I am planning on buying the Bowser Lite Mike 2-8-2 loco kit. I googled it and found a couple of venders that carry the kits but most just had one or two of the various kits. Does anyone know of an online vender that carries the Bowser kits. Particularly the 2-8-2? I am trying to save a few bucks so I can afford to get the “Helix Humper” motor as a replacement for the included motor.
Tks
Terry[8D]
Terry,First I take my C&O hat off to you for wanting to build a steam locomotive kit…Not many modelers are willing to do that in todays RTR market.
Heres what I found.
http://www.bowser-trains.com/New_Products/new__Where_have%20_they%20_gone.htm
I have the desire to build the “Old Lady” 2-8-0 kit since I haven’t built a steam engine kit in years-the last being a MDC 2 truck shay…The trouble is I am not sure I could build one with the limited use of my right hand,
Terry,
You can buy the kits directly from Bowser. I have actually toyed with the idea of building one of those myself and lettering it for the NYC. I read a quote by someone that one of these will pull the bumper off a '57 Chevy. Let me know if you decide to order one or not.
Tom
Brakie - Tks for the kind words. The lite Mike looks simple enough. If it all goes well I would love to do the Challenger or the Big Boy!!!
I had all ready found the website you provided. Tks however I am confused with the prices. On one page it has the Lite Mike deluxe kit for 135.00 and on another the same goes for 203.00. Not sure what the diff is? I emailed Bowser for clarification. If I can get the whole thing for 135.00 then I am good to go. Again thanks for your response.
Terry[8D]
Bowser has lowered the price on their loco kits recently or are having a sale, which might make it competitive with the online vendors to order direct from the manufacturer. At the very worst case, your online source would have to order your exact choice of kit from Bowser for a better price for you.
Good luck with the kit!
Will
Bowser’s 2-8-2 page on their website shows the retail price, so you know how much they cost without a sale. The 2-8-2s are currently on sale, so the $135 is the correct price.
The only online place I know of that sells them is Standard Hobby, but I wouldn’t recommend them. I tried ordering my Bowser Challenger from them, but their website wasn’t working properly, so I e-mailed them about it. I don’t remember what they said exactly, but they said something like this: u did it wrong try ordering again, instead of trying to help.[:(] So I ordered it at my LHS instead and got the same price minus shipping.[:D]
Darth SF - Is that a pic of your Bowser Challenger? Were you happy with the kit/directions etc? Any advice to a first time Bowser assembler? I think you and I talked about the advantages of putting in a Helix Humper. I figure for this amount of time and effort I should make it as tough and reliable as possible. Particularly with the kit on sale I can afford to get a better motor. If this 2-8-2 goes well I am thinking of doing the challenger and putting it to work on my NYC layout. I don’t think the NYC had Challengers but that is soon to change I think[:D]
Thank you everyone for your help.
Terry[8D]
Terry, as has already been stated, the $135 price is the right one. These are great kits (I built the lite Pacific), and include all of the detail parts and piping, with instructions, you’ll need. If done carefully, you won’t need the Helix Humper to repower it. The open-frame DC-70 is a fine, smooth, and quiet motor, and Bowser’s gearing is top-notch. Mine will crawl at a very slow speed, and if you’re running DCC, you can get the motors with the brushes isolated. Just ask Bowser to include a DCC-friendly motor. Carefully done, they will rival a good brass engine in detail.
I believe Bowser is the only manufacturer of good, reasonably-priced, American-prototype steam locomotive kits left. Their kits are top-of the line. Just because much of the technology is old, don’t discount or dismiss them. Somtimes the old guys got it right! [:)]
I have built 5 of the Bowser kits, along with several of the MDC kits as well. The castings on the MDC are cleaner and the instructions are more detailed for first timers. Also the siderod assembly is easier than Bowser. Bowser on the other hand makes a larger variety of kits including the only kit articulated that I am aware of. I modified my challenger from Bowsers standard to the Z-1 class for Great Northern. If you are careful and take your time, and have the patience to not brush past with a good enough attitude, then they are some of the best running, hardest pulling locomotives around.
Take the plunge and enjoy!
Randy
Yes, that is a picture of my Challenger.[:D] The castings in the kit were nice and smooth, and didn’t have much flash.[:D] The instructions are very easy to follow, and have clear drawings of what to do in each step. Just be sure to do as they say in every step (except for the Challenger and Big Boy valve gear, if you want it to look realistic) or it might not work right.[:0] I also have their A-5 0-4-0, which is newer, so it was even smoother and had less fla***han the Challenger.[:D] About painting, it may be easier to put on some of the surface detail that will be the same color as that area first, paint it, then finish detailing. This made masking much easier for me.[:D]
If you get the Challenger, I suggest replacing the Athearn style coupling with flexible drive tubing, because the coupling is at enough of an angle to make a LOT of noise![:0] I don’t believe there’s a replacement motor for the Challenger and Big Boy, so you’d have to keep the original DC-71 motor.
Darth Santa Fe where did you get your centipede tender?
It came from a Revell/Monogram/Con-Cor Big Boy kit. I cut off the molded on railings and replaced them with left-over parts from the Bowser engine, and it turned out really well, too![:D]
While I was building the Challenger, I also modified the Monogram interior to fit the Bowser steam engine, and also used some of the Monogram valve gear detail to improve the look of the Bowser valve gear.[:D] The interior really improves how the engine looks.[:D]
One thing to remember is that you need the Bowser powering kit to make the tender pick up electricity. I added some extra pickups to the front truck of the tender to add two more pickup wheels, because the rear 5 axles are the only ones the Bowser kit powers.[:D]
Cool well the Hobby Lobby near me sells the big boy kit I have four of them and just can’t seem to stop buying them when I see them.
I have always toyed with the idea of building kits from Bowser since they come in under the Trix price by a ton. I have one big boy plastic kit under construction now and i was thinking of having it inside my backshop on the hoist, would be a cool interior scene.
thanks for the info
S
One thing not mentioned about building the Bowser, or any other Steam Loco kit: yes they are simple enough to build, but don’t confuse “simple” and “time consuming.” Yes, the assembly steps are straight forward and don’t require you to be a machinist, but they definately are NOT a “shake the box” kit. It will take you some time to assemble it and have a running loco. But at the end, since you built it, you know how it works, how it comes apart, and how to fix it if anything goes wrong.
Go to Bowser’s site and download the “Tips” page.
http://www.bowser-trains.com/misc/building_tips/building_kits.htm
Yes can’t wait. Thanks for the info folks. I’ll keep you posted on my progress.
Terry[8D]
I have been thinking of building the Bowser NYC K-11 kit. I think it would teach me alot about how to repair and maintain my own locos. I’m not an engineer but I don’t think you have to be to build one of these. Painting and decaling is that part I worry about.
I built a Mantua 2-8-2. It was easy enough. The Bowser kit looked a little easier. The drive wheel link bar is one peice instead of three in the Mantua kit. You can down load all the instructions and parts lists off the Bowser site.(PDF file). Order some extra running gear rivets right from the start. Trust me! You’ll need them.
I’m thinking about getting the Bowser one too. Are you going to get the super detail kit too?
Good luck.
There is a bit more to building a Bowser kit than one of the old Mantua/Tyco ones. No major differences or any machine shop skills required. From Mantua, I have 4 Mikados, 2 Pacifics, 1 Prairie, and several switchers I built from kits (love the 0-4-0T and 0-6-0T’s with the metal boiler). From Bowser, I’ve built the K4, the M1a, and am working on the Challenger. I ran the K4 so much i have to order new crankpin screws for it, the ones on the back driver set wore completely through. Plus I ordered som spares for the M1a.
You will be taking your time riveting the valve gear together 8-D
looking at the Bowser site, with those prices, if I didnt already own a big Boy and 2 challengers, I would jump at that right quick!!!