I would like to know if there are other people out there who were or are working with those carsides and kits and can tell me their opinion about it. How is work going? Is it difficult? Is it good quality?
As far as I now, I still need the following things to build up real good looking passenger cars:
I thought that these one´s would be nice, but I´m not sure if they are the right chose for the core kits by Train Station Products. If not, can you recommend me some couplers that are good for my case?
Car interiors: The IHC car interiors fit inside the core kits from Train Station Products, so there is no problem.
Is this all or did I miss something?
Do you know if the “floor” of the core kit has 2 wholes drilled in for the srews of the trucks? Or do you have to drill the wholes into the floor by yourself in order to place in the screws that hold the trucks? And do you have to buy the screws seperately or do they come together with the trucks?
And what about painting? I´m planning to build Budd cars, and I have to paint the car sides and core kit into silver color. Which color type is the best for the material/plastic offered by these manufacturers?
I have been out of town for a couple of weeks, and was going back a few pages and happened to find this thread. I am currently in the middle of a passenger train project right now using USP sides. I have used these sides in the past as well, and really like them. I have been taking a lot of pics along the way with my current project, and will post any info I have here on their construction. When I received the very first sides I ever ordered from USP, I though that they were going to be very difficult, but once you get going, and get the process down, they go together quickly. The biggest thing is to research your particular prototype, which USP helps with because they include photos and floor plans with the sides now (they didn’t use to do that). Train Station Products parts makes life really nice when constructing a car, but you will find that you will need parts from a large veriety of manufacturers in some circumstances. Bethlehem Car Works and Precision Scale make a lot of nice detail parts that are accurate for a lot of cars.
I don’t have the time or resources in front of me now (I am at work), but when I get home, I will put together a list of tips, parts (to include the manufacturer) and some tools that have helped me get these cars together.
I realize I’m asking a question regarding your post years after it was made but I’m getting ready to build some Union Paicifc cars using USP sides in “S” scale and would like to communicate with you a little on your experiences. You seem to have had a good experience with these sides and anything you can offer would be helpful I’m sure.
I still think that they offer quality sides. There isn’t anybody else doing what they are doing (closest thing would be brass car sides). I am not too familiar with S scale, but am not aware of anyone making core kits in that scale, so you would be at a little bit of a loss there. What do you plan on using for cores for your cars?
The S scale supplier is “The Supply Car” who has USP build them up for them. In S scale the cores are the American Models full length lightweight passenger cars (not budd cars). These are generic lightweight passenger cars that require the modeler to cut away material and overlay the side (I think). I’m still waiting for my sides to arrive with instructions so I’m not 100% certain. I’d prefer a core to build with, but I’m afraid S scale is not large enough to justify the investment.
I’m just trying to see if there are any pointers you can offer or pitfalls to avoid,
I have the USP sides to do a Texas Special and after a lot of study I have found the Walthers cars are perfect for this project. The Walthers cars can provide roof,sides,ends, interior and a very detailed underbody. It is very easy to paint the Walthers car complete without the roof and side attached, red in the case of the Texas Special then build the side and paint it separately with the two red tones and then the Alclad on top of that. That is the beauty of Alclad you can paint with it last.
I have found the USP sides an almost perfect fit in thickness and size to the appropriate Walthers cars. You may need to do some research on which cars fit closely enough to the train that you are modeling. But close enough is OK with me in most situations. The only problem that I have run into is there is no PS RPO close to what the MKT used so I used the the shell of a Concor.
USP has produced the sides for the ACL and FEC blunt end Tavern Obsv. Car and I plan on purchasing two of them. I’ll likely be emailing you for tips as well. I’ve installed USP fluting on passenger HO cars before, but I have never put together an actual USP/TSP kit.
About a year or so back you posted photos of passenger cars that you were working on. I “think” that they were in a green primer color. Were those TSP/USP components? If so, could you please post them again, here. Also, is there a particular jig set up that you use for body alignment? Which adhesives do you prefer?
