I grew up in the U.K. so I model mostly British trains but I recently got into collecting this old Marx stuff and I love it. Customizing these old toys is so much fun as they are so cheap to find and so easy to bring back to life. Your Army train looks great it's and a good way to display your old diecast Army trucks.
So why paint an Indian logo on the tank? Did the original Kawasaki’s come that way? Is it a replica Kawasaki made? So all the late 90’s and early 00’s Chiefs I’m seeing are Kawasaki’s?
I'm pretty sure Kawasaki didn't paint the classic Indian logo on the tank. I think the Drifter came with a metal tank badge that said Vulcan Drifter. Whoever redid this Drifter added some genuine Indian items to the Kawasaki to make it look even more authentic. The 90's and early 2000 Chiefs, I believe were made in Gilroy, CA. My best friend had a Gilroy Indian. They were customized softails with an S&S motor and Indian fenders and parts. It was a okay facsimile, but underneath it was mostly a softail and you could see it. After the Gilroy Indian business went under, Polaris secured the rights to the name and produces a pretty cool Indian now. The Polaris Indians sort of remind me of the Gilroy Indians in that the basis of the bike is a softail platform. The cool thing about the Polaris Indian is motor which looks very nice to me.
@@elvisslo that’s pretty awesome. I’ve heard of the Gilroy’s but never really looked too much into them. I have a Springfield. I was looking to customize it and was looking at older Indians for ideas. It has been quite confusing with the different makes and stuff. I didn’t realize that Polaris just bought the Indian only fairly recently. Guess I gotta look a bit deeper into it. Thanks for the info.
That should be a fun bike when you finish it. I see some fenders on eBay occasionally. Good luck with the build and show it to us when you get finished!
I know! I think they are really cool bikes. Not many were made. I wonder why the prices for these are so low? Almost everyone I talk to says they've never seen one and really like them.
Russ, that's actually a Kawasaki Drifter not a real Indian. Kawasaki did a nice job at capturing the look and feel of an old Indian in the Drifter 800.
Hi Dandeo! Thanks for the encouragement! Cool that you are collecting Marx stuff. It would be fun to see your layout once you get it done. I wasn't aware of a Marx group in SLO? It would be cool to check them out if they are still around?
Thanks Max. I made the books so I could look at some of the sets I have. It's sort of fun to set up scenes and photograph them. You could make a book for yourself. They are pretty easy in Google Photos and fairly inexpensive. Have fun!
Hi Chuck! Happy New Year! I'm still running Marx Trains. I haven't run any for a while, but will get back to it soon. I picked up a motorcycle in November and have been a little distracted from trains. I've been focusing on my collection of Britain's lead soldiers and really enjoying it
I just read the caption. Could you do a video explaining the process a little more? Does a Marx motor drop right in to the Flyer shell? Are the windows on the cars decals?
Cowen, sorry I'm getting back to this so late. I built this train myself. It started as an American Flyer plastic S-gauge train. I cut the shell with a Dremel to shorten it about 1-inch and glued the front and rear pieces together. I used putty to smooth out the glued cut and then painted with a chrome colored spray. I used a 6-inch Marx tin tender and assorted Marx tin boxcars and wagon top tenders to make the passenger cars. I recall doing just a light sanding and then primer coat on all the cars before painting the chrome color. I really wanted an actual chrome finish and looked for a while at chrome wrap like they use in automotive applications, but couldn't figure out how to wrap the complex shape of the engine. I thought heat might work to shrink the wrap, but I didn't get around to experimenting. I made the decals using MS Paint and some clear decal sheets from eBay or amazon. The decals for the engine were repro American Flyer decals from eBay. The engine is powered by a Marx 400 motor. I took the motor and the rear mounting plate off of a Marx plastic 400 engine. I dry fitted them into the shell of the Flyer bullet loco and they fit almost perfectly. With some trial and error, I figured out where the plates had to be mounted with little screws and drilled the body and fitted the plates with small screws. The I mounted a Marx front brace on the 400 motor and drilled out holes on the front of the loco to attach with screws just like on a Marx Vanderbilt. The motor fits in the shell pretty well and is at the correct height. The only other thing I might do to improve the look of the locomotive is to install a trailing pair of wheels from a Marx engine to fill out below the loco cab. If you look closely at the observation car, you can see I put my home made decal on upside down by mistake because you'll see the window shading come from the bottom of the windows instead of from the top like the other passenger cars. I caught this just after I applied the decal and didn't want to remove it and try again because I was afraid of tearing up the decal and having to make another. Looking at the video again, I think I would also improve the passenger stripe decal that has the name of each car by lengthening the decal to span the whole car. I think that would look better. I hope that explains most of the build. Enjoy your Marx trains!
Hey Lance! Doing fine. I just got back from a 35-day road trip around the U.S. I towed a little 17-ft Casita trailer and went to Florida, across the south, and then returned through the Midwest, Colorado and Utah visiting friends and relatives. Fun, but tiring trip. I'm staring at my train mess in the garage. What are you up to?
Hey Ken, Great job I like both the tank engine and the caboose modification by kit bashing . Did yo fabricate all the parts for the head engine? Any way it made a very nice consist with the custom gun car you have a winner. God Bless and "Happy Rails". GMan
Thanks G-Man, I made the frame for the Marx 400 motor out of sheet brass and spacers out of aluminum tube. The frame was epoxied into the thin plastic model body to stiffen it up and support the motor. Then I used the existing motor brackets and tiny 6-32 bolts to mount the motor to the frame. It was pretty straight forward and now that I did one, I think I can use the design for other projects I want to do. God Bless you too G-Man!
Thanks Ed! I was checking out the Classic Toy Train website today and saw again you are listed for an article about your layout. I love CTT magazine. Do they still print it on paper or is it just virtual now? I'd prefer to buy a single issue to get your story vs. a web subscription.
@@elvisslo They still do print copies Ken and if there's no local hobby shop to buy a copy I guess you can go on their website to buy additional copies. I'm pretty stoked about it LOL
John, I've always liked your last name LeBaron! Back in the 1980"s I fell in love with the little Chrysler LeBaron convertibles. They are funky and hard to find now, but every once in a while I check them out on Autotrader and think about having one!
@@elvisslo I watched Red Green cut two LeBarons in half, then attach the two front halves for four wheel drive! Daughter had one that ran great, even after I accidentally backed into one morning with my pickup truck!
Thanks, you are right about retirement Gary! So much fun! I think I could do this model in sheet brass. A single sheet, cut, folded and tabbed to make the basic shape of the locomotive. Then some litho-like decals for all of the details. Couple it with 6" tin cars and it would be very Marx-like.
