Has anyone built any of American Model Builders’ HO scale wood caboose kits? I have heard the Athearn 34’ ATSF type caboose underframes that come with the kits has to be cut and lengthened or shortened depending on what road’s caboose is being built. Are AMB’s wood cabooses easy to build or is there lots of work that has to be put into them like lengthening the underframes? The kits i am interested in are the Katy caboose, IC “Iowa Division” caboose and IC side door caboose.
I built the AMB N&W CF caboose. It is not a quick build, but is straightforward and I am very pleased with the finished model. I built it straight out of the box, but did order an accessories kit (which had grabirons, ladders, etc.).
I did the NKP cab and it turned out great. I suggest doing a wood structure kit to get used to their construction methods. Becareful at lining up the holes for the grabs too.
so you do not have to shorten or lengthen the athearn caboose underframe that comes with american model builders’ wood caboose kits? i heard somewhere that some of the caboose kits required you to either shorten or lengthen the underframe, depending on the caboose of the prototype line you were modeling. i am glad to hear that it appears you do not need to modify the underframes as such