American O Scale, hidden treasures ...

[JasonD]

Taken me 10 minutes to get the title vaguely sensible. Anyway, saw the thread about DJP/MMP Class 47 and it reminded me that Dave Parkins drew Gilmaur's first kit, the GE U33C. Gave 3 of us the enthusiasm to do some drawing too. Given that 3 of the other thread's readers are on here too, which of you knows David well enough to remind him he's got 2 lots of artwork - a GP40 and F40PH - which he was doing for his own satisfaction! Last time I asked him the obvious question he said "when I get round to it".

Don't tell him I mentioned it, he might not sell me one, worse he might think he's better than he was so he should forget them....
Jason

 

[Jordan]

....Gave 3 of us the enthusiasm to do some drawing too. ...

So potentially, one of the three could draw a CF7... ??!!??

Somehow, much as I'd like/prefer in R-T-R a GP38-2, I think I could be tempted to try brass again if it was a kit for a CF7.

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

I think I could be tempted to try brass again if it was a kit for a CF7.

The long hood would be easy to fold as EMD long hoods are flat roofed unlike GE locos.

 

[mickoo]

The rounded cab roof (if you choose that cab version) wouldn't be as easy to fold though, the rest is fairly box standard building.

Etch work never is or ever was the stumbling point, it's always castings and instructions.

 

[Jordan]

The later cab would be easy, too & the short hood, being rather smaller than usual, wouldn't be quite such a pain either.
Use either an old Atlas/Roco chassis (for the impoverished of us) suitably butchered, or the P&D Hobby upgrade drive components (for the wealthy), & Robert is your parent's brother.

....he says, making it all sound incredibly simple

 

[mickoo]

To be honest Jordan, it's probably be easier to supply a fold up and solder chassis that the Atlas/Roco trucks fit into, plus a fold up motor mount, than it would to get people to hack the chassis and then try and find a way to fix the shell to it.

If you have your own chassis then you can define the fixings between the two. The other option is a chassis which accepts donor Atlas 2 rail or converted 3 rail trucks.

 

[djparkins]

Taken me 10 minutes to get the title vaguely sensible. Anyway, saw the thread about DJP/MMP Class 47 and it reminded me that Dave Parkins drew Gilmaur's first kit, the GE U33C. Gave 3 of us the enthusiasm to do some drawing too. Given that 3 of the other thread's readers are on here too, which of you knows David well enough to remind him he's got 2 lots of artwork - a GP40 and F40PH - which he was doing for his own satisfaction! Last time I asked him the obvious question he said "when I get round to it".

Don't tell him I mentioned it, he might not sell me one, worse he might think he's better than he was so he should forget them....
Jason

Jason -

Just as in your recent 'Private' conversation with me of earlier this evening, I'm struggling to understand this post - which, in view of that conversation, I did not expect to find here. I'm sure that, as a manfacturer yourself, you will sometimes wish to keep things close to your chest! That aside, In both cases, I think your memory is not serving you so well!

So - now it is out there, let's set the record straight and do it accurately. I have NOT done any etching artwork for any US diesel.

What I do own is a complete set of casting masters for fully detailed HTC and Blomberg trucks [three versions] AND complete sets of masters for all the cast parts you could ever really want for the bodies and underframes of GP38 & GP40 + SD40-2 AND the F40-Phase II [Amtrak etc.]. They are remarkable patterns, lots of pieces - made by Philip Elverd at his peak. Whether I sell the masters for a sensible price, or produce kits and packs from them I don't know, but if I do the latter , it certainly won't be for my own satisfaction, but for profit! They sit there in boxes at present, along with subjects for many many other kits - some run on rails, some on tracks, some fly & some float.

DJP/MMP

 

[JasonD]

My apologies to David, my enthusiasm for the quality of his current British products compared with what is now available in the Americas got the better of me.

Having been away from the manufacturing side for over 10 years, battling on with the M420 will be good for me. In the right light it's not too different from a CF7....

 

[soo4513]

Jason -

Just as in your recent 'Private' conversation with me of earlier this evening, I'm struggling to understand this post - which, in view of that conversation, I did not expect to find here. I'm sure that, as a manfacturer yourself, you will sometimes wish to keep things close to your chest! That aside, In both cases, I think your memory is not serving you so well!

So - now it is out there, let's set the record straight and do it accurately. I have NOT done any etching artwork for any US diesel.

What I do own is a complete set of casting masters for fully detailed HTC and Blomberg trucks [three versions] AND complete sets of masters for all the cast parts you could ever really want for the bodies and underframes of GP38 & GP40 + SD40-2 AND the F40-Phase II [Amtrak etc.]. They are remarkable patterns, lots of pioeces - made by Philip Elverd at his peak. Whether I sell the masters for a sensible price, or produce kits and packs from them I don't know, but if I do the latter , it certainly won't be for my own satisfaction, but for profit! They sit there in boxes at present, along with subjects for many many other kits - some run on rails, some on tracks, some fly & some float.

DJP/MMP

O

Dave

If you took the time to produce a simple etched brass GP40 kit in O scale, it would do very nicely. Its a loco that the O scale community has been crying out for and since the "China Crisis" of a few years ago and there are very few available options for road switchers in O. The demise of Weaver has brought about the end of their gp38 which leaves a big hole in the market. The only blombergs to be had are in brass although there are plenty of detail parts and drive components. Central Loco Works have disappeared as well. The down side, the North American market is not mature when it comes to etch brass kits so nothing to complicated, something like your original RJH line, with the hard bending already done would do the trick. SD units, would be of interest to some but I'd go with a road switcher first, plenty of common components between them, a nice little cash cow. Alas an F40 Ph 2, very unlikely to wash its face

Of course, if you then felt like resizing a gp40 to S scale, the S scale community would be delighted we've got a nice reliable drive and the necessary detail parts. Oh and the S scale community always support projects

Colin