I hate to disagree with Bill, but the American Beauty Model 250 watt unit is
actually better than the PBL version. I know, I have both. The American
Beauty has a rheostat whereas the PBL has a rotary switch to vary the heat
intensity. The more variable setting allows for greater control of heat
application. I use the PBL on the road as the tips are 1/8" whereas the
American Beauty has 3/32" tips.
The only real drawback I find to the American Beauty is that the 3/32" tips
will really burn down fast at high settings and are not as robust as the 1/8"
ones. The 3/32" tips are very expensive. If I could find long pieces of 3/32"
carbon rod, I would be very happy. The 1/8" stuff is fairly easy to get
locally so I never have to pay top dollar for tip replacement.
I have a friend who built his own and it doesn't work as well as mine. That
doesn't mean that a home grown can't be made to work as well or even better,
it's just that he has problems with heat control and tends to melt things and
put holes in the sheet metal. Way back in 1975 I figured that if I was going
to start messing around with a $300 brass loco, I wanted to have something that
would not destroy it, hence the PBL unit.
I do most of my building in brass because that is what I am most accustomed to,
so those resistance units have paid off many times.
Any media is good that gets the job done as far as I'm concerned whether its
brass, resin, wood, cardstock or plastic. It's how one uses the media that
counts. I always marvel at dynamite models at Prototype Modellers meets done
in all sorts of media using all sorts of methods. Too bad Mainline Modeller is
gone. It was the best for sharing ideas about building things.
cheers,
Andy Malette
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