Two years ago there was a discussion on this forum about Lionel's "butterdish" milk cars being too small, and what you could do about it, short of buying a $175 brass scale car. I wanted a Borden butterdish for my New England milk car collection. My solution was to take a $25 Lionel car and saw it up both transversely and longitudinally so as to make the tank cover 9 1/2" long and 2" wide. I cut it into six pieces (on my table saw) because I thought I would save the door detail, but then decided the door had to be a little taller, so I could have just sawn it up into four pieces. I added styrene bracing and filling to get the right dimensions, then covered the exterior with .010 sheet styrene and used filler putty to hide the seams.
Whether this was worth it or not depends upon 1) how much you like the slicing and dicing of kitbashing; 2) whether you have the styrene and detail parts hanging around in your parts bin; and 3) how much you are willing to overlook the compromises. For an example of the latter, the Lionel car is a little TOO streamlined in terms of the profile; the ends should not be quite so slanted. Counting the trucks from ScaleCity Designs, I might have $50 invested.
For me, it comes down to me not thinking of myself as someone who spends $175 on a car, beautiful as the brass milk cars are. Plus I like kitbashing, decaling, and painting.
Now to finish up the frame . . .
Bruce
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