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Post by jakeloyst on Sept 19, 2014 20:04:19 GMT -5
Just received this kit the other day, so I will put up photos of parts etc, and the build, but first I feel I have to throw out a couple of compliments. When I received the kit, great, been waiting for years for this one, but unfortunately there was an issue with one of the parts. It was missing!. I contacted both Charls from Custom Trains, where I purchased the kit, and Ray at PMI once I saw the email address on the instructions. Charls was very quick to reply to my email, and immediately forwarded my problem to PMI, along with a copy of my original letter. Ray from PMI replied in the morning requesting my address for the replacement parts. The missing part was promptly put in the mail, and I received it the next day! 2 day customer service! That deserves a round of applause, to Charls for his quick reply, and not just directing me the manufacturer, but actually sending the request himself, and to Ray at PMI, for the support he is providing for his product, and the quick service. Here's the kit photos [img src="i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag48/jakeloyst/PMIS-13b012_zps7c574a15.jpg"]i1298.photobucket.com/albums/ag48/jakeloyst/PMIS-13b007_zps0f81f5f3.jpg [/IMG][/URL] [/p]
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Post by jakeloyst on Sept 19, 2014 20:07:48 GMT -5
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Post by jakeloyst on Sept 20, 2014 19:28:12 GMT -5
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Post by iomalley on Sept 21, 2014 9:07:44 GMT -5
Wow, that's alot of whiddling Jake!
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Post by jakeloyst on Sept 21, 2014 16:00:30 GMT -5
lol, yup. The stock athearn moter, etc still fits right in the shell, now its the body mounting to work on
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Post by Mark R. on Sept 23, 2014 14:47:16 GMT -5
What is your opinion of the casting quality over-all ? Are edges that are supposed to be square and sharp just that ? Is the surface smooth or does it have a slight texture ? Much in the way of air bubbles in the small recesses ? I'm accustomed to the quality Kaslo puts out - any comparison ?
I've had some of their earlier products and the casting quality was terrible - I refused to use them.
Mark.
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dekon
Staff Member
Posts: 634
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Post by dekon on Sept 23, 2014 20:48:41 GMT -5
Going to be watching this build.
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Post by tjmfishing on Sept 24, 2014 19:44:53 GMT -5
What is your opinion of the casting quality over-all ? Are edges that are supposed to be square and sharp just that ? Is the surface smooth or does it have a slight texture ? Much in the way of air bubbles in the small recesses ? I'm accustomed to the quality Kaslo puts out - any comparison ? I've had some of their earlier products and the casting quality was terrible - I refused to use them. Mark. www.facebook.com/111422435560095/photos/a.325695444132792.67644.111422435560095/743946805640985/?type=1&theaterMark, take a scroll through the above photos. I'm not sure what's up with the windows, it looks like he tried to mount them to the outside of the cab as opposed to the inside but other than that everything looks good to me.
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Post by Mark R. on Sept 25, 2014 0:52:09 GMT -5
Thanks for the link Taylor. Doesn't hold a candle to the old Point One Models resin kit, but considering those are impossible to find and brass isn't much easier, this is the only game in town .... for now.
Personally, I'm not too impressed ....
Mark.
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Post by tjmfishing on Sept 25, 2014 14:50:24 GMT -5
Thanks for the link Taylor. Doesn't hold a candle to the old Point One Models resin kit, but considering those are impossible to find and brass isn't much easier, this is the only game in town .... for now. Personally, I'm not too impressed .... Mark. The windows look sort of dicey to me. I don't mean the fact that he put the glazing on the outside, but the poorly cast edges. As for the model itself I don't think it looks too bad, however its not on the same level as the Kaslo castings (I'm not familiar with Point One) I had two preordered and I think I can make it work.
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Post by Mark R. on Sept 25, 2014 16:01:36 GMT -5
Point One was a separate entity that had their casting done by the same folks that did casting for Kaslo. As you can see in this picture, the casting work was top notch .... And probably three times as many etched stainless steel parts .... Apparently Kaslo still has the molds for this model - it would have been nice if they would have brought it back out. Mark.
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Post by jakeloyst on Sept 25, 2014 19:35:31 GMT -5
never got a chance to get the Point One version, wish I had. The PMI body casting is good, and now seeing the Point One model, I would say is comparable, mine have no air bubble on them. The hood does have molded on door handles on, that will have to come off. The cab shape is good, but I don't think the windows are accurate. Taylor is right, as per the instructions the cab windows are clear acetate, with printed on window gaskets, that are meant to mount on the outside of the cab, which I wont be doing. Unfortunatly I have photos of the cab, but no accurate dimensions for the windows, and the gaskets should be visible outwards, not flat on the window. the smaller casting appear to be good, but I will get farther in the assembly before I see how everything goes together. Currently working on the Athearn 1500 frame to get it looking proper, took a lot more filing, to smooth out all the protrutions, to accomplish a flat looking I beam frame. Now looking at it, the fuel tank is not centered and that will be a problem. After removing that much material there isn't enough left ot narrow the cast fuel tank enough to move the cast tank forward enough. and still have enough material left to actually keep both ends of the frame together. Looks like solution is going to be thin the end of the kit fuel tank to be able to slide it ahead.
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Post by jakeloyst on Sept 25, 2014 19:39:14 GMT -5
Im not sure how the handrail stanchions are going to work out, the are casting and not photo etch, so may be brittle once assembled, another wait and see how it turns out thing. Last Point One S unit I saw on ebay went for over $250! would be nice if Kaslo would put this out again.. He can put my name on the list if he's reading this.
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Post by tjmfishing on Sept 25, 2014 21:23:44 GMT -5
Im not sure how the handrail stanchions are going to work out, the are casting and not photo etch, so may be brittle once assembled, another wait and see how it turns out thing. Last Point One S unit I saw on ebay went for over $250! would be nice if Kaslo would put this out again.. He can put my name on the list if he's reading this. I emailed John about an hour ago to see what the chances of another run of S-13's are.
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Post by jakeloyst on Oct 2, 2014 19:09:44 GMT -5
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Post by jakeloyst on Oct 17, 2014 21:10:00 GMT -5
Plan c, I found the frame that comes with the unit, very close to the inside open dimension of the hood, and was having a hard time getting the whole thing to sit level. Ive filed down the stock flange on the channels, and added an Evergreen # 267 channel to each side the full length, with a notch for the drop section, and shortened the solid blocks at each end to make room for a solid block behind the pilot, that the kadee box can be attached to, with the rear of the kadee being used to hold the chassis in place, so it is then removeable, just by removing the coupler boxes.
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dekon
Staff Member
Posts: 634
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Post by dekon on Oct 18, 2014 19:20:35 GMT -5
Nice work on the frame!
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Post by chrismears on Oct 29, 2014 6:11:57 GMT -5
Thanks for posting this thread. I've been following the kit and am keen to see how it turns out.
/chris
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Post by jakeloyst on Oct 29, 2014 20:42:09 GMT -5
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bcrmlw
Superintendent
Posts: 186
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Post by bcrmlw on Nov 11, 2014 8:51:28 GMT -5
Nice work on the Athearn frame mods! I started to build a PMI kit using the Bachman S4 drive, but stopped when I discovered a design flaw. The instructions have you hacking off both ends of the Bachman frame and fitting the resin sub frame on top of whats left of the Bachman frame. This means you will attacth the coupler boxes to the thin, weak resin sub frame instead of solid metal. I can't see this working too well when you go to pull a heavy cut of HO scale cars!
So I went into my stash, and dug out an old Point One models S13 kit. Lo and behold, the shell almost fits the Bachman frame perfectly, just a little trimming of the frame corners and the shell should drop right on. And, I'll actually have proper coupler mounts with this model as well as a better detailed and higher quality resin casting than the PMI version. -Trevor
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