Pacific Fruit Express R-40-23/-25/-26 from NERPM

 

Mostly completed weathered R-40-25

I presented a discussion about the PFE's 10,000 strong postwar reefers in the R-40-23, -25, and -26 classes at the recent NERPM. The presentation can be accessed via the Speedwitch Files page.

The State of Westerfield and Resin

 

One of my favorite Westerfield builds ever, even with the loathsome Evergreen scribed siding for the boards...

With the announcement by Andrew Dahm that he has suspended Westerfield, there were many of the usual comments hoping someone will "step up" to acquire the business and keep it going. Given my still recent dive into the casting pool, I want to provide some (valuable... I hope) context about what is involved in the business. 

Another of the scribed boards brigade, but I loved building this one too

First, a going concern like Westerfield generates residual income in the form of sales of items already in the product line/catalog. However, the vast majority of income for resin kits is in new releases, by multiples. In other words, if you're not releasing new stuff, you're treading water, at best, or sinking.

One of Westerfield's great offerings... you need more than one

Second, people may presume that you make some castings, add details and wire, and throw it all in a box, and sell it. Simple, right? 20+ years ago, that model worked. There were tons of purveyors of ladders, sill steps, brake parts, running boards, etc., to help make these kits a reality. That is no longer the case. If you've been paying attention, you know that Detail Associates is gone, Proto Power West/Details West (A-Line sill steps, anyone?) is a shell of its former self, Plano parts are unavailable at present... there are others, but if you depend upon a good variety and supply of parts, in bulk, things are bleak. Even stuff that is "active" may not be in stock or rerun any time soon, affecting your ability to generate revenue. A good example of the current state of things is the simple ladder. It used to be that you could get sprues of ladders, in bulk, from Detail Associates, Details West, Branchline, Intermountain, Tichy, Red Caboose, and perhaps one or two others I'm forgetting and the ladders were different (number of rungs and spacing) so you could usually find a ladder to match your project's needs. Today, Tichy is it, severely limiting your options... which leads me to another point...

Another classic

What passed muster 20+ years ago doesn't cut it any longer. Back then, there was a small mafia of people who had or knew where to get the drawings needed to produce accurate patterns for models. The prototype had a fishbelly center sill underframe and so does your model... awesome! Today, if you did that, someone would order the drawing(s) to aid in their build of the kit and then post on groups.io, facebook and six other places, that on your kit's underframe, the stringers are missing, the diagonal braces aren't the right shape, the fishbelly sections aren't deep enough and your crossties are in the wrong location. We are collectively better informed and more sophisticated and the models need to reflect that. Some people view them as standalone models, not parts of scenes and they expect them to hold up to such scrutiny.

and last, but by no means least... one of the finest resin offerings ever. A tour de force 

Which leads me to that same thing that is always important: moola. I know that I am charging (for kits that have trucks and wheelsets, Kadee couplers, "rubber" angle cock/air hoses, plus all the other stuff, including extensive etching sheets) mid $80. That is "too much" for some and that's fine. My kits aren't for everyone, but if you think I'm gouging, you're pretty far off the mark... the days of runs of 400 of a specific resin kit offering are long gone; 150 is a great success these days. However, I also know that mid $80 no longer works for kits with all those things. Etchings take a lot of time (= money) to design and engineer and the best value provider (quality and cost) is in Scotland. That wasn't an issue, but now, I not only have to pay the cost of the goods, but with the elimination of de minumus imports, I have to pay an additional ~40% for duties plus the filing fees that couriers charge. Trucks with wheelsets are a significant outlay of $8-$10+ and the days of 40% discounts from providers of those things are gone. Kadee couplers are expensive, too. Resin is petroleum-based and we know what has happened to oil prices twice in the past several years. On things like resin, those prices creep up, but don't usually retreat when oil goes down. All of these things add up. Then there is my time. I have no choice, but to procure drawings and/or photos, draw the artwork for the decals, design the etchings, make the patterns, duplicate the parts, build up one-piece bodies, make molds, cast parts, write instructions, fill bags, stuff boxes, print labels, and mail things (which is also more expensive as of April 26.) None of this intended to be a "woe is me" sob story; it's intended to provide context about what is involved.

To circle back to the original idea of finding someone to "step up" and buy Westerfield to keep it going, that's a huge ask and would take a very special person. There are a lot of hats to be worn in this business... designer, modelmaker, caster, office manager, and a half dozen other roles. Stepping up is what Jeff Hostetler and Tom Brady did. However, they were already professionals specializing in exactly what they were being asked to do. The person who buys Westerfield would be doing a lot more than stepping up in all likelihood; they'd probably be learning many new skills on the fly

Plate C Pennsylvania Railroad G32 family Gondolas

 

The "ghost" lines on the model from printing are only visible from certain lighting angles (barely at that) and should disappear under paint, lettering, and weathering

One of the highlights of the PRRT&HS annual meeting (for me) was seeing the new PRR G32 family of gons from Plate C. Adam from Plate C brought along a handful of each type to sell and I snapped up a G32 (the only one suitable for my late 1952 modeling era.) Adam also created 70-ton versions of the Scullin L-V trucks that some of these cars had. The kits are available from 3D Central

PRR G32 370600 with 70-ton Scullin L-V trucks, Collection of Tom Martorano

The kits are extremely simple, with a 3D printed body with almost all details integral to it, a bag with hand wheels and screws, another bag with wire and grabs, a separate floor print representing the welded floor of the prototype, plus a weight that nests between the floor and underframe members. The G32 and G32A had tiedown loops in different locations and the different kits for each accurately capture this as well as the trust plate data. There are also kits for the rebuilds that had corrugated sides.

My model from these pictures was given a quick shot of Tamiya red fine surface primer from an aerosol can to "fix" the print before adding the details. Like I always seem to do, I plan to make a few deviations from the kit. I am going to replace the ladder "treads" with etched ones and I also will replace the Ajax hand brake housing printed on the model with a Kadee Champion Peacock housing and wheel. For trucks, Adam may produce a 70-ton National C-1 that some of these cars had. For the time being, I am using a set of Tahoe 70-ton ASF A-3s as placeholders.

I will write up my full build, including prototype and model photos and submit it to The Keystone Modeler. Congrats to Adam on a fine replica.

PRR Early Welded Box & Auto Cars from PRRT&HS Annual Meeting

 

I attended the PRRT&HS's annual meeting in Gettysburg, PA this past weekend and had the pleasure of presenting a clinic, as well. I discussed the Pennsy's early welded box and auto cars, an interesting topic given the PRR's fairly large scale efforts at welding for freight car construction. It's also personally on point as I have been working on upgrading a Sunshine X41B box car and also preparing kits of the X43A and X45 for release. I will keep updating progress on the X41B here and the release of the X43A and X45 kits will be announced in all the usual places. 

Here is a link to my presentation file in pdf format. Thanks to the PRRT&HS for allowing me to participate.