Center beam car

I always wanted to get one of Robert Ray's center beam cars. It arrive today. The kit looks great with very good instructions. I am stating to build one right away. Now I waiting for the loads to arrive.

 

You will be kicking an screaming later, as that kit is not baby food!

I try to keep them simple, but since I am a 1 man operation, the kits require careful attention to detail to end up with a really nice model.

On a more positive note... at least Z Scalers have a Centerbeam Kit available. If you take your time, the model will look real nice too!

The car weight is the hardest part. I use a floquil bottle to roll the weight flat in the cavity where it sits, then superglue it in. Then i use squadron putty to fill in the gap around the weight, and let it dry overnight before sanding smooth with 120 grit or finer, before gluing the underframe ribs piece in place to conceal the weight. That hides it the best.

Also, I have a new trick for smoother finish. I spray the model with glosscote first, then airbrush it the car color afterwards, to make an even smoother finish.

Well.. that's all I know! Have fun with it. At least when you are done building a model, you can admire your craftsmanship and feel good about it. You can't do that with a ready to run model.

-Robert

 

Allan Borg of SuZee Line Models makes the centerbeam car loads. He is on the Yahoo list, but I cannot find his address and contact here from work.

I have enough for 6 cars, and they really look nice, and I am sure they are still available. He also has Centerflow Hopper kits too!

-Robert

 

I had to give up some sleep, but I almost finish with my first car. I thought the hardest part is taking the parts out without braking one of them. Robert, good hint on painting them. That was my question . I thought it was going to need multiple coats of paint, because I think the wood is going absorve the first couple of coats. I must admit. I cheated. I read all the instructions.

 

That is another hard part of the kits, getting the parts free. The easiest way I have found is to use an optivisor and a fresh exacto, then cut the attachment points from the backside.

I had to leave the pieces attached because if i cut them all the way through, they blow around and land in front of the laser, then some parts don't get cut and the sheet is ruined.

This, and the station kit are my toughest kits to laser cut due to little pieces blowing around in the laser path.

It's a model I really wanted for myself, but so many people wanted them so I did waht I could to make them a kit.

I tried several kinds of plastics, but all I ended up with were melted clumps, so I had to stick with wood.

-Robert

 

Robert, I know I want parts attach. It would a lot harder to find parts if they are loose pieces. I want to build your station next. As soon as finish with the centerbeams.

 

Curn, Uncle Will has woodship cars. for the loads. read Robert's Post.

 

Tight radius testing. Made couple mistake on the first car. The next car should be a improvement.


I have desided to hand paint the car, and then airbrush it.

[ February 24, 2006, 04:27 PM: Message edited by: shamoo737 ]

 

Yeah, the Centerbeam cars are not so nice on tight radius. If you put a load on them it helps, but best is for 9" radius or larger.

Still it's great to see that people are actually building these kits as they are kind of hard to do. It makes you feel good when you get one done and look at all the effort that went into assembly.

-Robert

 

That's the problem I have after spending all the time invested to build a kit. I look at the wood and feel it is a shame to paint it.