I'm a B&O guy and I had never seen a DD wagontop until this discussion started so it was never even on my radar. I would buy maybe 1 if the quality was there. If the quality is there, I have no problem spending $20-25 on a kit. I've spent more on less. If the quality is not up to par though, it's a no go. This is a very difficult car to repair issues on. If it wasn't "clean the flashing and paint", I probably wouldn't touch it for any price.
To be completely honest, the original plan was to take 3 FVM shells and heavily cut-and-shut the bits to as close to correct as I could get to make the master for making the rubber mold.
I was in discussions with a forum member who said he could forward the prototype blueprints to a high-quality RP company, but in our discussions there were some initial misunderstandings and after I clarified everything he basically laid it out for me that in his opinion the project wasn't worth his getting involved. In this persons words it is just "play things" since my estimated sales figures were selling maybe 30 kits at the most. He was expecting me to sell at least 200.
It would have cost $1000 for the blueprints to be turned into CAD drawings and then have three shells printed.
One of the misunderstandings being that he thought we would require 3 masters, but with my original plan only 2 masters were needed and now I have decided to nix the Finescale/Craftsman type kit. If the modeler so chooses, they can remove any cast-on details and then replace them. No sense in having two separate masters.
In reality, unless there is someone who wouldn't mind converting the prototype blueprints into a CAD drawing with the roofwalk as a separate item (to simplify casting), they could choose to either receive a kit (or two depending on how they value doing the CAD work) or monetary payment. From there I could re-approach the member with the connections and see what it would cost just to have the one master printed.
If no one steps up, the only other option is for Christian and I to
attempt to take the only remaining Camden & Amboy casting (which is 2nd generation at best... possibly 3rd) and try and make the details a bit more acceptable to everyone's standards.
Those are the facts as I see them and present them to you all.
Hopefully something can come of this project and I won't have to cancel it. I'd love to be able to bring this interesting prototype into N-Scale and make it available to whomever comes across this thread and wants to buy a kit.
No contact has been put out to Micro-Trains yet in regards to sourcing the fishbelly underframes as I wanted to insure that this could be done before I start pooling the necessary materials.
-Cody Fisher
Haddon Car Shops
