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Ques the plank gap discussion in 1... 2....3....
Queue the plank gap discussion in 1... 2....3....
Well, I'm glad I waited and didn't buy sight unseen. The new WS reefer is out, and the N scale version Bachmann photos are now up. Below I'm reposting the earlier HO pic, followed by the N scale version.As expected, it comes with body mount box glove couplers, and low flange fat wheels. Okay, that can be fixed.The running board is awful, thick and way up in the air. Okay, that's an easy fix too, sand down the tabs and replace with etched metal.Other things are not so easy. The doors are way too short, even shorter then the HO model, and an "improvement" from HO is a parting line between the doors. Inexplicably, it's off to one side They did repeat the HO errors and placed what's supposed to be Preco fans in the wrong place; I think the whole left side lettering is not properly centered. It's a shame, because the lettering, and overall side detailing is excellent.The roof panels are running all the way to the icing hatches rather than stopping one panel short, just like the HO model. I can't see the ends too well, but they had the 4/4 Dreadnaughts almost right in HO, in N, I don't know what it is, but it's not a 4/4 D. So no pleasant surprises here, unfortunately what we came to expect from Bachmann. I'm not buying any. It's a shame, too, because the model does have some very nice features and finish, and they obviously have the technical capability to so it right, but there is just too much sloppiness in their decision making.Otto K.
The short doors look to be the correct height for early PFE reefers such as the R-30-3 thru R-30-6 (circa 1908 thru 1938), but the unequal width doors are just plain wrong. The short doors don't have any place in the transition era, and if any rebuilds were still extant from 1945 thru 1959, they would have had the short doors replaced with the taller PFE versions.However, it appears to me, upon close scrutiny of the slightly blurry N-scale photo, that the roof panels adjacent to the end hatch-panels on the N-scale version are correctly flat, unlike the incorrect HO version. The hatch covers appear to be the correct Equipco Hatchcovers. If the N-scale roofs are incorrect, it wouldn't take much to file down the bulges.Also, the N-scale version has the correct 7 rung side ladders, as opposed to the incorrect 6 rung side ladders of the HO version.The coupler, running boards and fat wheels would all have to go...no biggie there...to be replaced by better-looking versions.I can't really see the ends too well, but they appear to be a 4-4 dreadnaught end, although the bottom bulge appears to have some sort of long grab or platform sticking out of it. Maybe that could be trimmed and smoothed. It appears that both the HO and N-scale cars have the brake wheel too close to the center, with the brakewheel touching or almost touching the running board end.Another big deal for me that is wrong with both the N-scale and HO scale Bachmann models is that the underbody is obviously not a Bettendorf style "fishbelly" underframe, which is so obvious in prototype photos.I also find the wood sheathing to be okay. Not as nice as the ME wood reefer's, but close.The black dot that represents the Preco fan is in the wrong place...it should be centered over inside edge of the truck bolster...which is in plain view in prototype photos but non-existent in both the N & HO-scales' models incorrect underbody detailing. Which brings us to the painting and lettering. Paint appears to be okay as far as color is concerned, although I can't really judge that too well from images off the internet. Lettering is slightly funky, with it generally being too low and too small with critical and easily noticed elements being obviously in the wrong places.It looks to me that this reefer is pretty close structurally in several important aspects to PFE R-30-21 and R-40-21 rebuilds done in 1945 thru 1947, and with work, could nicely represent these 2,420 PFE cars.First and easiest would be to replace the running board with an etched version, replace the wheels with FVM or BLMA narrow tread wheelsets, and replace the couplers with either an MTL Z-scale version or (if somebody will hurry up and get a more correct coupler box done I can buy at Shapeways!! ) True Scale couplers.The next thing would be to replace the door. This could be done several ways, but maybe the easiest way would be to cut the doors from an MTL wooden reefer and piece them in on the Bachmann models...which would be relatively easy to do and look great especially if the sheathing width is the same on both models. If you didn't want to sacrifice MTL wooden reefers, then using the MTL doors as masters, you could make resin copies. Another possibility would be to have a brass etched door made up, then scrape off the plastic details of the Bachmann model and glue the etched door & hardware in place. Add some etched Preco fans to the fret. Lastly, you could print the door hardware at Shapeways, scrape off the model's incorrectly placed hardware, re-groove the siding where needed and glue the new hardware on to represent a taller door.If you want to make up a reefer block's worth of correct PFE R-30-21 and/or R-40-21's, then making the effort to do a bunch of doors and their attendant hardware would be worth it. If you want to do just one or two, then sacrificing MTL wooden reefers is the way to go.Since I'd be replacing the door, and messing with the roof, I'd just strip the cars before I got started (or get undec'd if they're available), paint and decal after the mods were done.Making the underbody more correct would probably be a fairly easy project, particularly adding the fishbelly center frame, which would just be thick Styrene with Archer rivets if you wanted to detail it out. Fashioning the visible floor supports and truck bolster ends would add a bit more work, but nothing difficult, and would certainly add nicely to the correctness of the kitbash. Could be that an MTL fishbelly underframe would work too, but I don't know how the Bachmann car is put together.Replacing the side ladders would be possible using BLMA/Atlas boxcar 7 rung ladders, and replacing the stirrups would be an absolutely necessary task, using either wire, etched versions or maybe even MTL parts.I'd get rid of whatever that thing is on the bottom bulge of the 4-4 Dreadnaught ends, sand and smooth the bulge, and probably replace the brakewheel with either an MTL or etched one.Paint, decal and weather up...done.I guess the point here is that the Bachmann N-scale model doesn't appear to be a total wash, and with some work, could be turned into a very correct PFE R-30-21/R-40-21 rebuild right at the beginning of the middle transition era...maybe the most accurate N-scale steel-ended, steel-roofed, wooden-sided transition era PFE reefer out there.I think I'm gonna get one or two and see what can be done!Cheerio!Bob Gilmore
You go do that Bob, it will be a fun project! NOT So let's see... we'll start with a $37 msrp car, say $25 street price, add say five bucks worth of wheels and couplers, a couple of bucks for an etched running board, a new roof (because this model comes with diagonal panels) new ends (because it does not have a 4/4 Dreadnaught in my opinion), replace the doors from a donor car, oh and build or canibalize a new fishbelly underframe with appropriate details. Strip the paint and repaint and reletter the car. What's left? Factory air? Okay, a piece of siding and cast on but good looking seven-rung laders. Oh yea, and we need a whole bunch of them.... In my opinion, that's just way too much trouble and way too much money. It would be simpler to just build one from cannibalized and available parts, and and cast them if multiples are desired.I've been following this car's announcement in the hope of getting something I could use with a little bit of work to do a reefer block, but this isn't it for me....Otto K.
By the time.you are done stripping the paint, removing the coupler boxes, etc, the only difference between the old Bachmann reefer and the new Bachmann reefer is the amount of $$$ you paid for it.
Otto...LOL! I agree with you that it's a lot of work and expense...but I'm in the process of doing something in the same vein to all of my Athearn Big Boys, Challengers and Kato FEF's...and the initial price for these is way more. However, the idea of doing a correct PFE R-30-21 as a master, then taking an RTV mold of it to cast the bodies in resin is a GOOD idea! I must have been nearly asleep when I posted before to miss that obvious point!Thanks for the whop upside the head!I'm not familiar with the old Bachmann reefer. True? No difference other than trucks and couplers? That'll make my master even cheaper! Thanks for the heads-up!Cheerio!Bob Gilmore
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Topic: New Bachmann 40' reefer: PFE R-40-21? (Read 7329 times)
