Bowser HO freight car kits

[Jeff K]

Hi all,

 

I'm looking to increase my rolling stock.  The store I buy from  has many Bowser kits.  They are substantially cheaper than assembled models.  Has anyone used these before?  Are they easy to assemble, well detailed?  Are they worth the time to assemble for the cheaper price?

 

Thanks,

 

Jeff

[JoeinPA]

Jeff:

Bowser kits are some of the easiest kits to assemble and build up to some fairly decent cars. They lack some of the detail found on the more expensive RTR offerings but I feel they are well worth the price. They are an economical source to build up your fleet. However, Bowser tends to focus on transition era cars so if you are interested in the modern era you may be disappointed in the available selection.

Joe

[rrinker]

 I don't have many Bowser kits, but the PRR box car I built was way light, even witht he included weight, so I had to add a bunch of extra to get it to correct NMRA weight. Very easy to put together, I built it in an hour in my hotel room.

 If it matters to you, beware the fantasy schemes they sometimes painted them in. At one point they were using the English's name on the ones that were fantasy schemes and the Bowser name on ones that were correct, but there seem to be a few Bowser ones that are models of say a PRR car painted for a road that never had that car type. Their PRR ones are generally correct.

                            --Randy

 

[ChadLRyan]

Hello,

I enjoy Bowser Kits & enjoy building them.
Although by todays standards, I am still considered a Modeller, I think these kits are good.
I add details, wheelsets, & weight as I see fit, but they have some realy neat selections & make nice models.
For me they fill an area that would be void without them.
I give them a positive mark.
Thanks,

["JaBear"]

Gidday Jeff,  Firstly I enjoy assembling freight car kits. Agree with Randy and Joe on ease of assembly. As for detail, well "you pays for what you gets" besides  there are the craftsman type kits for that.  In my opinion Athearn and Roundhouse RTR cars are basically their old kits but with metal wheels and KD knock-off couplers.  As far as weight goes the only kits that I haven't had to add weight too, are the Ribside offerings, so as far as I'm concerned it's just part of the assembly.

If my LHS, (which actually isn't that local) had the right Bowser kits in stock, I'd make the 80 mile round trip more often, if it actually stocked any freight car kits at  all it would be good.  Accurail kits are also good value.

Jeff K

Are they worth the time to assemble for the cheaper price?

Yes, go buy one, assemble it, and if you've had fun..........

Cheers, the Bear.

[rrinker]

 The nice thing is that there isn't a whole lot of overlap with Bowser and the other brands, so you get some unique offerings from Bowser.

 A few of their kits, mostly the 55, 70, and 100 ton open hoppers, are former Stewart kits which are just as easy to put together. Every one in a while Bowser pulls a fast one and reruns some of the 55 ton hoppers with different numbers - I THINK I have them all at the moment, but modeling an anthracite carrier I can never have too many. The Accurail and Athearn ones are different types, so I have lots of those, too.

 Bowser has some RTR as well, and for a while they had RTR versions of some of the Stewart kits pre-weathered. The weathering was actually hand done by the club president of the recently featured in MR Lehigh and Keystone Valley club. But really, the kits go together so easily, it's not a big deal, if you've ever built any kit before. They aren't all the same - the covered hoppers and things like the Pennsy H21a open hoppers are more difficult than say the box cars as they hve more smaller parts to attach. None is anywhere near as difficult as a more craftsman type car kit like the old Branchline Blueprint (now sold by Atlas) and the Proto 2000 kits like the oil tankers (the full kit, not the Timesaver version). And certainly easier than the resin models from F&C or Westerfield. So fear not, build a kit, it's fun!

                --Randy

[doctorwayne]

The Bowser kits are generally nicely-detailed and very easy to assemble - most can be built in 15 minutes or so.  I usually replace cast-on grab irons with metal ones and often add some of the more noticeable underbody details ( a personal preference) so they take a little longer, but they're quite acceptable to many when built as intended.

This Erie doubledoor boxcar seems similar in dimensions to the 1937 AAR design, although I can't say whether or not it's an accurate rendition of an Erie car, as I don't model that road specifically.

Bowser does quite a few Pennsy prototypes, too, like this 40' X-31 round-roof boxcar:

I added some basic underbody detail....mostly what could be seen from track side at eye-level:

They also offer several variations of this car in both 40' and 50' versions, and some of the other roads which actually owned  cars of this type included Norfolk & Western, the Virginian, DT&I, Northern Pacific, Wabash, and Delaware & Hudson, along with several shortlines.

Bowser also has a good selection of Pennsy hoppers, and they come in Pennsy paint schemes covering the full range of the prototypes' lifespans, from the 'teens right into at least the late '50s.  I'm modelling the late '30s, so the "circle keystone" lettering scheme is most appropriate:

Bowser also offers a nicely-detailed ACF 70 ton covered hopper.  While I seldom add grab irons or other details to hoppers and covered hoppers, all of mine came as undecorated kits, so all needed paint and lettering in addition to the assembly time.  I did add the roofwalk corner grab irons:

C-D-S dry transfer lettering:

C-D-S custom dry transfers:

Rail Graphics custom decals:

In my opinion, the Bowser kits offer good value for the price.

Wayne

[ChadLRyan]

Dr. Wayne,

A very nice selection of cars, as always!
Excellent Work!!!

 

[AntonioFP45]

Hello Jeff,

I have a number of HO Bowser hoppers and like them; especially since they fit right into my 1960s-70s era.  From the box they're not as well detailed as the more expensive models but, imho, they're a slight cut above the Athearn Blue Box units.  As Doc Wayne has shown, they can be very nicely spruced up.

One tip:

Check over each part carefully as there may be very small burs present that may interfere with assembly.  This happened to me on one of my hoppers as I kept trying to figure out why the body would not line up squarely with the frame on one end.  A very tiny bur was the culprit.  I had to put my face within a few inches of the frame to see it.  A few strokes with a metal file eliminated that bug.

To bring the cars up to the recommended NMRA weight recommendations,  I usually add BB-shot pellets inside of the bins and secure them with a light smothering of Elmer's Glue.

I typically install P2K 33" metal wheels but will likely switch over to Intermountain wheel sets after I run out.

[MisterBeasley]

I wanted a covered hopper to deliver salt to my tannery.  Bowser makes an undecorated one.

I enjoyed putting this kit together.  The detail parts are quite nice.  The roofwalk is see-through plastic.  I don't recall any excess flash on the sprued parts.  My kit contained two sets of weights, but it came out about right with one set.  (I don't have a scale, but it feels right.)  I replaced the plastic wheels with a set of metal Intermountains, and the couplers with Kadee # 58s.

Home-brew decals, and it still needs some weathering.

[peahrens]

I nearly always build my freight cars because I like to build the kits (as well as buildings).  I've found some old Athearn blue box kits at train shows but mainly have settled on Accurail and Bowser kits, buying about one of each type in 40' or less cars (transition era and earlier).  I'm quite satisfied with both brands.  There are others that take more patience and have more detail and may not cost any more (e.g., Tichy flatcar) or a few dollars more (e.g., Branchline or some Proto 2000 still out there).  I'd suggest try a Bowser and an Accurail and see what you think.  If you like the kit building, try others, particularly for a certain car type you want.

I add Kadee couplers and metal wheelsets (wheels and axle, using the stock frame).

Enjoy the hobby.

P.S. - here's a prior thread on folks' comments on different brands of rolling stock that may be of interest.

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/216084.aspx

[NP2626]

I like to build from kits, also.  So, anyone who still makes them will end up with a life-long customer in me!  Bowser kits are great, they produce many somewhat obscure freight cars (at least from my perspective, as a Northern Pacific modeler).  There is nothing difficult about building them and they make fine models.  I have found that some of their car's finsh can be a bit too "shinny"; but, it is a simple matter to tone this down with Dull Coat.  I highly recommend Bowser Freight Car Kits!

[tstage]

I like Bowser.  Their kits are generally a notch above Accurail in detailing and fun and fairly easy to assemble.   And, as Randy mentioned, Bowser offers some unique pieces of rolling stock.

If your a PRR fan, you'll more than likely have Bowser as part of your roster.

Tom

[mobilman44]

I've put together a number of them over the years.   They are not easy, but certainly not hard to work.   I liken them to Accurail kits.   Pick up a few, and you will enjoy!

[nssd70m]

My entire 100 ton hopper car fleet is Bowser. I installed 36" Intermountain wheelsets and Kadee #5 couplers on the hoppers. I have about 30 Triple Crown roadrailers with Intermountain 33" wheelsets and Kadee #5 coupler on the mate. I enjoy building Bowser kits. Earl is out...