In spite of the moans and groans about LWS kits, if a modeler had some prior experience, a decent job could be done. My first attempts at building in brass and soldering was an Arvid Anderson hopper car. I followed that with an All Nation steam kit. Work on LWS kits came later. My first LWS effort was rebuilding a poorly done UP DDa-40x for a friend. It was badly damaged at our model RR club when it derailed. Someone tried to pick it up with one hand and bent it in half. Jan Lorenzen was very helpful in providing some replacement etched panels and other parts the first builder had not used or lost. One weakness of LWS diesel kit is that the modeler was expected to build a frame for it to accommodate the motor and drive. I made one for it to fit two Pittman 9xxx series motors and put in Central Locomotive Works drives after re-enforcing the soft cast metal 8 wheel trucks. Another kit from LWS was a cast resin body ALCo DL-109 my friend got at an LWS Open House. With it, he found and bought a set of Adams & Son brass castings for an FT-A unit with truck side frames. We looked for the B unit that should have been with it, but it was not found. Both locos got fames I made that were fitted with Pittman motors and CLW drives. Those three models were sold by his family after he passed away. The last LWS model I built was the "economy 0-6-0" kit which modeled a C&NW switcher from the 1890's. By that time, my skills improved to the point where this 0-6-0 camelback model having that kit as its basis, is completely different. One kit remains to be done. It's the Ingersoll-Rand GE 300 HP box cab switcher. In all model making, its not the stuff you use to make a good looking model whether its brass, aluminum, cast resin, plastic or even cardstock and paper. It's all in how one makes use of the materials at hand.
S. Islander
