Re: (erielack) Autoracks (was Mahwah consists)

["Bill K." <pontiac_@_dreamscape.com>]

If you can find enough of them, the original Tyco automobiles would work
well as they're 1968 Camaros and AMC AMX's.   Not the best selection,
ideally you'd rather see a mix of midsize and fullsize sedans and wagons,
but better than nothing.  IHC does have the dies for these and is including
one of them with the old Tyco house kits in their line, so maybe they could
be persueded to sell the cars seperately.   You could also use the Bachmann
coupe, as it's not too far off from a '67-'68 Cadillac Eldorado.   May be a
few years older than ideal, but it's close and cheaper than a load of
Mini-Metals Chevy Malibu's.  The other two Bachmann autos are a little older
and not very close to what they were supposed to be (the boxy 2-door is
supposed to be a '63 Impala; the wagon I think the same year Ford).

This is what someone needs to make in HO scale - good looking, reasonably
accurate, yet cheap to produce and sell automobiles.   Cars like the old
Revell 'convert-a-car' set would be the best, since they had a basic frame
that didn't allow light to show through.  Get them down to where you can buy
a set of 12 or 15 for a buck per car, and make some fullsize cars.  Wouldn't
be hard to tool them so the same lower die could be used with different
uppers depending on wether you want a coupe, sedan, or wagon... and cast a
one piece covertible top as part of the window glazing (want a convertible,
cut the roof off a coupe).  By the 1970's, you could also get away with
using the same roof die with multiple lower dies for various makes of car.
The problem I think is the liscensing from the automakers is not cheap, and
you need to be able to sell enough to a market to pay for not only the
diework but the liscensing costs as well.  Thats why you see so many coupes
and convertibles of majorly popular cars in HO.


Bill K.


- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Brian J Carlson" <brian_@_net.bluemoon.net>
To: "Tupaczewski, Paul R (Paul)" <paultup_@_lucent.com>
Cc: "EL LIST" <erielack_@_lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 6:57 PM
Subject: Re: (erielack) Autoracks (was Mahwah consists)


> I've done about 6 of these cars  with another 6 or so to go.  They aren't
> too hard. I usually start by putting 2 or 3 uprights per side on the rack
or
> racks, then mount the partially completed rack on the flat.  I can knock
> them out in about 2 hours.
>
> I also haven't come up with a reasonable load for them.
>
> Brian C
>

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End of EL List Daily V3 #891
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