I like nicely detailed cars, but I also like to run my trains. Superdetailing isn’t high on my list. I prefer to have near-perfect trackwork so derailments are rare.
I guess I could have been more clear in my post.
I was saying for certain special models that are only available in brass or resin, I will pay more.
For mass produced plastic car kits, $25.00 is about my limit. If Kadee can produce perfection at that price point, why should I ever pay more?
-Kevin
Considering that I have copier boxes full of blue box kits that I bought in the 70s and 80s; and several tubs of blue box, MDC, and Accurail that I got at wholesale when I owned a hobby shop in the late 90s; I would say i have a lot of stuff that is priced right.
I guess it depends if you have the funds to justify paying for your toys.
Rich
Yes a lot of people plan for a railroad and it is amazing how many never build so much as a module. As to the detail of cars, even when running trains, most people have sidings and or a yard where the cars are not constantly moving.
I mean conceptually rather than a conscious thought. A good case can be made that all inventions begin in the human mind as a kind of toy. Inventing is a variety of play which is what toys are used for.
For the contemporary era in which I model, equipment that has seen several owners is common. So the paint jobs should reflect patch jobs, relettering and renumbering, and faded original paint. As-built factory-new paint schemes are for collectors…
Athearn is running a line with more accurate paint schemes for more contemporary eras called “Prime for Grime” series.
Its hard for a modeler to fade as built paint by weathering, (at least for me) as well as adding patch-outs without raising the texture or surface where the patch is, which the eye will definitely pick up.
An accurate contemporary paint job is just as important as the type of details applied, IMO.
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Those open ones are long gone if you’re even close to contemporary.
Have you priced the Walthers ones on the secondhand market lately? They’re commanding prices that rival what Intermountain’s offerings hit the street at. I’ll admit that I forgot about Scale Train’s racks (which I consider a reasonable price), but I do think of them as a more…I don’t want to say niche, but they’re not as common. They’re very, very new cars in real life. There’s no “fleet filler” model available, because demand for the low detail versions has gone up so much that they match the price point for the very detailed one. That makes it a bit of a lose/lose
It’s a hobby, buy what you feel is right. I have maybe a midsized Industrial Switching Layout based on the CN’s Valley Sub. I run 2 through trains and that rollingstock is mainly Scaletrain Classics, Details West, Walthers, Athearn RTR and a few Accurail. No one, including me can see the details even at a 20 to 40 scale mph. My rolling stock that is run and switched a couple times a week at least consists of BLMA, ST’s Rivet counters, Athearn Genesis. I like the details I can see on the slow moving or stopped cars that are being worked. Since 2014 retirement I have greatly changed my rolling stock and had been concentrating on modeling the year 2005 and now 2015. My 300 BB’s were too varied and didn’t fit the era. I now have the 2 through trains of 24 cars each. My switchable cars number 48 but don’t all show up on the layout at the same time.The BB’s were sold and that money turned into the above. Just remember when someone says too expensive for them, it may not be for you. Values differ from person to person.
TomO
No, it’s not necessary…unless you really want extremely detailed locomotives and rolling stock running on your layout.
Tom
It depends on what era you are modeling. I didn’t notice you mention era; only that you were lamenting the lack of lower detail autoracks.
Yes, and of course you have to ignore the crazy’s on Ebay - and shop around. I’ve seen them for prices in the $25-30 range, and some Walthers are the upgrade versions that cost more when new than the old kits. I’ve sold about half of my old kit built Walthers autoracks in the past few years for around $25 (assembled and with KD’s). I had back dated to early 80’s and most of the Walthers racks are late 80’s thru mid 1990’s and later. I’ve found if you are patient, you CAN find these models are fairly decent prices.
You have to buy the operator version when they have them available. Snooze and wait for a future run. Point is, modern operator versions have been made.
I wouldn’t call Kadee perfection and generally they cost much more than $25 although if you shop around, you can find them for that. I have.
The thing about Kadee is they are era limited and the freight cars they represent were gone or getting thin by the early 80’s. I have bought a few that would have lingered into the late 1970’s and a bit beyond.
Here is one thing I’ve noticed about Kadee box cars. Some of them look like they were not painted but molded in the color they are sold in. Examples, BN green (hideous). GN green: I have one and it looks almost translucent. ICG orange, also not so nice. Basically the only box cars that look decent are the brown ones, and maybe my dark green GM&O. No, not perfection. Many of the box cars are quite good but some not so much.
And Scale Trains, Tangent, Moloco, ExactRail, etc, etc, are not “era limited” or selection limited in their offerings?
Those brands for the most part make very little or nothing in the era Kevin and I model.
Easier to make an excuse for an older car than for one that has not been built yet?
I started my 50’s era piggyback fleet 30 years ago, and still the most detailed model anyone has offered is the Walthers 54’ GSC flat car, a car that actually saw very limited piggyback conversion/use. But I have my share of those as well.
The recent Bachmann car is not bad with a little work.
The Athearn car remains in production and apparently sells despite
I was talking about plastic kits. The Kadee PS-1 plastic kits retails for $26.00, and can be had for about $21.00 on MB Klein.
The Kadee kit is not perfection? What would you do better?
Everything fits easily and perfectly. Detail is spot-on, It comes with Kadee trucks and couplers in the box. The model weighs the correct weight. The molded on detail is amazing, there is never any flash or mold lines. And on and on and on…
I know of no better kit for any hobby at any price.
-Kevin
Kevin, I assure you he is thinking RTR…
Sheldon
Probably, but I very clearly said mass produced plastic kits.
Oh well.
-Kevin
So here is a rundown, I model 1954:
ScaleTrains - no products in my era
Tangent Scale Models - the two gons, and all but one of the tank cars are in my era. I would like to get a few tank cars.
Moloco - no products in my era
ExactRail - B&O wagon top box cars their only product in my era.
FoxValley - again only B&O wagon tops (which I have), and a passenger train from a railroad I don’t model.
Spring Mills Depot - 5 out of their eight projects so far in my era, I have the three that have been delivered, both RTR and undecorated kits.
Intermountain - tons of stuff in my era, and tons not in my era, I have mostly kits and F unit locos, not much RTR.
Kadee - all but one in my era, I have a few of their cars.
Athearn Genesis - No freight cars in my era, I do have my share of F units…
Rapido - 3 freight cars in my era, RDC’s (which seem a little pricey to me), they lost their first potential sale to me when the dropped the undecorated PA’s from the production run. I already had them preordered…
I could not fill/replace half, or even a third, of my current 1,200 car roster with current or recent high end/high detail RTR rolling stock matching car types and paint schemes.
Guess I will just keep my Athearn Ready to Roll and Blue Box, old MDC, Athearn and Varney metal cars, Bowser, Accurail, older Walthers, TrainsMinature, Silver Streak wood kits, Atlas, F&C resin kits, Westerfield resin kits, ConCor passenger cars, and a long list of other “sub standard” model trains - which are for my purposes all reasonable representations of trains from the era I model.
So the point is, no matter if you like these high detail RTR cars, you will not find all the cars you many need or want for your modeling if you plan to present a realistic and complete operational roster for a given era and road.
Sheldon
I model 1939 roughly. Tangent has some tank cars, MTH has some hoppers, Intermountain, lots of boxcars and reefers along with Atlas. Ertl had boxcars and a few other like flat (these were early Tichy or Gould when they were made). Proto 2000 has some tank and stock cars. Branchline had reefers. Was hopeing someone would do 36’ box etc., but they were done by Accurail, not detailed enough.
I like the Kadee cars, but I generally can’t find recent releases (assembled rtr) for $25. Then as stated well above, I would want the ICG boxcar, but molded in orange (and I love bright colors) it is “too much” “too translucent” and just doesn’t look right to me especially next to anything from Intermountain/Tangent/Exactrail in that paint scheme, so yes, I owned a couple but they didn’t look right at all and had to go. Some Kadee cars also have gorgeous sprung trucks that do not roll well at all (replace with plastic Kadee trucks and you can pull twice as many).
I’m not here to bash Kadee, but the time period of their products generally doesn’t work for me. They are great cars for up to the early '80’s.
I should’ve kept the Conrail covered hopper to have one.
John
I don’t follow Kadee cars closely but the recent release do seem to go for around $39 give or take. I do see some Kadee rolling stock on Ebay for around $25 often enough.
But yeah, the colored boxcars (orange, green in particular) look wrong to me too, partly the shade and partly sort of translucent. My guess here is they are molded in those colors to save on production costs since they are made in the US, but in these cases, it seems to compromise the appearance negatively.
I was responding to Kevin regarding the Kadee freight cars, not other brands.