OK guys at the great train show today I scored on five wood kits with brass sides and details but NO drive train or trucks! The instructions say to "use your favorite couplers & trucks" but I have no idea what might fit. The price tags are marked 10-74 @ 16.95, they are still in sealed bags and seem to be in great shape. The three cars are all Pacific Electric #406 1200 series San Berdoo, #407 1370series combine & #408 1200 series coach. Have any of you built them or have any info that might help me get these things built? The other two kits are #109 Capewell horse nail Co & #101 Feed & Livestock, they have the signs printed on the unpainted sides of what looks like some type of early thin wood but NOT laser cut! So how would you seal them? I guess painting them is out? thinned dry brushed colors maybe?. I could not pass them up all five kits for only $40.00 They look to be built by M.D. McCarter 1507 W.North Lane Phoenix AZ. is he still around? Any thoughts you might have will be greatly appreciated.
Bill, These kits sound interesting. I have no thoughts based on experience, but I might be able to suggest some ideas if you post some photos of the kits as I have been doing a lot of kit-building. Adam
Wow do those bring back memories. I haven't seen one in 20 years, but I did a few, one looked like a warehouse, I can't remember the other, brace it inside with wood, you can paint them, Just remember to do both sides. I remember the roofs were kind of simple. Laser cut shingles might improve them. and the windows were brass, not alot of relief, but adequate for the time. R
I think you'd really want to take a serious look at the Tomytec (Tomix) line of powered chassis to move these. Google "Plaza Japan" and search for "Chassis" and the entire line for Kato and Tomytec will show, the TM-__ series is basically identical and varies only by chassis bolster centers, the shortest ones like the TM03 only have one truck powered. You'll get them OK from Japan, just will take a while. And the frames are plastic so you can bash them up quite nicely. EDIT: Hey, make it easy. Just click here: eBay Store: Search results for Kato. My experience with those kits for the passenger cars was that the etched parts were very good, but the wood parts were C-. On my passenger car I replaced the clerestory roof with a Lima passenger car roof; much better.
Adam wish I could post but dont have a camera, Rob the signs are printed on the building already so if I paint them the printing will be covered, Randgust cool idea on the roofs can you remember what roof worked best?(I will be looking for cars at the next show). Do any of the chassis have a truck/sideframe that looks good on the PEs?
The Tomytecs each come with four different sideframes that just plug on the basic truck mechanism. They are different in each set. They have one that worked great for the Whitcomb sideframes, and another that worked great like a curved drop-equalizer interurban truck. I've got an enormous collection of unused sideframes from doing so many so if you need something specific to fit a prototype just PM me, I probably have what you need. They vary from old designs to super modern, I don't know what they are called in Japan. When you bring up the Plaza Japan descriptions, sometimes he'll stick in a photo of the sideframes that come with that particular chassis. EDIT: Better yet, post a picture of what sideframe your cars had....I can probably tell you if anything is 'close enough'. They all have about a 7' wheelbase on Tomytec with a 32" wheel. I was doing the "Mayflower" passenger car and used an old plastic PMI/Lima roof, it looked great. http://gustafson.home.westpa.net/MF01.jpg
A few years back I traded them to Joe W. who owned Showcase Miniatures at the time. Don't know if he ever built them but they sure looked dated.
