I finally decided to order some of the Tulloch 10,000 gallon tank wagons on offer. I had not seen much written about them since release & figured the reduced pricing structure was too good to pass up.
It has been a long wait for modellers to have an RTR bogie tank wagon & with at least 3 manufacturers in the process of delivery... We will ultimately be spoiled !!!
My normal MO with any model is to get them home take them apart, modify & weather as i see fit so the advertised faults did not bother me at all. I must state here that this manufacturer should be applauded for being completely upfront about the shortcomings of this release & displayed a great deal of business savy in turning a potential disaster into a modelling coup. With all that said i thought i would post some shots of the models that i purchased & have added some comments for discussion.
As stated i nearly missed out altogether & in the end ordered two 3 packs with each containing an Ampol, CSR & Atlantic 1950s style wagon. I also purchased 2 single Golden Fleece units in silver.
The packaging is brilliant & to a standard we are now coming to expect. So.... what about the wagons....
As per all releases the beauty is always in the eye of the beholder & after talking to a few fellow modellers each seemed to have a different idea on the finished model.
The first thing that struck me after i unpacked & setup the models at eye level was that the majority displayed some bowing of the underframe & on on some units a distinct upturn of the underframe between the bogie pivot & the couplers. For me this issue will not overly worry me as i will be pulling all units apart for a repaint & when the tank retaining screws are removed....this issue may well be able to be rectified... if not then i guess the bowing could be explained as over exhuberant shunting over the years of service. Another issue is the bogie retaining chains & while they are a great touch of detail....the majority had either come adrift at the bogie end or the underframe mounting point & i am not sure whether this scribes aging eyesight will allow me to re attach this detail. I might just dispense with them altogether.
The advertised walkway, ladder & shunter's post issues are evident only on some of the models. There are some issues however with the installation of the hand grips on the domes & i have included a photo showng this point.
After handling these models i am now starting to see the point of some modellers who have expressed concern at the amount of easily dislodged detail being included in recent releases.... I do not envy the manufacturers when making that decision.
On the upside.... the paint, text, logos etc are crisp & to a high level of quality. Underframe detail is also well served & seems complete in every aspect. The models run feely on the track & appear to track well.... couplers seem fine... The model certainly captures the flavour of these tank cars.... They are certainly value for money...
I hope that the main production run of these models ( utlising a new factory ) will address the bulk of these problems as it seems that the majority of issues could have been corrected during assembly & are not a symptom of bad design or something the vendor had any control over until arrival...
In summing up... i think this release has been a glimpse of the first release of bogie oil pots & i look forward to "getting to work" on these models & look forward to the next release of wagons from this & the other manufacturers.
BTW... the comments in this post are mine only & of course others will have their own views....as always comments are welcome!!!
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| Ampol tank showing bogie retaining chains & underframe. |
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| Note Underframe... |
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| The Golden Fleece Variety....note chains & underframe....walkway issues were expected. |
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| Underframe detail.... Brilliant!!! |
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| Handgrip installation...some visible...others not... |
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| Note Underframe.... |
All,
ReplyDeleteFound a solve for one of the issues raised with these wagons.
The upward deflection on the underframes at each end can be sorted by backing off the tank attachment screws located adjacent to the bogies. I commenced by quarter turns until the underframes were straight & it would appear that they were obviously overtightened at the factory. Even after this mod the tank is still snuggly fitted to the underframe.
Rod
I have done some adjustments on my models, even though I had tried the screw backing off with some of the models its not a total success, the problem is still found with the ways in which the ladders & the models with shunters grab rails affixed to the barrel, eg non Atlantic wagons (grab rails only).
ReplyDeleteWhat you find with the ladders & grab rails is, they are glued into the sideframes, & have tight fitting lugs into the barrels. In the case of the ladders two holes right under the top walkway, while the bottoms are glued in place. The grab rails are engled into the barrel again with the bottoms glued into the side frames.
To release the barrel, there are 3 screws, each end & centre, & as you back them off its relativelly easy to get the rails & ladders out by gently prising them out. However whether loosened or not, the ladders still affect the walkways owing to how close the tops are under the walkways.
Its a real care thing to adjust the screws & not all are the same. I had 4 different bogies where the safety chains were adrift from the frame & not bogies themselves, which means the chains foul the wheels with potential derailment issues. I gave up trying to refit them & pulled the seperated ones off.
Note also that the turnbuckles on the straps are also fine seperate detail items, & they have a plug at the top where it fits into the barrel & the botton is another bit glued into the side frame but they come away very easily.