There is a new company that says they are going to debut a new product. It is run by Blaine Hadfield out of Sheridan, WY. He was at Exact Rail according to other comments I have seen.
What they are producing is mysterious. Their website shows a gondola, with quotes from people lauding the accuracy of their models and mention of a 42’ flatcar. The website also says today there will be a big announcement. Stay tuned at 11.
They also produced a couple very short trailers that claim they are producing things that have never done before, and the website says they are a leader in customer experience.
To my mind, that would require a product that is in the hands of customers. What do I know, I’m just a guy at the end of the caboose track.
I’ll let what I wrote stand. I have no affiliation with this company, just found them on the internet yesterday and am a bit cynical today. However they have a page that describes their dedication to customer service:
We give real insight into how our models are extraordinary.
The person who owns the research process is also the person who designs the models
Models are promptly available with an announcement. (Now that’s a good thing)
Unconditional return policy on all products. (this one too)
We attend prototype modeling meets and historical society conventions aggressively. (aggressive?)
Committed to taking care of you. (mom and apple pie)
We post about manufactures closing, it seems to me we can post about a new manufacturer, as a news item, not to promote them, per se, but to inform our forum members. If management thinks I am violating the rules about promotion, that was not my intention, please delete these posts.
Good to hear of a new startup; now they need to get some product out to us modelers and prove what they are claiming. It was not so long ago that Rapido and Exactrail were at the same stage in operations, and look at them now.
From what I understand those quotes about the 42’ Flatcar and gondola are from reviews on some of the ExactRail products Blaine developed before he left the company. I actually bought one of those 42’ Flatcars from ExactRail after Blaine had left the company and moved to Wyoming, its a good car even if the accurately scaled brake wheel shaft seems fragile (I am afraid I am going to break it off on accident while handling it!).
As for what Blaine’s new product is, I have no clue. I have no clue which factory he licensed to build this product either. I have been hearing bits and speculation down the grapevine as to what it is, but nothing solid yet.
Blaine runs the Prototype Modelers meet in Evanston, so I might meet him there in September and learn abit more about his new product line during that.
That’s what the local TV stations say about the weather or anything else at 6 pm to get you to tune it at night.
Interesting that it is a composite of styrene and brass. Nothing in their website would lead you to believe they were aiming for the low end of the market.
I asked on their Facebook page about RTR vs Undec. The decorated models are RTR and the price on the Undec is a typo.
It was supposed to be the same price [:'(] However they said they won’t change it, so freelancers get your order in.
I asked the question and they answered, while I was typing this post, so they are attentive.
They will honor the $48.50 as I understand the following reply to my pm question.
“Thank you for pointing this out. No, that is actually a mistake on part. Undecorated kits are meant to be the same price as the RTR versions, but I won’t change it now.”
The Rio Grande car is the only western version offered by Arrowhead in this run and it represents a Bethlehem series built for the D&RGW in 1966. They look exquisite! I think Blaine has a winner hear.
As one who buys a lot of undecorated kits for my freelance ATLANTIC CENTRAL, I can tell you that high detail undecorated kits are not less expensive by any real measure than their RTR counterparts.
So making a decorated kit would not be less expensive either.
The problem with high detail kits is that careful packing and quality control of many small pieces into the kit box is similar in labor cost to full assembly.
This has been true ever since the first Proto2000 freight car kits, or Branchline passenger cars for example.
That hopper is a very nicely-done model, and, in my opinion, at a very good price for what’s being offered. Unfortunately, it’s too modern for my late '30s-era layout.
I certainly agree with that, Sheldon. There are probably less than a dozen r-t-r cars on my layout, and most of those have been customised in some manner.
The majority of the kit-built cars are from shake-the-box type of kits, although I do tend to shake a little more vigourously than some.
For highly detailed cars, such as those from Exactrail or Rapido, I tend to favour kits, mostly because there are improvements which can be made that make the cars less liable to damage through handling, as my rolling stock cycles on- or off-layout, and back into their boxes at various intervals.
Like Sheldon, most of those cars are for either my free-lanced home roads or for prototypes not offered by the manufacturer.
I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on Arrowhead Models to see what future releases might be suitable for my operating era.
I have just looked up Intermountain kits. They are all $19.95 unpainted and undecorated. The RTR assembled models are between $30 and $40.
That is what I’d expext. For painted and decorated kits I accept that there is no or almost no price difference between kit and RTR as painting and printing is a high cost factor on the models.
But manufacturers can rightly price their models as they see fit, sometimes perhaps out of the market.
Regards; Volker
Intermountain does seem to be the exception, and it may actually have to do with the fact that their injection molding is done in the USA, but RTR assembly is in China. Maybe they have a shipping advantage by packing the kits here.
Intermountain is not the only exception. Look at Walthers Proto 2000. Their RTR cars are $10+ more expensive than their Timesaver kits.
Regards, Volker
