Gondolas assembled from kits

I need a fleet of gondolas to bring the coal to the coal tipple. This car was assembled from the ground up from a kit. After assembly the car is airbrushed with a foundation coat to simulate a wood color. Subsequent layers are added and before they dry, gently rub the surface with a Q-tip to expose the below layers.

The tops of the boards  where aged by using a sharp knife to carve dips an splits. Powders and grime is added to the inside to add age as coal is loaded and unloaded. Decals are added to 1930s scheme.

--Bill B.

Drop bottom gondola.

By far a drop bottom gondola is the most complicated kit I have assembled because of the large number of pieces and you need to assemble the car in the correct order to get it to come out correctly. These are kits in Sn3 from PBL.  http://www.p-b-l.com

They are is first airbrushed with a foundation color to simulate wood. Then a few top boxcar red layers are added and before they dry, a Q-tip is used to gently rub off the top layer to expose the wood color below.

The top of the drop bottom is just the tip of the iceberg. Then comes the detailing of bottom. The adding of the doors, break rigging, chains, and pipping. All of the pipping is done with thin brass wire.

I think I lost 50 IQ points and lots of hair building my fleet of drop bottoms. These are not for the faint of heart.

Show us your cars assembled from kits !!

--Bill B.

Funaro & Camerlengo

Funaro & Camerlengo kits:

Modified Tichi

Modified Tichi kit:

Tichi Gould kit:

Modified Accurail kit:

Modified Athearn kit:

Branchline kit:   I think it

Branchline kit:

I think it is a RED Caboose or Intermountain kit from the ninties. The first kit I weathered.

Very nice work,  Bill B. I

Very nice work,  Bill B. I love cars with character especially with excellent undercarriage detail.

S scale

  A PRS centerflow and an American Models bay window caboose tag along on the end of the local....DaveB 

Here is a group shot of some

Here is a group shot of some I built to display during a train club open house. I built the case to keep fingers off the merchandise on display. The kits go from shake the box kits to more detailed versions on the bottom row.

The next two show a model under construction.

One of the models in the case on the layout.

A caboose kit with interior

One of the advantages of assembling cars from kits is that you can add a lot of interior details. A case in point is a caboose.

This caboose was assembled from a PBL kit that includes the interior detail kit. This kit is assembled flat, painted and detailed and then the sides are put together. PBL Star brand paints were used.

What is a caboose without a few figures, a pot bellied stove and a pin up on the wall. Real coal is added to the coal bin from Chama New Mexico.

--Bill B.

The roof is removable to show off the interior.

I like it!

Uber kool!

This was a limited kit from Cimarron Works

This was a limited kit from Cimarron Works a few years ago, out of production. It's a really nice kit for a short caboose with interior detail.

--Bill B.

Coffee pot on the stove.

Conductor looking at his watch to make sure they are on time.

UP Hopper

This PS 4750 was built from an Accurail kit.  To more closely resemble the actual cars, I added reinforcing angles at the top of the carbody, and around the bottoms of the hopper bays.  I also relocated the mounting bracket for the brake lever to more closely approximate the prototype, modified the slides for the outlet gates, and included wire air piping and grab irons on the running boards, plus ACI label decals.  I've since weathered it.  This was intended as a "layout quality" car so it didn't receive extensive work.

Here's a representative prototype from the same series  http://rr-fallenflags.org/up/up-flo.html .

Built and Weathered Car

Built and Weathered Car

Built and Weathered Car

Built for the SKI Train

Red Caboose kit:

Red Caboose kit:

two kits

I used two Bowser 70T kits to make a 100T cement hopper. 

Very good models, all!

Very good models, all!

Red Caboose

Red Caboose

Red Caboose

Red Caboose

PBL Kit R-15 Gramps Frameless Tank Car

This is one of PBL's older car kits, a PBL Kit R-15 Gramps Frameless Tank Car.  This is not an easy kit to put together, you need to use putty to mask the large seams on the top of the tank. Plus it has a large decal that never seems to go on straight.

To give some weight to these tanks you glue lead shot inside, which have come loose, so you can hear them rattling around as the tank goes around a curve or up or down hill.  She is a little dusty.

--Bill B.