Lehigh Valley Caboose Project

[haasmarc]

It seems several people on RW have done caboose projects lately.  I have always wanted to model one of LV's PC green cabooses.  I also wanted to try 3D printing grab irons and new end rails since Bachmann's NE caboose has the Reading style of end rails.  One thing lead to another and I ended up printing 30 add on parts for the caboose. I also wanted to see if Jesse's formula of 80% aqua 8k resin and 20% Onyx Impact Plus could make the grabs flexible enough to hold up to handling.  They actually are pretty resilient.  The chain on the end rails is actually see through but the holes are so small that the paint just fills them in.

Here is the list of 3D printed detail parts:

1 All grab irons
2 End rails/ladders
3 End windows
4 Correct Birdsboro trucks
5 Correct steps
6 Marker lights
7 Fuel oil filler cap
8 Smoke stack

I also added rain gutters but they are 0.010 styrene.  I did however print a jig for bending them and making them the correct size.
I also 3D printed drilling jigs for the grab irons since most of them have 3 mounting pins which are fun to do by hand.

Here is a picture of some of the printed parts:


Here is the finished product:



The roof is weathered but for some reason, the weathering doesn't show up in the pictures very well.

[Sokramiketes]

Whoa, that looks great!  Any benefit of smaller diameter wire is negated by the detail in mounting points.  I bet it looks great in person and is in scale with the rest of the carbody details. 

[haasmarc]

Thanks Mike. I think it does look better in person actually.

[x600]

MARC.
That looks great, and I LOVE the markers!
Battery or track power?

Greg O.

[peteski]

Very impressive!
I know it is a cliche, but it looks like it is larger than N scale.

Did you use some sort of flexible pain on the handrails?

The only think that looks slightly off is the large tread pattern on the running boards, but unless it was sanded smooth, there is no good way to fix that, and smooth boards would not look right either.  Probably one of those details that looks just fine viewed in-person.

Did you use SMD 0402 or 0201 LEDs for the marker lights?

[Jim Starbuck]

Outstanding work Marc!
Your detail printing is next level. I love the way the curved rails attach and those markers take this beautiful model over the top!

Jim

[chessie system fan]

End railings has been what's keeping a few of my projects unfinished. What diameter are the grabs? And the thickness of the ladder?

[lv4142003]

This is outstanding. Hard to believe that this isn't a larger scale model. The painting, weathering and lighted markers make this a top shelf model. Again, outstanding. Joe Hueber

[haasmarc]

Thanks all.

Greg, the marker lights are track powered.  I use a circuit board from Jim Hinds (Richmond Controls) so it works on DC or DCC.

Pete, I used Vallejo paint for the grabs.  The resin takes paint very well.  I have not had any issue yet with paint flaking.  The marker lights are 0201 LEDs.

Aaron, the grabs measure out to 0.010.  The ladder sides are flat steel and are 0.009 by 0.016.  The rungs are 0.010 round.


Here is a picture of it behind an Atlas U23b.  The grabs are definitely finer than the locos railings.

[chessie system fan]

Locomotive handrails are on my list.  Is that mm or inches?  And how much handling can those flexible grabs take before they break?

[haasmarc]

Measurements are in inches.

I can take one of the cupola grabs.  Sit it on the desk mounting pins down.  Push down on it with my finger and just smash it as flat as I can.  It will pop back up to it's printed shape without breaking.  That being said, while testing the grabs I did manage to break a mounting arm off of one, so they will break, but they aren't super fragile.  I printed and painted several extras in case I broke any while installing them and I didn't have to use any of them.

Funny story, I had put the grabs on the cupola and did some weathering and wanted to seal it with some Dullcote.  When the first puff of air from the airbrush hit them, one of the grabs was just gone.  Apparently I didn't get one glued down well enough.  Well days later after I had printed and painted a replacement, I went to paint something else and guess what I found laying in my paint booth completely intact.  I just picked it up and glued it back on the cupola, more securely this time. 

[chessie system fan]

Thanks.  For the lazy, that's .254mm for the grabs and .2286 x .4064 mm for the ladder.

Time to buy some resin now.   

[Ed Kapuscinski]

This is ridiculously nice.

I really like the marker lights. I'm actually just about to dive into doing those on some of my Conrail cars and this is quite inspiring.

[sizemore]

Marc,
What did you use for the weathering? I've been debating on using some washes and tints from AK and Vallejo which produce really great results in the armour modeler space similar to the weathering on your caboose.

The S.

[haasmarc]

Marc,
What did you use for the weathering? I've been debating on using some washes and tints from AK and Vallejo which produce really great results in the armour modeler space similar to the weathering on your caboose.

I used Mig Oilbrushers.  I really like the way I can control what's going on.  They dry pretty quickly, but I usually overcoat with Dullcote after the thinner has evaporated which locks in the latest layer and lets me keep working.