New Product

[Mark4]

A few pre-production photos of our new 50' plug door waffle-side boxcar:
http://members.cox.net/mark4design/DSCN1873m800.jpg

http://members.cox.net/mark4design/DSCN1858m800.jpg

We are still waiting on the stirrups and brake wheel and the packaging so it may be a few more weeks before we are ready to roll on this one. The body comes in 3 parts; 2 ends plus a retangular body "tube" so assembly is quick.

Material is acrylic photopolymer. It has been sprayed grey for photography; the parts as supplied are a translucent orange color. Polyscale paints work very well on this material.

Expect to see several more boxcar designs during the next few weeks and some other body styles over the next few months.

[pray59]

Very nice! This is a car that I would like to have several of for our ZBT modular club. I have a few questions. Is it going to be a kit or RTR? If a kit, can it be painted with Floquil Solvent based paints? (I already have hundreds of bottles of Floquil) Will there be decals for several different roads available? What is Acrylic Photopolymer? Is that some kind of rapid prototyping material or a UV cured resin or something?


Thanks for this exciting news,
Robert :D

[Mark4]

Originally posted by pray59:
Very nice! This is a car that I would like to have several of for our ZBT modular club. I have a few questions. Is it going to be a kit or RTR? If a kit, can it be painted with Floquil Solvent based paints? (I already have hundreds of bottles of Floquil) Will there be decals for several different roads available? What is Acrylic Photopolymer? Is that some kind of rapid prototyping material or a UV cured resin or something?


Thanks for this exciting news,
Robert :D It will be a kit but it shouldn't take much more than 10 minutes to assemble. Solvent-based paints work fine.

The acrylic photopolymer is a light-cured acrylic resin. I try to avoid the term rapid prototype as the build is not rapid and the parts will not be prototypes.

We are working on the decal availability. My decal-maker of choice is in the middle of a major international relocation.

[Kurt Moose]

That is so nice and well detailed!! A little after my time period of the 50's, but cool none the less. :cool:

[Kurt Moose]

How's about a standard cupola caboose for us Z'ers? It would sell!!!

[Fluid Dynamics]

Looks great!

[Alan]

That is a good looking car smile.gif

[Mark4]

Thanks for the feedback, folks.

Not conviced on the caboose suggestion - there were so many road-specific variants and each train generally only has one on it. I'm thinking that we all need a lot of moden freight cars and that is what we will concentrate on in Z scale. There may be some older cars from us but generally it will be because we have already produced them in N scale so most of the work is already done.

I will try and get some better photos of the boxcar - I was taking those ones during the last few minutes of daylight yesterday. Today is bright and clear so I should have better depth of field (and I though good N scale photography was tricky!)

[pray59]

Do you know what else Z Scale really needs? Small brick buildings! I'm talking a "Shrink" of DPM N Scale Downtown style kits in effect! Something inexpensive that consists of 4 wall pieces with cast in doors and windows, a roof, and nice fine brick detail.

I keep suggesting this to people who offer resin products, but I would suspect your process is perfect for this type of product. graemlins/wink.gif

When I was modeling in N Scale I bought several of each storefront, and did some mix and matching to make the variety I need. There are some etched brass brick wall products, but they are spendy, and do not cut up as nice as plastic and resins do.

I want to model a main street but do not want to do all brass, or printed cardboard, what I want is Z Scale DPM kits. :D

If you make them, I will buy, and buy, and buy some more. graemlins/notworthy.gif

[Mark4]

Originally posted by pray59:
Do you know what else Z Scale really needs? Small brick buildings! I'm talking a "Shrink" of DPM N Scale Downtown style kits in effect! Something inexpensive that consists of 4 wall pieces with cast in doors and windows, a roof, and nice fine brick detail.

I keep suggesting this to people who offer resin products, but I would suspect your process is perfect for this type of product. graemlins/wink.gif

When I was modeling in N Scale I bought several of each storefront, and did some mix and matching to make the variety I need. There are some etched brass brick wall products, but they are spendy, and do not cut up as nice as plastic and resins do.

I want to model a main street but do not want to do all brass, or printed cardboard, what I want is Z Scale DPM kits. :D

If you make them, I will buy, and buy, and buy some more. graemlins/notworthy.gif I already have some samples. Thay are not copies of the DPM buildings but were designed from buildings that I have photographed. The original intention was to offer them as alternative facades for the N scale DPM buildings but after shrinking them in the software and spitting them out of the machine they look rather attractive in Z. It is also the intention to make the front of the buildings with separate upper and lower parts with alternative "shop fronts".

Our process is too slow and too expensive to make buildings directly but we are working on some interesting secondary manufacturing processes. Watch this space (and others).

[pray59]

I had been interested in those Invision MJM systems myself, with one use I could think of is to use the 3d printer to make the masters, then make molds for resin casting the wall parts, and car sides.

The real trick is in finding a strong casting resin that can be cast to 1/16" thick, as that seems to be the most scale workable thickness of those wall sections.

I already figured out the best painting process, which would be to spray the walls in a flat mortar color primer (light gray) then use a "dry brush" (minimal paint) approach with a fine sponge to daub on the brick color to the raised surface.

Don't worry, I won't buy one of those system to compete with you, I'll instead buy your kits when you offer them. I'm more than too busy with my laser cutter projects to get involved with another learning curve.

Just remember that the Z Scale field is still wide open, and remember how fast N Scale exploded by 1988, when Kato started releasing Flywheel Equipt locomotives. It seems like over night new manufacturers cam online to offer all kinds of N Scal producrs. I think that's about when the DPM kits started showing up. They have remained strong sellers since then too! :D

[Mark4]

Originally posted by pray59:
I had been interested in those Invision MJM systems myself, :D Robert,
When it comes to equipment you have to select very carefully. I did not select the Invision machine.

As for mastering - we do offer this service and have done jobs for others who have supplied us with suitable 3D files.

[shamoo737]

Mark, can you give me the estimate time for shipping the waffle car and the pups.

Thank You

[EDModels]

Robert,

You must have intercepted some email between myself and my brother! I'm working a variety of "DPM-style" injection molded building kits for z scale. Stay tuned!

[pray59]

That's great news! DPM style buildings are just what Z Scale needs. Do you have a time frame you are shooting for?

-Robert :D

[shamoo737]

Mythman, Whatever happend to the enclosed auto racks you were working on. I think right now is a good time to bring it to the market if it is in the backburner.

[Mark4]

Originally posted by shamoo737:
Mark, can you give me the estimate time for shipping the waffle car and the pups.

Thank You The waffle box cars are available now. The trailers will be available in around 2 weeks time.

[shamoo737]

Yeah! MY waffle car and the pup arrive today, and they look great. The only problem is we need someone to make decals for the waffle car. Any volunteers?

John

[EDModels]

Mark,

I would like to order a waffle-side boxcar. What are your accepted forms of payment?

[shamoo737]

Here is a picture of the waffle car. http://www.railimages.com/albums/johnmui/aae.jpg

[pray59]

Your car looks real nice John! I went to Mark Gasson's website to order me one, and some pup trailers, but he has a notice that he's moving to New Zealand, and no orders will be processed until he settles in.

When he is ordering again, I'll get me a couple, and make us up some decals. I was thinking of a GN car like this one:
GN Waffle Side Box (http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/gn_box.jpg)

-Robert

[shamoo737]

Sounds good to me, Robert. I can just imagine you in a waffle house ordering breakfast. Sir, what kind of waffle will you have, and Robert answering, a Great Northern waffle.

John

[shamoo737]

Here is a picture of unfinish pup. http://www.railimages.com/albums/johnmui/aaf.jpg

[Mark4]

Originally posted by shamoo737:
Here is a picture of the waffle car. http://www.railimages.com/albums/johnmui/aae.jpg As noted elsewhere we are in transit between countries. Our worldly goods and our equipment are in two 40 foot containers somewhere on the high seas and we won't see them for 11 weeks. We are in England catching up with my wife's family.

Having said that, I have had 2 of the local N scalers stop by, drink beer and buy stuff from me. I have all the parts for about 70 waffle boxes with me, with the exception of the jewel cases.

As far as payment goes, about the only thing I can accept at the moment is Paypal. Once we get established in NZ (next month) we will offer full credit card facilities.

We generally build to order so all models will be available all the time - no need to rush to get something before it runs out and I feel more comfortable not taking payment until I know I can ship the goods within a reasonable time period. The build-to-order method does mean that there may be some delay between order and getting models but my experience of airmail shipment beween NZ and US is that it takes no longer than coast to coast in the US.

The next Z scale car to be released is the 50 foot airslide.

Mark Gasson

Mark 4 Design

[Alan]

That waffle side car looks wonderful! I would like to see pics of the pup trailer when it is finished smile.gif

[Mark4]

Originally posted by Alan:
That waffle side car looks wonderful! I would like to see pics of the pup trailer when it is finished smile.gif Alan,

At the moment we are staying in a cottage a little South of Cambridge (spitting distance from Duxford). I have one of the trailers with me (as well as a whole lot of other samples). The material is translucent and the refractive index varies slightly through it. It's hard to see any detail until you hit it with some paint.

BTW, excellent display by an F86 Sabrejet at Duxford yesterday. My 9 year old daughter was most impressed. Also saw the B17, Spitfire, Dragon Rapide etc all airborne. Strange to see an F15 in the museum, retired for several years.

Mark

[shamoo737]

In Arizona I saw hundreds of F-15 that are retire from service. The guide told us they have flown all their flying hours, and would be too costly to modify them. My previous hobby was to visit aircraft boneyards. Now, it's impossible to do that.

[Alan]

F15's retired :eek: I guess we are lucky to regularly see them flying over our house smile.gif

Sounds like a good display Mark. I guess there was an air show at Duxford? Several years since I attended one there.

[Gordon Werner]

Originally posted by Mark4:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by shamoo737:
Here is a picture of the waffle car. http://www.railimages.com/albums/johnmui/aae.jpg We generally build to order so all models will be available all the time - no need to rush to get something before it runs out and I feel more comfortable not taking payment until I know I can ship the goods within a reasonable time period. The build-to-order method does mean that there may be some delay between order and getting models but my experience of airmail shipment beween NZ and US is that it takes no longer than coast to coast in the US.

The next Z scale car to be released is the 50 foot airslide.

Mark Gasson

Mark 4 Design </font>[/QUOTE]well ... don't forget to let us know when you're back in business so we can order them.

Gordon.

[Mark4]

Originally posted by Alan:
F15's retired :eek: I guess we are lucky to regularly see them flying over our house smile.gif

Sounds like a good display Mark. I guess there was an air show at Duxford? Several years since I attended one there. Not a show - just a few displays. Still most worthwhile though.

[Mark4]

Originally posted by Gordon Werner:


well ... don't forget to let us know when you're back in business so we can order them.

Gordon. [/QB][/QUOTE]

Will do, Gordon.

[HoboTim]

Will be working on decals for the waffle side box car that Mark 4 Design produces. Will let everyone know when they are available.

Are their any special requests for roadnames? Let me know! tdb@tnt-z.com

[RSmidt]

Any update on the waffle-side boxcars yet?

Are you settled in yet?

Patiently waiting in Virginia.

Randy Smidt

[RSmidt]

I just ordered some of the waffle sided-boxcars from Mark. Sounds like he had some delays getting his equipment repaired after the damage caused by the move, but he told me he should have things back in production in a few weeks.

He still has some of the waffle-sided boxcars available and will have many more soon when the equipment is up and running again.

In the meantime he has been working on new designs and said he will have multiple new types of rolling stock available later in the year.

Randy

[shamoo737]

Robert, becareful of what you write in trainboard, because its so find old post. ;) When he is ordering again, I'll get me a couple, and make us up some decals. I was thinking of a GN car like this one: