Being primarily a model builder (kits no scratch builder here) and having built many model planes and cars I find myself wishing someone would make a non-operating kit of some of the most popular diesel locomotives. In my dream this kit would contain a detailed cab and engine compartment. With the state of the art today in plastic molding and photo etched details this could make a great model to put in an engine shop or servicing facility. Am I alone here or is there some demand for such a kit or even better is there such a kit out there?
I look to my fellow MRR’ers to confirm, but aren’t there already “non-powered” loco kits available out there now? I think I’ve seen many on ebay. Can anyone confirm?
Both the original “Highliners” and now “Intermountain” F unit shells went out onto the shelves and got very slim sales. Last time I was in my LHS it had a bunch of the Intermountains on the clearance shelf. It is just hard to justify $50 for a detailed shell when one can get the same thing with a powered unit under it for $80 or so.
I’m not talking about a detailrd “shell” The kit would be NON-OPERATING, just a very detailed model inside and out. Not necessarily “static” as it could concieveably be pulled or pushed as a dummy unit. Also I guess I should have specified a scale in this case HO.
I would! Even if it was a larger scale. A kit like that has been a loooong time coming anyway. It would be a refreshing challenge to build a modern diesel from the inside out. With the quality of model kits out today, it would be possible to model just about everything. From opening battery box doors to traction motor cables! Very educational. I would buy one, maybe even two! [:D]
Years ago I made my own - used a dummy Athearn F7, and made the diesel motor from bits and pieces in my scrapbox. These days I’d use the Walther GM diesel engine, making it a lot easier! Here’s my version:
(click on photo to enlarge)
It’s a simulated night shot like railfans do, using multiple flash bulbs or electronic flash units. I lit my model with three LED flashlights.
Revell have done one - they also offer the Big Boy, Hudson, and a few German steamers alongside a “Ludmilla” diesel loco - these were originally built in the USSR for the old DDR, and are one of very few types that the reunified DB has kept from the old DR (most of the Soviet designs had big problems and were often unreliable). I just wi***hey’d done a 4-axle type (Ludmilla has 6 axles) as it’d be very easy to motorise it with a SPUD or two, so you’d have a fully detailed loco that can still move around or haul a short train.
As an aside, my cutaway F7 shown in previous post has a PFM SPUD in the front truck, so it does operate! I wanted to enter the model in an NMRA contest, and any engines must be powered, so that’s what I did.
I know you are correct about the slim sales of the Highliner shells, but they could be installed on many different type of running chassis. I purchased about twenty of the orginal shells simply because they were the best. After a few were completed, they matched or bested the best of my brass diesels. Most of my first Highliner shells were the plated type also and became Sant Fe models.
The only advantage of the Highliners now over the Genesis line is to build a certain unit exactly like the real one at one point in time with all the detail.
For instance, some of the Santa Fe units ended up with a mixture of high and low fans after rebuilding. I modeled two of the Santa Fe units with a mixture of the fans.
