10-06-2010, 05:02 PM
From time to time I have read and re-read this thread ... there was something missing ...
So I write now to comment ...
There are several well-known and a couple of (to me) not-so-well-known kit manufacturers mentioned. And although I don't have first hand knowledge with all of the purveyors discussed, I find it interesting that to date, no one has mentioned Westerfield as a manufacturer of high quality, highly detailed models of steam era rolling stock. In fact, Westerfield offers examples not available from any one else.
My back-stock of "To Be Built" kits includes quite a number of Mr. Westerfields offerings. They build up into very nice pieces of rolling stock.
One of the pioneers of the cast urethane craftsman kits, a considerable amount of care must nbe exercised when assembling your first kit, but once you master the unique assembly steps of this type of kit, they become enjpoyable builds and the finished product is worthy of pride.
They are not inexpensive, but when you consider the fact that they are a craftsman kit, that it will take more than a couple of evenings of careful model building to realize the completed model, the end product justifies the fun-for-the-dollar quotient that I assign when rating a model to determine if it will be a purchase or not.
My own first Westerfield kit, built back in 1989 when I was confined to laying on the sofa with ice bags strapped to my post-arthroscopic-surgery swollen knee, had some tricky steps (assembling the roof and getting the pitch correct is one step that had me very concerned - those early flat cast urethane parts were quite brittle until part of an assembly) that one doesn't normally have to deal with in your average plastic kit, but after the first time, it goes pretty smoothly.
The results are pretty decent ...
![[Image: LSWMoWToolCar428.jpg]](http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af349/wwmarsland/Lehigh%20Susquehanna%20and%20Western/Rolling%20Stock%20Portraits/LSWMoWToolCar428.jpg)
Note: Most LS&W MoW equipment rolls on Fox Pressed Steel trucks ... being from upstate Pennsylvania, we are from frugal stock.
Of course, after having been here at Big Blue for a while and seeing many of doctorwayne's box cars, I realize I have some detail to add ... like roof walk end supports, for starters!
So I write now to comment ...
There are several well-known and a couple of (to me) not-so-well-known kit manufacturers mentioned. And although I don't have first hand knowledge with all of the purveyors discussed, I find it interesting that to date, no one has mentioned Westerfield as a manufacturer of high quality, highly detailed models of steam era rolling stock. In fact, Westerfield offers examples not available from any one else.
My back-stock of "To Be Built" kits includes quite a number of Mr. Westerfields offerings. They build up into very nice pieces of rolling stock.
One of the pioneers of the cast urethane craftsman kits, a considerable amount of care must nbe exercised when assembling your first kit, but once you master the unique assembly steps of this type of kit, they become enjpoyable builds and the finished product is worthy of pride.
They are not inexpensive, but when you consider the fact that they are a craftsman kit, that it will take more than a couple of evenings of careful model building to realize the completed model, the end product justifies the fun-for-the-dollar quotient that I assign when rating a model to determine if it will be a purchase or not.
My own first Westerfield kit, built back in 1989 when I was confined to laying on the sofa with ice bags strapped to my post-arthroscopic-surgery swollen knee, had some tricky steps (assembling the roof and getting the pitch correct is one step that had me very concerned - those early flat cast urethane parts were quite brittle until part of an assembly) that one doesn't normally have to deal with in your average plastic kit, but after the first time, it goes pretty smoothly.
The results are pretty decent ...
Note: Most LS&W MoW equipment rolls on Fox Pressed Steel trucks ... being from upstate Pennsylvania, we are from frugal stock.
Of course, after having been here at Big Blue for a while and seeing many of doctorwayne's box cars, I realize I have some detail to add ... like roof walk end supports, for starters!
biL
Lehigh Susquehanna & WesternÂ
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln
Lehigh Susquehanna & WesternÂ
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." ~~Abraham Lincoln