Proto2000 50' Auto boxcar resto

[CNR Glen]

I found this P2K Auto boxcar at a swapmeet for 5$. Someone had weathered it pretty heavily and it was missing the side ladders and many of the grabs but when I picked it up it seemed pretty heavy. I found a slide switch and a speaker hole. The batteries were dead but for 5$ I figured I'd take the risk.
When I got it home I took it apart and this is what was inside:

When I put a fresh battery in it it began to make a rythimic 'clicking' sound. I supose it's trying to simulate the click-clack of wheels on rail joints. Here's a short You-tube video of it:
http://http://youtu.be/sN9F4rMy12c
My Wife just thinks it's annoying, I'd have to agree with her.


I have cleaned up the car considerably. Fortunetly it was weathered using acrylic paints so I was able to wash most of it off using 70% iso alcohol, paper towers and q-tips. When I started the roof was almost completely black now it looks like it had a black wash and looks much better:



I also did the same treatment to the sides, lightening up the weathering and letting the lettering to show through more:


I repaired a broken coupler, repainted the trucks and wheelsets but now I need the ladders and grabs. Does anyone have any spares?

[CNR Glen]

I found the ladders I needed. Looking through the local hobby shop I found this:

I contains, 4 ladders, a brake wheel, and a metal roofwalk. I can probably use the rest of the parts but what I was really after was the ladders.

Thay have the stirups molded onto tha bottom but when I cut them off they are a predect match to the Proto2000 ladders on my other 50' auto boxcar. I primed them today and I'll paint them boxcar red in a couple days. I'll substitute wire grab irons for the missing plastic ones.

[CNR Glen]

I replaced all the broken details on the boxcar shell.

I managed to get the missing straight grabs either from my own parts boxes, or a fellow modeller. The ladders were painted Krylon Ruddy Brown primer and attached. Fortunetly color matching isn't that important on a 'pre-weathered' car.

Detail associated supplied the drop grabs for the bottom ends. They were just the right size. I also replaced the broken manual brake rod with some 0.015" brass rod. All the grabs were painted Ceramcoat Barn red.

While I was working with the broken and missing grabs on the boxcar, I worked on replacing a number of broken and missing grabs on a P2K mill gondola.

I bought it really cheap at a flea market but it was missing half the grabs on it, plus a broken stirup. I had a spare stirup (life-like almost always gives spares of the more fragile parts in the kit) and fashioned the missing grabs from the same 0.015" rod. A bit of paint and you can barely tell which and the kit grabs and which are the wire ones.
A bit of airbrush weathering around the details to blend them in and these will be done.

[CNR Glen]

Thank you. I finished the car today. I re-assembled it and then fired up my airbrush for some re-weathering. I found the lettering was a bit too stark and white after I 'washed' the weathering off so I very lightly sprayed grimey black over the entire car, followed by rust on the couplers and trucks.

and this is it's cousin that I built from an undecorated kit a year ago. It's been lightly weathered compared to the first model


And the gondola that I replaced the grabs on. I sprayed some rust around the grabs to blend them to the rest of the model

[zoegraf]

Originally Posted by CNR Glen

Thank you. I finished the car today. I re-assembled it and then fired up my airbrush for some re-weathering. I found the lettering was a bit too stark and white after I 'washed' the weathering off so I very lightly sprayed grimey black over the entire car, followed by rust on the couplers and trucks.

and this is it's cousin that I built from an undecorated kit a year ago. It's been lightly weathered compared to the first model


And the gondola that I replaced the grabs on. I sprayed some rust around the grabs to blend them to the rest of the model

Very nice!

[MLW]

Way to go CNR Glen. Well done!

Turns out, last time I went to my LHS there was 8 of them on the bargain bin: $9.00 each! So I bought two. Still have to install all the grabs and such.
Weathered the wheelset for now.

I changed the couplers to KD #5 and removed the trip pin
I changed the wheelset to all metal

Her's a few pics (including my latest Bulkhead Flat car by TLT)

[CNR Glen]

Bran new kits for 9$. That is a good deal, even though I'd be striping and repainting them in the maple leaf scheme.

[PApat]

Originally Posted by MLW

Way to go CNR Glen. Well done!

Turns out, last time I went to my LHS there was 8 of them on the bargain bin: $9.00 each! So I bought two. Still have to install all the grabs and such.
Weathered the wheelset for now.

I changed the couplers to KD #5 and removed the trip pin
I changed the wheelset to all metal

Her's a few pics (including my latest Bulkhead Flat car by TLT)

I would love to know what you used to make the road in your pictures. Also, anyone notice "Canadian" is not spelled correctly on that flat?.... lol

-bill

[CNR Glen]

Also, anyone notice "Canadian" is not spelled correctly on that flat?.... lol

That depends on what province you're from.

[MLW]

Indeed

PAPat: Canada has two official languages; Canadian = English. Canadien = French
See my thread about making road (BOeC layout) it is spray paint.

CNR Glen: They do have two with the maple leaf logo