When Aero Mech sent their Delton boxcar Dress-UpTM Kit for review a few months ago, I decided to use it to model a Rio Grande 3000 series boxcar as accurately as possible (within reason). The model required about 18 hours' work. (I said "accurately"; I never said "quickly". What is more, the total bill, including the car, could come to about $150.) The upgrade may seem to be a lot of work but it is easy enough to be a beginner's first kitbash.

Even though I have no appropriate track, I put the boxcar on Ryan's 1 1/2 inch gauge trucks because, in 1:24 scale, the wheels are the correct three feet apart for Rio Grande rolling stock. I imagine most modelers would rather compromise and use Ryan's 45mm Gauge 1 trucks (3 foot 6 inch gauge in 1:24 scale) so the car will be compatible with the rest of their rolling stock.

If the name or location of any car part is unfamiliar to you, please refer to the Data Sheet in our last issue. It identifies all major hardware on freight and passenger cars.

THE UNDERBODY

The Delton underframe is inaccurate and toylike. Had there been a little more time, I would have thrown it out and built up a new frame from styrene. Instead I threw the trucks, couplers, and truss rods into the spare parts box and modified the frame. From any viewing angle except upside down, the car looks fine.

Actually, it might have been almost as efficient to build the frame from scratch but honorary Outdoor Railroader staff member, Bob Uniack, has made less extensive modifications to several Delton cars and convinced me to retain the existing frame. Since he was willing to share his experience, his workshop, and his wife's cooking, I did the underbody work at his house.

Body bolsters. Begin by removing the frame from the superstructure. Use a Dremel motor tool with a cutoff disk to shave the ribs from the body bolsters. File the bolster smooth. The reason, aside from improving the appearance, is to allow more clearance for the wheels and bolsters on the Ryan trucks. The Delton truck has a much longer wheelbase than the Ryan and the superstructure rides higher on it, so the car will negotiate a tighter radius. Even with the modification, the model will need a 4 foot (LGB 1600) minimum radius.

Also shorten the 1/4-inch diameter kingpin (truck locating boss) protruding from the body bolster by 1/8-inch and file the end flat again. That allows the top of the Ryan truck bolster to contact the boxcar's body bolster so the car will rest squarely on the trucks. Keep the washer from the Delton truck but replace the screw with a 3/4-inch long #4 sheet metal screw available at any hardware store.

Truck bolsters. If you stop there the car will ride too high. The bottom of the end sills on full size D&RGW 3000 series boxcars were 23 inches above the railhead and ours now sits about 27 scale inches above the tracks. The discrepancy is distracting so we must also modify the Ryan truck bolster.

First, enlarge the locating hole diameter to 1/4-inch (or slightly larger if it fits too tightly over the kingpin). Then remove the material from the raised "platform" surrounding the hole with the Dremel and cutoff disk until the top of the hole is flush with the top of the bolster. Finally, file it smooth.

Needle beams and queenposts. The Delton needle beams are the correct width but they are too shallow and the queenposts are too large and heavy. So you must remove the needle beams. I used the Dremel and cutoff disk for that job, too. Then I filed the frame sills smooth.

Build two new needle beams. The D&RGW used 4 x 9s. Make each by sandwiching a strip of .040-inch thick styrene 3/8-inch wide by 3 7/8 inches long between two strips .060-inch thick and the same length and width. Weld them together with a liquid solvent-type cement such as Testor's or Tenax 7-R. Clamps will help prevent the joints from showing. Let the needle beams dry for about 90 minutes, then attach the queenposts with CA (superglue). Ozark Miniatures and Shortline Car & Foundry offer castings for 3 scale inch queenposts.

Prepare to do a lot of filing; the base of each queenpost casting is much too wide. It should be flush with the edge of the needle beam.

The nut/bolt/washer detail indicating the ends of the truss rods on the Delton boxcar is only partially usable as a guide for positioning the queenposts. The center rods terminate in about the right place but the outside rods are too close to the car edge. Use your eyes and your judgment. I positioned the center queenposts so the truss rods would fit closely against the center sills. I centered the outer queenposts about half an inch from the end of the needle beam. That approximates their position on the real cars and allows plenty of room for truck swing.

The best way to maintain alignment is to complete one assembly and use it as a guide for the second. Remember to add the 3 scale inch spacer block between one queenpost and the needle beam on each assembly to allow one inner truss rod to clear the brake cylinder.

Brake cylinder, truss rods, and turnbuckles. Position the needle beams on the frame, notch the ends so the main part of each beam will contact the frame when you replace it on the car body, but do not attach the beams yet. In each case, the outer edge should be exactly 6 actual inches from the car end and the beams should sit 2 11/16 inches apart center to center.

I substituted a Trackside Details K-brake cylinder casting for the one in the Aero Mech kit. The Trackside casting's proportions are more correct. Also cut the brake piston at about its center to separate the clevis from the rest of the casting. Cut the locating pins from the base of the cylinder and place the cylinder on the platform cast onto the Delton underframe. Mark the point where the brake piston touches the needle beam, then drill a hole through the beam the same diameter as the piston (about 1/16-inch). Use CA to cement the clevis end of the brake piston into the hole on the side of the needle beam facing the car end. Also use CA to cement both needle beams in place. Finally, reposition the brake cylinder on its platform with the brake piston resting just inside the hole in the needle beam and CA it in place, too.

I used .050-inch diameter monofilament nylon line (for "weed eaters") from the garden section of the hardware store to represent truss rods. The size is almost perfect for 1:24 scale D&RGW boxcars. Adding truss rods is very simple. Drill holes in the body bolsters to line up with the queenposts. Then string the line from the first bolster, over the queenposts, into the opposite bolster, and back out the adjacent hole until you have laced all four truss rods. Remember to slide a turnbuckle casting onto the line between the queenposts on each "rod". Then pull the line taught enough to remove the slack (but avoid bowing the underframe), tie the ends together, cut off the excess, and secure the knot with a drop of CA. Center the turnbuckle castings between the queenposts and also fasten them with a small drop of CA.

Fit the underframe back onto the car body. I found it necessary to wiggle and flex the frame a little until the nylon line inside the body bolsters cleared the round locating bosses. Then replace the underframe screws, slide the Ryan trucks onto the kingpins, and fasten them with their longer screws.

That completes the underbody and the tedious stuff. I thanked Bob Uniack for his help, thanked his wife, Cathy, for another great dinner, packed up my boxcar, and drove home to begin the fun part of the construction.

DETAILING THE SUPERSTRUCTURE

Whoever designed the original dies for the Delton boxcar body deserves our thanks; it is very accurate and, unlike some models we kitbash, requires the removal of no cast-on details. So yank off the press-in plastic grab irons and let's get to work.

The Couplers. I used Kadee® 1837 offset couplers. Before I left, Bob explained how to add them. First, use the Dremel and the cutoff disk to shave between 1/16- and 3/32-inch off the front edge of the coupler pocket casting so its width will match that of the Kadee draft gear gox. Position the draft gear box without its top lid and cut enough scrap styrene to build up a platform level with the bottom of the car body's end sill for the draft gear box to rest on. Use CA to cement the platform to the underframe. Avoid attaching it to the car body. Otherwise you will never be able to remove the underframe. Drill and tap holes for 2-56 machine screws to attach the draft gear box to the car. Be very careful to avoid drilling the forward hole too deep or it will pierce the coupler pocket casting and be visible. Assemble the coupler and attach it to the car using a short screw for the front and a longer screw behind.

The Roof. For some reason Delton left the double-width ribs off the roof ends. Evergreen .060- by .125-inch styrene strip happens to be a perfect match for the model's cast on ribs so cut eight pieces of the strip each 2 1/8 inch long, cement them side by side in pairs, and glue them onto the roof ends. I used Tenax.

Drag a razor saw along the roofwalk and roofwalk end platforms to create a wood grain effect. Add grab irons to the roofwalk platforms. I attached them with CA. They are in addition to the parts the Aero Mech kit includes. Ozark grab irons are an exact match.

Trim the end of an Ozark or Shortline rachet and pawl casting so it will fit between the roofwalk end platform and the edge of the roof, open the hole to .060-inch, slide it over the existing (.060-inch diameter) brake staff, position it carefully, and cement it in place with CA. Then remove the Delton brake staff and toss it into the spare parts box; it is too short. Its replacement should be a 5 3/4 inch long piece of .060-inch diameter brass rod. (You could use a more correct .033-inch diameter rod but that would require adding sleeves to the existing Delton brakewheel hardware.) Aero Mech supplies a correct D&RGW brass brakewheel to replace the generic Delton part.

At that point I made some decisions. First, I would have to glue the roof onto the car body because the hardware I was about to add would make a removable roof impossible. So I cemented it in place with Tenax. Then I decided to glue the doors shut. I never open them anyway.

Additional Hardware. Delton included neither the corner braces on the fascia board nor the roofwalk platform braces so I built my own from .020-inch thick styrene. The former are from Evergreen .125-inch wide strip and the latter from strip .080-inch wide. Attach them with Tenax. I drilled each piece for small nut/bolt castings and glued them in place. A more accurate and tedious approach would be to cut and apply scale 1 inch squares of .010-inch thick styrene.

Use CA to cement the roofwalk end supports and their nut/bolt/washer castings to the car. They are part of the Aero Mech kit.

Bend a length of .033-inch diameter brass rod into a retainer pipe (.025-inch would be closer to scale), slide on a short piece of insulation from some electrical wire to represent the retainer valve, and cement the assembly in place between the grab irons and the brake staff.

Real D&RGW boxcars have four more end grab irons than the Aero Mech kit includes. Ozark grabs will work perfectly for three. Just remember to countersink the end attaching to the lower corner braces to keep the grab iron from sticking out too far on one side.

The fourth grab is shorter than the others to clear the lower brake staff support so you'll have to make it yourself. It's easy. Bend a length of .033-inch diameter brass rod to fit the space, drill holes, and glue it in place. Represent the bolts with a pair of Atlas #2540 Track Nails. Again, just drill holes and use CA to cement them in place.

Bend coupler release levers from .033-inch diameter brass rod and represent the brackets with a pair of 1/32-inch diameter cotter pins available from a machinist's supply house. Remember the lever on the opposite end of the car is straight since it has no brake staff to clear.

Ozark Miniatures, Shortline Car & Foundry, and Precision Scale offer air hoses. Drill a hole and attach the angle cock (it looks like a water spigot) but wait before adding the hose and gladhand.

Finally, glue on the grab irons. They are very delicate and bend easily; that is why it is best to add them last. We're ready to paint.

PAINTING, LETTERING, AND WEATHERING

Krylon Ruddy Brown Primer is the closest commercial match I have found to represent the shade of red a D&RGW boxcar turns after it has been in service for a year or more. The Rio Grande used that color on every inch of their boxcars' exterior, so grab a can and spray away. Paint the wheels, too. After the paint has dried for a few hours, use lacquer thinner and cotton swabs to clean the wheel treads. Then let the car dry for several days.

Various companies make lettering sets for Rio Grande boxcars. The best decals I have found are from Foothill Model Works. Larry Larsen makes good dry transfers and, since Larry is OR's Art Director and I see him frequently, guess whose dry transfers I used. Plan on spending about three hours to letter your car. Then, as soon as possible, airbrush the model with a clear, flat finish such as Testor's Dullcote to seal and protect the lettering.

I modeled a boxcar as it would have appeared during the late 1930s and early 1940s. My evidence suggests most Rio Grande cars in regular service then were in pretty good shape so I chose to weather my car lightly. I toned down the graphics by airbrushing on a very dilute mixture of Floquil Boxcar Red and Diosol thinner to depict faded and worn lettering. I airbrushed the roof, lower body, and undersides with a dilute mixture of Floquil Earth and Diosol. That represented dust and fading. Finally, I airbrushed the roof with a very dilute mixture of Floquil Grimy Black and Diosol to represent soot and grime.

An hour later, I re-attached the trucks, slid the air hoses onto the angle cocks, and my car was ready for service.

COMMERCIAL DETAIL PARTS

1 ea. Aero Mech D&RGW Delton Boxcar Dress-UpTM Kit AMC0101
1 ea. Aero Mech Offset Grab Iron Kit For 3/4-Inch Holes AMC0111
Equivalent parts:
Offset grab irons for 3/4-inch hole spacing

Hartford Products HP-20 (brass)
Ozark Miniatures OM-10
Shortline Car & Foundry 5041

K-brake cylinder

Hartford Products HP-18
Ozark Miniatures OM-15
Precision Scale 9856
Shortline Car & Foundry 350
Trackside Details TD-5

D&RGW brakewheel

Precision Scale 9936 (brass), 9937 (plastic)
Trackside Details TD-24 (plastic), TD-24x (brass)
Shortline Car & Foundry 385

Turnbuckles

Hartford Products HP-22
Ozark Miniatures OM-03-1
Precision Scale 9817
Shortline Car & Foundry 5020

Roofwalk end supports

Ozark Miniatures OM-17
Shortline Car & Foundry 5071

Additional details:
Air hose/angle cocks

Ozark Miniatures OM-14
Precision Scale 9852
Shortline Car & Foundry 359

3 inch queenposts

Ozark Miniatures OM-04-2
Precision Scale 9922
Shortline Car & Foundry 5009

Rachet and pawl

Ozark Miniatures OM-12
Precision Scale 9905 (brass), 9906 (plastic)
Shortline Car & Foundry 385
Trackside Details TD-82