FGE 5145's

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Robb, one quick question. The ends seem to poke out beyond the roof a few inches. Do the corrigations stick out beyond the end posts?

[Robbman]

Corrugations won't stick out beyond the end posts, they're ~.25" inwards from those.  Going by both the roof and end drawings, the corrugations do stick out beyond the end of the roof a good 3.5".

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Here is my progress so far. The car scales to 54'6" which is the best length I can come up with based on Robb's roof length, and measuring out the car sides based on photos.


The master was built from Red Caboose PCF beer car sides cut down to the right length, Athearn NACC box roofs stretched to the correct length and Exactrail Evans box corrugated ends.











Sorry for the sucky photos. I have no access to my Canon Rebel until I have the computer situation fixed. These were taken and uploaded with my Nokia Lumia.

[Dave Schneider]

I just wandered back to this thread, and wow! A very nice job Daniel.

Best wishes, Dave

[ljudice]

Wow!!!!! 

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I am reposting this to the thread as an update to the FGE 5145/5237 project.

Most of the model is done. I still have some rivets to add and seal them with primer. I wish my eyes were sharper and my hand steadier. I'm not real happy with the end posts.

Anyway, I was trying to figure out how to cast this. I wanted clean castings and preserve the master for future molds. This presents a problem with pressure casting a two part mold because the interior needs to be filled with clay or putty that can never totally be removed. Then I thought rather than attaching strip styrene to the bottom and filling the thing with putty, why not just make a slide out pedestal that can be filled with putty, preserving the interior of the master?


I added I high resolution version of this photo to show the defects. As I said, the end posts are not perfect and I'm not really happy about the rivets and side ladders.

I then did the same thing with the interior bracing for the casting.





The bracing was designed to fit the Atlas Evens underframe. The underframe can be attached to the shell when installing MTL couplers.


This bracing part will be cast with the shell so that the resin models come out as one casting.




Casting will be done as follows:
1. Fill large pedestal with modeling clay.
2. Place shell on pedestal making sure there are no spaced between the top of pedestal and bottom of roof.
3. Place in casting box right side up, cast outside of shell.
4. After curing, flip mold over and remove pedestal.
5. Replace pedestal with interior bracing part.
6. Use white glue to add an injection port using 1/4" round styrene.
7. Use white glue to add air escape ports to the side still and ends using 1/32" round styrene.
8. Spray with mold release.
9. Add mold rubber to make the second part of the mold.

[peteski]

Daniel,
To repeat DKS' post in the Weekend Update thread, as long as you vent the interior of your car, there is no need to make it sturdy or solid when pouring the first half of the mold.  The pressure will be equalized and it won't cause the hollow master to collapse.

As far as injecting the resin into your mold, that should also not been needed.  I know a successful caster of 1:25 automobile model bodies.  Tom Coolidge from Promolite2000. He uses 2-part molds just like you will. and he uses a "squish casting" method.

He posts bunch of photos on Fotki. Here is one of his projects where he shows how he makes the molds:
http://public.fotki.com/tomcoolidge/revell-1950-oldsmob/page2.html (go through all the photos in this album and check Tom's other albums for some more mold-making ideas).

Once the mold is ready, figure out how much resin you need for the casting.  Fill the female part with water then put in the male plug. Some of the water will spill out of the mold. Pull out the male plug then measure the amount of water left in the female mold.  That is roughly the amount of resin you'll need to cast the part.

Once the mold is dry and prepared for resin (mold release applied, if you use it), mix slightly more resin that the amount of water which was left over in the mold.  Then "squish" the male plug into the female mold.  Sounds dirty, doesn't it?     Some resin will come out, just like the water did.  Then put the mold with resin in a pressure mold and let it harden.

This is a simplified description.  You might have to tweak your mold a bit and maybe put in some reservoirs or pockets to alow the resin to completely flow into all the parts of the mold.

I have not yet tried this "squish molding" process but it does make sense.

[ljudice]

Looking awesome!

[Nick Lorusso]

Looks good can't wait to see the finished product.

[FEC Railway]

any word on the final outcome of this project?

[ljudice]

If an FGE 5145 body would fit the X58 underframe, it would be a possibility.  But there would have to be more roadnames available to do in addition to SOU and NS.

I noticed on a YouTube video that some of these cars are getting spun off to shortlines, including the Georgia and Florida RR....

Possibly more....

I need these cars for my brewery complex! 

[daniel_leavitt2000]

The master is sitting on my desk ready for casting. The casting is waiting for my basement to be finished, which is waiting for money... it should be ready sometime this summer.

I really want to get this project finished so I can start on other box cars.

Lou and Bryan get dibs on the first 4 castings for assisting me with the project. Someone (Mike/Puddy?) sent me some old Northeast Decal sets for the Southern Claytor scheme and will get the 5th casting.

If all goes well I should have about 2-3 dozen cast and some will be available to other members. I am only looking for a fleet of 10 cars.

[ljudice]

The master is sitting on my desk ready for casting. The casting is waiting for my basement to be finished, which is waiting for money... it should be ready sometime this summer.

I really want to get this project finished so I can start on other box cars.

Lou and Bryan get dibs on the first 4 castings for assisting me with the project. Someone (Mike/Puddy?) sent me some old Northeast Decal sets for the Southern Claytor scheme and will get the 5th casting.

If all goes well I should have about 2-3 dozen cast and some will be available to other members. I am only looking for a fleet of 10 cars.

Very good news!!   Count me in for a few more castings as well...   

I think these, along with X58's and some lease scheme Atlas Evans cars will do well for shipping beer out.

Now all I need is to figure out what to build the brewery with.... 

[Dave Schneider]

Not trying to promote thread drift, but could someone comment on how one makes a mold for a boxcar like this with a "stepped" side sill? I get how to do it (in theory) if the sill is flat, but I will be facing this issue with my RB beer cars in the near future (I hope).

Best wishes, Dave

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Dave, if you are a little patient, I will be showing the whole process of casting in this thread in a few months. The techniques used will also work for your model.