Killawarra

Another NOBX project.

Guy's, what a year it has been. No point reviewing the year that has been, only that it sucks. It has been over a year since I last made a post. I just haven't been in the right frame of mind. I am sorry for this as I really do like to share my thoughts and modelling ideas.

I really like to finish a project before I talk about it, but lately I just haven't been able to finish anything. It is like some barrier or mental block or something. I am just going to have to give updates on where I am at with some projects.

Anyway I have had this project on my mind for a number of years. I have always wanted to take an AR kits NOBX to the next level. A while back I did up 4 NOBX's and reported this in a previous blog. They were as the model intended to be. These were the first batch of BDX's, I think built by Tulloch. I have wanted to build the 2nd version which has quite a different style of under frame. I think these were made by Comeng. Anyway I am sure someone will correct me. These details are not a priority unless I was doing this for a magazine or Convention. The cross members on the second version are the difficult bit. From the following photo's you can see what I mean.

Then the Auscision BDX/NOBX come on the scene.

I got my hands on one of the new Auscision NOBX models. I got it from a member at the Taree and District Model Railway club that was happy to split up a pack. I am not into pre-ordering models anymore and that is a topic I will write about soon. As soon as I got the model home I put it up against my fleet of AR Kits NOBX models to see how it stacked up. Ideally I would of just liked to weather it up and be able to happily mix it up with them. The under frame was real nice. The cross members were done well. The body however was just not as good as the AR version. Photos will tell the story.

On it's own it is a nice model. The sides on the AR Kits model are just much more crisp. The Sole Bar at the top of the sides just doesn't look right and the half relief tie rails on the side just look too thick.

My solution to this? Use all the bits done well and mix it up with AR Kits sides. Make the small modifications to the sides needed and make the best of it. Hopefully come up with a model that could be of Competition quality. Next is a photo essay of the process.

First was to separate the Fish Belly chassis which is cast metal alloy. All the cross members are in place. One of the cross members is wrong. on the brake gear side 3 are reduced in size to cater for the brake gear but from the photos I have used for research, the one closest is the same as the ones on the other side. At the end of the day I am not going to worry about this. Being a metal chassis, it is strong so it has opened to opportunity to do the deck with real timber boards. My plan is to have a number of them missing and be able to see clearly some of the under frame through. Maybe not as bad as what is in this photo.

This is the first version. The center Frame is not as wide on the second version. But the idea is the same. Next is preparing the frame. These photo's explain it a bit better than I can describe,

First Step was to cut a sheet of 5 thou Styrene to the size of an AR Kits underfloor

As AR Kits sides will be used in this project

I pretty much just found the center and glued frame straight to the styrene

I also run some styrene strip around the frame. Not sure of the size ATM but it was just what looked right for the job to meet up with the bolsters and cross members

I then added some C section for the floor supports or what ever they are called?

Next step was to cut out all the holes in the 5 thou Styrene. The Styrene was basically just used as a base to glue all the frame together and is easy to cut away when done.

From here the sides are fitted. I have decided to remove the doors on this model so that the floor can be seen easier. I don't see a point in doing all this work and not be able to observe the detail. This model will be a feature in what will be a small country style container yard on my layout. The doors open or removed so that a Fork lift can place the containers into open wagons if needed.