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 steps and tank handrail. The lettering is C-D-S dry transfers...
This Proto gondola, another orphan from a failed build, was stripped and re-detailed with grabirons custom-bent from Tichy .012" phophor-bronze wire, then re-painted and lettered with Champ decals. The lading damage was inflicted using a soldering iron to soften the plastic, which was then pushed with the handle of an X-Acto to create the bulges...
This is one of my home road gondolas. Most were bought as new kits (not previous attempts by someone else), but heavily discounted due to the preference of most for r-t-r and/or because the factory lettering was for roads not especially popular in this area...
This car was a gift from a friend. He bought it at a train show, mainly because he liked the end doors. However, his eyesight is not the best, and he later realised that the car was lettered for the '50s, while his layout is set in the late '20s. The car is typical of cars being built from the mid-'30s on, so he offered it to me. Upon receiving it, I discovered that the previous owner had attempted to assemble it, but used copious amounts of ca, and apparently his eyesight was as bad as that of my friend. It was a fair amount of work to remove the excess glue, but most scraped off using a chisel-type blade in my X-Acto. The doors were damaged somewhat during the clean-up, and the ladders were beyond rescue. I added new steps and grabs, repaired the visible damage, and added some scratchbuilt tack boards and other small details. For the new metal grabs, I simulated the bolts holding them in place by inserting short lengths of brass wire just above their ends - no hex-heads, but convincing enough once painted...
The underbody was in rough shape, with most of the piping and brake rigging broken or missing. I used the original components, but substituted wire where necessary. I also added the storage tubes (Evergreen styrene rod) for the tie-down chains used with the Evans Auto-Loaders. After changing the BLT date to better reflect my layout's era, it turned into a decent piece of rolling stock...
I do have some Proto r-t-r, too, one of these purchased, and three received as gifts from a friend in Texas. They were too old for his layout's era...
Originally lettered for Santa Fe, I removed the lettering connected to that, but left most of the remaining lettering, altering dates where necessary, then added custom dry transfers, from C-D-S, to make them home road cars. No other alterations were required, as the metal grab irons were original equipment.
Another Proto offering, this time from LifeLike Canada, and in their Proto1000 series, were the r-t-r Dominion/Fowler boxcars. Surprisingly, these r-t-r cars came with free-standing grabirons, but were well beyond my budget at the time. Unfortunately (but luckily for me) LifeLike had mistakenly omitted the cars' dimensional data. To correct that oversight, they offered replacement body shells if buyers returned the incorrect ones to the point of purchase.I apparently missed out on the initial wave of returns, but the same hobbyshop was selling them for $2.00 apiece, and, over a period of time, I picked up about a dozen of them. Like the Proto2000 cars, the grabirons were plastic, and also too fat to look right. I fabricated new floors for the cars, and was able to purchase the Proto Simplex trucks which were generally common to these cars, but I wasn't at all pleased with the grabs, so decided to replace them - all 34/car, along with new sill steps, 6/car, new roofwalks (the originals were 6" short on each end) and new roofwalk corner grabirons...
The main issue with the grabirons (other than drilling 74 #79 holes for each car) is that the bolt heads were cast as an integral part of the plastic grabirons, and in some instances, it was necessary to enlarge the original holes in the body shell and then use styrene rod to plug the hole so that a new, smaller hole could be drilled for the metal part.Almost all of these cars were repainted, then re-lettered using C-D-S dry transfers...
If you want easier to use replacement grabirons for Proto (and some other brands), your best choice is probably to bend your own, using suitably-sized wire. For some applications, the original mounting holes may be too big for the newer wire ones. My preference in that case is to drill-out the existing hole to a size about .003" or .004" smaller than whatever size Evergreen styrene rod you have on-hand, then apply solvent-type cement (use a small, natural bristle brush) to both the rod and to the inside of the enlarged hole. Wait a few seconds for the plastic to soften, then re-apply solvent in both areas, then force the rod into the hole. Snip-off the excess, not too close to the car, then let the joint harden overnight before trimming-off the excess rod and smoothing the surface. Re-drill to the proper size, and then add the wire grabs.
Wayne
Besides A-Line I use these from Yarmouth Model Works:
http://www.yarmouthmodelworks.com/index.php/ModelDetailParts/Stirrups
Rick Jesionowski
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
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.
riogrande5761The stirrups on my 50' Proto 2000 box cars (exhibit A in photo) are extremly fragile.
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Yes, they are SOOOoooooooo fragile! And they look great, and no one seems to make an exact replacement.
My UNION PACIFIC car recieved replacements from Details Associates that are not even close to correct.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
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.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
On the tank cars, there are curved tank end grab irons available from Details Associates that work very well.
For stirrups, I use replacements from Tichy if they become broken. They make one that is very close, but it is still fragile.
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.
I also love these kits.
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?