First Showcase Miniatures MoW truck

I have had this kit for a few months and just recently finished it.  I have done a few GHQ white metal vehicles in the past but this is my first vehicle from Showcase Miniatures.  They do seem to offer the best variety of Maintenance of Way (Mow) vehicles in N Scale and I may add a few more over time for my different railroads and layout eras.

For my first one I got kit # 41 which is a boom truck built on an International truck frame. Each of these kits comes in a plastic box like this one.

Here are the parts that were in the package.  There are extra parts for the boom and outriggers to build in either an in use or stored position.  The smaller parts needed to be cut from a common base and very little filing was needed to clean up flash.

I often like to work on models from a reference prototype photo.  The closest photo I could find on the internet was this one.  It is not really the same configuration but still helps with how to do lights, stripes, and other details. 

I use mostly Acrylic paints these days but on metal vehicle kits I like enamels as the Acrylic seems to chip off too easily with handling.  For the white body I used the same paint that I use for locomotive hand rails.  Testors racing finish is quite durable but the brush needs to be cleaned with enamel thinner, mineral spirits won't do.  The frame and tires were done with Floquil enamels.

Once the main components of the truck were assembled and a few of the detail parts added, it was time of decals.

I used decals from circuscitydecals.com.  This set included some yellow stripes similar to those in the reference photo.

And here is the finished model after applying the decals and a spray of Dulcote.  Because this is a high rail vehicle with the extended front bumper I added some guide posts with .020 brass wire in pilot holes that appeared to be there for this purpose.