You typically have to do some work, some cutting to fit and such, but nothing that is too frustrating. Just take your time and test fit stuff and it should all make sense. What you may want to think about is replacing the supplied grab irons, ladders, and such with finer sized wire or parts -- unless your goal is to say you built the kit just as guys have been doing for 40+ years or whatever.
Dave Nelson
I built a number of both of these brands "back in the day" and always enjoyed them. Silver Streak always seemed a couple notches higher in quality than Ye Olde Huff n Puff (IMHO). When I see some of these kits at train shows I remain interested and would be willing to build a couple again. YES, sanding is involved, and one should have a good sanding block or that "true sander" to keep things square. I don't recall a lot of drilling other than for the truck mounting screws, but it would probably be recommended for the grab irons on the cabeese especially.
The troublesome part with the caboose kits (for me) was that the caboose side may well come in more than one piece. There may well be two pieces of siding for each side. The problem is getting those two pieces of wood to "mate" so that it looks like any other seam in the siding rather than being noticible as a joint in major pieces of wood. Some of the boxcars also came with two pieces for each side, but often they were separated by the side door so the seam was not as crucial. Careful sanding recommended there at that joint, and then also primer paint or wood sealer suggested, as the grain of those different pieces of siding might not match up just right. When I look at my old Silver Streak Drovers' Caboose, that seam is still visible.... but I'm a much better modeler now, right?
Enjoy these kits. Bill
I've built a number of Silver Streak cars over the years. They had some unique cars, and the kits were about medium on the "easy --- hard" scale. However, while they were not so hard to build, it took skill and effort to build them well.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
There are some Silver Streak caboose instructions to be found here: http://www.hoseeker.org/truscalesilverstreak.html I don't know if they are representative of the current kits.
i am thinking of buying some ye olde huff n puff and silver streak caboose kits from ye olde huff n puff. what kind of work goes into assembling any of their caboose kits any sanding and drilling involved? also does anyone have a copy of any instruction to ye olde huff n puff caboose kits?