River Point Station N Scale Ford F-350 Trucks

[cfritschle]

I assume they will do volume discounts? Cause I'm going to need a whole herd of them.

Philip,

I am not sure which dealers offer "fleet" discounts, but I got word this morning that the shipping of the trucks to the dealers that placed orders has begun!   

However, I am not sure if all of the N scale "etailers" even know these trucks are available.  If you have a favorite online dealer or hobby shop that hasn't ordered them yet, you might want to let them know that the Fords are ready to roll onto and off their shelves.  I guess that could be the equivalent of an N scale version of a RORO (roll on/roll off) ship.   

[cfritschle]

I thought a photo of the utility truck with the photo-etched mirrors installed might be of interest.  And, a view of the pickup's tailgate.   



River Point Station offers PDF Tech Sheets for disassembling the models, and installing the mirrors.  http://www.riverpointstation.com/pages/tech_data.php

[ski]

Just received two sets of the Union Pacific trucks...they are nice! I hope River Point Station makes more stuff for N scale...

[ski]

Tried to post a pic, but it is showing upside down!

[Philip H]

And they are up at MBK i n the new products section:

https://www.modeltrainstuff.com/search?search_query_adv#/filter:custom_scale:N

[cfritschle]

The photos posted by the hobby shops/etailers are of the final pre-production models.  Ron was able to work with the factory to "refine" the printing of the headlights and front turn signals to get an extremely accurate ratio of headlight to turn signal.  Here are a couple of photos of a production version F-250XL crew cab.





I am particularly impressed with the treatment of the gray grille and light surround since I own a 1993 F-250XL and a 1994 F-150XL with the gray grilles.   

[peteski]

While the decoration is  nice (sharp separation lines),  I  wish that they used silver paint that didn't have relatively large metal flakes in it.  It looks  like a metal flake bass-boat finish.  There are many silver paints out there which have no discernible flake detail in them.  That type of paint woudl be much better suited for representing chrome bumpers and headlight reflectors.

I know, when viewed in-person using our naked eyes  the model probably looks ok, but many of us photograph our model scenes in close-ups, and that is where the problem show up.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I think that paint has pretty small grain compared to others like Atlas and Wiking.

Bought a few off MBK yesterday. I really hope these are successful for them. I would love to see them come out with a box truck and ambulance bodies.

[cfritschle]

While the decoration is  nice (sharp separation lines),  I  wish that they used silver paint that didn't have relatively large metal flakes in it.  It looks  like a metal flake bass-boat finish.  There are many silver paints out there which have no discernible flake detail in them.  That type of paint woudl be much better suited for representing chrome bumpers and headlight reflectors.

I know, when viewed in-person using our naked eyes  the model probably looks ok, but many of us photograph our model scenes in close-ups, and that is where the problem show up.

Peter,

The trucks with the XLT trim package have chrome bumpers and grilles as shown here:  http://nscalevehicles.org/news.php

The yellow pickup shown above with the XL trim package has bumpers that are supposed to represent painted bumpers rather than chrome bumpers.  However, some prototype trucks with the XL trim package have the unpainted gray plastic grille (as on the yellow pickup) with chrome bumpers. 

[peteski]

Peter,

The trucks with the XLT trim package have chrome bumpers and grilles as shown here:  http://nscalevehicles.org/news.php

The yellow pickup shown above with the XL trim package has bumpers that are supposed to represent painted bumpers rather than chrome bumpers.  However, some prototype trucks with the XL trim package have the unpainted gray plastic grille (as on the yellow pickup) with chrome bumpers.

Thanks for the info Carter. The "chromed" bumpers do look good. I know some modelers find shiny paint and chrome-finish bumpers on scale models unrealistic, I like it.

As for the silver-painted bumpers, I still say that the metallic particles are too sparkly.  The silver paint (at least in N scale) would be duller and smoother (no sparkles).  But if someone doesn't like it, that is an easy fix as there are silver hobby paints which produce a smooth non-sparkly finish.

[Glenn Poole]

While the decoration is  nice (sharp separation lines),  I  wish that they used silver paint that didn't have relatively large metal flakes in it.  It looks  like a metal flake bass-boat finish.  There are many silver paints out there which have no discernible flake detail in them.  That type of paint woudl be much better suited for representing chrome bumpers and headlight reflectors.

I know, when viewed in-person using our naked eyes  the model probably looks ok, but many of us photograph our model scenes in close-ups, and that is where the problem show up.

Dp you own one of these or are you making your observation from an unrealistic blowup?  In all do respect Mr Peteski, I just got my 8 in the mail today and they are wonderful models every bit as good as Atlas and Trainwox trucks. I couldn’t even understand what you were talking about.
I hope these sell well and they keep making new models.

[peteski]

Dp you own one of these or are you making your observation from an unrealistic blowup?  In all do respect Mr Peteski, I just got my 8 in the mail today and they are wonderful models every bit as good as Atlas and Trainwox trucks. I couldn’t even understand what you were talking about.
I hope these sell well and they keep making new models.

Observation from photographs.
I did mention in my original post: I know, when viewed in-person using our naked eyes the model probably looks ok, but many of us photograph our model scenes in close-ups, and that is where the problem show up.

They do look like wonderful models, but why should't one point something out that doesn't seem optimal?  I'm a tough critic, and all of us have different standards.

[cfritschle]

If you purchase any of the River Point Station emergency vehicles, you will probably also want to purchase the light bar accessory pack.  You get 10 clear (colorless) light bars ready to paint.  A 0.035 inch hole (#65 drill bill) in the roof of the vehicle is all you need to mount the light bar. 

Here is the crew cab from the fire department set with the light bar installed.  I also added a trailer hitch made with 0.015 music wire in order to tow the rescue boat.



I am finding a lot of uses for these trucks!   

[tehachapifan]

If you purchase any of the River Point Station emergency vehicles, you will probably also want to purchase the light bar accessory pack.  You get 10 clear (colorless) light bars ready to paint.  A 0.035 inch hole (#65 drill bill) in the roof of the vehicle is all you need to mount the light bar. 

Here is the crew cab from the fire department set with the light bar installed.  I also added a trailer hitch made with 0.015 music wire in order to tow the rescue boat.



I am finding a lot of uses for these trucks!   

Looks good! I got the FD set too but not the lightbars (yet). What paint did you use on the lightbar?

[cfritschle]

Looks good! I got the FD set too but not the lightbars (yet). What paint did you use on the lightbar?

Russ,

Thank you!  I used Tamiya Clear Red (X-27) for the "lights," and Floquil Bright Silver for the center portion.