My First Funaro and Camerlengo Kit: Rutland Hopper Bottom Coal Car

[TomPM]

Well I have finally taken the plunge. I am going to try to assemble a craftsman kit. This one is a Funaro and Camerlengo kit. It is kit #6222 Rutland Hopper Bottom Coal & Ore Car Weathered with Decals. I purchased the kit off a seller on EBay at the end of last week.

The kit arrived today!

So here it is in plain white box.

Here are the parts. Looks like I have a lot of flash to remove.

Here is a picture of a prototype car from the instructions.

I browsed through the instructions to see what else I may need. Of course there is the obvious; trucks. The recommended style is arch bar. Then there are the couplers but I have a ton of Kadee draft boxes sitting around. Then I discovered that I need to go out and get several drills.

My daughter and I went to Hobbytown USA. I generally don’t go there but they are pretty good on having tools and paint supplies. Their model railroad section is very weak at this store. However, tonight they only had a set of 20 drills. I was not ready to cough up $27.00 tonight basically for two drills that I need for this kit. I may go back later and pick up the set since I will most likely need them down the road.

For now cleaning the parts will be the priority.

 

[nachoman]

i bought a set of drills at radio shack... came with a pin vise handle and about a dozen drills for about 10 bucks.

kevin

 

[nachoman]

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062768&cp=&kw=drill&parentPage=search

this is the one

kevin

 

[Drew1125]

Good luck with the car kit, Tom!

Looking forward to seeing your progress pics! :thumb:

 

[steamhead]

Hi,

Why does your workbench look like mine??? Right down to the paints & "look-see" glasses...

Keep us posted on your progress - cast resin kits are a gray area to most modelers.

Maybe some of us will take the plunge...

Gus (LC&P).

 

[MasonJar]

Tom,

Best price for tiny drills:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=1&p=41754&cat=1,180,42240

Andrew

 

[santafewillie]

I wish I had that much free space on my workbench!

 

[Chessie6459]

Sure can't wait to see it when it is done Tom. :thumb:

 

[TomPM]

I etched the inside of the wall pieces to make it look like separate boards. I then lightly sanded the insides with 100 grit sandpaper as the instructions recommended.

I started adding some of the riveted strips to the inside of the walls of the car. This is going to take a while. When I get through adding them I will post some photos.

 

[TomPM]

Over the weekend I finished attaching the riveted strips to the inside walls of the coal car. Here is how they look now.

Now I need to get some drills so I can start drilling the holes I need in the next few steps.

 

[TomPM]

Not much happening here on this project. I keep being stymied by little things. I went and finally bought the drill bits that I need for the project. All I could find was a Walthers set. I get the set home only to find out that half the bits fell out of their case into the bag. Now I have to figure out what size some of the bits are.

Next I take out the #72 bit to use it to drill holes for the truss rods. I then discover that the bit is too small for my pin vise. Looks like another trip to the LHS is in the works.

 

[eightyeightfan1]

Did you try reversing the collett in your pin vise. Usually, a lot of PV's come with duel use collett for use on different size bits. Mine, I can go as big as 1/8th and flip the collett and go to an #80 drill bit.

 

[TomPM]

Unfortunately I tried that and my does not have that ability. wall1:curse: I thought it did.:cry:

 

[jim currie]

Tom i buy most of my modeling tools from either Micro Mart or General tools they have ok pricing and fast shipping. the best cheep pin vice you get at a welding shop its for cleaning cutting tips comes with a flip collett and a set of drills .the thing i like about them is there is a storage in the handel, so if your using say a 1/8th a #62 and a #76 on a project i just put them in the handel .that way you know where they are and dont have to put them in a index.one other tip if you are using #drills that are close like a 72 and a 74 I take felt tip markers and color the fultes in the drill differn't color for each size.

 

[TomPM]

I can finally get some work done on this kit. At Last I got the right pin vise. Armed with drills and pin vise I was able to drill holes for the truss rods and clean out the bolster areas. I have the first side glued and clamped as I write this.

 

[Skammer]

I love F&C models - they come out great if you take your time. You're off to a good start!

Myself, I stick to the boxcars - one advantage being you don't have to detail the interior!

 

[TomPM]

Thanks!

The sides of the coal car are now attached:

The ends have been attached and the glue is drying. Photos coming.

 

[ross31r]

Tom, how easy is this car to do so far?

looking at buying quite a few F&C gondolas from BC Hobbies for my traction line and was wondering if they are the sort of thing that a novice like me can do - up till now the most complicated car i have made was a USRA composite hopper.

 

[TomPM]

Tom, how easy is this car to do so far?

They are not easy but I would say that they are not impossible or too difficult. They require a lot of cutting and filing. There is quite of bit of drilling and small parts. Also you will need patience. There are times where I had to glue something, clamp it and then resistance the temptation to fiddle with it. Remember they don’t come with trucks, wheels, or couplers so you will need to get them.

I have the Reading gondola 2-pack kit. I was going to build it a while back but did not because I need to get a floor of them as recommended by F&C.

So far I like it and I know I will get more. I am looking at the MP54 kits even though I don’t have any catenary on the layout. I used to ride them as a kid into Philadelphia and would just love to have a few.

 

[ross31r]

Do you think it would be best if i tried a boxcar or flatcar to begin with then?