I know John Degnan takes a lot of heat from folks, not because he's right or
wrong, but because he's VERY passionate about S scale growth and model
fidelity. Whether you agree with him or not, no one should fault him for
TRYING to promote S. Fact is, S scale can use more folks like John. Maybe
then we wouldn't be known as the "secret" scale.
As for offering my kits with hi-rail flanges, sorry, that ain't gonna
happen. I have no way of knowing how many . if any . of my kits have been
bought by modelers in the "grey area" often called "hi-scalers" (scale
couplers and tall flanges, ala SHS' steamer). I'm not pointing fingers
here, just stating my sales experiences. From a business standpoint,
selling to a larger market like hi-railers might make sense but that's not
my intent. I produce kits that represent the prototype as closely as
manufacturing tolerances allow. To design in the option of using tall
flanges under my kits requires changes to the brake system, centersill,
bolster/bolster plate and coupler height. Such changes detract from the
goal of prototype fidelity and that's simply not an option for me. Now, if
a modeler wants to modify any of my kits to allow for hi-rail flanges,
that's his/her call . and it can be done, but not without sacrificing detail
that I try VERY hard to include during the design stages.
There is no way I can please everyone and I'm not trying to. Those of us
who actually build models versus taking them out of a box and watching them
run down the track can appreciate the amount of detail packed into these
kits. Kit building is not a lost art in S scale, thankfully. This is the
market I'm targeting and, so far, I've been WELL supported. MANY THANKS to
my faithful customers!!!
Jim King
Smoky Mountain Model Works, Inc.
www.smokymountainmodelworks.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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