7mm Richards P48 US Thread

[Dog Star]

Looks to me that the "straps" are folded under the step plate and then folded again to make the vertical strap (which is bolted to the end of the wagon). This is most obvious on the yellow box van in photo #597.

 

[Big Train James]

Unfortunately that example is of another car, used only to demonstrate the nature of bent straps for step mounting. In that instance, the angle bracket is quite simple, a piece of heavy bar stock (something like ½" thickness) bent into an "L". The car that Richard is working on appears to have an attachment above and below the step, with the lower attachment as brace angling down and back from the tread face.

 

[richard carr]

Thanks again Jim

The bottom photo makes clear, at least I think so.

This is what you get int he instructions



Which doesn't help at all

But this is what I think it should be







I have then drilled holes in the box car end and added spiggots from 0.4mm wire to mount the step.



I'll glue this on when I get home as I think it will be fairly delicate and unlikely to survive 2 flights.

 

[Jordan]

This is what you get in the instructions

I found the instructions in my Modern Outline boxcar kit tend to assume a fair bit of familiarity with the prototype, that can be hard to acquire from several thousand miles away.
Thank goodness for the Interweb!!

 

[Big Train James]

But this is what I think it should be

That's pretty much what I was describing above about the part being "upside down". Lacking any other instruction, I think I would have ended up in the same place you did.

I am surprised by the lack of information provided in the instructions. Why not just say "attach the platforms to the car" and be done with it? I suppose I shouldn't actually be surprised, because I really would have had no idea what to expect, except that it was something more than what is provided.

I found the instructions in my Modern Outline boxcar kit tend to assume a fair bit of familiarity with the prototype, that can be hard to acquire from several thousand miles away.
Thank goodness for the Interweb!!

No doubt! It's even hard to acquire from here, not quite as many miles away. There are plenty of photos available online showing the car in general, one would have no issue referencing paint and lettering information, but the details are difficult if not impossible to find photos of. Or the quality of the photos isn't the best if you do find one that shows a particular condition. That is one advantage to modeling the truly modern era, the equipment is most often still extant. Older cars like these B-100 cars aren't as easy to find anymore.

 

[richard carr]

I've now made it back to Qatar, it all seems very quiet but a lot of people are wearing Ferrari shirts.



I have caught up on some sleep so not much more progress on the boxcar, but there isn't much more to do until I get home.
I have now ordered some Tru Color paint, it should be waiting for me when I get back on Monday. Unfortunately Mech Models don;t stock TCP 211 SP boxcar red but they had something near enough.








These kits really are a labour of love, and cost a relative fortune, $180 for the kit, $125 for some protocraft 100ton trucks, paint and decals and 20 hours to make it and paint it. Its only for the fun of it !

 

[Big Train James]

I think when originally announced, the kits were "only" $140, but they still required the separate purchase of trucks and couplers. And at that point the Protocraft trucks were "only" $65 per pair. So while still a decent amount, the total cost for a car would theoretically have been significantly lower. However, I don't remember them ever actually being offered at the $140 mark when they did come out, having already jumped to $180. But I could be wrong about that. I remember signing up to express interest in the Railgon gondola, which was going to follow on after the initial boxcar releases. I never got notice that they had been released despite their evident availability, so I might have missed something along the way. Shrug.

 

[richard carr]

Jim

I've got one of those 2, it's next in line, I think it was a bit cheaper. Would it be 70 ton trucks or 100 ton ?

Richard

 

[Big Train James]

Would it be 70 ton trucks or 100 ton ?

Not sure off the top of my head. Maybe the instructions will tell you........

A quick troll of the internet suggests that the car should have 100 ton trucks with 36" wheels. I think there is a Mainline Modeler issue with drawings for one of these cars, I'll see if I can dig it out and check.

Edit: at a minimum, I have a drawing from the December 1980 Railroad Model Craftsman for the Thrall built Railgon. It shows 36" wheels.

 

[richard carr]

A bit more progress has been made over the last few days.



Painting it turned into a nightmare as my cheap chinese compressor gave up the ghost just a month after it's warranty expired !
I have also mislaid my small spray gun and just cannot find it. But I did find a my preval sprayer and it did the job. I used tru color paint ACL frt car red TCP-209, it looks pretty similar to SP freight car red, which Tru Color do make,

but Mech models don't stock.



So next it's time to add decals, Micro Scale make them but they were out of stock, fortunately PDD had plenty and were having a half price sale on decals





As you can see these are not the easiest to put on but I followed the instructions for using Micro Sol and Micro Set and left them to dry for hours and it worked pretty well.

 

[richard carr]

Now I need a new compressor any suggestions ? not another cheap chinese one.

 

[Stephen]

Now I need a new compressor any suggestions ? not another cheap chinese one.

I'll PM you - the Trust at MSN have been gifted one to sell - I'm not too sure of its specification, but I'll send a photo when I'm out of the bunker....

However, when I purchased an airbrush a few years ago, I also purchased this to power it:

Element Games

Iwata Smart Jet Pro Auto Compressor - Iwata - Airbrushes & Accessories. Wargaming web-store with low prices, speedy delivery and excellent customer service. Specialising in Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40k.

elementgames.co.uk

Don't think I paid anywhere near as much as that, but it was at least ten years ago when I made the purchase. So for the minimal amount of spraying that I've done, I would recommend it - its not too noisy either....

Cheers,

Stephen

 

[S-Club-7]

Richard,

I've got an Iwata compressor which you're welcome to borrow when/if required as it spends more than 51½ weeks per year sat in its box. Not sure that the local crow could carry it the required 3 or 4 miles so you may have to collect it yourself; PM me if you're interested.

Agree that it's not too noisy.

 

[mickoo]

I upgraded to a Bambi recently, certainly not cheap but it's very quite and I love it.

It could do with a bigger tank as the compressor kicks in quite a lot when you're doing bigger jobs.

 

[richard carr]

Hi Mick

I was thinking of one of those, which one did you go for ?

 

[richard carr]

Richard,

I've got an Iwata compressor which you're welcome to borrow when/if required as it spends more than 51½ weeks per year sat in its box. Not sure that the local crow could carry it the required 3 or 4 miles so you may have to collect it yourself; PM me if you're interested.

Agree that it's not too noisy.

Hi Dave

That's a kind offer but I need to get my own for this.

 

[mickoo]

Hi Mick

I was thinking of one of those, which one did you go for ?

Richard,

I went for the BB15V, paid £430 back in May 23, shop around as prices do vary quite a lot (£430-750).



The 15 stands for tank capacity (15 litres) and ideally if you're doing a lot then you might want to go for the 24 litre or something, pretty much the same machine but bigger tank.

Barwell do both at respectable prices:

Bambi silent air compressor budget range

Bambi silent air silent air compressor budget range bb15v

barwellbodyworks-shop.com

Airbrush UK Bambi silent air compressor

Budget Range - Silent Air Compressors. The Budget Range has been developed for those users where ultra low noise and relatively small flow of air is required.

barwellbodyworks-shop.com

After having mine over a year I'd pay the little extra and go with the 24 litre tank in all honesty.

Ideally what you really need is a bigger hysterisis on the pressure switch, there is a small adjustment but that only appears to change the max pressure which tops out at 120 whatever you do and then compressor kicks in at 80, which is crazy as the highest I work with is 30.

If you could expand the pressure differential from 80-120 to say 50-120 then the duty cycle would be way less, never really looked any deeper as 90% of the time/work it's just dandy.

 

[Tim Humphreys ex Mudhen]

I've had a Bambi compressor since 1998 and it continues to work well. I
its not one of the latest models but does have a large tank, larger than that shown by Mick. As Mick says it charges the tank to around 120psi, this means that when I set the output gauge to my required pressure, say 25psi, the larger volume means it sprays for a long time before the pressure drops to 80psi and the compressor re-starts.

Tim

 

[richard carr]

Mick/Tim

Have you had any issues with oil carryover ?

 

[Tim Humphreys ex Mudhen]

None at all Richard, if there were any I reckon the trap on the pressure gauge would catch it.

Tim