When the prototype 409 was rebuilt into a coach, the interior was set up as one large non-smoking section with the lavatory in the same place as it was when the car was a dining car - in the corner of the car. The bulkheads between the body of the car and the vestibules basically remained the same with the exception of the addition of a railfan's window. The same has to be done with the model. Scribe lines for the window, cut out a rough opening, and finish with jewelers' mill files. The jaws of a modeler's vise was used to file the edges straight.
After the bulkheads are painted, they can reinstalled in the model. This was done to protect the interior of the vestibules and the windows plus keep parts from falling into them. Also the bulkheads and attachment screws will not get lost.
To get the roof ready for additions, the antenna like structure protecting the kitchen vents can be pulled off. The 2 kitchen vents can be either pulled off or un-soldered. The smoke stack can be either un-soldered or cut off with a cut-off wheel. If the stack is cut off, use the cut-off wheel to grind down the stump level with the roof.
If you look at the roof boards you should notice 2 small holes in the roof where the kitchen vents were plus the 2 half moon cut-outs in the roof board. The easiest way to repair the half moon cut-outs is to replace the involved section of roof board.
Using a medium size screwdriver blade pry-up by breaking the solder joint of the section of roof board to be replace. Do this carefully as the entire roof board is a large brass etching having small tabs between the individual rood boards. These tabs keep the boards parallel during construction of the model. In this photo you may be able to see the tab. The section of roof board was cut-out using a cut-off wheel. Use slow speed!
What is left of a tab between the roof boards can be seen on the roof cleat to the left of the smoke stack. The set of 4 roof boards were installed on the roof by soldering only the outside roof boards to the cleats.
I unsoldered the smoke stack seen in the above photo. After any protrusions on the roof are ground off and the area is cleaned up, the holes can be filled with Squadron Putty either green of white.
Note the cut roof board has been squared off at a roof cleat.
I took a gamble with the hole left from the smoke stack. No backing was soldered into place to back-up the hole filling material. A blob of the Squadron Putty was placed inside the roof to give a mushroom effect to provide backing for each of the 3 holes. The body putty on the exterior of the roof where the holes were can be sanded to the contour of the roof with fine grit sand paper.
A replacement roof board was made from the appropriate size styrene. The teeth of a small saw blade was run over the piece of styrene to simulate wood grain. The Sunset NSL models have wood grain in the roof boards. To "cut" the grain down a little, a fine grit sand paper was run over the piece of styrene. This piece of styrene will be installed later.
Please excuse the glare from the light.
Since the roof mats at each end will be replaced with new brass castings, the roof mats can be pulled off. After the roof matts are removed take note of the solder still on the roof. It's best to use a fine file to remove the solder first, then finish the work with a fine grit sand paper. However, DO NOT sand away the center area of where the roof matts were located. The center line of the old roof matt will be used to center the new roof matts.
Before we go further, let's take care of how the trolley poles bases are to be mounted. I prefer having the 2-56 screw attached to the body with the threads sticking up out of the roof. The other method has a hole in the roof for a small, round stud screwed into the trolley pole base to be inserted. Inside the hole is a piece of brass tubing with a piece of wire attached. There's pro and cons to both methods.
This method of electrical insulation can be used for both methods. Cut 2 pieces of styrene tubing into which a 2-56 screw will have a tight fit. Then enlarge the hole in the roof and roof boards for the piece of styrene tubing to pass through. For the inside of the model cut 2 pieces of styrene 0.040" thick into small rectangles. Each rectangle should fit between the 2 rows of pins from the roof cleats. Drill a hole in each rectangle for the piece of styrene tubing to pass through. Glue a piece of styrene tubing to each reactangle. Allow to dry over night.
File or sand the piece of tubing flat so each of the little insulators can stand. Insert the tubing portion of the insulator into the roof. Glue to the inside of the roof with ACC. Allow the ACC to cure over night.
Clean up the 2 pole base castings. enlarge the hole in the castings so the casting will slide over the styrene tubing. ACC the pole base casting unto the roof and styrene tube. Leave the styrene tubing sticking out until after the ACC has cured.
After the glue has cured, cut the styrene tubing level with the top of the pole base casting. This is what the pole base should look like.
Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of this detail. Another photo had to be used which fails to show the detail clearly.
Later either a 2-56 screw of correct length can be screwed into the styrene tubing or the styrene tubing drilled out a little and a piece of brass tubing into which a 2-56 screw can fit can be fitted into the styrene tube.
Up to now everything which should be removed from the roof has been and the trolley base has been installed. In the next post more items will be installed on the roof and hopefully the roof painted.
Cheers,
Ed
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