Lately brass is not much more expensive than SHS locos, but you do have the added expense or painting, decaling, glazing, etc. But, if you enjoy this activity and building a one of a kind (yours only) loco it can be very rewarding. You just may not be able to do it all at one time.
But, the SHS F units are fabulous locos. I have mine on the mantel for motivation and enjoyment and they are quite remarkable models. Almost makes me question spending the time to turn a raw brass model into a painted, working loco.
My understanding of the SHS dilemma is that it's well on the way to being solved. SHS has found several builders and is making inroads into get their (note I said their) tooling back. Kader is a pack of thieves and cheaters and having to deal with them while using another countries legal system has to be an education.
But, on the Yahoo S Forum last month and in a recent SHS interview posted in Dick Karnes S Curves Column, Don Thompson indicated the worst was behind them and they'll definitely be producing more S products. I dont' think we'll see anything until next year but that is much better than never.
I understand S Scale America (Ron Sebastin) has a handle on their Kader problem as well. The only one of the big 3 producers in S I've heard nothing about is American Models, but I suspect they're getting it pulled together too.
Butch
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