Help on Passenger Car Model


gregind

gregind

New Member
Ok like I need another project!! I'm in the middle of converting acouple of old Athearn F-Units that I rebuilt (they are quiet and run fairly smooth now) I am converting them to be the NS Corporate engines I know their is a model of them now buyt when I started there wasn't dang it and I had these F-Units sitting around anyway and I heck like Athearn stuff and....let me get back to the subject on hand....I have a tendnecy to babble about my projects.

Anyway I live in Noblesville, IN and we have the ITM here and they run the Fairtrain to the State Fair every year. Its like 12 bucks for a round trip on old restored Budd Passenger cars...its a great ride. I would pay just for the ride! Anyway they have a older Pullman-Standard NKP 1 Corp car built in 1929. Now I am planning on modeling the Indiana area when I finally get the space to build my layout. Till then I have been contructing and modeling things that I see and like, I got a list a mile long...I'll post pics as I complete them. Anyway there is a picture of the car at the links below. I am having trouble finding a model of it...Has this car ever been modeled? If so by who? Is it a specific type or model of Pullman car? As you can see I am kinda of a newb when it comes to passenger cars. I can't find anything with the right number of windows and the viewing deck on the back.

This is the car as it is right now:
showPicture.aspx


Here is the car as the ITM got it about 8 years ago but you can see the deck:
http://www.itm.org/equipment/images/nkp_1/08310141.jpg
 
It looks to be a business car, and one that has been modernized with the sealed windows, etc. The odds of finding a model of it are pretty slim, but - it really just depends. Models of one-off cars are done all the time if the owner of a brass importer takes a liking to it. NKP Car Co. is a maker of HO scale car sides usually made of etched brass. They are designed to combine with existing passenger car kits to make specific cars. I have no idea if they have done this car, but if it is indeed an original NKP corporate car, the HO NKP car co. may have done it at one time or another. Or it could have been done in brass, if you want to pay 500 bucks for a car that probably isn't painted, has no interior, and will blow all your breakers when you set it on the track.. LOL. Ok, maybe as little as $200.

Anyway, if you want an accurate model of this car, there are ways to do it... if you don't want to become a passenger car builder, you could use any of several heavyweight observation cars as a stand-in. Rivarossi and Walthers offer heavyweight obs cars, as does Athearn (which is a shorty), and Bachmann has a PRR Z-74 business car. These cars resemble the NKP business car in that they are heavyweight cars with open platforms; other than that the window arrangement and other details are quite different.

There are more passenger cars available now, than there ever have been - by a factor of 10. But, passenger cars were typically unique to specific railroads, aside from standard Pullman sleeper plans. Business and executive cars are the ones least likely to have any common ground between railroads, since they would have been built to the specs of the particular road, or person, who ordered them.

Andy
 
Greg, unfortunately, the only model of NKP #1 was produced by Overland Models about 20 years ago. The run was only 75 cars and the price was about $50, which I thought was way too much. What a dope. :) The chances of finding one is very small and you will pay about $400 since the model was imported painted and had interior details.

As Andy said, you're stuck having to come up with one that's "good enough". The car with the closest window arrangement, trucks, and underbody detail, was the Bachman Spectrum observation car that I think are only sold as part of a four car set. You'd have to do some work on the windows to change them to the modernized version and add the air conditioning bulges to the roof. Both are not difficult if you have some modeling experience and the results would be reasonably close to the NKP#1.
 
Thanks guys.

It looks as this is going to have to be put on the "shelf" for now. Thanks for the advice I think I'm going to end up trying to find a car that resembles it and either modify the windows or just detail the outside and leave it.

Thanks to all....

BTW...How could I go about modernizing the windows and A\C bulges? I don't think it would be too difficult just point me in the right direction.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
the closest ho car i've found in an obs is the rivarossi. I found on that is nearly identicle to the NYSW obs car. Roof needs some changing but thats about it.
 
Greg, if you look at the rounded sealed windows on the modernized car, you'll see they were just inserted in the same places as the original square windows. The easiest way to change the look is make a template with .010 styrene and use an Exacto knife to cut out the center to the rounded profile of the new window. Use that as a template for the other windows, although you'll still have to make several templates for the different size windows. Then it's just a matter of gluing in the new frames from the inside of the shell and gluing thin clear styrene over the outside of frame to complete the look.

The A/C shell on the roof can be done several way's. You can use think sheet brass, cut it to the right length and width, and then bend it to the right profile between the car side at the top of the clerestory roof. Once it looks good, you can use super glue to hold it in place. You'll need pictures of both sides of the car as the A/C covers are not the same on both sides. The other way to do this is use something like Squadron Green putty and build up layers, sanding as you go, until you get the right profile. The problem with method is not scratching up the other details on the car as you sand. I prefer the brass sheet method. This all sounds harder than it really is but you should try the methods out on a few cheap shells to get it right before you do it on the one that will become NKP#1.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top