Well, I was planning on entering this challenge-but NOW it seems with a LOT of luck! I'm bidding on an Atlas PRR hopper, but I guess I should've checked decal availabilty before I did!
Only place I could find that I could find a set of the decals that Gonzo mentioned above were thru Walthers, & they are "backordered-in transit" (walthers-back ordered-my,what else is new?
)
I did order a set in what now seems the off-chance I MIGHT get them in time! Sheez!
Browsed the Microscale site-what's their problem? seems like 75% of what they stock show
"image not available." & on top of that, you have to PHONE in an order? this is 2006! You can't even
E-MAIL them to ask a question! Their business would probably double if they'd join the 21st century!
I checked Champ-nothing. (I have to give them credit though-very speedy in delivery of what they DO
have (some lube plate decals I ordered) & will respond quickly to e-mails with the info you request!
Just looking fondly now at my first years in model railroading,in the late 70's early 80's, when Champ,
Walthers, & Herald King put out 100+ pages of catalogs of decals-now it's like looking for a needle in a
haystack for the common ones! (What's up with that?)
The way things are going as I write this, I'll probably end up the owner of an Atlas PRR hopper that's going
to sit-& when Walthers might get the decals in...maybe June...it might get relettered... ???
Reason I say this-I was 12 years old in 1978-ordered an Athearn flat car with a load from Walthers-was backordered-I STILL got backorder invoices from them in the early 90's on that car, & by then I'd forgotten about it!
About the same time I ordered an Athearn Hustler Switcher-by the time I got it, the rubber band drive lasted less time then it was backordered! (Still have it though-just needs a drive conversion!)
Sorry folks-just venting some frustration! (If someone knows how to obtain a set EASILY & QUICKLY to do the challenge-PLEASE let me & everyone else know! (or may point me out to something I may have missed ???)
Mitch (feeling extremely irked by the indifference with manufacturers)