I loved putting those kits together the box cars tank cars but the parts like stirups or hand rails on the tank cars break very easily any replacement parts that are stronger available?
On the tank cars, there are curved tank end grab irons available from Details Associates that work very well.
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For stirrups, I use replacements from Tichy if they become broken. They make one that is very close, but it is still fragile.
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My problem with these kits continues to be the two small grab irons that go on the side of the domes. I have yet to find a tough replacement for these.
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I also love these kits.
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-Kevin
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The stirrups on my 50’ Proto 2000 box cars (exhibit A in photo) are extremly fragile. I’ve broken them when trying to glue them on many times but managed to carefully piece them back together. But they are the most fragile stirrups I’ve experienced in HO.
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Yes, they are SOOOoooooooo fragile! And they look great, and no one seems to make an exact replacement.
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My UNION PACIFIC car recieved replacements from Details Associates that are not even close to correct.
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-Kevin
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Styrene is fine for shelf models but a poor choice of materials for an operating car or engine. I have formed replacements for the small dome grabs by bending .015" brass wire over the jaw of a needlenose plier.
The problem is not owned by P2K – Branchline, Details West and Detail Associates cars also have delicate details. Probably others, too.
Besides A-Line I use these from Yarmouth Model Works:
http://www.yarmouthmodelworks.com/index.php/ModelDetailParts/Stirrups
Rick Jesionowski
When the Proto kits first became available, I didn’t have the money to afford them, but many partially-made kits eventually began appearing on the “used” table at my LHS, and at very decent prices.
The first one I bought (unwittingly, as it was an unbuilt and undecorated kit, on that table in a clear plastic bag with no instructions and no indication of the manufacturer). I asked the owner about its origin, and all he could, or would, tell me, was that it was a pre-production model. That shop, now gone, was one of the largest in Ontario.
The car had no weight included (I added one), and I quickly discarded the supplied plastic grab irons and steps, as I thought them to be too bulky. The grabirons shown are from Tichy, the sill steps from A-Line. No trucks were provided either, and the ones shown are, I think, from Lindberg…
The partially-built kits on that table were mostly failed attempts at building the car, and besides having missing or broken parts (mostly grabiron, steps, and brake rigging) many had a generous amount of ca on the body shells where the owner had attempted to add detail parts.
When the r-t-r versions appeared, the kit versions languished on the shelves for some time, but it took a while before the owner finally discounted them, and quite severely, too - very surprising in that store. I just happened to be in the store soon after that occurred and bought quite a few of the finally affordable kits…a few stock cars, and lots of gondolas and tank cars. All were stripped of their factory paint and lettering, as I had already decided to redo all of those troublesome details. Many of the gondolas were destined for my freelanced home road, but many of the tankcars were re-lettered, in some cases, the same as their original paint job.
Here’s one such car, with metal grabirons, sill s
The suggestion was given to me to use a reamer in the holes to make it easier to put the small parts in place and reduce breakage. I haven’t done much since I got them, but it certainly helped.
Good luck,
Richard
I’ve found with Proto 2000 kits, little if any reaming is necessary for the parts to fit in the holes for gluing. Intermountain kits, which are very similar, usually need a little more. The Proto kits have been engineered quite well; the biggest rub are the very fragile stirrups.
While I have broken a few stirrups during assembly (thankful there are extras on the sprue), I’ve had very few Proto 2000 parts - even stirrups - break once assembled. Maybe it’s the way I pack them in the storage boxes.
Tom
the 4427 covered hoppers where no trouble at all great looking kits but after proto has not done anymore.
I got a brand new P2K stock car kit off of ebay for $12 and free shipping, which I think is a steal. Best part is, it came with plenty of extra grab irons!
Is this a P2K car? I did
I don’t know about Wayne of many photo’s but the UP Proto 2000 box car I showed above has end doors; you just can’t see them in the original photo:
The UP Auto box car with end doors is listed on my box as:
50’ Automobile Box Car with end doors, UP #161357
There is no stock number on the box
It was some years ago when I built it and I don’t recall if the end doors could be modeled separately. The instructions are in the box - I’ll have to get them out and check when I get a chance.
edit an attempt at humor takes an unwanted turn toward politics.
Huh?
deleted
Hello —
I have some of these L-L 50 footers. The end doors would require some careful surgery to make them posed open or operable:
LifeLike_0001 by Edmund, on Flickr
The A end is molded as part of the body. It wouldn’t be impossible but would take some time to carve out the door moldings. I don’t see an actual stock number on my box, it has a small sticker with the reporting marks, SOU 40231 on the end of the box.
Good Luck, Ed
proto number is 21024. besides the LV i have CB&Q , UP , ERIE and GTW with end doors.
As far as I can tell, there is no kit number…the end of the box reads LV 8534 which is the car’s number, and there’s no number on the instructions, other than a stamp-applied 09796.
I got the kit from a friend, who bought it, partially (mis)-built at a train show.
The end doors look as if they would work, but that’s only because the latching bar is a separately-applied piece.
I replaced all of the grabirons, roofwalk grabs, and stirrup steps with metal parts, and altered the BLT date to 6-37, so that the car would better-fit into my layout’s era. I also replaced the stock roofwalk with a board-by-board one, using Evergreen HO scale 2"x6" strip styrene
The instructions also outline how to alter the sidesills, from the straight type, to the notched type for roads which had that feature. The Lehigh Valley cars had notched sidesills, so I altered the car accordingly.
I get, and don’t mind, the “Wayne of many photos” moniker, but the reference to the sultry and seductive Elizabeth Warren escapes me completely.
I’d guess that there are some here who don’t care for photos, but if somebody asks a question which can be answered with a photo, it makes sense to me to show ‘em the picture. While a picture is supposedly worth a thousand words, I don’t mind givin’ the written-out version, too.
Wayne