Modification to Showcase Express display cases

These display cases are a great way to enjoy the parts of your collection that won't fit on the layout.  I have several and have found them to be quite versatile but have been making one small modification to some of the end caps.

The end caps that come with the display case are wide enough that they stop the clear insert from sliding out, see red arrow in photo.  For my purposes I would like to be able to slide the insert out without having to remove the end cap.

The modification is to simply make the end caps on one side of the display case narrow enough for the clear insert to slide past.

The end caps for the N scale sized display are about 1.23 inches wide and I determined that removing about .1 inch was enough.  This is done on the edge of the end cap that would be facing outward.

I found that sliding the end cap back and forth against 100 grit sand paper laid on a flat surface did the trick in a couple minutes.

After the width was reduced the edge on both sides were de-burred with a hobby knife run back and forth.

The last step was to polish the new edge with some plastic scratch remover I use for control panels.

The end result is that I have easier access to the locomotives in the display case above the staging yard.  Because this particular display case has two 4 foot sections end to end I needed to do both sides.

For more information about Showcase Express display cases see their Web Site.