I just moved this month, trains are all in boxes in living room. Today, actually trying by myself to get layout top on it's legs. Not easy, as I'm dealing with a real bad hip, and screwed up left leg from spinal surgery. I've used Optivisor for several years now when working on trains. AND a good bright light. bbusssey, thanks for the color tip. x600, good idea to stash kit for now, little parts fly like like crazy. Still have a Robert Ray NYC hack to assemble. I also ordered that Intermountain SF-PC run thru hack. I'm so bad when it comes to trains.
Bryan's kit is not for everyone. There are a significant amount of modelers out there with the skill to build these kits into museum quality models. Those modelers realize the time and effort that went into creating a model that is a flawless representation of a very unique caboose. Those modelers also realize that this is most likely the ONLY commercial offering of this type of caboose to ever be produced by a manufacturer and that once these are gone, they are gone. Those modelers also strive to model the DL&W/EL/Conrail to the best of their ability and appreciate the kit for what it is. Those modelers have not scoffed at the price of the kit but instead have supported ESM and are helping to insure that there are more of these limited run offerings to come. Atlas makes a perfectly good trainman caboose lettered for the EL and DL&W. The caboose sells in the teens and has absolutely nothing to do with the railroads they are decorated for. That is a perfect option for those who feel that Bryan's kit is too expensive. I am sorry if I appear to be terse in tone but to scoff at the price of a limited run kit like this that fills a void in a very thin market is just in poor taste to me. If I didn't agree with the pricing of a kit like this I would just keep quiet and not say anything. What good comes from complaining about the price of a model that is probably not even for a railroad you model? We should be supportive of projects like this (whether it be by buying the kit or by just appreciating the fine nature of the model) rather than being critical of it. Scott Lupia
Sorry if I "gored your sacred cow", but my opinion has not changed.................."Probably worth it's price to some, but there is NO WAY I would pay that, especially for a kit!!" I meant no disrespect for the kit, I just would not put out that kind of $$$ for it. If there are those that are so inclined, let them have at it. Just not me.
I did buy at least a half dozen the X? Magor/PC&F 40' Insulated/Heated Boxcars. PC, NH, BAR. They are beautiful, well detailed models.
Here's an idea... perhaps we should all flood TB with "I can't use this" posts and thereby make the board effectively useless. Let's up the ante by posting seperate threads for each roadname of every release we can't use or don't want to pay the going rate. And don't stop at just rolling stock... there are buildings and accessories for which we have no interest at the price point being asked. If it were me, I'd delete every post that includes "none for me" regardless of how nice or how snide it is, issue warnings and ban repeat offenders, and write into the rules that such posts are not allowed. But it's not me, and for that, and the patience of the moderators who do have to put up with this, I'm most grateful.
What you said!!! I am always happy when someone has the guts to make anything N Scale as I think we all should be. IMHO
There is a big difference between saying "I can't afford the kit" and "I would never pay that for the kit". I just don't see the value of proclaiming in a public forum that you feel the kit is too expensive and that it "might" be worth the price especially if it is not a model that suits your interests. If you were a DL&W/EL modeler and this model was something you wanted maybe you would have a different feeling. There are plenty of fellow modelers who have come forward to purchase this kit and in many cases, several kits. They obviously disagree with the statement that "the kit might be worth the price". It looks like there is a very small number of people dissatisfied with the price of the kit and as usual, the negative thinkers always seem to have the loudest voice. Scott
I am building a Milwaukee Road fleet of passenger cars. I am paying about 20 bucks for the brass car sides, 13 bucks for the core car kit. Add another 15 bucks for decals, couplers, wheel sets, paint, window glazing, wire for grab irons, etched stirrups... I'm not even giving myself a dollar an hour for the 15-18 hours of time it takes to build one.................I don't see an issue. ..............Randy
One could always scratch build one of these cabeese from styrene for next to nothing,(monitarily).:cute: Mike
Here are some pics of finished models, as a point of reference. Click on the photos to see the enlargements. The marker lights are not included, but it shows what the end results can be for the finished model. Other than paint, everything needed to create a highly-detailed prototypically-accurate finished model is included.
Looked at my kit tonight, printed 16 pages from ESM website. Anybody here build one yet? Any tips for assembly? Not sure what road I'll paint mine for. Joe D
What is time worth to us? Compared to money? Compared to ability? Compared to our fondness for a certain railroad? If you're an EL fan, and don't have the time, patience, ability, knowledge of the building materials and tool needed to make a car you really want, how can you convert all that to a monetary value "to see if it's worth it"? You want expensive? I bought ESM car sides for $22, used them to replace the sides of a $20 Kato car (broken out of a set,BTW), reworked the Kato interior to fit the NH prototype (which involved switching the lamp base from one end of the car to the other), cut the individual windows for it out of Kato glass sets, painted it, put Bare-Metal foil over all the "stainless steel" parts, added decals (which don't stick to metal foil - have to solve that problem) and still have the underbody details to cut off and rearrange and add to for a correct car. Oh, and throw a Kato lighting kit for $8 in there. If I tried to put a price on this it would definitely be in the three figure range. But the thing is there are no other N cars like this, nor do I foresee Kato making a New Haven passenger train set, ever. Did I pay too much?
Joe, still waiting to put my work desk back in my "office". Hope to get started this next weekend. Kids left on Sunday, no major damage to report. Backshop, Where are you at in Wa.??
Still getting new apartment squared away. Sat and looked at directions for a bit. Looked at parts, too. My hack has a hole in roof.Hope to get started soon. Need to find all my modeling tools/supplies. Greg, good luck, let us know how it goes and post pix if you can. Joe D
Is the hole in one of the separate roof parts, or is the hole in one of the thin roof membranes of the body? Those membranes were for keeping the rubber mold halves separated during the mold creation and must be discarded before installing the actual roofs. That procedure is one of the early stages in the instructions.
It's in the body. Guess I'm not all that familiar with instructions, and have not laid everything out. Did not mean to imply a defect, thought it was one of the bubbles mentioned. Thank you for this offering. Would you consider doing any LIRR hacks??? Joe D
Greg O/Lackawanna, I live about 90 miles up I-5 from Seattle. I was slowly compiling PRR trains for about 20 years until Kato brought out the BL and ended my project. Now I'm trying to figure out how to build or convert passenger cars to copy NH ones.
Joe, Brought the desk back in tonight, I'll start getting the tools and paints,etc. back in soon. Maybe I should do a build thread w/photos. That will make me keep my standards higher! Backshop, Thought I knew ALL the east coast N-Scalers in the Pacific NW! I'm 75mi south of Seattle, but I run into lots of people at all the train shows. For anyone that does present day, this model of caboose is still active. Took this a few years back at the DL shops in South Scranton. In small letters it notes "DL&W 882".
