My model also has metal wheels. If you were to go even further (and spend a little more money), you could add Model Die Casting or Ryan Equipment archbar trucks and body mount a pair of Kadee couplers. I chose the cheaper route.

Just for fun, I decided to represent a freelance narrow gauge car in 1:24 scale. For the record, in 1:22.5 scale the model measures a perfectly acceptable 28 feet 5 inches long by 7 feet 4 inches wide by 7 feet 2 inches high (from the bottom of the side sill to the underside of the roof). In 1:24 scale the dimensions become 30 feet 1 inch long by 7 feet 10 inches wide by 7 feet 7 inches high. Important information for nit pickers: In either scale the 4 1/2 inch wide sheathing is a little oversize and most of the grab irons are too long and heavy.

OUT COMES THE KNIFE

Bachmann's model represents a ET&WNC boxcar so the roofwalk platforms at either end are parallel to the ground instead of to the roof, a feature unique to that railroad. I used a razor saw to trim the platforms from the roofwalk, cut their under-supports into straight 2 x 2s, remove the mounting pegs, and distress the edges to resemble wood.

I filed one end of each mounting peg smooth and glued the pegs into their corresponding holes on the roof. I used a combination of Walther's Goo (first) and Testor's Liquid Cement for Plastic (when the Goo had dried). Why? Because the holes are a little too large for a tight fit and the plastics are of dissimilar material. Goo will hold anything to anything so it keeps the peg in place. Testor's is a methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) solvent-type cement and is more effective on the car body than on the slippery engineering plastic Bachmann uses for the roofwalk. It tends to dissolve the roof plastic around the peg. When the cement dried I distressed the area with a razor saw to obscure the patch.

I also distressed the edges of the roofwalk itself, then screwed it in place. I attached the platforms to the roof with Goo.

While the glue dried I carved rings and checks into the ends of the needle beams. I cut a small strip of .060-inch thick styrene to extend the brakewheel platform and cemented it in place with Testor's.

Finally, I repositioned the door guides. Yes, I know a few doors on narrow gauge boxcars opened to the left. A far greater number opened to the right and I wanted my car to have the more typical appearance. I cut the locating tabs from the door guides and cemented them into their respective holes on the fascia boards and the lower part of the car sides. I used Testor's. Gaps remained so I filled them with Squadron Green plastic filler putty. About an hour later, when the putty had hardened, I sanded all the plugs smooth. On the car sheathing, where the smooth patch contrasted with the wood grain, I once again distressed the area with a razor saw. I also distressed a few other areas at random to suggest weathering.

A BRIEF DIGRESSION

Why not just weather with paints or pastel chalks? I'm glad you asked.

One afternoon, honorary OR staff member Bob Uniack and I were discussing his weathering techniques. For some reason we consulted color photographs and noticed something: Much of what modelers try to represent with color is really texture. When water and sunlight eventually work through the paint of a wooden car, they raise the grain of some planks. Wood with a coarse or pronounced grain appears darker than wood with a close grain. Many modelers streak their cars with darker and lighter shades to represent such weathering. In the large scales, we are able to mimic nature by actually distressing the wood (or plastic); that allows us the luxury of using color to represent real streaks.

NOW BACK TO BUILDING

Testor's cement holds the top door guides to the car sides and the doors in place over their openings. I never operate the doors on my cars anyway so gluing them shut was no inconvenience. I drilled three holes along the side sills under the doors and inserted O scale track spikes to represent the lower door guides. A small drop of CA holds each in place. I trimmed the excess with a wire cutter.

The end buffers are pieces of 1/8- x 3/16- x 1/2-inch strip styrene. I distressed them all around with the razor saw before cementing them in place, then drilled a pair of holes through each and pressed in a pair of brass escutcheon pins to represent bolts.

Next, the roofwalk grab irons. They are nothing but .033 brass wire with a 1/32-inch diameter cotter pin at the corner. I inserted them from the top, of course, and cemented them in place from underneath with CA. Then I set the roof in place on the car body.

The roof is a bad fit out of the box. How to correct it? File off any lumps or casting marks along the edges. That alone will improve the fit one hundred percent. But my roof still had a slight warp so I glued it in place with Testor's. Rubber bands held it down at the ends; the mid section seemed to fit fine. A couple of hours later, when I removed the rubber bands, the roof fit very well and the car body had become quite strong and rigid.

I also scratchbuilt the roofwalk end supports even though you may purchase them from Shortline Car and Foundry or Ozark Miniatures. I used .020 thick styrene strips 3/32-inch wide by about half an inch long. Lightly score the last 1/16-inch of each end with a hobby knife and bend it with a tweezers. When the angle approximates what will fit between the roofwalk and the end fascia, brush on a small amount of Testor's cement to weld the resulting gap. That will add a little more strength to each piece. Finally, position and glue the supports in place.

Most of the hardware is from the Phoenix kit and now is the time to install it. I found Goo holds the pieces more securely than CA. The only modification I made was on the brakewheel end of the car. Instead of using the three U-brackets Phoenix supplies to hold the brake staff, I used one, for the spot above the brakewheel platform. I cut the mounting pegs from the other two brackets and used them to plug their respective holes.

I added a brake staff retaining bracket from Shortline Car and Foundry at the bottom of the end sill and then realized the brake staff Phoenix provides would be too short. I replaced it with a 5 1/2 inch length of Evergreen .062 styrene rod.

The coupler release levers are .033 brass rod. A pair of cotter pins holds each in place.

Finally, I modified the truck sideframes. In retrospect, it was a pretty lame attempt and most people never even notice it. I probably spent an hour cutting rectangles from .010 styrene sheet and cementing them over the truck journals to represent journal box lids and hinges. I also covered over the cast I-beam bolster ends. Spend your own time more wisely. Either replace the trucks entirely or use them as they come. (They are accurate models of a specific Southern Pacific Narrow Gauge truck; I have seen the original.)

Screw the underframe onto the car body and insert the truss rods. It's time for....

PAINTING, LETTERING, AND WEATHERING

Here is where the fun starts. Finishing the car is an absolute no-brainer but, of course, it will make the model look great. Follow these five steps:

1.) Spray the car body, trucks, and wheel faces with Krylon Ruddy Brown Primer. You may prefer another color or paint manufacturer. I used Krylon Ruddy Brown because it comes closer to the boxcar red I saw on freight cars at Chama, New Mexico than any other out-of-the-can/bottle paint I know. Krylon is also inexpensive, commonly available, and high quality.

2.) Apply dry transfer lettering. Does it surprise you to learn I used Larsen Graphics transfers from our art director, Larry Larsen? I supplied the artwork; Larry cranked out the transfers the next day, and I rubbed them on the following day. (We live fairly close to one another.)

If you prefer decals, be sure first to apply a gloss finish such as Floquil Crystal Cote or Testor's Glosscote.

3.) Airbrush on a coat of Testor's Dullcote to protect the lettering, obscure decal film, and achieve a more uniform finish than with paint alone.

4.) Weather the model. My method effectively represents a car in service for about a year since its last trip to the paint shop. I simply airbrushed a very dilute coat of Floquil Earth onto the lower part of the car, another very dilute coat of Floquil Grimy Black on the roof, and a streak or two down the sides. The entire process took about twenty minutes.

5.) Dip a Q-Tip in lacquer thinner and clean the paint from the wheel treads.

THE BEST PART

Screw the trucks to the underframe and the model is complete, unless you prefer to go to greater lengths in detailing or weathering. As it is, my boxcar has enough detail to hold its own with most scratchbuilt models unless they are near contest quality. It took between six and eight hours to build and paint, about the same amount of time a smaller scale kit requires. It looks as good as (or in some ways better than) models costing three times as much. And it has an appearance typical enough to look appropriate on most layouts but unique enough to have its own character. Whether you are a miser, an artist, or both, you should have fun bashing Bachmann boxcars.