It's nice to build a really old kit.

Nice job; These old kits can be fun to build . You did a really nice job of it.

Franky-Ogee

Very nice.

Yes that looks very nice and thanks for sharing it .

+1 for it looks very nice, and holy smokes your trackwork is beautiful show us more!

That is a very nice Craftsman Grade gondola!   You did a fine job worth recognition. 

Chief Bob (Retired)

Nice Job.

Excellent!

Flanger, yeah nice job. We hope you build More old kits. There are plenty out there especially at O scale shows.

Leroof

Very nice!!!

You're right, it IS fun building those old kits.  I bought a few old kits from the Lou cross estate sale that turned out nice, still have a hopper to finish.

I've always liked to build wood kits and using sanding sealer to seal the wood, reminds me of building wooden airplanes.  Too much and the wood starts looking like smooth metal

That's a great looking Gondola Bob!

Kudos!

Those high sided gons are good looking cars!

Simon

I can see why its your new favourite.      cTr...( Choose the Right )

you did an excellent job on that Bob.

I too love building older kits.

That is an absolutely super job. I'm curious to learn more about how the kit was constructed. Some of those older kits had oversize and crude details. Your model does not; it looks right.

Were the sides flat cardboard, or was any of the detail embossed on them? What material were the vertical ribs, white metal? Did you built it stock or modify it? I watch ebay pretty closely for the older kits and never have seen one of these offered.

Thanks for posting the picture, Jim.

jjscott posted:

That is an absolutely super job. I'm curious to learn more about how the kit was constructed. Some of those older kits had oversize and crude details. Your model does not; it looks right.

Were the sides flat cardboard, or was any of the detail embossed on them? What material were the vertical ribs, white metal? Did you built it stock or modify it? I watch ebay pretty closely for the older kits and never have seen one of these offered.

Thanks for posting the picture, Jim.

Thanks Jim, I've seen some of your kit builds in the posting you did last years...outstanding craftsmanship indeed. Since you asked questions about my gondola build I wanted to give a detailed response. Here goes.

The sides and ends were cardstock, and there were some rivets embossed on them. It was a subtle embossment, but added nice realism.Those vertical ribs were brass. I built it stock until I came to the missing parts dilemma. The plans called for grab irons, but my kit didn’t have any. However I had a supply of Tichy grab irons which were a suitable replacement. I also added several grabs which were not shown on the plan, but did show in the several prototype photos I followed for detailing. I made the top bracket for the brake wheel staff from some scraps of brass sheet. I found the white metal ladders in my odds and ends collection, and elected to deviate from the kit plans by mounting those in place of some of the grab irons…again prototype photos help.

I added brass air hose castings to the end beams. Those end beams were white metal castings. I also used some brass to fabricate uncoupling levers at each end. I used some .010” plastic sheet to simulate reinforcements for the top edge corners of the body…most gondolas have these. For couplers the kit left me limited options for mounting a Kadee short of a hacking job. I ended up epoxying them in a fixed position without using the couple box. They still work fine, but do not have the side to side swing. I can live with it this way. There were no trucks with the kit. I experimented with several different ones to achieve proper coupler height. The ones shown in the photo are real pricey Protocraft …worth more than the rest of the model, but for now I will use them.

Paint matching of the old probably slightly faded sides and ends was an issue. I got as close as I could and then used a satin overcoat on it which had the effect of uniting the whole thing somehow…a final coat of a matte spray made it quite presentable. Here's another photo with the load I made for it.

Bob

Thanks Bob, great information and some good tips. I'll say again, that's a good looking car. I also bought a few pairs of decent (i.e. expensive) trucks to place under some old kits I've got planned for future builds. You're right, the trucks cost more than the kits.

I need to get back to building some cars. After my last post on my vintage kit thread I returned to my actual hobby of building radio control airplanes, leaving that Ambroid flanger unfinished. Maybe it's time for a switch back to trains. I don't have a layout or any track or any plans to build one. I just like building stuff. There's a lot of satisfaction putting those old kits together. They'll accept as much time, effort and talent you're willing to give.

Jim

Awesome job Flanger.

alan graziano

flanger posted:

I bought this Old Westbrook kit off eBay about ten years ago. I had plans to build it right away, but when I looked inside the box it was somewhat daunting. I shelved it for a future build.

Fast forward to recent weeks, and this old kit once again became a source of interest. It was an adventure in wood parts, sanding sealer, cardstock, assorted adhesives, wood screws, very tiny nails, crusty old white metal, and twisted brass bits and pieces, and considerable drilling of tiny holes. Factor in a few missing parts, and having to match up old prepainted side with todays paint/color availability, and it was a most consuming project. It's now become my new favorite car...

Bob

Nicely done!  Shows just what can be accomplished with one of these venerable kits,

I always like building them, I made a few for P&D to display but they always got sold. I didn't mind, they were his and I got to build another one.

Jim