08-18-2009, 08:52 PM
MasonJar Wrote:....... Now if only it came with an all-weather cab...!
Andrew
Precision Scale has the old Kemtron all-weather cab in either brass or plastic,
[album]223[/album]
and Miniatures By Eric offers CPR- and (I believe) CNR-style vestibule cabs in cast resin. I'm currently using a Miniatures By Eric CPR-style cab to convert a USRA Mikado into a CNR loco for a friend - not too difficult, now that I've figured out how to mount it solidly, yet still leave it removeable (for installation of window "glass"). (Sorry, no photos yet.)
You can also use sheet styrene (.010" or .015" thickness) to construct an all-weather cab around an existing cab. I use the existing cab's front, and where possible, roof. Sand all detail from the original cab's sides, lay your new side overlay atop the old side, and mark the new side's openings onto the old side. Carve or cut away anything within the marks, so that none of the original side shows through the window openings, then cement the new side in place. You can use heavier (.020" or .030") sheet styrene to construct a new rear wall for the cab, adding as much or as little detail as you wish. Trim away the original cab roof's overhang at the rear, if required. If that results in the roof "not looking right", simply sand or file off all roof detail, then construct a new roof overlay from .010" or .015 sheet.
This cab was built over the original Bachmann cab, and the original roof, slightly modified, was re-used (cab windows are moveable):
[album]1015[/album]
This is a Bowser all-metal NYC K-11 Pacific, with a scratchbuilt styrene cab built right over the original metal one:
[album]1343[/album]
And a Tyco Mikado, same idea, but over the original plastic cab:
[album]1344[/album]
The advantage to building over the original, provided that you don't remove too much material from it, is that the new cab will be much stronger.
Here's another Kemtron cab, this one in plastic, on an old John English Pacific:
[album]1345[/album]
Wayne