Making a MA&PA Bobber

[davefoxx]

I don't believe there is a batten.  Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the siding on that caboose, like many freight cars, is tongue and groove siding, not board and batten.

[Rob B]

60072 yes, that's it.

[CRL]

I don't believe there is a batten.  Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the siding on that caboose, like many freight cars, is tongue and groove siding, not board and batten.

I referred to it as board and batten because I thought an earlier poster referred to it as such. Regardless, my point was to make the cut on the proud flat surface rather than in the recessed area. It’s easier to fair a proud surface than a recessed area. The perfect joint would be made precisely in the corner of the groove, but good luck with making that precise of a cut in this scale.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Ok, more filling is necessary, but I slapped a coat of paint on it to see how it's going.









I'm not sure how well it's gonna work out. I may end up going Chris's route and just using parts and reassembling them into the right combination. We'll see how it looks after some paint removal and more filling.

[chicken45]

Looks like 1/70th of a Rapido Meat Reefer! 

[DKS]

Not bad! I'd be tempted to very carefully flood the seam with cyanoacrylate to help even out the gap, followed by some gentle scraping with a knife. I don't think any more filing or sanding is called for, except a little along the edge of the roof--but sand the entire length, not just the seam, to avoid dishing it out in the middle. You may need to work on the cupola to get it to seat more tightly. And finally, I think some medium-to-heavy weathering and aging will go a long way to hiding the remaining flaws.

 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Not bad! I'd be tempted to very carefully flood the seam with cyanoacrylate to help even out the gap, followed by some gentle scraping with a knife. I don't think any more filing or sanding is called for, except a little along the edge of the roof--but sand the entire length, not just the seam, to avoid dishing it out in the middle. You may need to work on the cupola to get it to seat more tightly. And finally, I think some medium-to-heavy weathering and aging will go a long way to hiding the remaining flaws.

 

Yeah, I think I'm gonna try the CA trick.

Don't worry about the cupola, it was just loosely sitting on there for now.

This is fun. And even if the car doesn't turn out right I'll have had a good time (and will have a plan for a better version).

[DKS]

This is fun. And even if the car doesn't turn out right I'll have had a good time (and will have a plan for a better version).

Good! As I've always said, it's the journey, not the destination.

BTW, one trick I've used to help disguise a bad seam is to gently "gouge out" some other random joints with a knife point, so that there are multiple ones that look like the "real" one.

 

[OldEastRR]

You might want to try thin narrow styrene strip glued  edgewise into the groove. Incidentally, if you find (by dry-fitting) that the two edges of any styrene surfaces you're connecting aren't quite flat and straight, adding a strip of styrene to the uneven edge lets you sand it down flat and straight without losing any dimensional length of the piece.

[mmagliaro]

A suggestion for the cupola... do you have a spare "junker" caboose around with that same roof?

If so, glue a piece of fine sandpaper (like 220) nice and flat to the top of that roof, using Walthers Goo or even rubber cement, so that it really lays down over the roof like a thin "skin" of sandpaper.  Then you can run your cupola back and forth over it to make the underside curvature of the cupola match your caboose roof exactly.  It will then sit down on there with no gaps or fussing around.  I've used this trick to make the curvature of the underside of domes perfectly match a boiler.  It works like a charm.

[narrowminded]

@Ed Kapuscinski If you want to do something it's not too late.   And is this what you remarked your Dad needed?

I played with the little bit of info I had, the one PRR ND drawing, to see what I might be able to do as I haven't done any boxed/ shell cars of any type so this seemed as good as any to get some practice.  So far, the dimensions are accurate per the drawing, the ones it has, and a little bit of scaling for things like window size and placement, and I'm generally happy with what printed.  For this test print I assembled it all and printed it in one piece but I have drawn all of the window frames and doors as separate components, as well as roof and cupola, to aid in sanding, paint, and assembly as well as choosing best print position.  Notice there are a couple of lines evident straight down the sides in the lower body half.  Those are from pausing the print to confirm it was staying attached with the supports I had placed, not something you would normally do and those lines wouldn't be on a final printed piece.

I only put board lines on one side, main body, to see how they would come out in print.  Neither end or the other side had board lines added.  I think I'll go a little deeper and wider, like .001" in each direction, but will final decide after the paint has really dried and shrunk completely.  The window frames, inner and outer, to accommodate actual glass sandwiched between without glue smudges, will need detailed and I think less frame projecting outward by about .002" and narrower with detail added to the mullions.  I'll seek photos for help on those details buut just guessed from the drawing this far.  Any comments, especially on general proportions, would be appreciated.

I still need frame details, like what size beams, and ladders or railings, all of that stuff, but can probably do pretty well with some good pictures for a lot of the details.  So far it's encouraging and I think I'll be able to do justice to this with the proper info.  

Here are a few pics of the test printed part as well as the drawing used.  I think I've at least got the proportions correct.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[davefoxx]

@narrowminded,

I think you’ve done justice to the project already!  Wow!

DFF

[narrowminded]

@narrowminded,

I think you’ve done justice to the project already!  Wow!

DFF

Thanks, @davefoxx .  The one thing that struck me in looking at it is the fore and aft cupola windows might be a little too big, maybe just the height, but I'll try to get a better drawing before to change.  Any change would be an easy edit on that one.

[Chris333]

I think that flat trim board under the ends needs to be pushed back to the wall.
http://www.btsrr.com/bts9006.htm

http://www.maparailroadhist.org/histimg/2006.jpg
http://www.maparailroadhist.org/histimg/cab2006.jpg

http://ctr.trains.com/~/media/images/the-way-it-was/photo-of-the-day/large-images/photo-of-the-day/2015/10/20151012.jpg

2006 was the one that was ex PRR.

[narrowminded]

I think that flat trim board under the ends needs to be pushed back to the wall.
http://www.btsrr.com/bts9006.htm

http://www.maparailroadhist.org/histimg/2006.jpg
http://www.maparailroadhist.org/histimg/cab2006.jpg

http://ctr.trains.com/~/media/images/the-way-it-was/photo-of-the-day/large-images/photo-of-the-day/2015/10/20151012.jpg

2006 was the one that was ex PRR.

Thanks for those links, Chris.  I just spent the night doing searches and I've got a LOT of pictures now with a LOT of detail.  Most are from the restored unit at Strasburg.  There are subtle differences, in things like the window trim and also the fore and aft trim in the center section of the cupola but they are clearly of the same basic design.  I knew the windows, based on what I could get from that drawing, were not going to be correct and I was right and both are different from each other.  I think a trip to Strasburg might be in the offing to complete this properly.  It also seems like it would lend itself to properly detailing a few very correct versions with the changes being so subtle.

My main purpose in doing this with just that rough drawing was to get my feet wet with some of the stuff that these projects will require and to get a start on it.  The whole drawing will be redone before the project's done, I'm sure, but I've seen enough to think I will be able to do an effort like this justice.  I also see various versions as well as detail level but the nice thing is, it's possible now where, at least to me, it wasn't before with Shapeways FUD as the alternative.  I just couldn't make myself get fired up over that material.  Finish and material characteristics left me stone cold, no interest in working with it.  I even tried a few times but just couldn't make myself do it.