Model Railroading > Suggestions for this kit, before I start on it

I have had this kit for about 20 years, and I think it was manufactured in the 60's or 70's.

i have built wood craftsman freight car kits, but not one of these.

Questions for those that may have assembled one of these :

Sides are stamped metal - how to attached these to the wood frame?  Instructions say Walters Goo but
there are a lot of newer adhesives on the market since these instructions were written so maybe there
is a better product out there now?

Should I paint these before glueing?  How to paint the metal sides, prime first then paint?

There are a lot of cast metal parts.  Same questions on these.

The trucks included look rather crude by today's standards.  Suggestions for trucks for this car?
I believe this car is based on a Santa Fe superintendents car, so I prefer like trucks appropriate for that.

Thanks in advance,

Shane Murphy
Tyler, Tex.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/20 07:27 by WrongWayMurphy.

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I also have one of these models to build and share your trepidation in getting started.  Yes, I will paint and decal the sides before attaching them and am also looking for a better glue than messy old Goo. Another thing that bothers me is drilling all those holes for handrails and marring the sides enroute.  The best trucks, if you can find them, are the Pecos River Brass ATSF 9' wheelbase passenger trucks.  If you have access to old Santa Fe Modeler magazines, there was a fine article by Brenda Bailey many years ago on modeling Walthers metal passenger cars.  If you're lucky to have a plastic roof instead of wood, many of your troubles are avoided too.  Best of luck and I'd love to hear about your progress!

I have several of these kits also but, haven't built any yet so, can't offer any advice there. As far as trucks go, Central Valley trucks may work as well. I don't know if they are appropriate for the ATSF prototype or not.

Here's a couple of pics of 6 wheel trucks from CV to give you an idea of the detail, if you've never seen them. Some of the kits I have came with CV trucks and some came with Walthers trucks. 
 
Joe
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/20 11:34 by SPJoe.

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SPJoe Wrote:
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> I have several of these kits also but, haven't
> built any yet so, can't offer any advice there. As
> far as trucks go, Central Valley trucks may work
> as well. I don't know if they are appropriate for
> the ATSF prototype or not.
>
> Here's a couple of pics of 6 wheel trucks from CV
> to give you an idea of the detail, if you've never
> seen them. Some of the kits I have came with CV
> trucks and some came with Walthers trucks. 
>  

The Santa Fe cars had 4 wheel trucks.
> Joe
>  

Pretty sure that the ATSF Sup's cars had 4 wheel trucks.

-John

jcaestecker Wrote:
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> Pretty sure that the ATSF Sup's cars had 4 wheel
> trucks.
>
> -John

Ok. wasn't sure if it was 6 or 4 wheel trucks but CV makes 4 wheel trucks also I just don't own any to take pics of. 

Joe

The one old Walthers kit I built I soldered the grabirons onto the sides.
The ends of the clearstory roof were not too difficult but maybe my quality standards are not museum level.
Life is too short to drill out multiple holes in hard metal and I am not fond of drilling in plastic either.
Your patience level may be different.
AFAIK the ATSF had short and long office cars, the short ones were 4 axles.

As for adhesives, of course Walthers said to use Goo since it's their brand. And there's nothing special about Goo, it's just regular old contact cement.
What you need is an adhesive that will bond sealed and unsealed wood to metal and plastic. So super glue or any of the other universal adhesives should work.
These old kits are pretty basic but they were the "state of the art" for the 40's, 50's and 60's. With the addition of the current generation of detailing parts and such it's possible to build a nicely detailed model.
Just requires a lot of time and patience. Good luck and have fun!

I built many of these "back in the day".  I always built the car fully before painting.  I used a "titebond" glue for the metal-to-wood contact, but I think there are many glues available today for this. 

Actually, these cars are not bad and give you options with heavyweight cars not available in the RTR plastic world. Walthers made a lot of variations of the heavyweight cars.

Victor A. Baird
http://www.erstwhilepublications.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/20 22:25 by wabash2800.

Start with the sides. First get bulk packs of the drill bits. Lube the bits with beeswax or whatever you use in your machine shop and have at it. After the holes are prepped clean the sides thoroughly and hit with rattle can primer before they rust. I'd use epoxy to mount the sides, but there are lots of other choices of adhesives. As for the other metal parts - likely a lead alloy - just clean and paint. Modern hobby paints are fine right onto metal parts.

If you are keeping it vintage, use the Walthers trucks or hunt down some Central Valley four-wheel trucks. In either case, do a continuity test to make sure the wheelsets are still insulated. Keeping vintage, Kadee #4 and the #4 draft gear are appropriate. You'll likely need Kadee fiber washers to get the car to ride the right height. Otherwise, modern Walthers four-wheel trucks and your normal Kadee coupler choice would be the way to go.

I'm going to enjoy this vicariously. I don't hold much nostalgia for "the good old days" of model kits. Keep that camera busy sharing on this project.