Caboose Kit Recommendation?

Weaver Quality Craft, or Gloor Craft made some nice wooden kits. Walthers made an awesome PRR N5 cabin kit. These are fun to build! Good luck!

This would be easy. Still have to paint and decal but easy to put together.  No lights. To be honest better to buy one already built.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Extend...3:g:k5EAAOSwLF1X-6gI

Not aware of any plastic caboose kits. Besides the ones Tom mentioned, AMB (American Model Builders) and Mullet River have produced wood and brass kits. Neither are beginner level. There are many plastic O scale kits out there though other than caboose kits. Intermountain, Red Caboose, Weaver to name a few. Some will run on 027 but you will have to leave much of the underbody detail off. For a special caboose you might want to consider a ready built one and kitbash it.

Now I see Atlas has made some. Live and learn.

Pete

Great info guys, I appreciate it!  The AMB stuff looks nice.  I got all excited because I saw an IC and Nickle Plate caboose from them, but then I realized they were HO.  DOH.  But still, lots of good info to start from!

Regarding that Atlas in the ebay listing...is it possible to swap out the couplers on those? 

Edit:  Oh, and...pardon my ignorance...but what is kitbashing?

scolba posted:

Great info guys, I appreciate it!  The AMB stuff looks nice.  I got all excited because I saw an IC and Nickle Plate caboose from them, but then I realized they were HO.  DOH.  But still, lots of good info to start from!

Regarding that Atlas in the ebay listing...is it possible to swap out the couplers on those? 

 

Edit:  Oh, and...pardon my ignorance...but what is kitbashing?

Not really unless your going to install Kadees. It has non working claw coupler.  Like I said by a built Caboose and buy rolling stock kits.

Kitbashing is just taking one or more completed items and cutting them up and reassembling them into something different or just adding separately applied details either from detail parts sources or other kits or cars.

Pete

A commonly found wooden caboose kit, in O scale shows and the Bay, are the Train Craft (Bob Peare) kits which range from a bobber to a side door and a drover's, plus some work train cars.  These are simple to build and kit bash with carpenter's glue.  They do NOT include trucks.

Good stuff, ill keep an eye out for those too.  thanks!

What is the general opinion or Ambroid kits?

Ambroid kits are easy to build but don't have the detail of modern laser cut wood kits. I built quite a few wood kits from that era (50-70s) but once Intermountain and Red Caboose came along they pretty much blew the old kits out of the water with detail that still rivals brass today.

Pete

Here's an Ambroid caboose nearly completed.....

Not terribly difficult to build and these kits are relatively available on the secondary market and can also be dressed up a bit with additional details and a bit of effort.

That's pretty sharp!  That might be the direction I end up going.  I don't need too much detail as I'm not scale yet.  What trucks/couplers are you going to use?  have you already dressed up yours with the additional details, or is that all kit still?

scolba posted:

That's pretty sharp!  That might be the direction I end up going.  I don't need too much detail as I'm not scale yet.  What trucks/couplers are you going to use?  have you already dressed up yours with the additional details, or is that all kit still?

 

It has already moved on to Kadee couplers and some older Walthers trucks.

When I got this it was missing all of the wire, part of each end rail, the ladders, the roof grabs, and stack was not mounted; there's a set of marker lights for it that are waiting for it's new owner to install after painting - lot easier to paint those off the car,

There are a couple of shorty passenger cars kits by Walthers. They are fun and easy. One is an Exect/Observation car. These are on E-bay starting at $9.99. Don

If I may offer a suggestion, pick up a couple Ye Olde Huff-n-Puff boxcar kits before building your "dream" kit. These cars will give you some basic experience and get used to the tools, methods, and instruction "quirks" that are common to all wood kits. I would go for the undecorated kits so you can get some painting and lettering experience. 

The huff-n-puff cars are relatively cheap and build up into nice cars. You'll probably also discover that by time you purchase building supplies, trucks, paint, and lettering, it gets expensive. I do it because I enjoy building kits, and I have rolling stock that isn't produced.

brr posted:

If I may offer a suggestion, pick up a couple Ye Olde Huff-n-Puff boxcar kits before building your "dream" kit. These cars will give you some basic experience and get used to the tools, methods, and instruction "quirks" that are common to all wood kits. I would go for the undecorated kits so you can get some painting and lettering experience. 

The huff-n-puff cars are relatively cheap and build up into nice cars. You'll probably also discover that by time you purchase building supplies, trucks, paint, and lettering, it gets expensive. I do it because I enjoy building kits, and I have rolling stock that isn't produced. 

Good call on the practice kits. That's one of the reasons I'm avoiding la belle at this time. my dream kit is an Illinois Terminal interurban. One (former) leg of it is literally in my back yard. 215' of it is my back property line!

ill check out the olde huff n puff stuff again. The caboose looked a little goofy, so it turned me away on the rest but I'll look again. Yours look fantastic! 

scale rail posted:

There are a couple of shorty passenger cars kits by Walthers. They are fun and easy. One is an Exect/Observation car. These are on E-bay starting at $9.99. Don

Watched!! Nobody else bid!!! Lol. Thanks don!