Well, I've finally woken up, had the first hot chocolate of the day (I hate coffee and vast amounts of tea are not good for me either) and just checked though the comments to see what's been going on while I was in the land of nod. And I see everyones been playing while I've been asleep.
The 'lets build a loco kit' discussion rolls around every 6 months or so. It quickly splits into 2 camps and then fades into the distance again (I've written about this before here).
I'm not sure if going with the Bullant is the right way though. $240 for the mech before you do anything else is a lot of cash. Add in $150 for the top etc and thats basically $400, which is more than you would pay for an S scale kit. At that price demnad for the model could/would be very close to a round number (how many people WOULD pay $400 for a De or an Ab KIT). I could be corrected but I think most of the modelers in the scale operate on far lower budgets than that. Rumour has it that North Yard doesn't make wheels in 120 becoause 'theres no big market for it' and he is most probably right.
I think any loco kit thats going to come about will be due to some kind soul who wants to sink his money into a project and lose some of it to get a model he really wants. Anything else may just lead to getting burnt.
(well, thats my opinion, but you are all welcome to toss in your own.)
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3 comments:
I think you are right about sinking some time (and money) into a project to get a model we really want.
I'm planning on making a specific model because I want one. If it turns out well enough I might make some copies available.
You are also right about the Bullant. This originally appeared very attractive as we could get any wheelbase we wanted etc, but further investigation revealled these are really too big for most NZ120 applications - and then there is the price. It's not just one powered bogie, but you probably want a matching dummy for the other end too (at least for any modern stock). Too expensive for me.
Ahem....correction required: Bullant In-line is A$60.50, Bullant Gozunder is A$46.20 . Even allowing another $40 for decent motor and universal joints, I have to ask, where does $240 for a drive system come from? If using the Gozunder, width of loco hood is not an issue, and there will be plenty of room for decoder and whatnot. Obviously I'm just going to have to buy a couple and build myself a De before anyone else will see the light ;-)
I was looking at the full mechanism kit http://www.hollywoodfoundry.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?catalogid=78. I must admit that I had not considered the inline power bogies, but at NZ$80 a piece they are still a bit steep. The gozunda might be a better option as you could run a layshaft between the 2 bogies and then pwer this off a motor with a further gearing down.
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