Re: hypothetical question with a real answer
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A lot of engines today, especially diesel, and some steam, are offered with road specific and/or period specific details.? HO has been really leading the way on this and the market seems to respond. Much lower tooling costs (than "back in the day") and making smaller runs mostly to preorders is now common in HO.? The S audience just isn't big enough to expect manufacturers to offer that sort of granularity. The 3D printing solution is advancing quickly, but so far, somebody has to paint and letter shells.? There may pretty soon be a time when you can ask "I want a C&NW GP7 as it existed as road number 1545 at 4:30 pm Central Time on April 14, 1952 and in S scale" and AI will do the research, make the files, find a suitable printing company, and in a few days, you get your engine shell.? You would still be left having to paint and letter it.? Or find someone to do it (which can be a good niche business for some).? And, of course, chassis are needed. If we wait a little longer, we will probably be able to get the 3D printed shells already colored and lettered and even "weathered".? These are photos I took in 2019 of ACTUAL 3D printed, in color, examples from a printer in the automotive design area at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.? I see this, and I see ready to use engine shells. Another photo for scale and also showing other examples. So, as we edge nearer to the Star Trek "Replicator", some of the availability concerns may fade away.? And how things are made in HO and N and such may also change.? The typical production run could get down to as low as 1 unit per special order. Charles E. "Chuck' Kinzer
On Thursday, June 20, 2024 at 06:22:25 PM PDT, Shane Lambert <cnwwaseca@...> wrote:
I WAS a real life HO modeler up until last year. I sold (still selling) my HO scale collection to build my S Scale collection. And I may have one other HO modeler and an N Scale modeler ready to convert to S. Just because I've talked about and shoed t them what I have collected. No, we won't convert everyone, but we can show what's available and convert some. On Thu, Jun 20, 2024, 7:43 PM Ed Loizeaux via <Loizeaux=[email protected]> wrote: On Thu, Jun 20, 2024 at 02:50 PM, Shane Lambert wrote: |