Flea market fix'r upper...

Thanks guys/

I guess i am a bit of a perfectionist in many ways. Goes back to my college days when I painted wargaming miniatures as a hobby. Talk about tiny details!!!

I love working on trains and making them look great. I have finally taken the step up from Athearn quality up to the higher end stuff like P2K and Atlas and I am honestly amazed at how detailed those Loco's and Rolling stock.

I have an IHC SD-35 and I just bought today an Atlas Master series SD-35 and they are like night and day as far as the details go. From a distance there isnt much you can readily see but when you look closer all the tiny details just jump out at you.

I am hoping to get to the level of Atlas on detail as a sort of standard for my equipment and modeling I guess. But I am still a pretty good ways away from that.

I will stop hijacking your thread now Shaygetz. Thanks for the compliment on the tanker. It's amazing what a little brown and black wash and some kadees will do for a old tyco like that
 
Nice work! It's good to see someone taking the time to "maintain" rolling stock!
I still find a few gems on the "used and abused" table in the hobby shop. A little paint, a little detail, and some weathering, and they go well with some of my old Varney stuff that I won't get rid of!
Pete
 
Shaygetz: Your tale of woe about walking through the snow to get to the hobby shop tugs at my heart. Its a wonder that you didn't get frostbite and ruin your fingers for modeling.
 
Well - if you aren't going to do anything with that transfer caboose, I can find it a home :)
Shortliner(Jack)away up here in the Highlands
 
Bob,
There is a guy in my hometown who picks up cast off cars like this, probably from junk stores and yard sales. He does the same thing, but probably uses detail parts instead of making them himself. He sells them at train shows for $10 a car and usually sells a bunch.

2slim
 
Great work. I've found that buying the old toy cars and fixing them up is really enjoyable. About all I've done so far is body-mount the couplers, replace wheels and trucks, properly weight them, and replace a few grab irons and steps with brass wire. Fun stuff.
 
shaygetz said:
As wit most of my gear, came across this pile awhile back, looking pretty lost. While nice looking, I don't care for the latest in RTR cars that cost $25-40 bucks. This is a Tyco quad hopper that had one of it's corner steps broke off. Started by snipping off the remaining details....
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OH I HAVE THAT EXACT VIRGINIAN HOPPER!

gonna have to copy you and learn!
 
Thanks guys.

Santa Fe Jack said:
This needs to happen to much of my older rolling stock. What do you find are the most effective methods for attaching the couplers to the bodies?
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I find the best tool is a Kadee coupler gauge. I use it the guesstimate the height of the coupler and then stack layers of styrene to build a pad. Most times one is enough. After that, it's a matter of trial and error, usually requiring an additional red or grey Kadee washer or two. I really try to use screws to mount them to deal with the push/pull stresses of coupling though I've glued one or two in the past with no noticable problems.

Oh, yes, the transfer caboose...now works my MOW train with my 250 ton crane.:thumb:
 

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Here's one of my "fixer uppers"... I now have 10 of these Mehano ore cars and I have modified 5 of them. I just changed the couplers and trucks and then painted and lettered them for CPR.
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Here is a Tyco tank car that I did many years ago.
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Wow! That inspires me to re-do some old toy cars for my steam era layout rather than e-Bay them. Those Mehano hoppers REALLY look great.
 
msowsun said:
Here's one of my "fixer uppers"... I now have 10 of these Mehano ore cars and I have modified 5 of them. I just changed the couplers and trucks and then painted and lettered them for CPR. Here is a Tyco tank car that I did many years ago.
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Great stuff...amazing what new wheels, couplers and a touch or two of paint can do to a toy.:thumb:
 
Great job!

I'm going to try and paint my first car this weekend! F7 sheel too!

I have put together several kits now and really enjoy it. I thought about taking some old Life Like cars and going over them but after looking at prices for new trucks and Kadee couplers it was cheaper to buy new, better quality kits.

Rick
 
Dan McDonald said:
what kind of wheels are you putting on these?
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I use Kadee, Atlas, Jay-Bee and Intermountain, whichever one will fit as the trucks generally differ in spacing from one brand to another as well as one decade to another. Sometimes a set can be made to fit by knocking the axle points off with a file---c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y:thumb:
 
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