I'm interested in buying one of these. Under normal circumstances I'd just go right ahead and buy it, then when I get it I'd figure out what I want to do to it. However, I understand that it is mostly made of metal, and at $180 to $210 a piece I think I'd like to know what I'm dealing with before I buy something that I might not be able to modify.
So I'm asking here, how feasable would it be to stretch the 2-8-0 into a mikado? Obviously I'd have to remove the cab (does this come off all in one piece?), place it further back, extend the frame, build a truck for the extra wheels, extend the boiler, etc... what I really want to know is whether you guys think someone with no more than a dremel, a craft knife, a saw and some styrene sheet could do it.
If anyone has any prototype information or photos, or has attempted this project themselves and can give me some hints, that would be really helpful. I don't know what prototype I'd be modelling, I just know that I want to do something to get the cab of the 2-8-0 sitting a little lower down (I don't like it the way it's so high up), and the solution to me seems to be stretching it into a 2-8-2.
So I'm asking here, how feasable would it be to stretch the 2-8-0 into a mikado? Obviously I'd have to remove the cab (does this come off all in one piece?), place it further back, extend the frame, build a truck for the extra wheels, extend the boiler, etc... what I really want to know is whether you guys think someone with no more than a dremel, a craft knife, a saw and some styrene sheet could do it.
If anyone has any prototype information or photos, or has attempted this project themselves and can give me some hints, that would be really helpful. I don't know what prototype I'd be modelling, I just know that I want to do something to get the cab of the 2-8-0 sitting a little lower down (I don't like it the way it's so high up), and the solution to me seems to be stretching it into a 2-8-2.