USATC S100

spikey faz

spikey faz

Western Thunderer
To be fair the Minerva model does look quite nice (based on the pictures/videos I've seen so far). I think they've had to understandably compromise a little on the chassis, but I dare say their bodywork is a darn sight straighter than my efforts! Swings and roundabouts.

Mike
 
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simond

simond

Western Thunderer
Ian@StEnochs said:
No you don’t! Yours is a one off built by YOUR blood sweat and tears while the Minerva one is one of hundreds made in a faceless Chinese factory by robots.
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I bet there are very few robots involved, but like much of the imports our consumer society desires, the work overseas is carried out by folks on poor pay with few rights. I guess the shame of it is that labour and social costs of doing it in the West would preclude most of us from buying RTR.

Or quite a lot of other things like phones and TVs etc, but of course there will be robots involved there, as the volumes are high enough to make it worthwhile to program them.
 
simond

simond

Western Thunderer
spikey faz said:
To be fair the Minerva model does look quite nice (based on the pictures/videos I've seen so far). I think they've had to understandably compromise a little on the chassis, but I dare say their bodywork is a darn sight straighter than my efforts! Swings and roundabouts.

Mike
Click to expand...
The Minerva effort is a JV with Chrezo, a French specialist manufacturer, who have a very good reputation. They did a lovely 2-8-0 tender loco (140 in French!) a few years back. I was tempted…

www.chrezo.com

CHREZO | Modélisme ferroviaire à l'écartement Zéro : 1/45 et 1/43,5

CHREZO est spécialisé dans la fabrication des trains miniatures à l'échelle O ou "zéro". Depuis 2015, cette entreprise artisanale française, basée à Royan (17), propose ses créations en modélisme ferroviaire à l’écartement Zéro : 1/45 & 1/43,5.
www.chrezo.com www.chrezo.com

I expect it’ll be another decent product.
 
spikey faz

spikey faz

Western Thunderer
I'd be tempted with the Minerva S100, but I'd have to get it converted to S7. In the past @Eastsidepilot has kindly carried out a few wheel turning/RTR conversions for me, and very good they are too. However, I wonder how close the Minerva (and other makes such as Dapol) wheel profiles are to S7? Is it enough to simply adjust the back-to-back by moving the wheels out on their axles? :eek:

Mike
 
Ian@StEnochs

Ian@StEnochs

Western Thunderer
simond said:
I bet there are very few robots involved, but like much of the imports our consumer society desires, the work overseas is carried out by folks on poor pay with few rights. I guess the shame of it is that labour and social costs of doing it in the West would preclude most of us from buying RTR.

Or quite a lot of other things like phones and TVs etc, but of course there will be robots involved there, as the volumes are high enough to make it worthwhile to program them.
Click to expand...

I was going to say ‘Wage Slaves’ but thought that was a bit OTT so went for robots which is how I imagine a lot of low pay workers actually get treated.
 
spikey faz

spikey faz

Western Thunderer
Still a few bits to finish off (whistle operating rod, extra set of 3-link couplings that these locos seemed to carry), but just about there.
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The cab roof will be permanently fixed in place once I've decided whether to pop a crew in place. A light weathering to follow.

Mike
 
Yorkshire Dave

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
spikey faz said:
Still a few bits to finish off (whistle operating rod, extra set of 3-link couplings that these locos seemed to carry), but just about there.
Click to expand...

The additional 3-link couplings were carried on the hook and effectively provided an extra link to extend the reach to rolling stock due to the sharp curves.
 
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