Freight Car Kit Or Scratch Build Contest.


N

NP2626

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Here is a contest to show our freight, non-revenue and passenger car building skills. The rules are: The car must be built from scratch; or, a kit. No Ready to Run cars are allowed! This is being done with the express purpose of promoting building models, as opposed to purchasing RTR. The contest will run to October 31th, 2017. Anyone (including the contest promoter) can enter. When the car was built is of no consequence, cars 20+ years old, qualify as well as cars finished today. Cars may be weathered; or, not and should not be judged because of the weathering. Kits may be as simple as the old Athearn Blue Box kit. Winning simply gives the winner the accolades of praise for their hard work by a panel of judges.

I'm attempting to make this a simple-easy to follow and enter contest; however, I know that some will have questions that I will address as they come up.

Here is my entry, It is an American Model Builders Laser Kit of a Northern Pacific 1700 Series Caboose, Kit Number 885. It is a wood Laser Cut kit.

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There you go, lets have some fun! You have You have a month and seven days from today to "Get'r Done! I will procure two other judges to help with the judging of this contest. Please enter!
 
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Wrong time of year for a contest such as this.
People on vacation, schools are just starting,etc.
 
Wrong time of year for a contest such as this.
People on vacation, schools are just starting,etc.

For sure. What spare time I have has been house projects, painting deck, rooms, skirting boards. No time for kits for probably most of the rest of the year.
 
Back in the day, like 00 - 08 when I was still in N scale I wanted an auto carrier like I had in the HO days / Lionel type from the 50's - like usual when I want something it is not available from any source, so I built my own ---

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So here is how it went down - 1st - went over to Hiawatha Hobby and bought a N scale flat car -- all these types are built on flat cars - then came home and started with sheet plastic and laid out the car sides, then the floors, then the ends and cut to suit.

Glued the thing together then painted it engine black - added the doors on the end and the cars to load. The decals are HO scale WP on the car body, the flat car as it came from the shop.

If i had to do it over -- EGAD!! I think in the end i spent about 75 bux for the little car which is why, all these years after I got out of N and back into HO the car is still up on the book case - a reminder of the days gone by and how much I put into N scale which blew up in my face... DO NOT ASK or you will get an earful!

The Aerojet
 
Wrong time of year for a contest such as this.
People on vacation, schools are just starting,etc.

Maybe your right! However, there is probably never a right time for things I want to do; so, I just go ahead and do them!

Aerojet, thanks for your very nice entry!
 
I agree that it might be the wrong time of the year, but a final date of the contest should be posted which would give people time to finish their summer activities and have the time to wuild their car. Some builds could run into months depending on how detailed it my be.
 
I agree that it might be the wrong time of the year, but a final date of the contest should be posted which would give people time to finish their summer activities and have the time to wuild their car. Some builds could run into months depending on how detailed it my be.

The end date was posted, it is October 31st, 2017 (Date updated on 10/19/2017).

How the contest will be run has been changed as of 9:45 Central Daylight Time. So, re-read the rules!
 
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Nice build on the Cookie box. I have a number of the old Silver Streak cars and they can take some time to build, but if you take your time, they are beautiful cars.

I like the old wood kits. Here is a caboose I built a couple of around 25 years ago. It's on Kadee sprung trucks, but I removed the coil springs and put leaf springs in the truck.

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Thanks Mark and Chet! That was one of my first "craftsman" kits I built. Was definitely a lot of fun. Fabulous job on that caboose, Chet.
 
There has been another change to the contest, to get more towards the building season, I have lengthened the end date out to October 31st.
 
PICTURES FROM THE DISK 882.jpgWooden tank car.JPG
Here's a couple I have scratchbuilt or heavily kitbashed.
First is an HO Claremont Concord Railway Corp plow. This started off as a Northeastern Scale Models plow. The only thing I used from the kit was the brake cylinder, the piece of wood for the floor and 2 templates from the instructions.
The second is an On30 wooden tank car totally scratchbuilt, but not quite complete yet.
 
rlundy90, I have to say WOW! It appears to me your plow is need of some shop time! Fantastic job.

Even though we may have started this contest too early, I am very happy with the entries so far! Far better than I would have expected, given the negative comments about starting the contest now that where posted. I think those who have entered didn't need to build anything for the contest! As I had figured, like myself, they already have models that would qualify for kit or scratch built.
 
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I think a few people thought that you had to build the model between now and closing date. Me for one, until I read it more closely.
 
Ok, I'll play...here is an HO model of a B&O I-5d caboose that I completed this past winter. The body is totally scratchbuilt from Evergreen styrene sheets and strips, sitting on a brass chassis that was salvaged from a beat-up brass model.
 

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I am always amazed at the details of well constructed wooden or brass model and how these models stand out over the "plastic" kits. I have a wooded Russell snowplow kit that I purchased in the early 80's that I yet to have started to build.

Great modeling guys.

Greg
 
Here's mine from the past! On3' 100% scratch built stock cars - I did 6 0f them at the same time!
Grant Line trucks, Kaydee couplers, some underbody detail, and lots of NBW's.

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