"How do I best model an ex-IC USAX hopper?"

[sirenwerks]

SO the USAX prototype looks more like the Athearn (nee MDC) model, with the flat surface area beneath the grabs. What's up with that? Did they also have cars like the Bluford model?

[Sokramiketes]

SO the USAX prototype looks more like the Athearn (nee MDC) model, with the flat surface area beneath the grabs. What's up with that? Did they also have cars like the Bluford model?

If you're going to count rivets like this, at least notice that it's an ex-IC car with vertical batten strips of rivets on the car side.  I'd love to see the IC version tooled, but it ain't gonna happen.

[Robbman]

SO the USAX prototype looks more like the Athearn (nee MDC) model, with the flat surface area beneath the grabs. What's up with that? Did they also have cars like the Bluford model?

The few they have are all former IC as Mike noted.  58069 and 58070 have been on the east side of the Radford Army Ammunition Plant for several years now... in fact, that photo was take when they were in transit to Radford.

[wcfn100]

 I'd love to see the IC version tooled, but it ain't gonna happen.

2-bays too.  


Jason

[sirenwerks]

If you're going to count rivets like this, at least notice that it's an ex-IC car with vertical batten strips of rivets on the car side.  I'd love to see the IC version tooled, but it ain't gonna happen.

I didn't mention rivets once. But since you brought it up, and without one to study in detail, wouldn't the Athearn car be a fairly easy modification to get close to an IC car? Mike Livingston did something similar in his IC hopper write-up in the GHQ forum; a number of two-bays but at least one 3-bay starting with an Athearn car.

[Sokramiketes]

I didn't mention rivets once. But since you brought it up, and without one to study in detail, wouldn't the Athearn car be a fairly easy modification to get close to an IC car? Mike Livingston did something similar in his IC hopper write-up in the GHQ forum; a number of two-bays but at least one 3-bay starting with an Athearn car.

Mr. Livingston didn't do anything to make his hoppers look like the IC prototypes, neither his 2-bay MTL model nor his 3-bay MDC model had anything done other than paint and lettering. 

Bluford has a close model, picked an attractive scheme, and is releasing a model.  Maybe Athearn can do the scheme someday too.

[sirenwerks]

Mr. Livingston didn't do anything to make his hoppers look like the IC prototypes, neither his 2-bay MTL model nor his 3-bay MDC model had anything done other than paint and lettering. 

Bluford has a close model, picked an attractive scheme, and is releasing a model.  Maybe Athearn can do the scheme someday too.

I guess it's the lipstick on the (admittedly attractive but wrong) pig thing. IMO, the body contour of the prototype is too significant to be ignored. And those rivet strips are easy enough to manufacture through a variety of means (etching, emboss, decal...) to add to an Athearn (nee-MDC) car to give a more reasonable reproduction of the model you wish for. The Athearn car has the right number of ribs on top of the offset slope (albeit a bit short in height) and the resulting rivet paths down the car side are in the proper place, relative to the hopper bays. There are still some shortfalls to the Athearn car but it's still a better option than the Bluford car for what you remarked on, IMO.

Yes, it's too bad we can't get a real model of the IC car. It's too bad we can't get a real model of a number of popular cars, like the very popular URTX reefer, with its horizontal rivet line down the car length. Which would make more than half of IM's models painfully prototypically obsolete. I was just trying to point out an option for you.

[Mark5]

Athearn would probably find a way to botch the paint scheme anyway ...

Mark

[Sokramiketes]

O

I guess it's the lipstick on the (admittedly attractive but wrong) pig thing. IMO, the body contour of the prototype is too significant to be ignored. And those rivet strips are easy enough to manufacture through a variety of means (etching, emboss, decal...) to add to an Athearn (nee-MDC) car to give a more reasonable reproduction of the model you wish for. The Athearn car has the right number of ribs on top of the offset slope (albeit a bit short in height) and the resulting rivet paths down the car side are in the proper place, relative to the hopper bays. There are still some shortfalls to the Athearn car but it's still a better option than the Bluford car for what you remarked on, IMO.

Yes, it's too bad we can't get a real model of the IC car. It's too bad we can't get a real model of a number of popular cars, like the very popular URTX reefer, with its horizontal rivet line down the car length. Which would make more than half of IM's models painfully prototypically obsolete. I was just trying to point out an option for you.

Bryan,
You're trying to answer the question nobody asked!  This is a new product announcement thread. Someday the "How do I best model an ex-IC USAX hopper?" thread will come up and you'll be all ready to go with the answers.   ;D

[wcfn100]

I guess it's the lipstick on the (admittedly attractive but wrong) pig thing. IMO, the body contour of the prototype is too significant to be ignored. And those rivet strips are easy enough to manufacture through a variety of means (etching, emboss, decal...) to add to an Athearn (nee-MDC) car to give a more reasonable reproduction of the model you wish for. The Athearn car has the right number of ribs on top of the offset slope (albeit a bit short in height) and the resulting rivet paths down the car side are in the proper place, relative to the hopper bays. There are still some shortfalls to the Athearn car but it's still a better option than the Bluford car for what you remarked on, IMO.

The MDC car is still a lot of work just to end up with a car that's still at least a foot too short in height. IMO


Jason

[sirenwerks]

O
Bryan,
You're trying to answer the question nobody asked!  This is a new product announcement thread. Someday the "How do I best model an ex-IC USAX hopper?" thread will come up and you'll be all ready to go with the answers.   ;D

Just following your lead, cat daddy. You were the one who went all technical when I asked if the USAX had cars like the actual Bluford model presented.