bowser100t

bowser100t Bowser 100 ton hopper...
The Bowser 100 ton hopper is the single best hopper kit on the market when it comes to Chessie accuracy. Bowser makes C&O, Chessie B&O, Chessie WM, and Chessie C&O variants. Each comes in 12 or more unique road numbers. I have around 30 of these cars. I suggest buying them in batches of 3 or 4 and doing them in an assembly line fashion. I use super glue to put all the parts together. I would recommend this since your cars will surely be handled plenty. The McKean hopper topper fits these cars as seen in the below right picture.

How to make a Bowser 100 ton hopper:
They go together really easily.
1. Read the simple directions
2. Glue the weights into their places. Wait for them to dry before putting on the black cover pieces. If you put the cover pieces on as the glue on the weights is drying, you will get to see how super glue reacts to fingerprints as white fingerprints start showing up all around the inside of the model.
3. Bore out the holes for the three brake detail parts that go on the main bar frame. The holes are just a little too small coming out of the box.
4. Glue in the brake detail parts.
5. Glue in the cross beam that goes under the end. They are kind of tricky but take your time and they fit easily.
6. Glue on the brake wheel.
7. Put the main bar frame into position. It fits really snug, so there is no need to glue it.
8. Screw in the couplers.
9. Screw in the wheels.
10. Weather it as you like. I weather mine by applying two or three oversprays of dark grey on the inside and some rust colored chalk on the inside. Chessie hoppers looked fairly good in the Chessie Era, but they did get covered with a descent amount of coal dust. Below is a pic of how I weather the inside of the car. If you are going to do your car as one loaded with coal, then this step is unnecessary.