Awesome... F***ing Awesome

[Chris333]

I read the original post over and over many times and I still have no idea what you're talking about 

They put the damn walkway on backwards! The "short" support section should be near the brake end of the car.

What is the short support section and how is it backwards?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I read the original post over and over many times and I still have no idea what you're talking about 

What is the short support section and how is it backwards?

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The short walkway section (red) should be towards the brake end, not where it is. There should only be 3 grabs on the side (blue) and not 4. This was due to taking measurements from a later phase and I totally missed the difference in the photos of the cars I'm modeling. Likewise, the end ladders should have 7 steps rather than 8 on my model. This change appears to have taken place sometime around 1991-1993, well after the cars I model were made and before they changed the shape of the car around 1995.

[cgw]

 I would love to see the article that you wanted to write.    It would be awesome to see and read about the process on how you went about getting these made,  What were the steps that you went through.    The costs and timing on how  you did this.   How the part was sketched out and etched.   act......      That journey I think we all would like to understand.       Even with the mistakes the model still is a significant improvement over the previous clunky railings and roof walks.     The lessons learned would be good to have.     

[MK]

Daniel, your work is wonderful, error or no error.  What Peteski wrote are wise words and good suggestions.  At the end of the day, it's NOT your modeling skills at fault.  You were given/following wrong information.  You still have the same modeling skills!

I'm going to read between the lines of your previous post (not the picture one explaining the error) and present the flip side of the coin.  I might be accused of being harsh but why don't you put this in the For Sale section?

People who are perfectionists, like yourself, often don't want to be constantly reminded of imperfections, especially those "created" by them.  If looking at this car will constantly give you bad thoughts and rage, and remind you of the incident, then get rid of it.

Plus, you can use the money for your next project.  Eventually out of sight out of mind will overcome everything.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I probably should sell them, but I want to be able to have updated kits, donor models and parts in hand before I met them go.

[jpf94]

Neither, it was designed privately under commission for Daniel.

Question for Daniel is would he allow the kit to be made available to the public.  I have 10 of these cars now and would enjoy the opportunity to upgrade them as well.

Joe

[DKS]

At the risk of turning this into "design by committee," permit me to make a suggestion?

Notice the horizontal part circled below to which the walkway supports and end cage are attached.



Why not include this as part of the etched assembly, with the vertical supports connected to it as one piece. This part can then be glued to the corresponding plastic ridge on the model.

This should add considerable strength to the roofwalk assembly, and possibly allow one to remove the unsightly vertical ribs under the walkway on the model. At the same time, given the added strength, it might also allow you to make the roofwalk supports the alternating different widths.

Just a suggestion, something to think about.

[Maletrain]

I want to add my "vote" to the growing list of folks who want to see that article on the processes you used to detail those cars.  It is truly high quality work, and I think I would learn a lot by reading it.

And, if you want to do it, at the end, you could add the "life lesson" about the shortcomings in the research.  I think that it is particularly useful to point out that you can't rely on the research done by even the major manufacturers.  Athearn is not the only one to put out models with errors, either.  Remember the first version of the BLI F3.

You have accomplished so much, and "failed" so little in this project, that I am sure everybody else who sees it thinks of it as a big "win".

[JMaurer1]

I also have to agree with Peteski on this. Half of modeling is learning from ones mistakes and showing others will help everyone learn. Also, until you included the photo of the car with the mistakes circled, I only vaguely knew what you were talking about (personally, and this is my OCD taking here, whoever designed the car with that ONE short support section should be tared and feathered...why would anyone DO that, unless it was originally a mistake?).

If it will make things any easier for you, box the offending cars up and mail them to me...I'll cover the postage and you will be able to sleep at night 

[CRL]

I’m willing to bet the short section is the result of a longer “stock” assembly being trimmed a few inches to fit this car, which is probably a few inches shorter than the cars the stock assembly was designed to fit.

[peteski]

Thanks for pointing out what the error is.  That's it?! I really had no idea how insignificantly minuscule the problem was. Well, IMO.

Those errors will be most likely be overlooked by a great majority of modelers (and by a 100% or non model friends) you showcase those cars to. Yes, you are fixated on this huge to you error, but is it really *THAT BAD*?  Come on man, you made some awesome looking models, which have tiny mistake.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

At the risk of turning this into "design by committee," permit me to make a suggestion?

Notice the horizontal part circled below to which the walkway supports and end cage are attached.



Why not include this as part of the etched assembly, with the vertical supports connected to it as one piece. This part can then be glued to the corresponding plastic ridge on the model.

This should add considerable strength to the roofwalk assembly, and possibly allow one to remove the unsightly vertical ribs under the walkway on the model. At the same time, given the added strength, it might also allow you to make the roofwalk supports the alternating different widths.

Just a suggestion, something to think about.

This is a really good idea. I have got a few emails about the availability of this kit so I'm going to contact John to see if he is up for a redesign to fix these issues and make the kit simple to install.

I may toss my current models on eBay to help find this new kit.

[nkalanaga]

Considering some of the true junk on eBay, your models shouldn't have any problem finding buyers.

[Chris333]

Just letter them up for your own private roadname.