Hi John; Westerfield is definitly in the same class. In fact he just announced on the STMFC list that he had discovered an error in a recently released kit, and requested any purchasers contact him for replacement parts. This an error in the brake gear, not something that actually effects the assembly or operation of the model! There are others, even F&C who are a bit of the "low end" in the HO resin world produce models far more accurate and specific than most styrene models of just a few years ago.
A key difference is that AFAIK F&C do all their own masters, while Sunshine and possibly Westerfield have other modelers who produce masters for them in at least some cases. This does tend to mean that the cars that get produced are the ones of interest to master maker. Also to my knowledge the only two models of the SAL car have produced in HO are the Sunshine resin kit and the older MDC plastic model. MDC did do an older metal version in the 1940s that was in some ways better than the plastic version that followed. I guess you could count the Bowser PRR round roof cars that they lettered SAL, ignoring the different ends and side features, so maybe that's really four! I'm sure Earl Tuson would be happy to cast any steam era model someone wants to produce as a master pattern. Another point is that most of these makers see enough demand for their kits that can just produce them (using some knowledge of their customer base, of course) and be certain of sufficent sales. You may have to wait for a specific model if you order something other than the most current releases, but at least you don't have to reserve and hope enouh others do so also to make it happen. Pieter --- In [email protected], John Degnan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dang shame, too... as Sunshine makes the most prototypically accurate models I've ever seen. I can guarantee my layout would consiste of a LARGE FLEET of just about ANY S scale model Sunshine produced, if they would produce any. In fact, Sunshine is the ONLY HO manufacturer who offers a correct/accurate version of the SAL "Turtleback" (Round Roof) boxcar that I'm trying to get produced in S. Ironic if you ask me... > > John Degnan Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
