I decided to do a quick write up on my RDG XAd boxcar. I presented this model at the modelers meet. There were other models there such as Butch Curls that were all very nicely done and was great to see these cars represented there. I personally liked how this kit went together which helped me make the decision to buy the XMv model from Funaro a couple of months ago. That kit is being built as I write this and I will have that at next year’s modelers meet. And I’m sure there will be other representations of the model there as well.

This isn’t going to be a how to in depth article like I usually write. I just wanted to share my experience with this kit and touch on a few things with upgrades I made to the model. Also this might persuade a few more modelers here to build one of these fine kits. The XAd is a Funaro & Camerlengo resin kit. If you never built a resin kit because you were timid about the complexity of it, I’m telling you this model was a pleasure to build compared to other resin kits out there. The model is a one piece body with all the detail parts included except the trucks, couplers and coupler lift bars. The trucks I have on are Kadee #565 Bettendorf, at the show I used Kadee #509 Andrews because Kadee #565 were still on order at the time. Andrews can be used if you’re modeling before 1950. To assemble the model, I used Microscales Micro-bond medium CA. Micro-bond is like a product called Cy-pox. It’s a more advanced CA that bonds really strong and can be used to bond Delrin as long as you use the primer, just like Cy-pox, only allot cheaper in price.

I started my kit by first making sure the floor fit inside the body properly. So you need to do the following.

1).Cut away the casting nubs inside the body sill. Sand those nubs flush to the sill after cutting them away.
2). Remove any flash from the body and sand the bottom edges clean.
3). Clean up the floor and square it up by sanding the edges and test fitting the floor to the body.

4). Remove more material from the inside edges of the body and corners by scraping and sanding. I also sanded the floor edges a little more where needed. When I got the floor to fit snug and flat and was able to remove it with ease, I then washed the body and all parts with Scrubbing Bubbles foaming bleach. I used this product because for some reason my wife didn’t like it. It worked well for me! If you’re sensitive to cleaning products like bleach, wear rubber gloves.

After the all the parts have dried, I started with the underbody detail following the instructions. You can add as much detail or as little as you want. I did the complete under frame detailing. I Pre-fit all parts including any sanding, removal of flash prior to gluing. When the under frame was completed, I prepared the trucks for mounting and I mounted the Kadee coupler boxes in place. Next I check the coupler height, but first I set the additional weight on the floor as prescribed by the NMRA for a 40ft boxcar and add little extra to replicate the weight of the body. I do this because the Kadee trucks are spring loaded. With the coupler height checked and approved by the shop foreman, I moved on to the body.

Again following the instructions, I drilled all holes for the grab irons. I used scale grabs on my model instead of the ones supplied and used a #87 drill bit. Dimples are cast into the body to aid with the drill locations.
I sanded away the cast tread plate on the corners of the roof and used Archer tread plate decal which is closer to scale. I also replaced the cast roof walk with a Cannon & Company diesel tread diamond plate walk way. It was the right width and I glued that down with barge cement. I made the roof corner grabs out of .008 brass wire and attached those. Continuing with the supplied instructions I added the brake wheel detail. I inter-mixed the supplied parts with some Details associates Freight car detail parts. I picked and chose the parts that looked better than the other. The chain coming out of the brake wheel was etched scale chain solder to a piece of .010 brass wire. I also custom made the footboard out .010 styrene under the brake wheel.

After that I worked on the doors adding the supplied details and following the instructions. I did replace the door handles with Detail Associates handles from one of their door kits. I also added door slides to the top of the doors; these were just made from styrene and glued on.

The car I was modeling had a steel patch added to the side. I cut a rectangle patch from styrene and glued into place. That patch was .005 thick. Making more modifications to the doors involved re-locating the tack boards as per the car I was modeling and creating door bulges and body scrapes. I used thick CA to create those bulges using the prototype picture as guide. I applied the CA with a toothpick and built the bulges up as needed as the CA set up. I carved out scrapes on the panels with point of a #11 blade and sanded the edges smooth.

I also replaced the supplied stirrups with DA delrin stirrups. These are sturdier than the cast ones. The last thing I added was lift bar hangers from a DA diesel kit.

Prepping the body for paint, I used 70% alcohol and a soft tooth brush to gently scrub and finger oils off. I did the same for the floor. When the alcohol dried, I repeated the process and allowed those pieces to dry thoroughly.

Painting the model, I did the under frame in a weathered black and the body I chose to do an earlier boxcar red color. Most of these cars darkened over time or were repainted with a newer version of the boxcar red. I used Accupaint AP-54 Rich oxide brown. Tru-color has taken over the Accupaint line now and uses the same colors and code. Tru-color also makes that newer version of RDG freight car red, TCP-237.

With a day of drying I mixed and matched the supplied decals with Champ boxcar decals. I liked the Champ diamonds better. When the decaling was completed and dry, I wiped all residues from the body and gave it a flat overcoat. Weathering was done using chalks. The under frame was finished using thin coats of weathering washes from the airbrush and dusted with chalks. The body and under frame were sealed again with a flat coat. I added the weight to the under frame and glued the frame to the body. I then added the couplers and trucks and double checked coupler height.

The final detailing and touch up was to add the DA coupler lift bars and to make a pair of air hose supports. The air hose supports were made from the scraps of etch trees from detail parts like brass steps and so forth. At .007 thick and getting the right width was a simple step when you don’t throw this stuff away. I always keep my scrapes for modeling purposes. I cut 2 pieces to the length I needed and drilled a # 80 hole at one end and I soldered an eyebolt to it. The eyebolt will support the air hose. I then attached the extensions to the body and panted them to match along with the lift bars. I added the air hose and painted them up. Then I brushed on some flat coat and a little weather fade.

Nice model. Thanks for the tips.

Looks great Ron,I'll have to try building one of these in future