The 1200 series caboose is an important piece for Frisco road trains. To date, the only correct model available is the over priced, hard to find brass model. Super detailed plastic cabooses are finally gaining some traction, but who knows when or if we will ever get a Frisco caboose done in this manner. Luckily for us 3D printing is now a thing. Someone has drawn up blue prints parts to make a 1200 series caboose. More specifically, there are different parts available for different variations within the series. The window arrangements are all correct. However, the parts are sized to work with an Atlas Wide Vsion caboose frame. This model has a longer wheelbase (I think) than the actual 1200 series, so the proportions are a little bit off. With that in mind, its still the closest thing available currently. I scored an older red box Atlas caboose on ebay a while back for really cheap. I'll ditch the main body, but I can reuse the frame and window glazings. As an added bonus, the older red box models include grab irons in the box that can be used on the new build, as opposed to the newer models that come with grab irons installed.
I opted for parts that fit caboose models 1200-1274, or that's what the listing says, I haven't been able to come up with enough pictures to verify this yet. Cupola: https://www.shapeways.com/product/2...74-1200-1274?optionId=58167122&li=marketplace If you want a simpler project, you can simply swap out the cupola, although the other windows are still wrong. Other parts you'll need: https://www.shapeways.com/product/S...74-1200-1274?optionId=57984397&li=marketplace https://www.shapeways.com/product/X...74-1200-1274?optionId=58167079&li=marketplace https://www.shapeways.com/product/X...74-1200-1274?optionId=58030793&li=marketplace Optional parts if you want to customize further https://www.shapeways.com/product/PQ7JPTR62/caboose-slsf-smokejack?optionId=58116100&li=marketplace https://www.shapeways.com/product/2...74-1200-1274?optionId=58582915&li=marketplace https://www.shapeways.com/product/A...ator-c-3450?optionId=189916842&li=marketplace
Other supplies you'll need are paint and decals. I like Badger Modelflex paint. For this model, I tried out their Caboose Red offering. I've had a hard time getting a handle on the colors the Frisco used for their cabooses, but it looks pretty close to me. I don't have a yellow yet for the grab irons, so I'll report back when I have a solution for that. K4 makes a set of decals for Frisco Cabooses. I haven't tried this set out yet, but I like the other K4 decals I've tried so far. https://k4decals.com/products/slsf-frisco-caboose-white-decal-slsfc?variant=36492690653343
I'll go ahead and share this as well. There's another design available. https://www.shapeways.com/product/4NJ7F4WJ9/frisco-caboose-hoscale?optionId=207173620&li=marketplace It looks like its a complete kit with correct dimensions, minus trucks, couplers, grabs and window glaze. It's much more expensive though
Ran out of time last night, but I do have some pictures to share. I'm having trouble deciding how to go about gluing the pieces together. If anyone has experience putting together models in this fashion, I'd like to hear what technique works best to put all of this together. For now, the 4 sides are held together with a bit of masking tape. Caboose Parts by Iantha_Branch posted Feb 12, 2023 at 8:10 PM Asembly 1 by Iantha_Branch posted Feb 12, 2023 at 8:14 PM Asembly 2 by Iantha_Branch posted Feb 12, 2023 at 8:15 PM Asembly 3 by Iantha_Branch posted Feb 12, 2023 at 8:15 PM Painted by Iantha_Branch posted Feb 12, 2023 at 8:28 PM
Wow! Finally, a proper cupola for my Frisco WV cabeese! They're all Athearns (blue-box), so I foresee some whittling on plastic to get the cupola to fit (hopefully not).
I had thought about these for an Athearn kit as well. I'll go test fit this part in one of mine and report back with findings when I get a chance.
I'm happy to report the 3d printed cupola slid right on the Athearn BB caboose I had setting out. No modification required. The Modelflex Caboose Red is a shade lighter than the red used by Bev Bel on this caboose. With a little mixing, it shouldn't be too hard to match.
Our own Ryan Harris, has sure done a great job on the 3D designs. Now if I could get him to design a 1400 series caboose. Ethan. Are those roof sections warped? On the 3D projects I have done ACC type glues worked very well on them.
The roof sections seem to be fine. The sides are bowed out a little bit, so I'll have to glue the entire thing to the chassis. A quick google leads me to think that ACC glue is basically what most people call super glue. Is that what you meant? I was leaning toward super glue.
After some setbacks outside of the MRR realm, I finally had some time today to work on the caboose kit again. While looking things over before gluing I finally noticed that the ends of the body are warped. The plastic this was made out of has just enough bend to it I could make an attempt to pull it back to square before the glue dried. After mulling things over for a bit, I finally convinced myself that it's not gonna turn out perfect, so just go for it. So, I went through one corner at a time and pealed back the masking tape, applied a small amount of ACC glue, and stuck things back together and pulled it in to square the best I could. Repeat that x3 and I now at least have a body glued together to work with. Similar process with the roof panels. The good news is that gluing the roof panels on pulled the rest of the body into square so that I wouldn't have to glue the sides to the frame. The bad news is I finally found what Tom mentioned earlier: The roof panels are warped upwards. Now, one nice feature that was designed into the project is the roof panels were carved to fit the atlas end rails, but the roof is curled up so far that I can't attach the bottom portion of the rails to the frame because the pins are setting up on the walkway. I'll attach pictures to try and show this, but I'm afraid compressing them enough for the forum will make it hard to see it. At this point I think the kit is a lost cause. I don't know enough about 3D printing to even guess at what caused all these parts to be warped. The other thing I discovered this morning is the cupola style I ordered doesn't quite fit the original Atlas body. The cupola cutout on the Atlas body is cut lower than the custom body. One could modify the parts with a hobby knife to make it fit, but the cupola is going to set too low to look correct. I've got some things to think about with this project moving forward. Will report back later.
Too bad about the disappointment. I know little about 3d printing, also. There is very little room for tooling to constrain the parts so they are plane and square, I believe. I suppose a good practice for any future project would be to verify the parts are true and square with a straight-edge and square. If not, what then? Perhaps heating them (how? heat gun? in an oven? Yikes!), then tacking them to some kind of stiff "strongback" and then letting them cool slowly (again, how? insulated box of some kind) to anneal into better shape. Out-of-true parts are not what one hopes to get from 3d printing, but it may be rather common given the nature of the process.
I had also considered some sort of heat and bend, but I assumed that to get it hot enough to bend would get it soft enough to destroy the texture of the plastic.
Ethan I been following this thread, I am sorry to hear you have the same issues with shapeways prints that I have had. As far as heating, I used a pot of hot water and thermometer heated to 160-180 F and held the parts in place till cooled. Basically what I did was build a jig and used mini bar clamps to submerge in hot water and pull out after 10 minutes or so and let cool before removing the clamps. I think shapeways uses print vendors to print these things and of course the more prints the more $$, so sort cuts are taken in the curing process that causes these warps in the material. I have only built 3, 3D printed models, and I sent every one back at least once, for a better finished product. Some things need to change with the shapeways production model. I am glad you have made as much progress as you have with this.
Thanks for the insight Tom. If I had looked a little harder, I would have found what you had mentioned and had a chance to fix it before it was too late. I was thinking about trying the more expensive model, but if you've had that many issues with shapeways I think I'll hold off. I'll just stick to what I have for now and hope either some estate dumps some brass cabooses for me, or one of the manufacturers steps up and makes a plastic model for us.
