Excavator Step

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First I took several screenshots of prototype videos found online to get the dimensions. With the screenshots, some measuring and a little bit of calculation I could made a sketch of what I want to build. Planning the excavator step
My styrene strip stock - very convenient to have it at hand when building things. My styrene strip stock ...
I wanted to build a gage first, so I made a drawing on my computer, printed it out and glued it to some scrap plywood. Printed out one side.
The gage was built directly on top of the print with small pieces of wood. The styrene strips will now fit perfectly in place and I will get two identical sides easily. Gage built on top of the print out.
This picture shows how the sides are built: one side is already done, the second is still in the gage. This way both sides are identical and there is no hurry while glueing. Two sides, one still in gage.
Same procedure for the shorter sides as connection between the left and right side. Connecting part in gage.
Now all four sides are built. They are cleaned, a little bit of fine tuning, removing excess glue, ... All four sides built.
Now all four sides have to be glued together. For doing this exactly and without stress I built a gage with some scrap wood and cardboard. After adjusting it I could apply the glue and just wait in patience. All four sides glued together.
That's the result - with an addition: Two strips are added on the top as a fall protection, to avoid the excavator to slip to one side. Added two strips on top.
Here the step is placed on the tracks for the first time to check if it looks legit. First placement on the tracks.
After cleaning I applied a coat of acrylic primer and let it dry for at least 24h. Acrylic primer applied
The next step was applying the final color with an airbrush and weathering. Airbrushed yellow
Completed excavator step, waiting for the next gondola ... Completed excavator step