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Re: (erielack) Autoracks (was Mahwah consists)



Listfolk;

The continued discussion of autoracks and how to model appropriate loads got
me to remembering some pretty cheap (in money and in molding quality) cars
that might be used. Walthers carries a line of vehicles made  by eKo that
might make great autorack loads.

Now, I'm not an automobile expert, so these may not be appropriate for the
later era (they all look like early-mid 60's), but I think one of the key
things here is to achieve a certain look that loads on open autroracks gives
us; that "texture" and "color" if you will.

These models (seen on pp. 774-775 of the 2003 HO Scale WKW Catalog), as I
mentioned previously, are pretty crude at first glance. They are molded in
hideous colors, and tend to exhibit a lot of mold flash. They consist
generally of a body shell, an underframe, and a clear glazing insert that
helps hold plastic wheels on wire axles in. The underframe is cemented to
the body, but some careful prying and persuasion will let you take the
vehicle apart for painting. This is the key - you can paint up a series of
them and hit the hubcaps with a silver paint marker, even touch the door
handles if you feel bold. They really don't look bad after a bit of
attention.

The best part? They cost 1.99 each. A good hobby dealer may even take a
percentage off that, especially if you buy enough of them (remember, 15 for
each tri-level!). 30 bucks plus some hobby time gives you a reasonable load,
a lot cheaper than buying Busch or Classic Metal Works to total 200 bucks a
car!

There are Ford Falcon, Comet, Zephyr, Thunderbird, "Consul", "Anglia", Dodge
Dart, DeSoto, Plymouth Suburban Wagon, Chevy El Camino, Lincoln Continental,
Studebaker Hawk, and lots of foreign cars. They are imported froim Spain, so
some of the names may be European names for what are in fact domestic
cars...

Check 'em out... I think you all might be pleased... I'll try and take a
close-up photo of one I have for the you to scrutinize for yourselves.

Happy (Autorack) Modeling!
Jim Harr




Subject: Re: (erielack) Autoracks (was Mahwah consists)

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.

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