walls. Then a little glue on the frame top and drop the flooring panel in place. As I said in the previous step, it is probably better to glue the floor to the frame and then add the sides and ends to that assembly.  
Glue the trim and braces to the two laser cut doors. Then you can glue the doors to the car sides, open or closed or even make them operable. The new kit doors have a horizontal slat orientation and need to have stripwood (supplied) around all the edges and add the appropriate diagonals. Top and bottom door runners are included in the kit. You can place these to go on either side of the door opening, depending on which way you want the doors to slide. The majority opened to the right but there were numerous exceptions. Remember, it's your railroad. The kit also includes two sets of door hardware that you can add to the top, bottom and ends of each door. I didn't have these when I built this kit.  I used Bachmann standard freight trucks (# 29901) and the truss rod clearance and bolster height was based on these. The BVM T-2 trucks are lower and may be more appropriate. NMRA specs for car weight showed this little wood car was way too light. Sheet lead strips and panels should be added to the ends, inside. (sheet lead is available at lumber yards or hardware stores) Don’t hide the flooring as it will be visible through the slats. You could also add weight under the car between the frame beams. If you're going to have animals inside the car, now is the time to add them.  Next superglue the drop iron stirrups on each side. This may require a bit of modification to the braces to fit. Put the trucks on and try the car couplers with your other cars to see if the height is correct. The pockets in the frame were much too high for my car. I had Kadee #42 (same as #5 but with dropped knuckle). I had to fill the pocket AND add a shim. If you can use the coupler pocket in the frame you need to notch the ends to fit the coupler box. My coupler was low so I added an end beam to hide the previously notched end panel. New kit panels are NOT notched but you can cut the notch for the coupler yourself. If you use the coupler pocket in the frame, you will need to notch the end panels to allow the coupler in the pocket. The couplers can now be glued or screwed in place. Again, the pocket filler may not be necessary if you use smaller wheels. You can glue the coupler frame onto the end now if you decide to use it. Glue the roof on next. Test fit and make sure the sides touch the underside of the roof. You may have to file a slight bevel on the sides top edge or slightly trim the ends of the rafters to get a nice fit. Then apply a light bead of wood glue on the top edge, put the roof on and hold securely until set. The brake wheel assembly is next. Superglue the brake wheel to the shaft (.025 brass is included). Next make up some blocks to hold the shaft. I used a small piece of scrap wood on the bottom block and a piece of styrene on the top. Glue the wood block in the location at the bottom and drill a .026 hole. Next pre-drill the top block and slid it on the shaft. I slipped the shaft through the latching pawl and into the bottom hole, aligned the top block under the roof overhang and glued that with CA. Make sure the shaft is parallel (in line) to the scribed siding. Do NOT glue the shaft yet. Measure the height of the wheel above the roof. My prototype was one foot but yours may be different. Hold that height and glue the shaft top and bottom. NOW, cut the shaft off under the bottom block or add your own details to attach it to the brakes. 
Finally, add a road name board to each side of the car. You can also add number boards or whatever lettering is appropriate for your railroad. And add any weathering touches you’d like. You're now ready to move those cows and pigs to market or bring some horses out to the farms on your layout. And don't forget to send me a photo of your finished car to add to the gallery. |