D&RGW HOn3 boxcar build.

[Graffen]

Hi all!
I've just about finished a build of a D&RGW 3000 series boxcar in HOn3.
I had the kit in my stash, an old Tomalco wood kit.
It was however very deteriorated, the wood siding was so dry that it had split.... 
I substituted it with Evergreen plastic siding, which was a good thing as it made gluing the parts on the body so much easier.
I found one very big error though with the kit.
It is almost 1/8" too tall!
The error lies within the roof. I sanded it down to correct height.
I use Kadee sprung trucks on this car. The bolsters fit perfectly.
I also had to bend the handrails from wire. I also added Grant line NBWs.


Side view



End view



Roof



Underframe with all the gear.




Painted. I use D&RGW freight car red.

I'm currently decaling it with San Juan decals.

Is it worth it though? A kit like this?
I have scratchbuilt the same type of boxcar before, and it was almost easier ...
Or maybe work the construction hours, and take the money and buy a Blackstone RTR boxcar?
The build time was almost 20 hours, so I could buy quite a lot of Blackstone cars  with the earnings if I had worked.

But, the joy of building it makes up the difference, at least to me.

[Janbouli]

Looks great , and I agree , the satisfaction of building a kit in stead of RTR is worth the time.

[Zephyrus52246]

I asked myself the same questions after building a Proto 2000 tank car recently.  It was fun to build, but I wouldn't want to do a fleet of them.  The boxcar looks great.


Jeff

[S&S RR]

Very nice build! Thanks for sharing it with us. It always looks better if we can build it ourselves.

[GPdemayo]

Beautiful boxcar.....great work. 

[tct855]

Graffen,
                Well!  I'm a fan!  You may proceed Sir.  Thanx Thom...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGrHf16H2jQ

[bparrish]

Thanx Thom

Most of my builds like this are about seeing if I can do it.  Most stuff goes unseen once it is on the rails but we know it's in there. 

Again thanx. 
Bob

[Graffen]

Thanks all!
I think it's both fun and fulfilling to build your own models.
I'll post some more pics when it's finished.

[Graffen]

The last few days projects all ready for weathering. The D&RGW boxcar, a long caboose and an idler flatcar.
All in HOn3.

[bparrish]

Graffen.......

That is some pretty cool stuff.

Thanx
Bob

[ACL1504]

Graffen,

Well done, they look great.

Tom

[Graffen]

Thanks!

Finished!
The weathering is completed.
Just the couplers to install (when the boxes arrive... ).






















I'm very satisfied with how it turned out. To me it gives the impression of a boxcar that's used but not abused.

[GPdemayo]

Well done Graffen.....

[deemery]

The streaked siding looks great!  I'd suggest adding some dust/grime on the very bottom of the car, representing dust picked up from the track plus deposits left from the rain when it stops at the bottom of the car before dripping off.  See how the bottom of this car has some extra weathering.


dave

[S&S RR]

Graffen


First class modeling - thanks for sharing it with us. You can't buy RTR models that look as good as yours.