Island Modelworks Comet II cab and coach

[noblerot]

There was a recent post about IM resin kits but I started a new one as this is specific to the Comet II kits in N scale.

I bought these a couple of years ago and they came with smoked glass inserts and IMW's white metal block "trucks".

When I ordered these IM had just listed them as retooled with thinner shells.  I don't know if they still include the glass now.

I had the same experience others have had of searching for photos of complete kits but never did find any, hopefully this will give folks an idea of what they are like.

Although I was somewhat disappointed with the kits when they arrived (enough that I put them aside for 2 years) I was able to build them into credible models IMHO.

It was a challenge but it forced me to expand my ability and research quite a bit about resin models and the LED's. I hadn't worked with resin before except for some NSN B40-8 kits back in the early 90's.


Bachmann inside bearing truck top

included IM "trucks" bottom

I cut the molded on stabilizers off as they were oversized and so thick they would have prevented the trucks from swinging. The Bachman trucks have the stabilizer on them which swing with the truck, although they are not right for the Comets I can live with them.

Here is the PARTS LIST,

IM Comet II coach kit with Bachmann inside bearing trucks, styrene diaphragms, Microscale decals, MT couplers

IM Comet II cab kit with Bachmann inside bearing trucks, BLMA E/F model style cut levers and 18" grabs, GMM wipers, TCS FL4 decoder, Ngineering LED's & resistors, Gallery Glass ruby red lenses, .030" fiber optic, custom built styrene pilot and diaphragms, Kato 5 chime horn, Microscale decals, MT couplers (Z scale on the cab front)

Coach and cab



Decoder, LED's & electronics


Power pickup


Cab profile


Although they are not what I would call free rolling, I am able to push and pull them with my U34CH even on wicked tight curves on my sons freelanced US Army HCD layout.

 How it would do in push mode with 2 or 3 more coach's added I can't say but I'd guess the HCD layout would probably be off limits.

[bobcat]

Sweet

[FrankCampagna]

Nice work. Very nice work!

Frank

[SecretWeapon]

That's great! I went to place an order on his website. Every time I tryed to get a Comet 5 trailer, it would post a Comet 2 trailer. I cancelled the order. I was getting a train set per series. Then I started hearing people knocking the cars. Looking at yours, I may try them. I have a friend who brought a bunch. He put them aside for now because he's too busy at work. Maybe I'll wait to see his.

[ArtinCA]

Very nice work. I've been thinking about the cars too for Amtrak... Might have to break down and get a few..

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Man, I wish my shells were as nice as yours. Almost all of mine were beyond repair. Half of them did not have the correct floor/underframe and did not include steps. Those that were correct were cast so thick it is impossible to determine what is flash and what is supposed to be cast. I think one of the floors actually scaled out to be 1/3 of an inch thick.

Its sad, because the masters were obviously well don't, its just the casting that sucks. If he did these with thin walled, pressure castings, they would be good. Bad casting, mixed up/broken parts and obvious flaws (Kawasaki bi-levels missing their lower taper) make these kits nearly impossible to build.

[noblerot]

Man, I wish my shells were as nice as yours. Almost all of mine were beyond repair. Half of them did not have the correct floor/underframe and did not include steps. Those that were correct were cast so thick it is impossible to determine what is flash and what is supposed to be cast. I think one of the floors actually scaled out to be 1/3 of an inch thick.

Its sad, because the masters were obviously well don't, its just the casting that sucks. If he did these with thin walled, pressure castings, they would be good. Bad casting, mixed up/broken parts and obvious flaws (Kawasaki bi-levels missing their lower taper) make these kits nearly impossible to build.

Dan, Did you contact IM ? Maybe Joe would be willing to exchange them for you. The shells I received, besides lots of flash, had quite a few very small bubble holes and one or two larger ones. They were also warped and twisted which I thought would be a big problem. Then I read somewhere you can immerse resin shells in hot water to bring them back to the original shape of the mold. This worked almost instantly and they maintained their shape since. The other problem is cost, The kit's $25 ea. The Bachmann Amfleet cars I used for their trucks were $15 ea. For the cab add on to that the cost of the decoder, LED's, resistors, detail parts and then paint and decals for both (the NJT decal sheet does include enough for 4 or 5 cars though) I probably spent $45 on the coach and  twice that on the cab. For my Port Jervis line I need at least 4 more cabs and 15-20 coaches. So I'll have to wait till someone else runs them (if ever). Having said that I do plan to get 2 or 3 more coaches and maybe a cab to do in Metro North livery. I know you have been lobbying for these for a long time and assume you need a lot as well. Hopefully we will see them someday.

[jmlaboda - RIP]

I had noticed that he had new thin walled models available just the other day when I was visiting the IMW website and was wondering how they looked.  I assume that the windows are not flush but overall the models do look pretty nice.

Would be good if you could get a Horizon cafe done for Amtrak but at least these do have some great  potential.

Wonder if you could get the new Kato Amfleet trucks?  Might be at least a little better than what the Bachmann's are.

[noblerot]

I had noticed that he had new thin walled models available just the other day when I was visiting the IMW website and was wondering how they looked.  I assume that the windows are not flush but overall the models do look pretty nice.

Would be good if you could get a Horizon cafe done for Amtrak but at least these do have some great  potential.

Wonder if you could get the new Kato Amfleet trucks?  Might be at least a little better than what the Bachmann's are.

The windows could be filed/sanded to fit flush flush but I didn't bother to do it as the NJT cars are so blacked out looking anyway. According to Joe at IM they no longer include the glass as most people were just throwing them out. He did say he had some left and would send them if I asked when ordering.

this is what the glass looked like

 So each one had to be cut and glued separately, one score with a #11 and they snapped crisply.

The Kato trucks are available on the website $15 a pair.
this is what they look like.

http://www.katousa.com/images/800131.jpg

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I did order replacements. The replacments wer the ones I was talking about. The originals ended up in the trash as soon as I opened the package.

[noblerot]

I did order replacements. The replacments wer the ones I was talking about. The originals ended up in the trash as soon as I opened the package.

Wow, that stinks. Well see if he'll exchange them now since the tooling was upgraded. Can't hurt to ask.