Yankee Clipper Models kits

[tstage]

Given a choice I prefer kits over RTR.  For the most part I find enjoyment assemblying them - even challenging ones - and I almost always learn something new about the prototype when I do that.

Is anyone familiar with Yankee Clipper Models kits?  How are the detail of the parts?  What kits would compare closest to that - e.g. Accurail, Intermountain, Tichy?  Are the assembly instructions fairly straightforward to follow?

The kit I'm interested in is undecorated and gives you seven prototype options to choose from.  It comes with metal stirrups & grab irons and the brake lines are straight wire so I'll need to bend them.  The kit also comes with a full set of decals so I'll need to paint and detail the car when I've finished assemblying it.

I'm always up for a challenge.  I just wanted to know if these kits are worth the time, effort, and expense.

Thanks,

Tom

[SeeYou190]

tstage

What kits would compare closest to that - e.g. Accurail, Intermountain, Tichy?

Tom,

I believe Yankee Clipper, like Steam Shack & others, contracted Funaro & Camerlengo to make their kits, then they marketed them under their own name.

So, a Yankee Clipper kit would be exactly like an F&C kit to assemble.

I believe a few items, like this C&O prototype double door 40' boxcar, that were originally Yankee Clipper kits are now sold by F&C.

I love F&C kits and have built many of them. They are not much more difficult than Tichy kits. Mounting trucks and couplers can be a challenge.

-Photograph by Kevin Parson

I hope this was accurate.

-Kevin

[doctorwayne]

A friend gave me three Red Caboose (now part of Intermountain) kits'for Pennsy X-29s, along with a Yankee Clipper kit for a CPR "Minibox".

The kit for the latter was very simple, with two sides, plus the roof, and two ends to be cemented in-place. 

The underbody is mostly one piece, with some add-ons, and, of course, a choice of K-type or AB-type brake gear.  (I opted for the AB, which wasn't around in 1929, when the cars were first built, but since my layout is set in the late '30s, I do have quite a few cars equipped (or re-equipped) with AB brake systems.

They call the casting material styro-resin, but I had no success using MEK to put things together (apparently the "styro" part isn't all that similar to styrene).  I ended-up using ca, which did the trick.
There's a bunch of cast parts (same material) for the underbody, and the kit includes Tichy Canadian-style ladders (with stirrup steps as part of the ladders).  Also included is Tichy phosphor-bronze grabirons and some wire for doing the underbody piping and the rodding for the brake system.

The instructions suggest washing the parts in warm water using dish detergent (I'd guess mainly to remove the mould-release coating), and, once the kit has been built, another wash and rinse to remove oils from handling.

There was a piece of sheet steel included for extra weight, but, I used some custom-cast lead weights instead, as I make some good sized batches of them.  They're held in place with some JB Quik Weld and some strip styrene.

Also included were decals for three different CPR lettering variations (I chose the rather plain original lettering). The car-body, shown below, was airbrushed with Pollyscale paint, then got an overcoating of Testors Glosscote, followed a couple of days later with a partial lettering of the car.

I'll mask-off the areas where the re-weigh and re-pack data is meant to go, then Dullcote the car, followed immediately with some weathering of the car by airbrush.

Once the car is re-assembled, I'll add the missing data, and decide then if I want to add a little more weathering, or leave the recent lettering looking new.

Here's the carbody as it looks now, with some of the above steps not yet done...(photo will enlarge if clicked-upon)

Wayne

[tstage]

Thanks, Kevin & Wayne!  That's all helpful information...

Tom