Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - Printable Version

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Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - P5se Camelback - 05-02-2010

What follows is my first attempt at posting photo images here from a brand new Photo bucket account. This is a "try-it-and-see-what-happens" deal!
I have resurrected a project intitially embarked upon in 1989. Everything has been packed away in boxes until unpacking from a recent move.
The project is to convert seven $1.97 "Sale Table" AHM RTR toy four-wheel bobber cabooses into detailed scale models for my currently cabooseless Lehigh Susquehanna & Western. The first photo (if I can get it to post) is an essentially "out of the box" RTR caboose, with curved side rails shaved off and board grooves scribed through.
[Image: RTR-BarelyOutoftheBox.jpg]

The next photo shows the end rails shaved off, the cupola lamp removed and the platform railing mounting holes plugged.
[Image: EndBoardGroovesScribedThrough-AEnd.jpg]


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - P5se Camelback - 05-02-2010

The third photo shows the body given a quick shot of primer to show where work needs to be done, the huge holes in the end platform filled, the end railing mounting holes plugged, the "tar impregnated canvas" roof covering applied and given its initial trim, and the first coupler pocket and draft gear installed. It also shows that I have a lot of work ahead of me!

[Image: OnTheRoadtoConversion.jpg]


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - Ralph - 05-02-2010

There ya go! Thumbsup Now that your photobucket account is cooperating we expect updates! Nice work, by the way!
Ralph


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - nachoman - 05-02-2010

That looks very similar to the bachmann caboose I reworked for HOn3, but the windows are slightly different. Nice work. I await your progress - those bobbers are neat cabooses.


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - Sumpter250 - 05-02-2010

P5se Camelback Wrote:O.K., I'm on a roll! Man, they're HUGE - they're not that big in real life!

The third photo shows the body given a quick shot of primer to show where work needs to be done, the huge holes in the end platform filled, the end railing mounting holes plugged, the "tar impregnated canvas" roof covering applied and given its initial trim, and the first coupler pocket and draft gear installed. It also shows that I have a lot of work ahead of me!
I'll post more later, as more gets done. biL

Work !? Eek There's that nasty four letter word ending in 'K' again :o ......it's fun ! Model Railroading is fun ! Big Grin Big Grin

You are off to a good start.......with the cabeese, and the "bucket" Thumbsup Thumbsup


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - tomustang - 05-02-2010

Very small, but pack a very cool punch!


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - ocalicreek - 05-02-2010

Nice start! Keep on rollin' along!

They DO make great little starting points for detail jobs. Without too much additional effort you can have a nicely upgraded model.

Looking forward to your progress.

Galen


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - Gary S - 05-03-2010

Looking good. Cool little cabooses. Hope to see some progress photos.


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - doctorwayne - 05-03-2010

Lookin' good, Bil. I'm glad to see that you've finally got the "bucket" working and that you're documenting your progress here, too. Thumbsup Thumbsup

Wayne


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - FiatFan - 05-04-2010

Here's a similar one I did back in the '60s following an article in MR. I moved the cupola to one end, replaced the cast on hand rails, and added a roof walk. As you can see, after following me around for many years, it's in need of some repairs and updating.

[Image: IMG_1852.jpg]

Tom


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - viperman - 05-04-2010

Reminds me a little of a caboose at IRM:
[Image: IRM-39.jpg]

Hopefully this link works right:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.irm.org/gallery/album117">http://www.irm.org/gallery/album117</a><!-- m -->


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - P5se Camelback - 05-04-2010

nachoman Wrote:That looks very similar to the bachmann caboose I reworked for HOn3, but the windows are slightly different. Nice work. I await your progress - those bobbers are neat cabooses.
Nachoman ... it is the same caboose, sorta, but this one is from the molds being used back in 1988. Cheers Good eye!


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - P5se Camelback - 05-04-2010

Progress ... at a snail's pace. Some of this stuff takes time - lots of time to do each operation seven times. This photo shows the fleet of "Cute Little Crummies" lined up for their daily mods. Most have had their roof walks removed (parts for new free-standing roof walks have been cut from stock or fabricated, as the case may be, and reside in a clear plastic box behind the L&NE coffee cup.) All have had cast on grabs and rails removed. One has had roof grabs fitted for dimension notation (so I can put them all in the same locations, along with the NBW casting.) A couple have had the major hole in the end platform, left by a cammed slide in the mold, filled with evergreen styrene stock (a pain in the bum kind of job - I can only make myself do one a night.) The mounting holes for the 10" diameter end railings that were originally installed have been plugged with evergreen styrene rod with some toluol - makes for a nice tight fit. Wink

Yeah, and all that stuff is on my breakfast table! Popcornbeer
[Image: CrummiesontheWorktable.jpg]
I tried to resize this and make it a bit smaller - those first ones were HUGE! Eventually, I'll figure it out.


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - faraway - 05-04-2010

P5se Camelback Wrote:I can't remember...

I am happy to see you have some backup in case one of the little guys gets lost Goldth
What is your intention to have a complete fleet?


Re: Building a small fleet of very small cabooses - P5se Camelback - 05-04-2010

I know there's no continuity here ... I have ADD Wink But I've learned to use it to my advantage as a product designer developing concepts for new products. I'm just hard to follow sometimes ... even for me! 357

Here's an early shot, when they had just been unpacked and saw the light of day for the first time since 1989.
[Image: CuteLittleCrummies-resized.jpg]
A few other cars managed to get unpacked as well ...