Index>Modeling
>Kits>Steel
Caboose
DL&W
Steel Caboose
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Image of finished caboose will appear here.
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WARNING: The
following dissertation contains modeling methods which may be appalling.
For
Christmas of 2004 I received one of these kits. It is put out by
Joe Lofland of JJLmodels.
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Photo
Sources
The best
photo sources for this model would be the Erie/DLW Color Guide
to Freight and Passenger Equipment by Larry DeYoung.
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Having
assembled a few HO kits already, when you first open the box for
this car my first thought was Is this it? There's more instructions
than parts! The
reason for this is that not only do you get instructions, but also
a data sheet compiled by Mike DelVecchio.
Decals
are available for this kit are not included because of its versatility.
They are available (in whichever version you're modeling) from Prime
Mover Decals. I dutifully went there first and ordered set PMD-029
for my Lackawanna caboose.
The
Parts: The kit consists of light gray resin castings of the
shell, roofs, underframe, and little bits such as the window awnings.
The trucks are included as are the draft gear and couplers. Brake
parts, wire grab irons, a metal sheet of etched parts and a length
of brass wire round out the supplied items.
Preparation:
Clean the flash from the body shell and anything else you feel like.
Take out the parts and look at them. Identify them. Become familiar
with them. I usually study photographs of what I'm working on. Joe
Lofland offers to answer questions and even has an online version
of the instructions on his website
with color photos.
The
instructions are a bit confusing because my kit has two different
versions of them. One version pretty much says "put the caboose
together." The other set is more precise and has so much description
that I hope actually doing the steps will enlighten me as to their
purpose.
On
the JJ Models website is a review of their kit for the DLW steel
caboose kit. In that review, it is stated that the supplied roof
walks supplied on the etched stainless steel parts sheet are incorrect
for cabooses previous to Number 882.
The
number I'm modeling is # 878 as per page 224 of the Greenberg/Lowenthal
book Lackawanna Railroad in Northwest New Jersey. Therefore I looked
for an alternative.
What
I did was to purchase 1 Detail Associates Freight Details # 6203
running board. I cut it to size, comparing it to the supplied etched
part and glued it on the roofs of my caboose. I think it well represents
the U.S. Gypsum expanded steel running boards with the rectangular
grid work.
...To
be continued.