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Reg H
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| Joined: | Sun Oct 19th, 2014 |
| Location: | Shelton, USA |
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Lee:
Yes, I was there on Sunday.
That is where I picked up the box cars.
I took my grandson.
He had a good time.
Reg
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Reg
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Reg H
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| Joined: | Sun Oct 19th, 2014 |
| Location: | Shelton, USA |
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With some time on my hands....
This little caboose was part of a package deal from an estate sale.
I normally would have passed up acquiring something like this.
But it was thrown in as an added "bonus".
So what is wrong with it ?
It appears to have been a fairly decent kit.
But it was rather hastily assembled.
Things don't fit together very well, there is no glazing in the windows,
the ladders are installed on the centerline under the catwalk,
the stove pipe is broken off, and there are no brake wheels.
Kind of a sad little caboose.
I was about to pull of anything salvageable and throw the rest away.
But I got looking at it. I like the general lines.
It is very similar to the GN 400 series cabooses, though it lacks the fourth window.
It has wire grab irons. The paint and lettering are pretty good.
So, I set out to see if I could improve it.
It was a bit of a chore getting disassembled. It is not an Athearn kit.
The body is open at the roof rather than the undercarriage, as is typical of Athearn.
That presented a problem, since the roof was glued on.
Fortunately, whoever hastily assembled the kit used a poor grade of glue,
and neglected to scrape paint off of mating surfaces.
So it actually came apart rather easily.
I spent a relaxing couple of hours glazing the windows, installing a new stove pipe,
installing new ladders in the proper location, and adding some brake gear.
Now she is a pretty decent little cabin car.
Not a particularly super-detailed model, but she looks presentable.
Not bad for a free piece of non-revenue equipment
plus some bits and pieces out of my parts bin.
A bit of philosophy for the any newcomers considering entering the hobby.
It is possible to add to your rosters without spending a lot of money.
In my early days Athearn, Mantua and others
sold pretty decent "shake the box" kits for very reasonable prices.
Now, with kits and R-T-R in the $30+ range, it is not so easy to build up stock.
Shopping eBay and model railroad shows
(as well as keeping your eyes peeled for opportunities, such as estate sales)
it is possible to acquire rolling stock very inexpensively.
You just have to be patient and be willing to put in a little clean up.
This little caboose is a good example.
About the parts bin.
I have been modeling for about 50 years.
In that time, one can collect a lot of misc. little bits and pieces.
Some kits have extra parts for different detailing options,
sometimes one botches an assembly so badly the best route is to salvage
whatever isn't ruined, and sometimes the parts just seem to accumulate.
I never throw detail parts away.
You never know...
Reg
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Reg
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Reg H
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| Joined: | Sun Oct 19th, 2014 |
| Location: | Shelton, USA |
| Posts: | 1109 |
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Those of you who have been following my adventures for some time
will recall the adventure of the lost pin vise.
Now, this was not just any pin vise.
It was purchased as my first tool dedicated to model building.
My tool box, as a teenager, consisted of used razor blades,
tweezers filched from my Mom's stash,
a pair of needle nose pliers liberated from my Dad's tool box,
and various and unsundry other re-purposed items.
So this pin vise had (has) strong sentimental attachment.
After I cleaned up and organized my model building shop,
I COULDN'T FIND IT !!
I was quite upset.
But !! VOILA !!
Where was it ?
Well, in organizing my shop I stored away a lot of my scratchbuilding supplies and tools.
I really was not intending to do any scratch building in the near future.
Somehow, the pin vise got into the tote along with a stack of
styrene, basswood, and other useful oddments and impedimentia.
I had reason to dig into that tote this afternoon.... and there it was !!
Jubilation !!
Reg
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Reg
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Chris Richardson
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| Joined: | Sat Mar 5th, 2022 |
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Reg
I sympathise, I have very similar problems.
I am renovating a very old farm house in the south of France,
modelling HO/OO and Trix Express, G scale rolling stock and buildings,
doing electrics in the house, cutting timber in the forest for burning,
doing stonework, sanding plasterboard/wood, repairing kids bikes,
and everything else you can think of.
I have similar problems borrowing tools from one job to do another,
and not being able to find them.
So I have started to buy tool boxes for specific jobs.
But this means also buying similar tools for each box,
screw drivers, pliers, cutters, but I'm getting there.
At the moment I have issues with callipers and squares.
I have 4 different squares and 2 callipers,
I almost spend more time looking for the right one than doing the job !
At the moment I am installing more water storage for the garden,
and solar lighting in case of power cuts and for reducing electricity costs.
Today it's raining so I'm making an insulated door for the "old house",
using pine floor boards and pallets.
Chris
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Reg H
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| Joined: | Sun Oct 19th, 2014 |
| Location: | Shelton, USA |
| Posts: | 1109 |
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Chris:
I have the model building shop, a machine shop, and a hangar.
Thing wanted, always somewhere else.
Reg
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Reg
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