CNW Boxcar

Note: This is not a 'How To', but a display of a completed 'Scratchbuilt Project' showing what can be done with some materials and time. It does not have to have been judged for AP Points.

May 25, 2004

This photo shows a completely scratchbuilt single-sheathed HO scale boxcar I built. It won "Best of Show" in the modeling contest at the Thousand Lakes Region's 2004 annual convention, receiving 118 points.

As background, the car itself is made out of 10 castings. I made masters for each of the sides (left-of-door, right-of-door, door, end, and half-roof) using styrene and a homemade riveting table. The car also has full underbody detail and piping, and I made the decals myself on an Alps printer. The car was cast from two-part casting resin from Micro-Mark

First I made masters of (1) one end, (2) car side, left of door, (3) car side, right of door, (4) the door, and (5) half of roof, all out of sheet and strip styrene. Mostly all the styrene strips had rivets embossed into them on a riveting table I cobbled together out of a benchtop drillpress. I made a mold of each of those masters, and cast two of each part. Those 10 castings became the car sides, end, and roof. The underbody was scratchbuilt out of strip styrene and then fully detailed. Ladders were scratchbuilt from brass; grabs and door hardware were scratchbuilt from
brass wire.

The only commercial parts on it are the wheels and trucks, brake components, couplers, and nut/bolt/washer castings.

Gerry Leone

See more of Gerry Leone's work by visiting his Bona Vista Railroad web site at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~gerryleone/trains.htm

If you wish to submit a photo for consideration, send the photo (no larger than 800x600 please) to TJ Klevar along with a description of how you built it, techniques you used, and any special tips you wish pass along.