Scratchbuilding a Caboose - Part 8 (end railings and weathering)

The end railings were fabricated from some K&S 1/32 brass rod (#8160) that seemed to be the right scale. The prototype hand railings had a somewhat distinctive flattened portion where they made ninety-degree curves at the corners but I just left them round. In this scale I didn't think they would be noticeable. I built up a soldering fixture on a scrap piece of wood using some dimensions I took from the actual car. Had every railing hole been perfectly drilled and equal on each end I would have only had to make one. But, I am not perfect and one hole was slightly off so I drew it up twice. T cut the brass rod with rail nippers which left one end nice and flat, which I butted up to the railing.

I then used some paste flux and solder and soldered them up. I built up a little fillet in the joints for strength, and I was surprised at how strong they were. When I later trimmed the bottom pieces to length I was afraid the vibration from the cutters would break the joint but it didn't. These aren't the first handrails I have ever made... I made a set of custom ones for a G-scale 44-tonner and those were silver soldered together for extra strength. Had these broken, I would have used silver solder to repair them. But, my silver solder is pretty thick in diameter so I avoid using it unless absolutely necessary. The railings were then glued in place, with a little bit extra of thin super glue at the bottom to form a fillet... which in this case is prototypical!

The brass brakewheel casting I had purchased from Precision Scale Company strong. I cut it off the sprue with dykes (thank goodness I didn't try my rail nippers) and then the belt sander and files removed the excess sprue. I soldered it to more 1/32" brass rod, and bent the rod end in at the bottom to meet up with the end of the "brake line" I had fabricated. A small styrene shim under the brakewheel represents the support bracket. The castings didn't come with a ratchet wheel for the bottom of the shaft and I didn't want to make one, so it doesn't have one. Mud splashers were 0.020" styrene that I superglued on. To say that they came together quickly and easily is an understatement, and I am over the moon that it went so well.

The first coat of initial weathering was a acrylic paint wash made from brown craft paint and water. This went on the underside and it was applied somewhat heavily as it was a very thin wash. I tried to prevent large water spots and collections of paint, which would look odd. Then, I dry brushed different shades of black and brown paint to blend in the wash. The brake shoes were given a lighter brown color to represent rust, as was the brake lines and the wheels. The journals were dabbed with gloss black to represent the oily packing inside which leaked out. This picture makes it look pretty garish, but in real life it is much more subdued.

Because I am more familiar with the properties and drying qualities of oil paint washes, I used them to weather the caboose body and the roof. For the body, I mostly stuck with brown and kept it light to represent a well kept up caboose. It settled in the cracks around the windows and boards but otherwise just served to lighten the red. A very light hand with a black wash brought out the boards a bit. The roof was given a brown/black wash to represent dirt blown up and coal smoke. I would have loved to add crushed fine coal to represent cinders but I can't think of a way to attach it without the adhesive showing. The smoke jack was dry brushed brown.

For the end platform decking I originally planned to use more of the Evergreen scribed car siding but the board width was just a bit too narrow to represent the prototype. Naturally, nothing in my stock of strips matched the width I wanted (0.100") and I didn't want to cut them from a larger sheet because thin strips like this tend to curl which would look terrible. So, I ordered some Evergreen 0.100" wide x 0.040 thick strips (#145) and used them. I built up two thin decks, one for each end, and then used sandpaper and other tools to roughen up the boards and make them look worn. Nothing too serious though. They were then painted black and glued in place. A builder's plaque was also added.

An O scale caboose straddling HO scale tracks.

The only thing left to do is install glazing, which will be cut from some thin microscope glass slide covers that I purchased online. I ordered them cheaply from China so they will take another month or so to get here. Until then, I cannot officially call it "done." But it is. It sure looks short and stumpy, and a bit ugly perhaps. But, it is all mine and likely one of the only models existing of D&H caboose #10. And I am very proud of it. Now I have to wait until October for the NMRA Northeaster Region "Mill City" convention to enter my car for merit judging. The paperwork is finished and ready to go. Since I don't plan to actually attend the convention, I will be driving the caboose up early in the morning and then waiting around until it has been reviewed and judged. Then, I will come home.

My next projects include two flat cars which I haven't touched since March 2019, over a year ago. I stopped all progress on them when I diverted my scarce time to my 7.25" gauge diesel locomotive and bulkhead flatcar riding car projects. But, with my caboose safely stored in a special travel fixture I built to prevent damage in transit I can shift to my next projects. With any luck, I might have those flatcars available for judging in October too. And, I am already collecting research for my next two cars. The fun never stops!