Advice wanted for shortening a car.

[Flare]

I'm going to be attempting my first modification soon, and I want it to be done right.

The mod will be shortening an On30 gondola into a 'shorty' flatcar roughly 2 inches in length.

My current plan is to remove the walls and middle section then join the two ends together; Simple enough, but I don't know which cutting tool I should use nor which bonding agent will work best to marry the two ends together when I'm done.


Also, it would help to know which brand and color of paint most accurately matches the black plastic Bachmann uses.

[jbrock27]

You may hope to get more play to the question, having it over in the On30 section of the Board.  Good luck!

[Flare]

You may hope to get more play to the question, having it over in the On30 section of the Board.  Good luck!

Wouldn't the tools and adhesives be the same in all scales?

[Trainman203]

One thing I've seen work well on other car shortening projects is to keep the seams away from the middle of the car where the eye naturally gravitates.  And on boxcars and baggage cars, make the cuts right alongside the door frame which can camouflage it pretty well.

And add a continuous length piece hidden somewhere underneath for strength.

[jbrock27]

Wouldn't the tools and adhesives be the same in all scales?

Don't know.  Never had or worked on an On30 car.  (See my point now?)

[RAM]

Since the car you will be modeling was a wood car.  Why not just make one from wood.  Ok if you cut the sides and the end off, and shorten the car.  You still will need to make a new floor.  You still will need to repaint, and letter the car.  almost as much work and building the whole car.

[Flare]

One thing I've seen work well on other car shortening projects is to keep the seams away from the middle of the car where the eye naturally gravitates.  And on boxcars and baggage cars, make the cuts right alongside the door frame which can camouflage it pretty well.

And add a continuous length piece hidden somewhere underneath for strength.

Yes, I was thinking of having the seam be along one of the stake holders rather than the center.  And the walls I'll be removing should be perfect for adding strength.

I'm not seeing many results for such projects online though, and they aren't mentioning which tools or adhesives to use either.

I assume a Dremel will make the cutting task easy, but they don't appear to have a cutting wheel made for plastic.  Which wheel will work best?

Would a low-grit sanding band also will be the best candidate for finalizing the cut to make it straight?


And can I just use super glue for a bonding agent or would something made specifically for plastics be better?

[Flare]

Since the car you will be modeling was a wood car.  Why not just make one from wood.  Ok if you cut the sides and the end off, and shorten the car.  You still will need to make a new floor.  You still will need to repaint, and letter the car.  almost as much work and building the whole car.

I don't trust my assembly or painting skills very much, otherwise I would have bought a kit.

I intend for the car to carry a load that will hide the floor, and my painting skills aren't that good so I'd like to keep the painting limited to touching up anything that doesn't match the factory color.

[jbrock27]

I assume a Dremel will make the cutting task easy, but they don't appear to have a cutting wheel made for plastic.

I don't believe they do either, but the discs they do sell, will cut plastic.  To cut plastic I also use a Coping Saw blade, cut down to about 2.5-3", chucked in a Pin Vise.  The more teeth to the blade, the finer the cut, the less teeth, the rougher the cut.

[rogertra]

Buy yourself an Xacto Razor Saw and Mitre Box, they come in sets.

Do NOT use a Dremel tool to cut plastic.  It will melt rather than cut the plastic.


Cheers

Roger T.

[Trainman203]

Roger,a VERY VERY slow Dremel speed ought to be ok, right?

I'm getting ready to kitbash a Bachmann 1860 wood combine, and a similar Mantua one,  into "drovers" (sometimes called "long") cabooses, and will be removing roof areas for cupola placement. Need to know.

[jbrock27]

If there is a concern about melting plastic using a motor tool, try using painters tape to mask areas of concern.  Like this:

http://www.tycoforums.com/tyco/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16767&whichpage=4

[rogertra]

Roger,a VERY VERY slow Dremel speed ought to be ok, right?

I'm getting ready to kitbash a Bachmann 1860 wood combine, and a similar Mantua one,  into "drovers" (sometimes called "long") cabooses, and will be removing roof areas for cupola placement. Need to know.

Personally, I'd never use a Dremel to cut a plastic model.  In all my kitbashing, and I've done quite a few locos and dozens of buildings,  I use either an Exacto Razor Saw or an Exacto Knife with a suitable blade.


Cheers


Roger T.

[jbrock27]

I assume a Dremel will make the cutting task easy, but they don't appear to have a cutting wheel made for plastic.

I don't believe they do either

In thinking about this further, I have come across an acessory that cuts plastic w/o melting it.  Not 100% sure, but I believe I bought it at Home Depot.  Instead of being like the standard cutting wheels that are smooth on the edge, this wheel is metal and looks like a mini Skil-Saw blade.  I've used it to cut 2 of the plastic posts off a Bachmann FTA shell so I could fit it on a Bachmann Plus F7A chasisis.  Funny thing is, I had originally bought it with cutting metal in mind

I will also add this, I don't know how ideal cutting long straight lines, cutting wheels are, so if that is the kind of cut that is planned, using the Coping Saw blade I mentioned or one of Roger's suggested tools may be better for the job.

[RAM]

The saw that I like is made by Zona.  Atlas makes one for about $5.  Check with Walthers.  I would not want to use a power saw.  It would be fast, but I think you have more control with a hand tool.