peanut1 wrote:Cadet57 wrote:jrc520 wrote:Peanut1, if you are still looking for old metroliners, I've got a few - in fact, I have one body shell that I had started to work on years ago. PM me and we can talk further(and the offer goes to anyone else who wants one, I have three total.)
Peanut1, if the offer from jrc520 doesn't work out (not saying it worn't), I have a couple spare Metroliner noses that you could graft onto an amfleet.
What is grafting exactly? I'm not familiar with the term. I have an idea what it means . I don't know if I'd be able to do that as I'm not that handy. If it was being done for me that would be alot easier.
"Graft" is a word that means "to add something to something else."
If you want to model a cab car, the easiest thing to do would be to accept one of these offers of an old Metroliner nose that you would then glue on to the end of your existing Amfleet car. That is the simplest description of what you would have to do.
Now, the next step really depends on how much you care to learn. You'd be surprised what you can do when you try new things. You say you are not "handy." I don't know what that means, but if you have two hands and the ability to use them, you are indeed handy.
In this hobby, when you take parts from two or more different models or kits and combine them into something new, we call it "kitbashing."
So you've never kitbashed before. Well, you'll need to pick up a few simple tools at your local hobby shop. They are inexpensive and easy to use.
1) Razor Saw (made for making clean cuts in plastic and wood pieces)
2) Mitre Box (to help you make square cuts)
3) No. 11 hobby knife and holder (the commonly called "x-acto knife" but there are many brands)
4) Liquid model cement (not the goopy stuff that comes in a tube)
Not sure what any of this stuff is? That's what the folks at the hobby shop are there for.
So here's where you start. Go in your junk box and find two cars you don't care about anymore (or go to your hobby shop and find two cheap freight cars). Bring all your tools home, get out your two freight cars, and start experimenting. See what it's like to cut a car in half using the razor saw and the mitre box. Make some square cuts, and combine one half of one car with one half of the other car. See how little glue it takes to make a joint. Don't worry if you mess up the first time, these are the cars you don't care about, remember? We're just playing Frankenstein to get used to the process of cutting plastic and joining parts together.
So you said you want to make a Metroliner cab car, or something close. First thing you'll want to do is to look at photos of the real thing to get an idea of how your parts will go together. I did a search for you and found a whole bunch of cab car photos:
http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos. ... 0Cab%20Car
This one is pretty good, shows where the nose would join to your existing Amfleet car:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=123319
Okay, so now you have an idea of what the real thing looks like. Now all you have to do is figure out where to make your cuts so one of your donated Metroliner noses will meet up with your existing Amfleet car. Since they were made by different manufacturers, you may find they dont exactly meet up together, but will be close. Your mitre box will help you make a nice, clean, square cut so you have to do as little clean up as possible. Use a little glue to make the joint. A little. You'd be surprised how strong this stuff is.
That's really it... You may want to do a little touch up with the sandpaper. As far as painting your finished model, you'll probably want a little Platinum Mist paint to touch up the silver, and then figure out if you want to paint the yellow and black stripes yourself or use decals (and then you'll have to learn how to apply decals).
Did I lose you yet?
-otto-
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