I’ve almost completed a special resin kit build and noticed I need a detail part. I’ve saved the extra parts from all the resin freight car kits I’ve built, so it was time to check the stash of extras. I’ve kept many extras organized in old kit boxes.
This was a private production bare bones kit with only four castings supplied. Grab irons and brake system hardware are installed but I needed a buffer plate detail above the coupler. I need two of course, one for each end sill.
This isn’t the first time I’ve explored the extra resin kit parts box. I’ve pulled out placard boards, door supports, and other items to finish off models where the parts were missing, or I ham-handedly damaged them in the prep stages. I’ve even used extra resin parts on a couple of plastic model upgrades.
While it may seem daunting to find a needle in the parts haystack, it’s easier if you only pull out small mounds of parts at a time. It was great searching through these. There are quite a few parts I reviewed that will come in handy down the road.
After checking through the lot, I did find a couple parts that can work. I think I’ll mount them on a thin piece of styrene before installing onto the model.
BTW, I keep decal extras, too. These can be a gold mine when changing weigh date stencils or even individual car number digits. I write the original kit info on the backside of the decals in pencil and keep them in Ziplock bags with a desiccant to keep them dry. These extras take up very little room and are a huge assist when completing models. Keep your extras organized for your model work.
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