Bowser HO Scale Offset Wood Chip Hopper

This afternoon I put together three Bowser HO scale offset wood chip hopper wagons. The kit comes complete with very clear instructions, bogies/wheels, couplings etc, and only costs $13.49 (USD), or $16.90 AUD or £10.40 ! Cheap as chips...

Ok, the kit build begins...

As I mentioned above, the instructions are quite clear and concise. The instructions for this kit are those on the right.



Here are all the individual pieces laid out with the bogies, wheels, couplings, screws for bogies and couplings in the plastic bag. The sprues holds the air compressor, brake gear, hand brake wheel and extra internal ribs.



The metal weights are glued in under the sloped ends using Tarzin Grip (Gel like super glue). I actually glued these in the evening prior and allowed to cure overnight.



These are the couplings supplied with the kit, which are basically plastic apart from the tail. I will not be using these opting for Kadee No.5s instead.



A small amount of glue was placed on the mounting area for the coupling before screwing the Kadees in place. The underframe (chassis) is a separate piece which also requires the brake gear to be fixed. All mounting holes are provided for each piece.



With the brake gear and couplings fitted to the chassis, it then could be clipped (push fit) in under the hopper body. The bogies, now with wheel sets installed are then screwed on. The screws are long enough to meet with the hopper body which holds all parts snug and tight.



The top extension can then be fitted which again, is a push fit. If I wish to run the hoppers with out a load, the sprue/cross bracing in this piece will need removing.



The wood chip moulding can now be fitted in the hopper extension. The plastic look will need remedying with real wood chips, or to be correct, coarse saw dust.



The wagons on Jay Dubyew Nth Yard.



One Soo Lines and two GT (Grand Trunk Railroad). All hoppers have different running numbers.



Apart from adding saw dust, the hoppers will also need weathering.

All in all, these are very nice kits and easy to put together.

Cheers, Gary.

 

Thanks all.

Chris, I will be downloading some images of these wagons for weathering purposes.

Keith, the models are a bargain, although I wouldn't really say that the Aussie models are a bargain... But then again, with the GBP/AUD exchange rate, they would be a bargain to you guys in the UK !

Kimbo, I think they'll look right at home once weathered up. I intend to make them look a little tired just like the rest of my US rolling stock !

Ron, these were purchased from Model Train Stuff, a great site where you can wallow away hours and empty your wallet !

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/ Or try Bob The Train Guy : http://www.bobthetrainguy.com/

Pete, are you considering a HO scale US layout...

Cheers, Gary.

 

Well I spent Fathers Day having a few ales and weathering the hoppers.

From this...



To this...







I first removed the wheel sets, not the bogies and then proceeded with the fibre glass pen to remove some of the lettering on the railway company logos. This was then followed by a few light coats of thinned down white paint, to help fade the strong colours of the wagons. I use isopropyl alcohol (99.8%) to thin my paints as it aids the drying time, which wasn't that long as we had a 28*C day in Sydney !

I then added some brown to the white and sprayed a few light coats from the bottom of the model up as well as the chassis/undercarriage. A few vertical streaks were applied to the body sides. I kept the top section of the hoppers in place whilst doing this. Some of the large panels were sprayed a little heavier, then using an old paint brush, I scrubbed the surface. This produced the base for the rustier panels.

I dry brushed some rust onto the body sides and where the ribs/rivets extend down the body sides, as well as touching up the bogies.

Once all this had dried, it was time for powders. I started with black first and brushed it into the recesses where the panels are formed on the top extension and just below where the top of the hopper folds back in. Some black was also brushed onto some of the side panels and the ends.

Orange rust was applied next, coarsely rubbing it into the wagons panels and along the rivet lines and where rust would build up under the top edge of the hopper extension. the area around the ladder had the same treatment. All this was then given a few passes with matt clear to fix in place.

The inside of the hopper was also sprayed with matt clear so that I could make a rusty paint using the weathering powders and isopropyl alcohol. This was dabbed around the inside of the hopper extension andonce dried, I applied more orange powder to the mix and highlighted some patches and the very top rail/edge.

The wheels were sprayed with matt clear and after this had dried, I applied a mix of red rust and black weathering powders mixed in with isopropyl. This took only minutes to dry and the wheels were put back in place.

Now, I just need to build a layout for these....

Cheers, Gary.

 

Thanks Keith, Pete.

I'm sure you could weather like this Keith, it ain't all that difficult. As for putting colour into the moulds, well the manufacturers of UK stock once did !

I can say that the rail road logos on teh body sides were put on very heavy. Took a few scrubs with the fibre glass pen to remove the paint off them !

Pete, I can see an On30 layout built within the new layout... Giving you an excuse to run HO stock...

Cheers, Gary.