Conrail N8A Finishing up

I have decaled and added the various grab irons and railings to the N8A.  I did cut off all of the rungs on the ladder except the one that is near the top railing.  I used Model Flex Paint from Badger to paint the model.  I have found I can order individual two ounce bottles from them via Amazon for $6.95 each, with not shipping costs. Mt Vernon car shops makes a nice decal set for Conrail Cabooses and should have everything you need to do it correctly.  I decided to cobble together all of the lettering from carious sets I had on hand.  I used an Old Accu-Cal Multi set, Microscale Conrail diesel set, Microscale Penn Central caboose set and Penn Central Historical Society caboose set. 

Here is the Conrail N8A next to an as delivered New Haven NE-6 in it
delivery paint scheme.

You can see the new smaller windows, I simply masked the supplied
window material to create new smaller window.  The added side vents
around the window are also visible.

Out of the Paint Shop

Know that I have a dedicated painting spot, I find it very easy to go down to the basement and paint. With out having to set up and tear down an area I can paint very quickly and be done.  Here are a few of my on going projects.

This shows the RS-11 with the modified cab window and fuel tank. I added the train
control box, extended the elevated walkway and added the steam generator details.

This photo shows the steam generator parts better.

This is a Walthers caboose from years ago, not 100% accurate for the PC or Conrail, but a decent stand-in.
I dd not make any changes to the model other than pant.

Here is the Conrail N8A showing the new bay window and the other windows filled.

Here is the RS-3m

Here is the Amtrak RS-3.  It is a former NH unit and still has the train control box.

You can see the roof vent and antenna on the cab as well as the old steam generator vent.

My friend Paul will be happy to see that his locomotives are finally painted!

B&M Rebuilt Caboose

In the 1950's the B&M sent a number of steel under frame, wood body cabooses to International Car to be rebuilt into more modern all steel cabooses.  A number were built with cupolas, c-51 to c-134 while some had none and were used as transfer cabooses.  This is another kitbash that has been sitting on my self for a long time.  The car body is an Atlas caboose and the cupola is a kit from Moloco. You basically cut out the the section on the body that original cupola was over. (where there is no roof.)  I had the wrong cupola kit from Moloco and there web site says they are sold out, so I simply cut the solid pieces of the side walls, used the kit widows in the corners and used some sheet styrene to fill in the gap in the center, you can see the changes in the photos.  One small window on one side needs to be blanked out and a filler strip of styrene to create the straight side sill.  You also need to cut down the under frame and the weight to it the length of the body.

The three Main components.

This shows the modified body with the blanked window, cupola with
changes and the filer on the sill. 

Here is the section I removed from the body.

Here is the other side, it keeps its window.

Conrail N8a Caboose, Part 2

I have done some more work and rework on my Conrail N8a.  I was not happy with how the bay windows looked and rebuilt them.  A not on how I work on building models.  On this project I am not aware of any drawings of the rebuilt cabooses.  I simply estimated the size and position of the bay windows and used sizes of commercially available strip styrene.  I use a set of calipers to measure distance between things and transfer that to the styrene.  I don not actually use a ruler to measure the item.

I added two strip of .040 x .100 styrene wit the ends cut a a 45 degree angle.
Note the access hatch to the lower right of the bay window, I made this by simply
gluing some narrow strips to the car body.  The latches are made the same way. 

I have added a window frame made from .010 x .100 styrene.

Here is how I made the end sections on the bay windows.  I cut the top pf them
at a 30 degree angle and then drilled two holes for the top and bottom of the
window.  I then cutout the material in the middle to create the window opening.

I have added the top of the bay window this is from a .010 x .125 strip of
styrene, the ends at a 45 degree angle.

 .

Here is the the other side.

I am know waiting for some Detail Associates rectangular vents to finish up the model.  It is a fairly easy kitbash and make a very distinctive model.

Conrail N8A Caboose

For a change of pace I have decide to build a caboose to go along with the RS-3m that I am building. Penn Central converted a group of New Haven RR NE-5 and NE-6 cabooses into bay window cabooses.  Both rebuilds were lumped together into the N8A class. I choose to use an Atlas NE-6 for the conversion.  They are very easy to disassemble as nothing is glued.  I had an undecorated one so it is an easy start.

Former NH NE-5 Caboose, both side windows sealed and no roof walk.

Another former NH NE-5, one window sealed.

Former NH NE-6.  The side with out the smoke jack has an access door along the
bottom of the car body side near the bay window.  It uses EMD style door latches.

Here is the smoke jack side of the caboose. Note the vents added to the sides. 

The window to the left of the door on each end is also sealed.

Here is the Atlas NE-6.  I have removed the awning over the window on the right as
well as the sill that goes around the window.  I do need to clean up the bay opening.

Here is the end with the one window sealed.