Page 70 - 38. MRH13-04-Apr2013

Erie Railroad Boxcars, p1 - 14
STEP 7: The Floor, Bolsters and Under Frame 75000 – 76499 Series
This is the blank floor with the lines laid out on it. I lay these
lines out while the piece is still taped to the worktop. It’s
important to make sure everything is square; otherwise the
car(s) will not track properly.
20
20: I began the floor assembly using .040 thick “V”
groove siding. The siding spacing is .060 which is
very close to 6”. The floor was cut 9’-7” wide by
39’-8” long. You wonder how I came up with these
dimensions? I cheated again. I copied the sizes from
the Sunshine Models Erie kit as I had done before.
Blank floor with layout lines
Bolster layout lines
Center sill layout lines
4" x 4" support
21
21: Since I did not want to attempt to scratchbuild
the bolsters I attacked one of several old Athearn
blue box kits (again) that I have laying around. The
bolsters were separated from the frame and the area
under the flange was filled in to make a smooth side.
Since this will be one of the deepest parts of the
mold undercuts are a major no – no.
Two scale 1” x 10” were cemented to the sides of the bol-
ster on each quarter. A single 2” x 10” would have worked,
but I didn’t have any on hand. I also cut a small piece of
styrene rod to fill in the screw holes for the bolster. I left
the rod just a little bit low so as to have a small dimple in
the casting where I need to drill for the mounting screw in
the future. While not shown in the picture, 4” x 10” sty-
rene plugs were cut to fill in the openings on the end of
the bolsters.
STEP 7: The Floor, Bolsters and Under Frame 75000 – 76499 Series
Continued ...
Styrene filler under
bolster flange
Styrene filler in
screw hole
index contents
MRH-Apr 2013