IN THE LAST issue I described how to build the frame, floor, sides, ends, and bracing. The last parts we added were the vertical corner braces. The next step is adding the bottom corner plates. You must bend them into an "S" shape and make them in two pieces.

BACK TO THE WORKBENCH

Let's discuss the two ways I know of to make "S" bends in styrene: A portable hair dryer will heat small sections of plastic enough to allow them to bend. As you heat the material, you will feel it lose rigidity. When it feels right, quickly bend the piece over a form of the shape you want to retain and hold it until it cools enough to keep that shape. If your wife refuses to part with the hair dryer, commandeer the oven; it will work, too.

The second method requires the use of solvent and works much better for small pieces than it does for large ones. Put the part in its correct position, then generously apply a solvent-type liquid plastic cement at the point where you want the bend. The liquid will soften the styrene, letting you push it into a new shape. When the solvent evaporates and the plastic has hardened, it will keep its new shape. This method has two disadvantages: First, it's a little messy. Second, it usually requires you to smooth the surface of the part.

The next piece of hardware is the angled strip brace on the corners of the sides. Make them from a 3/16-inch wide strip of .010-inch thick styrene sheet. On the prototype, the braces have an "S" bend because of the thickness of the corner braces. Even though the material we are using is equivalent to the 1/2-inch thickness of the original, it is thin enough to let us do the "S" bend easily.

At this point, because the underside of the body is easier to work on before the roof is in place, I recommend fitting the trucks and couplers but not installing them permanently.

My car uses Gauge 3 trucks from Sidestreet Bannerworks. They are the wrong style for a 1920-era car but they are the only ones available.

I used Kadee® 830 body mount couplers, although USA Trains, Bachmann, or Delton couplers are also close to the correct size. It was easy to build the front of the Kadee coupler box into a new styrene frame with an appearance closer to the prototype draft gear casting, but I simplified it very slightly. Make it from .060-inch thick sheet. Install the coupler, either adding or removing enough material under the car to arrive at an acceptable height above the rails. Then build up styrene pieces around the Kadee draft gear box until your assembly looks the same as the drawing. If you use another kind of coupler, you could still build up a similar assembly.

NEXT, THE ROOF

The actual car has a sheet metal roof. Simulate it by laying .010-inch thick sheet styrene over sheet wood and supporting that on internal beaming.

I put a 1/4- by 3/8-inch beam under the peak and lightly sanded the top surface to accommodate the roof slope. Sketches 12A and B show how. Over that, glue 1/16-inch thick wood sheet, letting it extend 1/16-inch over the sides and 1/8-inch over the ends. To get maximum strength, cut the pieces 2.675 inches long and run the grain of the wood perpendicular to the peak. If you use scribed siding, put the scribed side down and be careful to butt the pieces pretty tightly. Make the top surface quite smooth and even because .010-inch thick styrene can show every tiny fault in the underlying surface if you attach it with strong solvent.

Cut the styrene pieces as wide as the wood sheets and as long as your stock will allow. If you have a joint, figure your cuts so the joints will be under a roof rib. Install the styrene sheet first down the length of one side of the roof, then the other.

To start gluing, brush solvent on about one inch of one end of the wood roof. Quickly brush solvent on as much styrene as you plan to install and lay it on the wood sub-roof. Make sure the sheet goes to the roof edges and if it overhangs a little, you can smooth it off later. Let the glue grab before proceeding. Then, lift up the styrene strip as through it were a flap, brush solvent into the joint, and lower the flap. Work so you are steadily brushing and just as quickly lowering more flap. Don't worry about a very neat joint down the middle of the roof because the roof walk will hide nearly any little mistake. Finally, apply .020-inch thick by .180-inch wide styrene strip all around the sides and ends of the body, just under the roof eaves.

At this point, decide how delicate your model can be. I added a "gutter" running the length of the car. The original has it; it is probably a continuation of the sheet metal roof eave. I recommend you leave that piece off your model. It is very fragile and it is very hard to avoid damaging it.

ROOF RIBS AND SIDE HARDWARE

Now that the roof is on the car we can install the top corner braces. The car has four, they have no "S" bends, and they go on the sides only. Use .010-inch thick styrene.

The roof ribs are styrene laminations. The bottom layer is .020- by .250- by 2 3/4 inch styrene and the top is .060- by .90- (HO scale 6 x 8) by 2 5/8 inch strip. The bottom layer extends around the edge of the roof by using a second short piece. When you round them as you did the roof sheet, it will look as though the roof rib wraps around the edge of the roof. The ribs are 1 5/8 inches apart with the end pieces 1/1/4 inches in from the roof edge.

As the drawing shows, you should round the top strips. The easiest way is to round the edge of a long strip before you cut it to the length of a rib. Then round the end of each individual piece before laminating. Add 1/16-inch square wood strip under the ends of the roof. It goes over the .020- by .180-inch styrene strip you put around the car.

Let's hold off adding the roofwalk until next time and instead concentrate on the hardware hanging on the car sides and ends such as the doors, ladders, brakewheel, and brake staff. We will need four ladders, and the best way to make them is with 1/8-inch brass angle and .028-inch diameter brass rod. Cut the angle pieces 5 3/4 inches long, put two together, and lightly solder the ends. Center punch the location of the rung holes, then drill them out with a #70 bit. Unsolder the angle stock but be sure to keep each pair together.

Make two wooden spacers, each 3/4-inch wide. Clamp the angles across the spacers, insert the rungs, and solder (using as little solder as possible). Cut off the previously soldered ends of the ladder, drill mounting holes in the car sides, and add the two small spacers allowing the ladder to attach flat to the car side. Before you install the side ladders, you must drill holes appropriate to your favorite method of attachment. I used 1/4-inch escutcheon pins with a dab of epoxy.

The end ladders must stand out from the car in order to clear the Z braces. Also notice they sit higher on the car, have sides of different lengths, and have special mountings. Measure how far out your ladders will sit (about 5/32-inch), then fabricate the individual attach strips from .020- by 3/32-inch brass strip. Be alert; each is different, and each must custom fit its own location.

Note: The ladder bottom extending to the end sill applies only to the brakewheel end. On the other end, the prototype's ladder extends to within 4 inches (a scale 3/16-inch) of the bottom of the car body. Also note the two end ladders mount at different distances from the corner of the body. On the brakewheel end, the distance is 1/8-inch. On the other end it is 1/4-inch.

Next, solder the strips to the sides of the angles. It is tricky. Space the ladder flat on your work board and at the correct height. Weight it so it won't move. Carefully locate the braces and pin them to the board in the correct relationship to the ladder. Solder them together and clean them up. You may have to add spacers under some braces to mount the end ladders parallel to the car end.

BRAKE DETAILS

The handbrake consists of a stirrup at the bottom, a staff in the middle, and a bracket at the top. The staff runs through a platform and the brakewheel sits on top. The car I copied has a square staff. I simulated it with a 7 inch length of 1/16-inch square brass tubing.

I made the stirrup at the bottom from two pieces of brass strip. Were a commercial casting available, I would have used it in a heartbeat! Cut and form the stirrup center from .035-inch sheet. Use another piece for the "U" shaped part and solder the two together. Then file the U shaped part to match the profiles in the drawing. Drill the pin mounting holes and attach the stirrup to the car with only one pin; we still have more to do.

Bend a piece of .020- by 1/16-inch brass strip as in the drawing. It mounts with pins, too. When it is just right, attach the stirrup to the car at the appropriate height. Set the staff in place and alight it perfectly vertical. Note and mark where it wants to sit in the stirrup, then remove it, drill a #56 hole there, and tap it 0-80. Thread about 1/16-inch of the bottom of the staff with an 0-80 die and another 1/8-inch at the top.

The brake platform consists of two pieces of scale lumber 1/32- or 1/16-inch thick by 3/16-inch wide by one inch long. Epoxy them to two .020- by 3/32-inch brass brackets. Locate the hole for the staff carefully, so the clearances are the same all around. I mounted the platform first, without the board I knew would get the hole, then used the staff itself to indicate where the hole had to go. No assembly line here; this is piece-by-piece craftsmanship. You may also have to trim the wood to fit around the ladder as I did.

Finally, it's time to mount the brakewheel. I used the biggest brass wheel I could find, and I don't remember who made it. Put a #51 clearance hole in it. Attach it with one 0-80 nut underneath and another on top.

Next, add the Nailer boards to the car. One goes on each end. Construction is similar to the brake platform except the brass strips have a different bend. Cut four pieces of 1/16- by 5/16- by 1 1/8 inch lumber and four lengths of 3/32-inch wide brass strip, then bend and drill the brass. Install the parts.

Coupler lift bars add a lot of visual detail and only a little construction time. Of course we have a drawing to show what they look like and how to install them and it is a very close representation of the originals. All the tricky bends are there to clear the ladder and the other hardware. Note the taper to the long bar.

Form .035-inch thick brass sheet into the ellipsoid shape the drawing indicates. Solder it to a 3/16-inch length of brass tube. I filled the tube with epoxy, then drilled it for a length of .052-inch diameter brass rod to be both the lift bar's pivot pin and a way to attach the whole unit to the car. I drilled the lift bars to fit over the pin and epoxied them in place.

Next time we will complete the model by adding operating doors, door hardware, and the roof details.