This offering is for the kit, not the built model shown in some of the photos. The kit is based upon the Third Generation "Navy" helium tank car built by GATX in 1942 and 1943. The kit design started from the ground up by creating new 100T ACF clasp brake trucks, not available anywhere else. Then creating the car with the help of Jay Miller and Pat Bray, both helium car experts with many online articles and reference material.
Possible car configurations as I see them (decals will support these versions):
1942-1955 USNX: Battleship Gray all over with black trucks, brake tanks, brake hardware, ladders, steps, and grab irons. Solid/Friction bearing trucks with clasp brakes. Note: All cars converted from USNX to MHAX or 7 for ATMX in June-July 1955.
1955-1964 MHAX or ATMX: Battleship Gray all over except with Aluminum painted tanks. Black trucks, brake tanks, brake hardware, ladders, steps, and grab irons. Solid/Friction or Roller bearing trucks (not available) with clasp brakes. Note: all cars were MHAX by 1964.
1964-1972 MHAX: Aluminum painted all over. Black trucks, brake tanks, brake hardware, ladders, steps, and grab irons. Solid/Friction or Roller bearing trucks (not available) with clasp brakes.
1972-1998 MHAX: Aluminum painted all over. Black trucks, brake tanks, brake hardware, ladders, steps, and grab irons. Roller bearing trucks (not available) (required in 1972) with clasp brakes. No roof walk, shortened side and non-brake end ladders (match side length) (fill in holes). Brake end ladder and brake wheel location did not change.
The kit features the following:
Finally, if you need help on deciding how to model in your era, send me a message and I will try to help you. I have included some historical reference charts in photo section that are my primary reference source. Also, included in the instructions, are my educated guess for possible car configurations based upon the era you want to model.
Comments from others:
Jay Miller
"I am moved beyond words at the execution of this project Greg. As far as I can tell at first glance it is as near perfect as could be. Never in my wildest dreams while I was doing all the research did I ever imagine received fruits of this vintage!
Thank you and congratulations as I know how many many hours of work and dedication you put into this project!"
J.D.
"I received the Helium car kit today. Of course, I had to open the kit and examine it. It looks great in every respect! Thanks for all the work you did to design, print, and distribute this kit."
J.B.
"Have yet to build, but am impressed by the quality of the print and the completeness of the additional parts."
Explanation of Cost:
Some of you might question the high cost of each kit. Most model kits are produced by injection molding. In order to get the molds, it costs tens of thousands of dollars to get the molds and then the cost is spread out over thousands of kits. Once the molds are done, the actual cost of the kit to produce is low and the time is fast.
With 3D resin printing, each kit is individually produced and takes several hours of time, this kit takes around 55 hours of printing each. Plus, each part has to be cleaned of excess resin, removing the support structure required for the printing and final curing (See last photo of a fresh print dripping in resin). After adding all of my actual expenses per kit and fees, I only make a small amount per kit and it does account for my time or the thousand of dollars I spent to get the kit developed. So, I am not making much off each kit. I hope this helps explain the cost. When I started, I was thinking that the cost would be a lot less, but reality struck.
This is a complete kit with decals, unique trucks, wheels, and couplers which is part of the cost. The instuctions cover tips on how to build the model to represent most eras from 1942 to mid 1970s. The builder only needs to provide glue and paint.