PFE "Super giant" R-70-2 reefers

[modelsof1900]

Exactly one year ago I presented the first of PFE R-70-2 reefer models here in Big Blue, see this Weekly report.

This was the answer of Charlie B.

Bernhard, your friend should not only be satisfied, he should be overwhelmed.
...

Thanks Charlie, however my friend was not absolutely satisfied! And today I can understand his objection.
He was not lucky with this footboard for the brakeman, a small plastic part that was delivered with the kit of Sunshine models and two small other things which must be changed. Please compare these two pictures - old and new!





I think that he was right with his wish! I replaced the raw plastic parts by steps made from a hard cardboard which were drawn and laser cut by a professional model builder. This is the complete board or that what is leftover in moment.



Today I would like to show you the next models of this series, all built with the modifications as shown and written before.





In next year I will build the last three models of these PFE "super-giant" reefers and then everything should be done for my friend - maybe until a new question for building some models to him.
You can find a complete gallery of this project on my website with captions in English.

[doctorwayne]

Very nicely-done, Bernhard (not surprisingly).

I hope that we'll see some additional photos once your friend has painted the cars, too.

Bowser makes an open grid roofwalk for their version of the ACF 70 ton covered hopper:



Here's a better view, on a modified MDC PS-2 covered hopper, showing the open grid visible at the "B" end of the car:



The roofwalks, along with the laterals for each end of the car, are available separately from Bowser, in unpainted styrene. I'm not sure if it's as fine as your laser-cut ones, but quite a few handbrake platforms could be made from just one.

Wayne

[modelsof1900]

Doc, thank you very much for your friendly comment!
And yes, I will like to show pictures of painted models, of course. However this will need some time because my friend will not start the painting before the last three models were built.

Thanks especially also for the hint to Bowser (Cal Scale) open grid roofwalk! Maybe that this will be a good option for the next three models where my friend wishes to receive a modernized version with open grid roofwalk. We reflected to use etched roof walks by Plano models however these are made from very thin materials and we do not know the exact length of them or we thought also to develop our own roofwalk again which will exactly fits on these reefers. However the use of industrial parts will be significantly cheaper and so my friend could save a lot of money together with a good looking result if we ought to use these bowser open grid roofwalks.
A very good hint, Doc - and thanks again! You can be sure that the decisions and the next three models will be to shown in Big Blue here.

[doctorwayne]

Unfortunately, at least for those long reefers, the Bowser roofwalks are sized to fit their ACF covered hoppers, so they're only 35'6" long. Splicing two together might work, but they do have mounting pins on their underside, and in those areas, the bottom of the grid is not open completely through. For the Bowser covered hoppers and my MDC conversions, that's only a minor issue, but I'm sure that your friend would find that unacceptable.
They're more suitable for brake platforms, since the open portions between the mounting pins offer plenty of useable material.

Wayne

[modelsof1900]

Doc, thank you very much for this addition.
I think that we will start with one sample only to see the specific characteristic of these parts.
I will write again how we have decided and I'm surethat my friend likes to receive the best possible solution that he can receive. (He is a lot more pretentious modeller as I'm - however I'm learning for my own modeling jobs. My requirement is to build good looking models however they must be easy to handle! And this is the difference to him.)
Thanks again!