Let me clarify that MY posts were not at all based in unawareness of what Jim has achieved with his method(s) of production.... which I fully and totally appreciate.
What I am talking about is that there are TONS on prototypes that COULD be modeled via the flat panel approach that will NEVER BE SEEN from ANY manufacturer and their respective production processes! It is NOT about saving time for me (which some folks apparently feel should be spent on building a layout instead of on building models), it is about AVAILIBILITY. It is also about the fact that you're going to spend just as much time CORRECTING an incorrect model (taking SHS' rebuild box cars, for example... the ENDS of which I have to destroy and replace with the correct ends so that they will match the ends that my prototype had. So tell me again if you can... HOW do RTR models save time when they have to be chopped up and re-done??? They do not. And that does not even take into account that you might nt even be able to find a 'plug-in' replacement, and may end up having to build your own from scratch, meaning that you're spending even MORE time and effort. If Jim King has no interest in flat panel kits... ok, fine... that is his choice. But there is surely some folks who DO like them, want them, and some manufacturers who can and will produce them. In a scale like HO, there is obviously NO NEED for flat panel kits since a vast number of modelers, but there definitely IS in scales like S and O... and apparently in TT scale as well since the absolute BEST models you can currently buy in TT scale (AFAIK) are FLAT PANEL KITS from what used to be an S scale manufacturer named Pacific Rail Shops, but is now a TT scale manufacturer named Gold Coast Models! I am NOT saying that flat panels are the best way to go for ALL models... but they are the ONLY way to go for some. And the flat panel method may be an old process (as someone stated), nut I fail to see how that makes it obsolete when the same QUALITY of the pieces (sides, ends, etc) can be achieved on them as can be achieved with most other production processes. My final point : If you're interested in saving time, then even Jim's kits are not for you. His 1-piece bodies only save you TWO steps in the first place... glueing the ends to the sides and roof to that assembly. SMMW's kits... as much as I love them... STILL have to be the rest of the many parts assemblmed, and then they have to be painted. So where is there any real time saved? John Degnan [email protected] ----- Original Message ----- From: Jeff Sankus To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, April 15, 2011 05:50 PM Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Flat cast kit parts ... no way Jim; I think some of the posts pertaining to flat castings were from those who have no idea what is involved in the level of work that you achieve. They were suggesting alternative methods to possibly save $ and have multiple kits available. There still are those folks out there who love fitting and piecing parts together. No slight toward you. Jeff S. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> 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/
