To paraphrase Vane Jones, "Knowledge is of little value until shared with others."

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Sunset NSL Silverliners #11B – 415 Trucks, Underbody, & Interior

Interior Floor
Compare the interior floor of the model vs. the photos in the prior posts and the floor plan in C.E.R.A. Bulletin 106 page 145. If you have not by now, enlarge the floor plan to O scale. One of the major problems with the model’s interior is the partition going around the kitchen and the lavatory areas. The wall nearest the tavern lounge area is curved and should be straight. The reason for the curved wall may have something to do with making the model for 3-rail operation. There are also a number of doors for the lavatory and mechanical lockers missing.

If you check the floor diagram you will notice the location of the door from the side corridor to the kitchen is in the wrong location. Another omission is the heating locker or cabinet at the #1 end.


My kitchen and lavatory areas are made from styrene. Most of the kitchen or lavatory interiors are not to be included, the only part of the kitchen interior anyone could see is through the open, upper half of the Dutch door. The kitchen interior which can be seen through the door is included.



The exterior of my kitchen and lavatory walls were painted a very light green color. This color was made by using the mixture of used to paint the vestibule bulkheads. (The color for the vestibules is an equal mixture of refrigerator white and New York Central light green). Paint from this bottle was added drop wise to an open bottle of refrigerator white and mixed. The heater cabinet was painted with the very light green color.

The interior of the kitchen and lavatory areas were painted refrigerator white.

One of the interesting characteristics of 415 was a painted mural of plates on the wall between the dining area and the kitchen. Thanks to Greg King, to help you with your model, the photo below is a copy of that mural. It is in the correct ratio of height and width so you will be able to print and paste it directly to your kitchen wall exterior. "Kwik Seal" was the glue.

Next, look at the tables and chairs supplied by Sunset. If you compare a drawing of the floor of 415 to the floor of your model you'll notice there are excess tables and chairs. What are missing are the J-shaped sofa, the three small round tables in front of it, and a lounge chair with arms.

After the tables and chairs are removed from the floor, the screws were cleaned in lacquer thinner to remove the glue Sunset had used to secure them. The floor was likely sanded to remove any protruding brass and excess glue. As with the interior floors of the coaches, this floor was shortened by 0.020” on each end. The floor was then sprayed with the same brown Rustoleum paint used on the interior floors of the coaches. Here it is prior to painting.


An items not mentioned before, if you feel it necessary, enlarge the openings in the floor for the body mounted tabs used to secure the outer truck floor to the body. This will help in installing the floors as well as disassembly in the future.

If you compare the back of the Sunset chairs with chairs in the photograph of the interior of 415, you should notice the chairs in 415 have a sculptured back. A similar, but not exactly the same, look can be achieved by using the smallest drum sander provided with a Dremel tool. Lightly sand the top and sides of the chair backs to achieve the sculptured look.


The J shape lounge sofa was made next. My friend Charlie Pitts was able to make this piece of furniture without too much trouble. Here are Charlie Pitts’ photos of the couch he made.




All 5 photos Charlie Pitts Collection

This is the set of directions Charlie wrote.
All 3 drawings Charlie Pitts Collection


To complement Charlie’s instructions this is my additional information and drawings.

Attach the j-shaped couch to the interior floor when finished using small self-taping screws.

To make the tables a short length of brass tubing was glued to thick round styrene "table tops". The inside of the brass tubing was taped to receive a 1-72 screw. Holes had to be drilled in the floor at appropriate places to hold the tables.


The single seat lounge chair with arms was made utilizing one of the brass seats from the model. First a flat piece of styrene was glued to the seat casting to extend to size of the seat. Then pieces of styrene tubing and flat stock were added as the seat was sculptured using a single edge razor blade.




This is the only photo I have of the completed lounge chair as well as the interior prior to adding passengers.


All of the items were secured to the interior floor with screws. Passengers and any items placed on the tables were secured with “Kwik-Seal”. If you are able, give your passengers a meal or refreshments.

Craft stores sell many items used in bead work. One such item is short tubular pieces in clear colorless, yellow, red, blue, etc. More pieces are a metallic yellow, red, blue, etc. When glued on end these can be glasses containing water, beer, mixed drinks, and soft drinks.

Brown beads with colored pieces of card stock can be hamburgers. At one time a company called Circus Craft made the place setting for a meal out of plastic. The plastic casting included all silverware, plates, and a coffee cup with saucer.  Although the company is no longer in business, this item shows up on EBay from time to time.

The NSL used a paper place mats, napkins, drink coasters, and menus with the Electroliner, other NSL equipment and the circus figures printed in them. These can be duplicated in scale and printed off your home computer. Here is an interior photo of my 415 is service on the NSL, the attendant left menus on the unused tables.

Styrene stripes were glued to the floor to provide a spacer for wiring. Final wiring will take place during assembly of the model. The interior floor was secured to the truck floor with my own screws and not those provided by Sunset.


Cheers,
Ed

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