I just spent the last 2 days detailing 3 Walthers heavyweight passenger cars and thought I would share my experience. My intention was to add passengers and lighting to three new walthers passenger cars. Easy enough, right? Well, not quite.
The roofs on these cars are held in quite tightly by tabs along the roofline. The directions say it is only necessary to loosen the tabs on one side of the roof. Out of three roofs I broke tabs on two of them. Be very careful when removing these roofs - I used an Exacto blade as the directions said and eventually worked them off.
I took out my new Presier figures (all in sitting position) and used just a tiny drop of white glue under each and placed them in the seats of the cars. Ten figures to each car. see photos below:
Click to Enlarge Photos
I then proceeded to install the DCC light kits. They were just a little too long and needed to be cut down just slightly with a blade. They fit in easily enought with tabs along the sides (these will prove to be a pain for me later when putting the roofs back on.
With everything in place, I started putting the roofs back on. The first went on OK after a little struggle. But the second and third ones did not want to go back on as they had broken tabs. I had to use liquid plastic cement and rim the roofline with it and use rubber bands to hold in place till dry.
DISASTER STRIKES!! While cementing the second roof I spilled the liquid plastic cement. All of you who know this stuff knows what it does to plastic so I acted quickly. It had splattered on the coupler and just on the bottom of the back of the car. Luckily, the coupler still works (although not quite so springy) and I was able to mix
Nice job - I have a dozen or so IHC NYC pass cars. They have the kadee coupler mod and metal wheels. I like the look of yours with the interior w/pass. I see the IHC has the interior detail sets on sale. Maybe I will go the same route. Tks for sharing. ? how does the lighting get its power, from the track? Does the electical pickups come with the lighting kit or do you have to install that separately?
Terry[8D]
They Look Great !!! For a prolonged absence from modelling your skills are excellent. I am very impressed with the way you handled your disasters during the project. I am a firm believer that no one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes but whats important is how well you recover. Once Again, Nice Job, John
P.S. I’m also an NYC modeller, and if these cars become surplus due to change in era or preferred roadname let us know when they hit the auction block so all the NYC fans can fight over them.
BTW, as Tim pointed out, I failed to note the scale. These are HO scale cars. Thanks everyone. I was happy too with the results after being out of it for so many years. The disasters that occur and how we recover can make all the difference. I must say these are my first Walthers passengers cars and they are very nice models. The quality of models in general seems to have improved greatly over tha past 12 years.
Anyone know if the Bachman Spectrum cars are as nice as the Walthers? I have heard they are pretty good but have not seen one in person yet.
Nice work indeed! Should you want to do this to some more cars give some thought to adding window shades at random levels. Adds a lot and by puting the shades at a low level, conceals the absence of a psgr in that seat.
As for the disapearing white lettering on decal sheets: I hit upon a fix. With a broad tip felt marking pen (in black from your local supermarket) put black ink on the back of the decal sheet until enough bleeds through that you can can make out the white lettering on the front. Voila! end of problem. You’ll find that it will take a little longer for the decal to loosen from the sheet, especially off it’s had overnight or longer to set, but it slides off eventually.
Surfstud31…Very professional job! I will add a “ditto” about the window shades, makes all the difference. I have used just plain old masking tape cut into strips and applied to the inside of the window. If your not overly concerned about the color, it’s a quick & easy detail to add.
You are right about the roofs being a little cranky on the Walthers cars, I have broken tabs also. The Bachman Spectrum are very nice as well, maybe not quite up to Walthers level of detail but easier to get apart.
Again, great job, thanks for sharing…regards, John
Great idea about the window shades! I hadn’t thought of that. I could use strips of colored electrical tape or masking tape. What color were the shades in NYC passenger cars early 50’s?
jimrice, that’s a slick idea about the white decals! I’ll have to try that next time to make it easier. I had to hold the decals in just the right reflective light to see them. Your way sounds much better.
Nice job. I have 20 ALCO PRR P-70 coach kits that I am planning to add interiors to, includng passengers and window shades. I have put window shades in all of my cars. An easy way to do that is make a drawing of as much of the car side you can print. Legal size paper can handle a 13 inch drawing is big enough for HO. Use the rectangle tool to draw a shade slightly bigger than the window. Use the fill paint bucket to include the color you want and and a thin metal bar across the botom edge. Then cut and paste a bunch of them across the sheet in the same spacing as the windows and at random heights for the length of the car. Don’t worry about the tops, they will all be sheared off to fit. Use an exacto knife to trim the bottom edges and sides. It will look like a strip of irregular shingles. Then copy the whole block and paste as many rows as fits in 7.5 inches and print as many copies as you will need. I spray paint the back side whatever interior shade color is appropriate befrore I trim them out and glue them inside the glazing. If you cut them into two or three sections you can then install them in a random pattern for each side and for each car. I did my PRR MU commuter cars that way and they look gorgeous. Now I have to put the people and seats inside.
