Milepost 552
This is the second part of my NKP 1000 Caboose Kitbash article. Part I is the previous post.
Let's put everything back together and see what we have.
Starting with the caboose body, carefully check then recheck the joints for smoothness and being in square. Once you are satisfied that they are, first turn the middle section of the car 180° then glue it to the end piece. Repeat the same with the other two pieces then glue those two sub-assemblies together as shown.
Add some more square stock on the inside of the body for reinforcement. Be sure that the top edges are all lined up as this is where any gaps will look the worst. Anywhere else and you can say that the siding is simply pulling apart there a little. : )
If you opted to simply cut the two car bodies in half and use those two pieces, you would end up with window spacing that looks kind of like this: [] [] [] [] . But by making that second cut and turning the piece, you get a more prototypical looking spacing that looks like this: [] [] [] [] . It is a rather subtle difference that looks a little better, but since these are "stand in" models, either one is acceptable.
The window openings on the MDC model were a little big so I decided to close them in a little from the inside. Again, I raided the scrap box for some rather flat, rectangular stock. First, I glued a strip just above the bottom of the window openings. Next, I experimented with placement of the second strip to cut down the tops of the windows a little. I didn't glue this one but held it where I thought it looked good then measured between the two strips. Finally, I used an NWSL Chopper to cut the side pieces. I glued each of these into place then finally glued the top strip in place as well. While the description of this isn't all that clear, the pictures show what I did and how I did it.
In addition to making the windows smaller, the long strips provide some extra bracing on the inside of the car body.
I seldom throw anything away and the left over caboose ends were no exception. I actually cannibalized one of them for extra scribed siding for the cupola.
It took a little extra work but the siding is an exact match. Once you have the extra material, carefully trim it to make new cupola sides. For right now, don't worry about the window; I have a little secret to pass along about that. Glue the new cupola sides into place and reinforce from the inside with small bits of scrap styrene.
Set this aside to dry thoroughly.
Now as to that little trick about the windows... take your #11 Xacto knife and carefully bore a hole right in the middle of the cupola side. Make sure it is centered both left to right and top to bottom. Make your hole the same diameter as the Tichy Work Car Windows are wide. Using a file with a square edge, square off each corner of your newly bored hole. Get it "close," but don't worry about precision. Now for the secret... take the Tichy Work Car Window and lay it down on a piece of fine sandpaper. Put your finger on the window and gently slide it around. After a while, the little inside ridge on the back of the window will be gone and you can glue it into place over the hole you just squared up. Once the glue dries thoroughly, simply use that same square file to take away any excess material that shows through the window. That's a lot easier than cutting that hole to fit; those Tichy windows don't leave much room for margin of error.
The MDC caboose kits don't include weights so you will have to add your own. I should have done a little weighing here but I guessed that three 3/8" nuts would be about right. The finished car is a little heavy so two would probably be better. Glue them in place on the inside of the car along the center line using some CA cement. I tried to put mine between the windows a bit but they show nonetheless, so I sprayed the interior with some light green paint.
That's all for this time; next time, we will work on some market lights & the caboose underside. Remember, I still have some caboose kits available that are the basis for the kitbash. Contact me at danmerkel@sbcglobal.net
dlm
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