Updating an old Roundhouse GN caboose kit


twforeman

twforeman

Certified Great Northern Nut
I was looking for something to do (to distract me from other things I have to do) and discovered I had an old Roundhouse kit for a steel sided GN caboose. It's a nicer looking model than the blue box Athearn I'm currently using until I get my LaserKit finished (which is taking forever.)

So I thought with a little work it might make a presentable model.

1589776825151.png


So far I've:
  • Cleaned up the flash
  • Painted the roof
  • Installed Kadee couplers
  • Installed more weight
  • Painted the grabs black - not really interested in scraping them off and adding wire at this point...
I have some extra end details that I can install and I might rework the running boards a little. It should make a reasonable model when it's done.

I'll update this thread as I go along.
 
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So I did a little research and this caboose is not really even close to what the GN ran. The metal sheathed cabooses the GN had were all 30 footers and this is closer to a 25 footer. And the windows are wrong, and the lettering and herald is wrong. And the car number is totally wrong.

But no matter. I'm going to fake it and pretend it's close to correct and continue on, just because I want to. It will look nice when I'm done, even if it's not prototypically correct.

So. I have a LaserKit 25 foot wooden caboose kit (which is correct to the prototype) that I started a while ago and really need to finish. Maybe I'll do that after this one.

The ladders were damaged so I had them send me some new ones. But they weren't totally destroyed so I'm going to use them for this caboose build. Here's a photo of building the ladders.



I also realized that the roof walk platforms were on the wrong sides, so I cut them off and I'm making new platforms.



The ends of the frame were not quite wide enough, so I added a strip of wood to them (no photo.)

I also sprayed the body, cupola and end platforms with dead flat clear to protect the paint. So that's all for tonight. More tomorrow.
 
Not a lot of progress on the caboose last night. I fit the running board platforms and painted them and the running boards. I'll have to hit them with some clear coat today so I can install them tomorrow.



I also drilled the holes for the end platform railings.

Today I'll probably paint the trucks and wheels and work on fitting and painting the ladders.
 
Yesterday I got the boardwalks and trucks clear coated and then mounted.



Then I added hand rails to the ladders and painted them.



Today the ladders will get some clear coat also. Not sure how far I'll get today, but it's close to done. Need to do some weathering still though.
 
Finally, this project is done. I got some weathering done, then I had to wait until the window glazing arrived in the mail. It finally came and yesterday I finished assembling it.

Like I said earlier, this is not really protypically correct, but it still looks pretty darned good for starting out as an old Roundhouse kit. I'm not 100% happy with the hand rails at the tops of the ladders and might re-do them at some point, but I think it looks okay.




 
I like the weights (lead bullets) which surprisingly are cheaper than fishing weights. I have a pistol range at home (outside) and just dig bullets out of the bank wash and flatten them on my vice anvil, though I do have bulk new ones available. Nice project!
 
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