Xa Xc Xp series ventilated vans
These look fairly straight forward using pre-scribed plastic
sheet and pre-cut strips from Evergreen or Plastruct, although
the vents look a bit tricky - depending on how much detail you
want. Hopefully the vents will be as simple in the end as the
Kp and Lc corrugated ends were. . .
Plan on making a few of these wagons and it will be nice to
see splashes of white, or at least grimy cream, in amongst all
the red oxide! And there were a few variations of each model
regarding vents, strapping and the like just to make things even
more interesting.
Ah those vents
For the common Xa the vent "unit" was five louvres,
and there are ten vent assemblies per wagon - two on each side
plus three on each end.
The Xc and Xp vents units are smaller, have seven louvres,
and there's 12 assemblies per wagon - four on each side plus
two on each end.
The Xp vents differ slightly in having a frame overlaying
each pair of vents. See photos and drawings for reference.
So there is a need to reproduce many vents quickly and easily
and being a fan of moulding and casting, the idea was to make
a master of each type of vent.
First thought was to get these laser cut, but maybe a little
tricky and fine. Maybe be 3D printing?
Another idea was to glue together plastic strips, stacked
with spacers, and staggered, building up the shape and look.
First trial attempt resulted in a pretty good match (above)
. . . rivet counters will note there are 7 louvres for this Xc
vent. But also note the bottom one needs to stick out more.
The idea was to build lengths of these that could be cut into
correct widths.
Now for the bodies. . .
Xa
15ft 7" body on 10ft wheelbase chassis.
more to come. . .
Xc and Xp
These two are 20ft body / 13ft wheelbase chassis versions
of the little Xa.
The main differences between Xc and Xp are the vent style,
and the Xp door is wider than the Xc.
Because of the similarities between the Kc and Xc, the Kc
was built first so after they've served their purpose, the Kc
masters could be modified to be Xc masters.
More to come. . .
References
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