No harm done, Fergie. [:)] I was sorta agreeing with Loathar and Adam, but not. (I.e. I was both acknowledging and elaborating further on what you don’t get with a resin kit. It’s not just lacking trucks and couplers.)
I enjoy and prefer kits! I only buy RTR if I absoulutely HAVE to. My two Walthers 46’ gondolas and two 30’ NYC cabooses are evidence of that because no other models were available at the time I purchased them. (Before the Trix NYC caboose came out recently.)
Fergie, I agree with you whole-hearted. [^] The “entertainment” factor can NOT be minimized when you put a kit together yourself. The 100 hours I “poured” in my Suncoast coaling tower were both frustrating AND exhilerating (substitute “entertaining” for the latter two adjectives) because I was able to take on the challenge of and learn something I had never tried before: putting together my first “semi” scratch-bulit kit. (Quite a different animal than an Accurail box car. [:D])
These cars are among the best on the market in terms of detailing and accuracy. Most of these kits are of cars that are hard to find accurate models of elsewhere. Where else (other than brass) am I going to find an SP converted boxcar caboose??? They should be compared with brass cars imported by Overland and others. When you look at those coming in at well over $100.00 each, these kits are a bargain.
I can respect the frugality of other posters, but don’t diss these cars until you have tried them. Look at the photos of the cars on their website. Fantastic models!! They are a specialty car line for a niche market. There are those of us who have sold off (except the ones with cool weathering) our Athearn, Accurail and MDC cars and bought cars from manufacturers like these guys…
Expensive ?? You bet!! I figure its a long life and there is plenty of time to build a roster. I don’t need to buy 30 of em’ today.
sounds like they’re pretty busy . as far as i know they don’t even have a website (someone please correct me if i’m wrong , i’d love to see it)
if you need a model of a specific car you have a couple of choices . scratchbuild , brass , resin . scratchbuilding freight cars is probably a bit beyond me , brass cars make resin kits look like an incredible bargain , so brass probably isn’t in my future either .
it also depends on what type of layout you’re going to have . mine will be pretty small so i won’t have room for 2 or 3 hundred boxcars . 20 or 30 seems more likely . so if a few of them cost 40 bucks i don’t think i’ll have a problem , especially if they look great when i’m finished painting and detailing them . my eventual plan is to have no ready to run rolling stock on my layout (rtr locos are fine) . passenger equipment will probably be labelle , ore cares are going to be tichy (i have a couple of dozen kits already waiting to be built) . and there are a couple of manufacturers of other cars thay i like most of them are wood kits in the $20 to $30 range . of course modelling 1900-1910 means athearn / walthers / accurail don’t really make much that i can use anyway
this doesn’t even take into account that i live in canada , and that $40 resin kit is going to cost me about $55
I won a Rail Yard Models PC X79 boxcar and a show in St Louis. Beautiful kit and must fully assemble and comes wil trucks and Rail Graphic decals but, no couplers. I thought that the price of 31.95 for the kit was expensive but, upon working on the kit, is well worth the price. So, for THOSE OF YOU that bemoan the cost of Craftsman Kits, keep your mouth shut if you don’t intend to purchase a craftsman kit.
Ch
There are modelers who get thier kicks building craftsman style kits. These cars are aimed at that market. I struggle building an Athearn BB boxcar.I live on Athearn RTR,Walthers and Atlas cars.I consider Red Caboose,Intermountain,and Kaydee cars out of my price range.There are all kinds of modelers, and there are cars out there for all interests,and skill levels.As the French say,“Vive la difference”![:)][:D][8D][:p]
I wish I could afford cars like that.[sigh] I use what I can afford, Athearn and Roundhouse (their passenger cars are pretty fun to build). I like kits, most of my buildings are Walthers, but when it came to the railroad station I just had to break down and buy the Campbell’s depot. I just finished about a month ago, I worked on it since March, but it was fun all the way. I think however most people buy Athearn and other low quality, but not Bachman, since my hobby shop has a whole wall filled with the Athearn kits, but not a lot of very expensive kits.
Well, without going on and reading all the posts on page two, I’ll add my two cents here at the bottom of page one…
Hey, I’m with some others that prefer to shop around the swap meets and resurrect a derelic car that has seen better days, clean it up, repaint, redecal, rewheel, recouple…all for a lot less than $40.00. More fun as well. To each their own!!
Like the others have said, these are models of specific prototypes that will never be produced any other way. They are fantastic kits and if a detail was on the prototype, its on the model. I got off of e-bay last year a set(5) PRR G-21A hoppers (I think thats the class), and got them for 10.00 each unbuilt. I have several other of the Westerfield & Funaro kits (about 15 total) and they do build into models that rival present day brass. I enjoyed building each and everyone of them.
The biggest problem with Sunshine is that they DON’T have a website. They’re sort of stuck in the 20th century in that respect. I think it’s probably because the owner/manufacturer is basically running a one man show, and he’s basically overwhelmed by the orders he’s currently got. Of course, running a large and well-attended prototype modeler’s meet in Illinois every year takes up a pretty large chunk of his time too!
Westerfield’s website is fantastic: www.westerfield.biz
Funaro & Carmelengo has a decent website: www.fandckits.com
And there are several others, including Wright Track and Sylvan (a Canadian company), all of which have websites which are listed on the NMRA RR website directory.
WOW!!! I never thought this post would take on a life of it’s own. My oiginal point was-How much detail can you put into a Gon to make it worth $36 plus S/H.???(without trucks and couplers???) It’s a cast plastic product that you have to finish yourself??
Sorry guys! I just can’t see this.Maybe some of you can, but I can’t.[%-)]
I’m on a tight budget, and can’t really aford the expensive cars. A lot of my rolling stock is what’s known as slightly used/second hand in very good to like new condition, and I’m very grateful to be able to at least get that. Maybe one of these days I’ll win the lottery and be able to buy anything I want (dream on Tracklayer…).
Geeze you guys! Limited edition high accuracy stuff costs more, and is usually of interest only to a select small group of modelers, NOT because they are expensive, but because kits like this usually represent prototypes of interest to a smaller group of potential buyers. What is there to criticise? You ought to see what its like in O scale and On3, NOT On30 mass produced cheap stuff, but real On3. I would LOVE to have 40 dollar prices for high detail cars…Instead we have much higher prices to pay than HO and N, requiring careful planning of how hobby dollars are spent.
There are plenty of very affordable products in HO and N scale, and also some low volume specialty items that cost much more. Its called ‘having choices’ …Please don’t get bent out of shape that some special products are offered for a special interest market segment.