Hi, I hope someone can help me with the following.
I have a number of Athearn passenger cars without interiors. I wrote to Athearn to hear if they made interiors for their cars or if they could recommend suitable
alternatives. They replied that they did not make interiors nor could they make any suggestions.
Does anyone know if there are any interiors that could be used?
I have just joined this forum and this is my first posting.
Regards,
William
Rivarossi used to market a line of them. Some are still available. Plus Precision Scale makes the seats to detail your own.
My LHS has some Athearn interiors left in stock. I have to go there today at lunch and pick some stuff up. While I am there I will see what they have left and what the price is. If you can get at lest one, that would give you a benchmark on making your own.
IHC makes interiors for it’s passenger cars. With some modifications they can be used for other makers cars.
Nick Brodar
The LHS still has the Athearn interior kits and can get more if need be. These kits include a floor, seats and vestibule partition. Actually pretty cool kits. I would definately use them if I were doing Athearn cars. I also believe that the floors are scribed to aid in the placement of the seats. These are for streamlined cars. Don’t know if they have any for the heavyweights.
Willi,
Welcome Aboard!
[#Welcome]
You can use the IHC plastic “One-Piece” interiors. They average around $4.50 each but you can find them cheaper at discount dealers.
For Athearns it’s easy. First you would have to cut off the vestibule ends of the interior piece kit since it’s designed for the scale 85 foot cars and Athearns are 72 footers. Trim just enough off the ends that it will fit inside of your car, lengthwise.
Test fit the piece and trim off any plastic from the side edges if needed. Paint your seats the color of your prototype and you’re ready to roll. Before painting, wipe off the piece with alcohol on a clean towel. Sometimes these surfaces contain a waxy residue that won’t allow paint to stick.
As for color, look for my thread on Walthers Budd passenger cars that deals with passenger car interior colors for various railroads.
The IHC coach seats are thin plastic but the dining, sleeping, and lounge car kits are harder plastic and, IMHO, look decent for the price.
Hope this helps.
There are (were?) some kits available for doing Athearn or MDC passenger car interiors, they were sort of craftsmen’s kits in that they were wood (seats, sofas) and metal castings. I’ve seen them at the LHS recently, often come in a yellow box if I recall but not sure of the company name…??
Anyway, nobody offers a “drop in” interior, but several companies make seats etc. that you can use, you can make your own partitions from styrene or cardstock. Or you can modify Riv./IHC as others have mentioned above.
There are interiors still available made of styrene, like the ones I mentioned earlier in the thread. I think they are somewhat pricey but are overall excellent kits.
Thank you all for the information. After reading your replies I placed an order for some IHC car interiors. I did not know about them before, so I will give them a try. I will also have a look at Rivarossi’s interiors which may be available here in Norway. Anyway I look forward to get seating and people inside these cars. Thanks again, you were all a great help.
Best wishes, William
Willi,
If you locate interior kits in your country be aware that even with some of the quality kits the seats are still not contoured like prototypes, even though they look like they are to the human eye. As mentioned above you may have to do some foot or leg cutting to get your passengers to sit properly.
If you can, try buying just one or two interiors and experiment with Preiser figures and see what works. There are many figures available listed in the Walther’s Catalog.
Hi Antonio, I called in at my LHS, they only stock european railroads. I have placed an order with a railroad supplier in the USA, for F3’s some freight cars and some IHC interiors. These were not expensive only 4dollars each. I can give them a try anyway.
I will have to get myself a Walthers catalog. I will let you know how I get on.
Regards,
William
I am not sure,but Walthers use to make interiors for the passenger cars,including those for Athearn.In have quite a few of the older catalogs,that have drawings of the interiors for some of the passenger cars.If anybody would like copies,let me know…no charge!!
Anyone have the part numbers for the IHC one piece interiors?
I just got a set of the IHC interiors, but they are the multipiece kits. They are going to be a bit of work to assemble, paint and detail, but look like they will be nice pieces when finished! But I’m looking for something a little faster and easier! I have a slew of IHC cars that need interiors.
Rotor
Check with Palace Car Co., Box 973, Kearney, NE 68848-0973, telephone: (308) 238-5099. They make interior kits for many including Athearn, MDC and Model Power. Kits, depending on included features run between $16-$23. Check with them for exact details.
Willi, I have used IHC passenger car interiors in Athearn heavyweight cars. Hsd to do some cutting to get them to fit, but once the lights and the people were in it worked out just fine. You can order on line from IHC. I don’t have the address handy but it is IHC Hobby. Google will get you there.
Rotorranch,
The IHC part numbers for passenger cars are:
Smooth?Corrugated Heavyweight Type
20150 20170 baggage
20151 20171 coach
20152 20173 diner
20153 20174 observation
20154 20172 combine
20155 20175 RPO
20156 sleeper 20176 8-1-2 sleeper
20157 vista dome 20177 12-1 sleeper
The address is:
IHC
Dept. 10-2005 MRR
413 Allegheny Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19134
Thanks 2Torge.
Ihave already ordered some interiors from the US, not from IHC as I did not know if they supplied directly. Anyway they are in the post and I should have them soon.
Look forward to working with them.
William
Thanks tweet! That’s going to make it a lot easier to see if my distributors have them in stock!
Rotor
i heard somewhere (i dont remember where) that windowes can become oxidized or something like that, and turn a purple or green color. they become hard to see thru, and this could be a good shortcut to those barren intioriors.
gearhead426
freelancing the new haven in 4x2
A good way to simulate those windows is with unexposed, but developed 35mm film. It’s not oxidizing so to speak, it’s more like a coating to keep solar energy out of the cars.