I bought an HO scale 3D printed model of a Chesapeake & Ohio ventilated box car last year. While prepping for a recent operating session, something seemed off about the model as it sat with other box cars. It took me awhile, but I noticed the tack boards on the car end were missing.
This model is offered by Yuma Car & Foundry and sold through 3D Central. I summarized upgrades and issues with the original prints in a post on my DesignBuildOp blog. As noted there, the issues I had found were corrected with new printing files.
I had not noticed the missing tack boards until recently. I have kept extra parts from completed resin kits so I sorted through the box and found a couple of matching tack boards that were close to the prototype size. These extra parts have been helpful a number of times for freight car kit builds.
I cleaned up the castings and sliced thin strips of resin part flash to represent the mounting straps for the boards.
The strips were mounted on the back of the tack boards with cyanoacrylate adhesive (CA), then the excess was trimmed away to leave a bit extending beyond the edge of the parts.
I installed the tack boards onto the car ends in a location documented on a prototype image.
I used this 1931 image of C&O 86635 to fix the tack board location on the model end. This image also guided my work installing the sill steps, retainer line, and uncoupling rods.
Now my C&O ventilated box car is ready for warmer weather when the paint shop opens. I also contacted the kit designer and the tack boards have been added to the latest print file.
Sometimes our model kits are missing detail pieces. Saving the extra parts from older, completed kits can be a handy resource to keep your projects moving towards the finish line.
Eric Hansmann
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