All,
Another recent project are three wood cabooses I kitbashed from Model Die Casting models. I bought the MDC models off of e-bay for $6 a piece and detailed from there. A summary of what I did:
-shorten the cupola. Easier than it sounds, just cut off the side pieces by one "board" so it sits lower in the roof.
-sand the ribs off the roof, the Monon roofs are smooth
-make new sides from scribed siding with two window openings and fascia boards along the top
-cut Tichy windows down to be about the right size. This was the only tedious part of the project. There just don't seem to be windows the right size available. Maybe N scale ones?
-Install SS Ltd. end ladders.
-make end railings out of wire. This was the funnest part of the project. I made a jig and soldered them together. The little plate is brass shim-stock. And if you mess up, its only wire!
-made window glass from clear styrene and blinds out of file folder material.
-The MDC cars have truss rods, so you have to ditch all that and patch in the frame with styrene strips. I also added styrene strip to represent the sides of the frame that shows under the wood sides.
-install marker lamps from Precision Scale.
-install new steps from Detail Associates.
-install the usual brake gear.
-Mont's steam era caboose decals represent cars painted 1940-46.
I painted these a 50/50 mixture of boxcar red and oxide, the same color used on boxcars at the time. They look great and are a contrast to the caboose red cars I have in 1947 script THL schemes.
All told there is about $30 in each caboose and many enjoyable evenings listening to the radio and dreaming of trains.
Regards,
Mike Aufderheide
