Piko drovers caboose work in progress

[Riograndad]

Me ,I`m an idiot,I wanted to change something on my thread in the freight section in the cabeese thread,,,,,,,and DELETED THE LOT,what a muppet,so a quick rethread on here,I am bashing the car so will sit here ok,The car was bought new just after xmas but needed some more detailing,interior paneling was added to the passenger end together with door frames and handles on the ends and toilet compartment,these the painted to resemble some sort of wood,the armrests were added and the upholstery then given two coats with the second having talcum powder added to give a "cloth"look and texture,seems to work well,the passenger and Conductor that were used in the first place have now been replaced with two reworked `cowboys`catching up with some zzzzzzzzzz after a day in the saddleone is a piko figure i think and the other is a cheapy chinese copy(?),these work in progress as too is the brakeman although may use the conductor in another position.In the baggage end the interior walls have just been painted,no paneling but door guards added,the area is quite small so lack of detail won`t show too much.thats about where i`m up to,jobs to finish it off,window blinds,internal work on the cupola interior,figures and brakeman to finish,second coat and varnish the passenger end panels,some baggage /freight for the baggage end and a piko plug in light light unit that plugs into the marker light wiring.As for the pics to get a feel of whats going on,some from old post

 

[GAP]

WOW only way to describe it.

Please elaborate on the talcum powder cloth look, is the talcum just mixed into the paint?.

 

[Riograndad]

WOW only way to describe it.

Please elaborate on the talcum powder cloth look, is the talcum just mixed into the paint?.

Yes Gap,normal first coat,then mix up some paint and throw in some talc,trial and error will get result

 

[Riograndad]

A little more done today and a change of thought towards the figures in the car,I wanted to use the conductor if possible and the guy with his feet on the seatback didn`t work very well in this car as it did in the Bachmann bash as the seat profile is different so decided to move him sideways,raised him up on a roll,could be a bedroll or rolled up coat,either way it works so he is slightly on one side and arm rests on the window ledge and his legs fall better on the opposite seat,made a new hat for him too,wider brim of thinner styrene and trimmed the top of his head to give more of a `tilt`,I wanted the hat pulled down across the face look,,,,the sitting guys arms have been re positioned also due to the seat profile again,one to lean on the armrest and the other to lean on the window frame,more relaxed poses,tidy up and repaint will sort these and the conductor will the go back into the isle from whence he came from.

 

[Riograndad]

More done and almost finished,the Piko light unit now installed and ready to go,the "cowboy" figures have been given a little trail dust weathering and sitting one has been given a bed roll to give a little more comfort under one arm,conductor now in,also blinds fitted into the roof section.The brakeman has some work too,bandana to fill the gap between head and shoulders but head still moves and some dirtying of his clothes ,he still needs a little work to finish,in the pics it shows the internal panels with a sllght bow,,these straighten out when the roof clips on and pulls the sides in as they are not fixed or glued in,to finish up I will lightly weather the trucks to bring out the details,I may paint the end beams and steps to match the car colour and of course finish off the brakeman

 

[Bill Barnwell]

the cowboys make it

 

[Riograndad]

Finally after 4 months was able to track test the caboose,laid the last R3 switch(brought it in December) into the outer loop so now can at least run something and little Stainz was the first loco I came too as the light was fading,quite pleased with the light units(no flickering) and overall appearance,lot of drag from the pick ups so will have to find a way around that and the brakeman does`nt fall off so result there tooThe pic a little blurred as train in motion.

 

[Riograndad]

Finally I got around to getting the western saddles for the drovers into the caboose(nearly 2 years on)some modifications needed as they are made from the polythene type of plastic and so very soft and springy,the first thing I had to trim off were the saddle blankets as they are for the horses shape and would not take the shape of the seat backs,as the figures have already got rolled up items with them on the seats that works out fine,second item that needed trimming were the belly straps as too much of them came down past the seat and pushed against the floor so would not sit snugly on the seat but with the roof on it is not noticeable.they need a repaint before final fixing in but at least the guys have custom bespoke saddles for their steeds and a big thank you to the conductor to allow them to put them in the passenger end of the car.The saddles are Schleich items to fit onto their range of horses.

 

[Bill Barnwell]

Glad you finally got it done been worrying about that for a couple of years now, LOL did something similar but bashed a kalamazoo combine and added a Bachmann caboose cupola, made my railings from brass wire and cotter pins soldered into brass tubing, couldn't find any laying down cowboys so settled for sitting one but added two bunks on one side. Lit the car with 1 10mm led in the freight end and put 3 or 4 1mm flashing red and orange led's in the corner stove powered it with 2 switchable AA batteries, and while it lacks the detail of yours, it looks cool at night with the stove lighting up the cowboy end and the white one lighting up the rr worker sitting in the cupola. There is no mistaking yours with the sleeping cowboys and saddles, great looking piece, Bill

 

[Paulus]

Great looking caboose and I really love the interior details. Good idea on those saddles!

 

[Riograndad]

Great looking caboose and I really love the interior details. Good idea on those saddles!

Yes,custom saddles and worth a few dollars so the guys want to look after them,when running with the horse car the horses have no saddles on so they ride in the caboose,once again thanks to the conductor for letting them ride insideView attachment 259413View attachment 259414

 

[Riograndad]

Great looking caboose and I really love the interior details. Good idea on those saddles!

Yes,custom saddles and worth a few dollars so the guys want to look after them,when running with the horse car the horses have no saddles on them so they ride in the caboose

 

[Paulus]

Very nice sir!