Hi Scott; As others have said, no commercial mass-produced model (and few individually built models) are perfect. There are compromises for the basics of model railroading (too-tight curves, too wide coupler boxes and truck frames), for manufacturing and durability in handling, and "creative" decisions on how to represent (for example) wood with molded plastic parts.
In addition, some modelers might accept the cars for what they are, but modify models to make different but similar cars. Splicing shorter gondolas to make a longer car, changing the parts to represent a steel rebuilt boxcar on an earlier car under frame. The "new" type car may interest the modeler for any of a number of reasons, so he wants to represent it on the layout. If you aren't interested in the minutia of freight cars, nobody will mind that you run cars as the manufacturer made them. As Jim Martin indicated, if you want a realistic looking layout, learn to weather! A train of well weathered RTR cars is more real looking than ultra detailed cars with no or poor weathering (and this is from someone who likes to modify/detail cars). As a side note: It is interesting that as a group, model railroaders are more accepting of somewhat "generic" models of cars. Our interest is often in the layout as a whole, and in the locomotives, so the cars are just "something" that the locomotives haul around. While there are models of "steel boxcars" and "50 foot gondolas" in all scales that do not have a specific identifiable prototype, you can't wander into the plastic model section of the hobby shop and find models of a "four door car", "army tank", "jet fighter" or "battleship" that are not representations of a very specific vehicle, probably in a specific time frame and assigned to specific units for military subjects. While some casual builders assemble these kits out-of-the-box, many builders spend as much as the original kit price on after market etched and resin parts and decals to improve that model of a "Late Production U.S. Medium Tank M4A1/76mm as seen in Northern France, 1944". Pieter Roos --- In [email protected], "Scott" <steamtramper@...> wrote: > > Rather than hijack someones thread I am starting a new one concerning AM and > SHS models that people are always modifying. I was under the impression that > these two companies produced accurate scale models. However all I see are > postings modifying, changing and or bashing the offering from these two > companies that seem to be the current backbone of S scale. What is going on? > I am new to the scale and it just keeps getting more and more confusing. Are > their offerings scale and just missing a great deal of detail? Are they > inaccurate and have to be changed? Are they just semi-representational and > have to be reworked to provide an accurate model? Can someone please offer > some illumination to this this endless confusion and frustration??? > > Scott Huston Las Vegas Nevada > ------------------------------------ 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/
