...right, dealers and retailers are going to be none too happy either with order cancellations, returns, etc....oye, this could be a none too pretty sight....
After reading this thread and viewing the photos. I will stop waiting for the SD45-2 in the MRL scheme. Boy! What a disappointment!
I guess the old saying might ring true that you never buy the first model of a new car? It is obvious IM were pushed for time before Christmas to release the models. I'm hoping that the next release will be of better quality. I'm guessing the next shipload will reach the expectations of all us modellers. In the end we are all hoping for a great modeller from a company that in the past has had a great reputation.
Too my eye the shell looks like it was built by a 6 year old building his or her first plastic model kit. I hope the quality is corrected because in all the years I have been in N scale this is the worst attempt at a new release I have ever seen. I really feel bad for you guys that have waited so long for these, the disappointment must really hurt.
Are there any child labor laws in China???? Daylight99...maybe that's exactly why the TMs look like they do... perhaps the factory workers were all kids from the neighborhood Kindergarten which were put on the assembly line to get the TM's out in time for Christmas. Actually... it's a good job for a bunch of little kids...
I hear they "retire you" at about age 45 so younger more energetic workers can have a job, at which time you become a ward of your family. This forces the youngsters to work even harder and faster, as they only get a few years of work befor the next generation has a go at it!
What I don't understand is why things like the cab have to be glued on at all. The "state of the art" these days is for shells to be snap fit. I can understand the etched brass detail but maybe they would have done better to weather the squalls of the customers when they found they had to mount them for themselves. I am now quite proficient at adding handrail stanchions to Kato Mikados,
I personally think this all needs to get moved to another level right now. I think IM needs to post final production pics of the next round of units--UP--on their web site so we can see what we are buying...not the pre-production pics, but the final version...as it sits in their shop/factory/warehouse right now...like any other manufacturer of any other product...I sent them an email asking for pics, I wonder if it might help for them to hear from all of us individually in a constructive way? ...in other words..."please post pics..."
Hmmm... Wait for D&RGW Tunnel Motors or upgrade computer? Does anyone think that the quality will improve by the run of Rio Grande run? I would think they are being readied to be shipped soon and would be of the same quality. Also does anyone else have a unit to can verify that the quality is that bad? Maybe the one posted slipped through QC that should not have.
Actually Nick, There are photos of 2 IMRC Tunnel Motors being displayed, but, only one has been shown here. This one is Hemiadda2d's TM#8325. On Railwire, Geep35, who is a model railroad retailer (Feather River Trains), has pixs of his TM#8324... which doesn't look quite as bad, but, still has visible problems. Edit: As far as improvement... they better improve things by the time they get to the UP's and SP's because if they're not near perfect by then... the whole project is shot... I think they mentioned the D&RGW are after the 1st run of SP's??? . [ 02. January 2004, 16:28: Message edited by: Calzephyr ]
What a predicament to start 2004! As someone pointed out, the limited run production system has a fundamental flaw, our need to order product before we've seen it. That system works totally on trust - trust that the product will be as good as promised. Kato and Atlas have built a strong enough reputation in that regard that modelers feel safe doing that. With the FT's, and the Tunnel Motor prices, IM created a certain expectation and trust, which we showed with our pre-orders. However, when a manufacturer betrays that trust, the system breaks down, and from what I read it sounds like we are the brink of one of those (fortunately rare) breakdowns. Like the others, I can only hope the problems are confined to the original batch and that IM elminates them. One thought coming from this situaiton, though, is I think some modelers may have a lot more patience and tolerance with manufacturers who don't get certain prototypical details 100% correct, if the trade-off is design simplicity, which in turn makes for better quality models... Just a thought William
UP Mike... Sad to say that if it is not a joke... 19.99 might be too high a price for people that would take offense to having them around. Imagine... buying these for $19.99 just for the mechanism like many did with the LL GP20's, Of course... we'd need to be sure the mechanism works...Wolfworks mentioned his was missing bearing retainers... yikes!!??!!??!??! [ 02. January 2004, 17:45: Message edited by: Calzephyr ]
Well if they were $19.99 I could pick up 12 of them instead of 2. Well I guess we all get to play the waiting game for now.
This is rather upsetting. Although I had only reserved one SD40T-2 and SD45T-2, I had real high expectations for these models. Russ
Hey, Russ... now you don't feel so bad about bashing one and then having it come out, do ya? I'd rather pay you to build me one from what I've seen. Maybe I should be glad I bought my Kato WP F3...
I was thinking the same thing last night while looking at those terrible TM's. But, I think that IMRC wouldn't have as tough a time with the F3's as they've had with the TM's because the shells of the F's are less complicated, thus, less assembly problems to deal with. Still, if they employ toddlers to assemble the F's then we'd have problems..
I'm really hoping this is some kind of fluke. Even though the TMs are not in my era, as others have said, I'd love to see IM succeed. There's always room for more manufacturers in N scale. I'm still looking forward to IM's FTs in WP's silver and orange. I thought IM's FTs were better looking than MT's.
Well, I went and looked up close and personal at these today at my LHS. Now, these are not my era but I must admit confirm whatever, these are 5 feet lookers. Look great if you are 5 feet away. I looked at two different units and both had all the issues in this thread. One had a number of paint chips on it like someone had dropped it but I was assured that did not happen. To bad, I really like my IM FT's. Maybe they need to try again.
