Bowser Covered Hoppers

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Just started assembling two Bowser Covered Hopper kits. They look like really sweet kits with lots of excellent detail. [^]

BUT (if there weren’t a BUT I’d be at my work bench)…

The roof walks are very delicate styrene moldings with open (see-through) detail. The problem is that mine are … wavy is the only word I can think of to describe them. Has anyone else encountered this problem? Is there anything I can do now to correct it?

Chuck

2

chuck i havent assembled any bowser covered hoppers however you can try plano model products, he makes replacement roofwalks for all models his website is www.planomodelp[roducts.com. these are etched brass parts. you can also check your LHS to see if they carry his products

hope this helps

tom

3

Tom:

Thanks for Plano Products’ web site URL, neighbor (we probably ought to just pick up the phone). I had been admiring some of their things at the LHS and wondered if they had a web site.

I hope I don’t have to replace this roof walk but if I do, I’ll try to get one from Bowser first. Plano Products’ roof walks are beautiful and it would be keeping my business local but one of those would cost almost as much as the Bowser kit.

Chuck

4

Here’s the page you need to let them know the roof-walk is defective. They will be happy to send you a replacement.

http://www.bowser-trains.com/contactbowser.php

Also a great way to secure the roof-walk without clogging the detail with liquid cement is to melt the posts down from the inside with a soldering gun/iron. Don’t forget to clip off the posts at the very ends, they look silly hanging there with nowhere to go.

Jerry

5

Take a look at prototype pictures, the roof walks are not exactly models of flatness.

I had no issues with the Bowser covered hoppers I assembled recently. Give Bowser a call, they will take care of you.

6

I’ve sometimes been successful in straightening out plastic parts by soaking them in very warm water and then placing them on a flat surface with a phone book on top of them. You may have to make shims to place between the mounting lugs so that everything is flat.

7

You’re certainly right there! I might be able to just leave them as is and be perfectly accurate. [:D]

Actually, these things are so thin that they just might flatten out when they’re installed. That’s what I was hoping I’d hear from someone who noticed a similar problem.

Chuck

8

I have nearly two dozen of those Bowser covered hoppers, and left the roofwalks wavy because the prototype hardly ever had one that was straight.

The biggest problem I had with them is the wheels rubbing on the bottom of the cars. Changing to metal wheelsets solves most of this problem because it seems that Bowser’s plastic wheelsets are oversized.

9

Two dozen??? WOW !!

Yeah; I’m a little concerned now that the roof walks will turn out to be too straight. One of the laterals, though, came out of the box with nearly a horseshoe cross section so maybe that will make up for straight roof walks. [}:)]

I had the same problem with the wheels even after I changed to metal wheel sets (P2K and Intermountain)…until I added Kadee washers to raise the couplers .030 to the proper height. I don’t think the wheels rub now.

I also noted that these cars are about an ounce light so I added an ounce of lead (wut brane damij??) under the steel weights.

For what it’s worth, you’ve no doubt noticed the opening between the ends of the peaked roof and the top of the car body. I thought this was an error in the kit but several very clear photographs in the Simmons-Boardman 1940 Car Builders Cyclopedia show this to be perfectly accurate. Must have been a great pigeon nesting place on cars used to haul grain!

Chuck

10

Hi Chuck;

The axles on the P2K wheels are way too short, and the IM a bit too short for the Bowser trucks, try Kadee or Branchline - I prefer Branchline over Kadee.

11

Actually the problem is not the wheels but the small square frame around the hopper bottom. On the new kits Bowser has corrected this with a small cutout molded for wheel clearance

12

Turns out my original problem wasn’t really a problem at all. The roof walks straightened out very nicely when I attached them (applied Testor’s liquid cement with a very small hypodermic needle from the under side). They were no problem as you may be able to see in the photos of the A- and B-sides of one of the two cars I assembled.



This shot of the B-end of CRR 60088 will give you an idea of the detail level. In this picture, you can also see the 10K ohm resistor imbedded in the middle of the end axle for a planned detection system.

These are really nice kits. All of the parts, with one exception, fit perfectly. The exception was the hopper doors. A few swipes of a needle file, though, enlarged the opening at the bottom of the hopper so that the doors fit perfectly.

The weathering, by the way, is all casein colors except the ‘road dirt’ on the sides of the hoppers and the lower part of the sides. A very thin, very dark gray wash was used to fade the paint and dim the lettering. Various shades of Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna were used for rust. The ‘road dirt’ is a couple of Bragdon Enterprises’ weathering powders mixed together to get a dark mud color.

Chuck