Greetings,
I was looking into getting a Accurail ACF Covered Hopper kit.
How is the Quality and workmanship on Accurail.
I have never bought any Accurail products and was curious.
Most of my kits are Athearn and Roundhouse.
Any comments would be great.
Thanks,
Mark in Texas
what are the Roundhouse kits like. are they pretty much put together for the most part with some assembly. i don’t want to have to put the little wheel cranks on the back of boxcars. i’m hoping that is already on them.
Accurail products are accurate s in the easy to assemble kit niche. I rate them above Athearn and MDC.
Dave H.
MDC Roundhouse are similiar to Athearn kits.
Mark in Texas
Accurail kits are a step above Athearn kits in detail, but not much harder to assemble (contact cement and plastic cement will come in handy, as will screwdrivers and an X-Acto). They aren’t nearly as complicated as Branchline Blueprint or P2K Kits, but are about the same level as Branchline Yardmaster kits (Detail’s about the same, but the Brachline’s have a couple more steps for assembly)
Hawks05: Anything labeled ‘Kit’ is going to require adding the trucks, couplers and brakewheel at a minimum. You probably want to look at RTR stuff if you don’t want to assemble anything.
ya. thats what most of the stuff i have is, the RTR. i bought 2 kits off of ebay though for practice. a GN and a Golden West. just to try. i used to do model cars so i don’t think it will be to bad. just smaller pieces. of course my model cars weren’t to good looking though. oh well. can’t really go wrong with $3.25 cars.
Accurail is just above Athearn and most MDC. And Kadees fit them perfectly every time, unlike Athearn & MDC, which require tweeking.
Hawks05: The MDC’s are less difficult than old Snap-Tite Car kits. If you can put one of them together you’re set for any blue-box type kit (Athearn, MDC, Accurail, Branchline Yardmaster)
I own several of those Accurail covered hoppers, and they are very good kits. Accurail’s castings are cleaner than other brands, so they require less cutting, filing, and touchup. Kadee or other metal wheelsets can be substituted for the plastic wheels that come with Accurail kits. I use the Accurail knuckle couplers that come with the kits and have no problems with them matching up to McHenry, Kadee, Bachmann, etc.
After buying one in the summer, I prefer Accurail hoppers over any other manufacturer.
Simple to build, pieces always fit.
Gordon