Carter Bros. Combo boxcar

[fspg2]

Marty, looks great - a feast for the eyes. How did you do the padlock? Soldered together from individual parts, the strap is movable?

[lab-dad]

Thanks!
fspg2
The padlock is a casting from Ozark miniatures.
It comes "unlocked"

Marty

[Hydrostat]

Marty,

what the others said . This is simply beautiful and you've proven your great craftsmanship and more than a creative vein at this model again.

But: Would it be me without any nitpicking? No. So what:

• You mentioned that there were two more handles to come. Is there one missing at the ladder's lower end yet? It seems a bit difficult to climb there.
• The coil springs look a bit too much distorted and - what seems more important to me - of wrong wire diameter. I feel it looks too thin. If you need them to be working and have chosen that diameter for this reason maybe you can pull some cable insulation over the wire or some kind of thin hose. But for sure you've chosen a prototypically appearance.
• To me the coloring of the bogy frames seems a bit too clean compared to the wheelsets. I think it lacks some unifying coloring at this spot.

Cheers,
Volker

[lab-dad]

Ah Volker I was beginning to think you had forgotten me! 

I did add the handles to the roof and mentioned I thought there should be ones lower to facilitate that first step! I agree and "may" add them even though they are not "prototypical" May be even a stirrup too!

The trucks needed to operate and finding suitable springs was very difficult.
The cable insulation is a very good idea, may be I will get ambitious and try it? 8 times?!

I think the bogies are about right but I appreciate the input.

Thank you for keeping an eye out for my errors!

-marty

[finescalerr]

Didn't Carter boxcars have a little step beneath the end sill on the ladder side? -- Russ

[Hydrostat]

Ah Volker I was beginning to think you had forgotten me! 

Marty - how could I?

I did add the handles to the roof and mentioned I thought there should be ones lower to facilitate that first step! I agree and "may" add them even though they are not "prototypical" May be even a stirrup too!

One could think they simply used the door to get to the handles, but this was rather difficult with a fully loaded car? Maybe they simply took the coupler and the wooden bar above as steps. If there aren't any steps at the prototype leave them away ...

The trucks needed to operate and finding suitable springs was very difficult.
The cable insulation is a very good idea, may be I will get ambitious and try it? 8 times?!

Using detergent or petroleum jelly for lubrification and a hairdryer to warm everything up may help. Did you have a look at this provider: https://www.federnshop.com/en/?

I think the bogies are about right but I appreciate the input.

Thank you for keeping an eye out for my errors!

-marty

That's all I see. Errors. Errors. Errors. And some phantastic modeling around them ...

Cheers,
Volker

[billmart]

Marty - If you can find some really small diameter heat shrink tubing you might give that a shot.  Much easier to slip over the wire.

Bill Martinsen