So you went from a Checker Cab to a Boxcab? My "or something" just went across the street to play with her friend. Hey! Someone just changed my age in my profile! How'd that happen?!
It pretty much counts as a 1:1 scale boxcab. One of mine is operating an open-source train simulator (OpenBVE) while the rest are hangin' out. I think that's a bug. It happened to me last month, too! :tb-tongue:
Thank you Sir, but I have to believe Matt - It must be a bug in the software! I mean, there's nothing special about sitting on the front porch thinking about Boxcabs while my wife mows the lawn. I think I'll go down to the marina and relax on the boat. Maybe take a nap until dinner. I heard them say something about a cake for desert earlier. Yup - Just another normal day in the "hetek" family!
My "or somethings' are usually those which interfere with a smooth efficient completion of the days tasks. That can be anything from, "it's a great day for a walk with Lady Grandure" to "Yes mom. On my way. I don't want you changing the light bulb in the dark." ruh roh - there is a bug that changes ages? Hmmm, could be affecting me next week. shhhh, don't tell.
That's definitely my "or somethings". Especially my little girl. She's very skilled in the "wrench throwing into gears" department. And great for distractions, too. Our "best laid plans" are seldom carried out as planned. To quote Sargent Schulz... "I know nothing... NOTHING!"
OK, top details in place. Here's a quick photo (sorry it's a bit blurry, I just needed a photo for height comparison to measure the I-beams I need underneath):
Now that's a Boxcab! I second that! It's looking good! I have to correct a comment I made in a previous post. I wrote something to the effect of "Minitrix didn't know the size of N scale rivets and Archer did...". Well, I got out my boxcab body, made by bashing two Minitrix cabooses, my Archer N scale rivets and my 5" magnifier with light and... They are actually quite close afterall! I hope Minitrix isn't mad at me. I will add that I have another brand of caboose that looks like it has N scale tennis balls glued to it for rivets, but the Minitrix seems the finest. I'm hoping that the few Archer rivets I add will not look that much different under paint. I got a few more parts in the mail today. :tb-biggrin: Time to get crackin' on the Boxcab!
Me again... I'm thinking of paint (I know, a little early) and was thinking of stripping the shell. I have tried Super Clean in the past and it works great. My problem is I'm worried about the cleaner getting into the glue joints and ruining the final finish. I also have a few small spots of Squadron green putty that I fear will just soak the stuff up like a sponge. I wish I had stripped the virgin cabooses before I bashed them (like someone we know) but I didn't. Yea or Nay? Should I go for it and strip it or should I just leave well enough alone and just paint over the factory paint?
Hmmm. To strip or not to strip, that is the question. Well, I'm assuming that you'll be painting yours in a fine fashionable color (which shade of black is best for you?:tb-tongue. I personally would not like my cab to fall apart, and especially with the putty on there, I'd be a little worried (no putty on mine... mostly since I didn't have any to use). BUT, that doesn't mean you can't use a little bit of the stuff to clean important surfaces to promote adhesion of the paint. Perhaps you could water down a bit of the Super Clean and use it to wipe down the side walls. Of course, you'd want to make certain that you got all of it off so it won't cause any trouble with the paint. I dunno. If it were me, I'd just paint it as-is and remind myself to strip first on the next project. That's my two cents, anyway.
Well, I've never stripped one before unless it had a BAD paint job, but I thought for this project it might crisp up some details. Granted, it does only have the factory coat. And I sure don't think it will make that semi-flat black finish I'm gonna give it sparkle any more. I'm thinking I'll just leave well enough alone. I could do more harm than good at this stage. I must keep saying to myself: "It only has to pass the 3' test... It only has to pass the 3' test..." Don't want to mess up a perfectly good Boxcab now, now do I? :tb-biggrin: It's late now... Tomorrow I work on the windows. Yay!
Good choice. 3-foot-test modeling is fun. Don't take the fun out of it! Oh, and when you get it all done and painted, don't forget to add window glass. I use that nasty strong clear plastic from electronics packaging. Works great!
My littlest engineer was up at 0-dark-thirty today, so I got a bunch of boxcab action in: Headlight housings installed (and holes drilled for LEDs) "Nose" installed Front rivets and hand rails removed (except under the cab window, that one will be painted yellow) Roof details added, including: Horn Stove pipe Other pipe Metal straps (to hold small radiator) Bell So I need to add the grabs next to the door, under the headlights, and maybe the ladders (though I'm contemplating just skipping those in lieu of dry transfer yellow lines), then I think it'll be ready for paint. This little guy is almost as cute as my little guy!
I Was Not Arrested Very Nice! You should be done with those about the time the box arrives. Anecdote about getting it shipped. Just walked back from the post office. I learned yesterday never go to the post office at 1:05. The line was out the door so I went on to the bank. What didn't happen at the bank: I didn't forget to deposit my check I didn't remember to keep the box firmly in my possession I didn't remember to pick it up on the way out the door I didn't get arrested for leaving a "suspicious package" in a bank What did happen, < abbreviated version >: I put the package down to sign my check I put it, (the check), in the deposit envelope I stood in line and deposited the check I headed for the door An off duty officer asked me if that was my package I stood there quietly while he briefly and politely reminded me of the possible consequences. He finishes saying, "it's a good thing I recognize you from the store, (where I work as a cashier)" and a friendly pat on the arm and a very broad grin. About then his voice registered. Note: some details left out for readability and humor oooops ADD and Visually Limited can make for a heck of a combination. < broad relieved grin >
Dang Matt! Someone sneezes around here and you nearly have your Boxcab done! Looking great! I know the plastic you're referring to. My friend is a nurse in the ER. He (yes, "he") says that on Christmas day there is usually a slew of people coming in with wounds from the stuff. Forget about "choking hazard" warnings. They should make them "packaging hazard" warnings! I'm thinking of cutting out the boxcab window openings to scale. That would leave big rectangular holes. I'm going to try a trick I saw once: Print the window muntins and frame on overhead projector transparency film. Also, by printing the details only one or two pixels wide, the frame can be much finer than what could be done in styrene. I have a box of HP film which is 4.3 mils thick. I'll give it a shot tonight. If the prints come out good then I'm gonna get out the square files and go to town. Wish me luck. And if I were you, I'd be leery of suspicious packages arriving in the mail. Homeland Security may not be far behind! "But Officer, It's only a Kato 11-105 chassis for my Boxcab..."
Long ago before any attempted to blow up any buildings in NYC, I went to France. I found this great die-cast car store in Paris. I bought several cars there. Upon returning to O'Hare I spent ten minutes in Customs explaining what the strangely shaped metal objects were in my suitcase, even though they were listed on the declaration.. Authorities usually don't understand hobbyists. Look what they've done to the guys taking train pictures.
I've definitely broken the skin with that horrible stuff. But it's great for kitbashing. If you get the bulk AA batteries from Costco, it comes with a great big piece of it with lots of plain, flat, clear area. Not even any stickers on it, so it's easy to use for buildings, locos, passenger cars, you name it. Just wear some chain-mail armor before cutting. I'd be careful about doing that. The issue is that if your window frame will be on the clear plastic, in N-scale, that's going to be pushed back quite a bit on some seriously thick walls. Maybe you can experiment with some similarly thick styrene first? I'd hate to see you cut up something and regret it. As for printing the windows on the film though, that's a pretty good idea. I will not be oppressed by the man. The boxcab revolution will not be televised! p.s.- And as a quick update, I've installed the grabs next to the doors and under the headlights. And yes, I'll find some other way to do the ladder. Maybe I'll take a dry transfer or decal yellow stripe sheet and cut a little line of "steps" out. Either way, this little sucker is so dang neat!
No worries about cutting gaping holes and regretting it later. I will do some tests on my spare caboose bits before commiting it to the finished product. Call it "R&D". I intend to have the windows near flush with the body like the prototype. Agreed, the shell is too thick to mount from behind. I tried the Grandt Line windows but nothing seemed to quite work there. It's been a while though. Maybe I should take a fresh look at that. The guy who I got the idea from used the printed window method for his structure windows. He posted before and after photos. It was much more correct looking than the original kit's thick plastic muntins. I find the best solutions are often the simplest. If you have to struggle to make it fit, maybe it wasn't the best choice. Making progress though... Slooooowwwwwly...
If you use a laser printer with good registration and with multiple prints you might be able to give the crossbars on the windows some 3D texture as will.
