NZT School Bus and Caterpillar kits en route to dealers

[Chris333]

Stonebridge has them in red for their circus series.

[DKS]

This is a pre-production test casting of the crawler in red for Karin's circus line.



The final production version uses the same molds as the yellow ones.

[Alaska Railroader]

I'm sorry to report that some of you guys will have to wait for the next batch of crawlers to arrive. Appreciate all of the orders, I am sending them out in the order I received them. Please be patient, poor David is cooking resin as fast as he can.

Karin

[wazzou]

I placed an order @MBK today. 

[pnolan48]

I'm sorry to report that some of you guys will have to wait for the next batch of crawlers to arrive. Appreciate all of the orders, I am sending them out in the order I received them. Please be patient, poor David is cooking resin as fast as he can.

Karin

I'm sure most of us are willing to wait. Unforeseen success can present its own problems. Let's not wear out DKS--he's much too valuable a resource in this community.

[Philip H]

I got two buses from MBK yesterday (!) -nicely done DKS!  They're spot on for the cheese boxes I rode as a kid. WHat font is the lettering in - I need to letter them for East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools - which somehow missed your decal sheets.   

[rogergperkins]

Cannot find the red caterpillars for sale at Stonebridge.

[DKS]

Cannot find the red caterpillars for sale at Stonebridge.

They'll be announced along with other circus items in a few days. Meantime you can just email Karin with an order.

[towl1996]

Wow, the insanity continues, MBK is sold out of the crawlers again! Will there be another restock? I snoozed. 

[DKS]

Karin will be receiving a healthy supply, which should reach her by Wednesday.

[up1950s]

Eeeeek that red looks like candy apple , or candy rhubarb , any way to spike the punch , or maybe thin it out ? Faded red would be more the norm than how that color came out , just sayin' .

[DKS]

Eeeeek that red looks like candy apple , or candy rhubarb , any way to spike the punch , or maybe thin it out ? Faded red would be more the norm than how that color came out , just sayin' .

It's just right for a circus.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/c-s-n/5521016734/

[jimmo]

These are great little models, David but no matter how much dye you put into the resin mix, they won't look like painted metal until they are painted--that's why I would prefer mine to be cast in primer grey. I use color dyes in white resin all the time but on lighter colors, there's no substitute for a good, thin paint job.

Maybe we should have a crawler or bus finishing contest...

[Alaska Railroader]

I have to admit that I just spent a fair amount of time trying to find evidence of a real red circus crawler. None. Crawler as opposed to a wheeled tractor. They are yellow. I guess David's crawlers would actually be the prototypical model for your circus. At least there is a choice....

[DKS]

These are great little models, David but no matter how much dye you put into the resin mix, they won't look like painted metal until they are painted--that's why I would prefer mine to be cast in primer grey. I use color dyes in white resin all the time but on lighter colors, there's no substitute for a good, thin paint job.

Duly noted, and I agree for the most part. However, consider: a resin color closer to the finish color will make it much easier to finish; slight imperfections, or recesses where it's difficult to reach with paint, will look better, so you can use less paint and reduce the risk of obscuring details. The other factor here is that we determined the target customers for the circus tractors are less likely to want to paint things themselves, and for them the appearance of the tinted resin will likely be acceptable. Also note, the photographs I've posted really show them at their worst, with bright light saturating the resin to the point of looking translucent; in person, they're more convincing. Unless I'm wrong... anyone who's received their orders care to comment on this? I'm all ears!