Norfolk and Western Class A in Fine ART

George diSanti posted:

I would love to see the MMW drive in a steam engine. Has anyone ever asked Erik if he would ever produce a steam engine? Erik honors requests. Maybe if enough of us email him and request high end steam he would do it. Any takers?

George diSanti

Erik did develop a drive for a Sunset N&W J many years ago and it still resides in his workshop. His latest drive is however a much superior product. 

Matt Makens posted:

I’m going to sit down and tell my story on this and other forums about what happened with Kohs and my big boy reservation. I just need to sit down and do it. What is going on there is wrong and people need to be aware of it so they can make an informed decision as to whether they want to buy into one of his projects. He is planning on doing HO models so there’s a whole new set of victims he can prey on. People need to know.

Matt I will look forward to your comments. Should be very interesting what you bring forward.Yes people need to be informed.I know a person Mark Russel CEO of Wilcox International one of the first to sue GK for models never received.

I hope this does not get censored once you post it. Most items about GK get the axe.

Bob Harris

rdunniii posted:

Simon Winter posted:

rdunniii posted:

FAM produced all the Lionel Smithsonian passenger cars in 1/48.

On that subject, I see some called/listed as FAM and some as Lionel Smithsonian. From what I read, FAM produced the Smithsonian stuff in both 2 and 3 rail, and then additional 2R cars were imported under FAM. Anyone care to expand on/correct this???

Thanks,

Simon

 

All Lionel Smithsonian passenger cars are 2-rail.  The Hudsons were done in both 2 and 3-rail (by FAM).  After FAM delivered the cars to Lionel they marketed additional cars under the FAM name.  Additionally, they took the 20th Century cars and repurposed them as Broadway limited cars.  Worked for the sleepers but not for the observation or the lounge cars.  A bit of a disaster ensued over those.  And the Broadway diner and RPO were never done in 1/48 (only 1/32) by FAM.

THANKS MUCH!

Simon

I have to come to realize that the brass importers operate in such a way that if the project is listed on one of the importers porject list most of the other importers will not touch it  because competition in brass can kill a project. You get three importers with the same project there may be enough reservations to get it done with one importer but split it up between two or three and that dilutes the pool to the point where neither of the importers can get enough reservations. GK has 4 locos on his list that I want but he cant get projects delivered in a timely fashion and the decades long reservation process he runs is killing his business. I cant believe anybody, including me, would give somebody with his track record of stringing projects along for 10 or 12 years a dime for a model, especially since he is 68 years old. If he pulls off the big boy, which I doubt he can, he will not get enough reservations to do any more models in any scale. If GK falls out of the brass model importing business then all those projects he has locked up on his project list will be free for the other two or three left to make and do in a timely fashion.

Matt - since PSC is retired, looks like GK is not far behind. Looks like the new kid on the block maybe our only choice?

George diSanti

Lee Marsh is coming into the US O sclae market

Limey posted

 

Sadly the German brass market is stuck in reverse and engaged in a race to the bottom.

If you have a moment and the inclination, I'd appreciate clarification on what you are saying there.

Best rgds, SZ

Steinzeit posted:

Limey posted

 

Sadly the German brass market is stuck in reverse and engaged in a race to the bottom.

If you have a moment and the inclination, I'd appreciate clarification on what you are saying there.

Best rgds, SZ

See below, museum quality(?) locomotive for less than e3000 with a minimum radius of less than a metre, it doesn't add up.

http://www.spurnull-magazin.de...gt-br-41-in-messing/

When I asked Wunder why the V160 in brass was cancelled the reply I received was that today Germans would not pay the e1800 or so for a brass diesel. 

In the UK Masterpiece can get a high end diesel project off the ground for around £3300 or double the price at todays exchange rate.

Germans want maximum model for minimum price, common sense says something has to  give, invariably the detail.  This is self evident by the lack of high end brass being made for the German market , Lemaco/Lematec have clearly given up on Germany.  

I own one MBW diesel as the V221 will now clearly not be manufactured in brass to 1.43.5 and I am not impressed. The Lenz I have seen and used is of comparatively good quality though.

I hope this clarification suffices, the facts speak for themselves. My German collecting is now confined to ebay and secondhand dealers.

Limey posted:

Steinzeit posted:

Limey posted

 

Sadly the German brass market is stuck in reverse and engaged in a race to the bottom.

If you have a moment and the inclination, I'd appreciate clarification on what you are saying there.

Best rgds, SZ

 

I own one MBW diesel as the V221 will now clearly not be manufactured in brass to 1.43.5 and I am not impressed. The Lenz I have seen and used is of comparatively good quality though.

 

 

If your post is about 1:43.5 I completely agree with you. All high end and low end German 0 manufacturers including Kiss have chosen to use the correct scale of 1:45 and not 1:43.5. The English manufacturers, also high end, still use the wrong scale of 1:43.5. Of course that is no problem if you are just running trains, but if the website (like Masterpiece models) is mentioning "Our objective is simply to produce the most accurate model possible " using a wrong gauge/scale combination seems a bit odd.

Regards

Fred

Of course that is no problem if you are just running trains, but if the website (like Masterpiece models) is mentioning "Our objective is simply to produce the most accurate model possible " using a wrong gauge/scale combination seems a bit odd.

It does seem odd, doesn't it?  I vote for 17/64 scale for the upper end models.  Proto-48 is the most accurate, of course, but beyond my track laying skills.

sncf231e posted:

Limey posted:

Steinzeit posted:

Limey posted

 

Sadly the German brass market is stuck in reverse and engaged in a race to the bottom.

If you have a moment and the inclination, I'd appreciate clarification on what you are saying there.

Best rgds, SZ

 

I own one MBW diesel as the V221 will now clearly not be manufactured in brass to 1.43.5 and I am not impressed. The Lenz I have seen and used is of comparatively good quality though.

 

 

If your post is about 1:43.5 I completely agree with you. All high end and low end German 0 manufacturers including Kiss have chosen to use the correct scale of 1:45 and not 1:43.5. The English manufacturers, also high end, still use the wrong scale of 1:43.5. Of course that is no problem if you are just running trains, but if the website (like Masterpiece models) is mentioning "Our objective is simply to produce the most accurate model possible " using a wrong gauge/scale combination seems a bit odd.

Regards

Fred

They offer S7 which is completely scale. I will stick with 32mm gauge, can you see the extra which is less than 1MM although it is rounded out to 33MM. My point was that the German market will not pay for Kohs type quality.

bob2 posted:

Of course that is no problem if you are just running trains, but if the website (like Masterpiece models) is mentioning "Our objective is simply to produce the most accurate model possible " using a wrong gauge/scale combination seems a bit odd.

It does seem odd, doesn't it?  I vote for 17/64 scale for the upper end models.  Proto-48 is the most accurate, of course, but beyond my track laying skills.

My first question is: How many of these UPPER END models do you buy? If the answer is ZERO, then why do you care????? O Scale has been 1/48 and 1.25" gauge for years.

Even the P48 modelers use 1/48 above the wheels, so it looks like it's just you in for the 17/64.

GOOD LUCK!

Simon