I have often wondered over the past couple of years whether anyone in the US would ever offer another steam locomotive kit. Since Bowser and MDC dropped their product lines, the only source has been Ebay, which seems to be circulating a lot of the unbuilt kits. Prices have seemed to decline over time, so I wasn't optimistic, in spite of the potential for interesting novelties that's inherent in 3D printing. Eightwheeler Models announced a Civil War 4-4-0 kit in 2011, but it hasn't yet materialized.
But now a couple of the bright creative lights behind the Yahoo Early Rail group have come up with something that uses not just new technologies, but a new marketing model. The team of Gerry Dykstra, Al Mueller, and John Ott have put together a near-kit - a set of 3D printed pieces that can be used (with John's beautiful decals) to customize a Mantua General 4-4-0 (kit or RTR) into one of two Civil War-era engines - either the USMRR's "Lt. Gen. Grant" or the famous Western & Atlantic "Yonah." Pictures are here. Links to more detailed description at the Early Rail group, including Al's email address, are here.
To do this, they are marketing the detail parts through Shapeways, available here. Guidebooks for the Grant and the Yonah are sold separately, through a print-on-demand site. You can contact Al Mueller directly for crosshead guides and for a set of John Ott's beautiful decals (his site gives you an excellent indication of his skills, his sense of humor, and his imagination). For those who are interested in a third option, Al has been experimenting with the possibilities of this for some time, and his book on tweaking out a Mantua General is also available as a print on demand book, here.
They aren't doing this for the money - obviously - but it's intriguing to see how they have cleverly leveraged other people's business models to create an appealing-looking kit with minimal requirement for the investments that have in the past made this such a tricky business: no need for dies, molds, or a massive initial inventory investment that takes a lifetime to sell off. I hope they succeed - and I hope their success encourages others.
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Saturday, January 2, 2016
The Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette Disc Review
In model railroading, particularly if you are modeling something that's a niche interest, you're well advised to get it while the getting is good. Much of the "product" is made in small runs by individual craftsmen, and you never know from one year to the next whether the guy who's making it will be there to run another batch: this is a low-margin, high-risk business, after all.
One guy to whom those particular laws of gravity have never seemed to apply is Bob Brown, publisher of the Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette. I was five when he transformed his previous newsletter efforts into the Gazette, and ten when I saw my first copies - a pair that my parents picked up for me to keep me occupied on a trip. Even allowing for the fact that the Gazette's style is highly serial (which gives the odd picked-up issue an in medias rex kind of feeling), it was one of those "wild-eyed on a peak in Darien" moments that mark every modeler's life: I had found some people who were doing something inspirational and wonderful, and knew it at a glance. That was in 1982; he's still at it today, and still producing a great product.
In a world where most periodicals are surviving by turning themselves into a multimedia experience, the Gazette has been stubbornly resistant to change: it still publishes on a bi-monthly basis, and its website is frustratingly minimalist. On the other hand, if you call or email, Bob usually answers himself, which is a lot coming from a guy who's publishing a magazine that plays the same role of the hobby's fans of the light, narrow, and obsolete that Vogue once played for fashionistas.
He did hint to me in an email last year, when I was looking for a back issue, that something was coming, and with the help of Bob Hayden, it's here: the whole kit and caboodle on DVD: not only the Gazette, but its predecessors, in a simple and easily usable format, downloadable and printable as a PDF. It's worth every penny. If you're unfamiliar with the Gazette, there's a wonderful index hosted by Wiseman Model Services at this website, which will give you an excellent idea of the talent and the topics that the magazine has covered over the years. If you like it, you can reward Bob Brown by ordering a copy, and reward yourself by enjoying it.
One guy to whom those particular laws of gravity have never seemed to apply is Bob Brown, publisher of the Narrow Gauge and Shortline Gazette. I was five when he transformed his previous newsletter efforts into the Gazette, and ten when I saw my first copies - a pair that my parents picked up for me to keep me occupied on a trip. Even allowing for the fact that the Gazette's style is highly serial (which gives the odd picked-up issue an in medias rex kind of feeling), it was one of those "wild-eyed on a peak in Darien" moments that mark every modeler's life: I had found some people who were doing something inspirational and wonderful, and knew it at a glance. That was in 1982; he's still at it today, and still producing a great product.
In a world where most periodicals are surviving by turning themselves into a multimedia experience, the Gazette has been stubbornly resistant to change: it still publishes on a bi-monthly basis, and its website is frustratingly minimalist. On the other hand, if you call or email, Bob usually answers himself, which is a lot coming from a guy who's publishing a magazine that plays the same role of the hobby's fans of the light, narrow, and obsolete that Vogue once played for fashionistas.
He did hint to me in an email last year, when I was looking for a back issue, that something was coming, and with the help of Bob Hayden, it's here: the whole kit and caboodle on DVD: not only the Gazette, but its predecessors, in a simple and easily usable format, downloadable and printable as a PDF. It's worth every penny. If you're unfamiliar with the Gazette, there's a wonderful index hosted by Wiseman Model Services at this website, which will give you an excellent idea of the talent and the topics that the magazine has covered over the years. If you like it, you can reward Bob Brown by ordering a copy, and reward yourself by enjoying it.