I'm in need of some help from my Forum friends yet again. Has anyone built any of the vehicles from Showcase Miniatures? e.g. https://www.showcaseminiatures.net/ho_scale/ho_scale_vehicles/3003.html This particular one came to my attention from the listing of items in October's MR. This would fit my era perfectly, which is rare for vehicles. Before I spend my money on this, I want to make sure that it is something that I can easily do and not end up throwing up my hands as too complicated with my fat fingers and my (sometimes) lack of patience. As usual, thank you for any assistance that can be provided.
I have not done one of these kits. However, I did observe something from one of the photos (shown below) that I wanted to bring to your attention:
Q: Have you done any photo-etching cutting & assemby before?
If not, you will need a sharp pair of photo-etching cutters (e.g. Xuron 9180), a diamond file (e.g. Tamiya), and a pair of flat-nose pliers (with no teeth) to complete the kit.
It's usually recommended to cut the medal nibs long when removing the [stainless steel] photo-etched parts from the sprue then trimming them as close as possible with the Xuron cutters. The diamond file can clean up any residual nubs from the cut parts, if needed. The flat-nose pliers are handy for supporting & bending parts 90 degrees.
Please be aware that photo-etched parts are very thin (i.e. 4-mil or 0.004" - the thickness of a piece of 8.5 x 11" paper) and very sharp after it is cut. The Xuron cutter is also quite sharp so you can hurt yourself, if you are not careful.
It looks like a fun kit to assemble. And the photos of the completed and painted tow truck look very nice. That said, I would not designate this as something that can be "easily" done the first time - i.e. unless you have previous experience with cutting and bending photo-etch parts.
My ...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
FRRYKid Before I spend my money on this, I want to make sure that it is something that I can easily do and not end up throwing up my hands as too complicated with my fat fingers and my (sometimes) lack of patience.
Before I spend my money on this, I want to make sure that it is something that I can easily do and not end up throwing up my hands as too complicated with my fat fingers and my (sometimes) lack of patience.
I have not built any of the Showcase Miniatures Vehicles, but I have built some resin models with small parts. It can be challenging and rewarding. Here is a photo of a Model Tech Studios Tug Boat that I built.
Rich
Alton Junction
Here are a couple of photos of passenger station wagons that I built from photo etched parts. Fragile, but good looking IMO.
An idea of the potential difficulties can be gotten by carefully reading and understanding the instructions for one of these kits (which are available in PDF from the Showcase Web site - here is the direct link but I'm not sure how long it will work:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/ultracart/im/SCM/02BCE4FDDAABA00172ECF9047D204F00?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJH6LIXIEXUXBRCOA&Expires=1599492744&Signature=gqdd%2Bpb2Iktjrj9RZT9mwwuodrs%3D
If you do not want or need to model the four body side tool/recovery equipment box doors opened, you would not need to cut or use the eight thin straps that hold the doors in the open position. These door straps, steering wheel and the side mirrors are the hardest/thinest parts to work with. The metal castings look good (no flash). The cable hooks (2) seem to be on the heavy side. If your fingers are fat like you say, (mine have very little feeling on the tips, been doing pipe wrench work since a kid), get locking tweezers or just a pair that have a strong grip with rubber tips. Smooth (grind/file your own) jaw hemostats work wonderful to hold thin tiny parts. The problem I have is that I blink my eyes at the wrong time and...oops where did that part go now. Yes I do where eye glasses.
You may want to upgrade and add windshield wipers and real rubber tires and then a lunch box and thermos bottle on the front seat. How about a small air compresser on the deck. This company makes a ''Garage tool'' set, roll under floor jack and a belt driven compresser.
There is an entire set of hobbiests out there that model trucks in 1/87 and are not model railroaders.
Their work is amazing. I think this kit is aimed towards that market, but we get the benefit of another incredibly detailed kit we can use on our layouts.
It is a beautiful kit. I have three or four of the Scale Structures Limited super detailed antique trucks to build... someday.
-Kevin
Living the dream.