05-13-2010, 10:53 PM
doctorwayne Wrote:I was thinking that the GN caboose in the proto photo might be easier to kitbash if you started with the Athearn wide vision caboose, which is too modern for your chosen era. It could be given a more '50s look by using the Moloco kit that's available to turn the Athearn wide cupola into a standard one. It wouldn't be an exact replica, but with paint and lettering would be a better stand-in than I'd be able to kitbash from that Santa Fe car. Of course, if you like the challenge, go for it.
I see your point, and have ordered one of the Moloco cupola kits and the Athearn Wide cupola caboose, too. So now I have gone from not actually planning any cabooses for the layout to planning 4 different approaches - of which hopefully a couple will work:
- Old Santa Fe caboose with some surgery, made into a very rough approximation of the GN caboose
- Athearn Frisco standard cupola caboose, re-decaled (is there such a word?) for the GN
- Athearn modern NP wide vision caboose + Moloco standard cupola replacement, repainted to 50s colors (red) and decaled for the GN
- Roundhouse older three window caboose for the NP
We'll see how it goes. I was able to carve a couple of windows into the new straight front cupola wall for the Santa Fe caboose. Not necessarily the prettiest I have ever seen, but this is a test on a very cheap throwaway car - I have another where I can redo this when I figure out what works (if it works) :-)
Smile,
Stein