The long sill piece that runs along the length of the wagon was made from Evergreen .043x.043 styrene rod cut to length. Underneath this, to represent the trapezoidal girder extension that hangs down between the bogies, a strip of .125x.125 rod was cut to length, beveled to shape and tacked on. Ideally I would have used a rectangular shape for the drop-piece rather than a square section, but this is what I had on hand in my large bag of styrene bits:
Of course you have to remember that these must be made in left and right handed pieces, two of each:
Once these are complete and tested to fit amongst the running gear, you can go to town with any detailing you want to add:
As can be seen from the above, the 'tiedown' piece that sticks out above the bogies was added and some angled end pieces over the center-bogie ends were chunked up from .043 rod and attached with plastic glue.
A vague representation of some of the vertical bracing that usually sits beneath each twistlock was also added. This was cut from .010x.020 styrene rod and painstakingly added under a magnifier and maneuvered into an approximation of the vertical.
In smaller scale modelling, the trade-off between potential derailment risk and perfect detail always favours good running or you get frustrated quickly....
Being naturally lazy, and being that you have to do four sides worth of any detail you add, I was a bit 'minimal' here on these sides (albeit better than the last wagon constructed!), but I think it's enough to give the impression of detail.
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