Model Railroading > Intermountain kits

Am I the only one out there that thinks that Intermountain kits are a pain in the ....?

I am in the middle of assembling one of their PFE Reefer kits, and I must say that it falls well to the bottom of the list in "well thought out". For example, the instructions have referenced letters for the individual parts, but there are no indications on the sprues which are which. At least with this kit there are different colors.

And then there is the order of installation - I think that they have many of the steps in a clumsy order - install the ends, sides, roof, and then put on the detail parts. I prefer to use Tenax from the inside of the model whenever possible, but the order precludes this. I am on my own here....

And lastly, would it kill them to put a weight in the car? After paying a retail price of $13 for the car, a weight doesn't seem to be too much to ask for.

I have done many different brands of Kits, including other Intermountain kits, Red Caboose, P2K, and Tichy, and they all come out ahead in my book. If Tichy had pre-painted kits, they would be the hands down winners to me. I haven't seem anything better designed.

What do others think?

I personaly like Atlas's newer cars.Great paint,loads of detail.
Now if they'd just trash those wanna-be Kaydees...
But I guess that all depends on what you're after such as era.
MetallicA

I think it is a pain in the a$$ when someone doesnt mention what scale he is talking about! Are you talking about N or HO? If you are talking about HO, try assembling one of those suckers in N! Ive done over 15, and each time they get easier and easier. You just have to have time, patience, and some fingers that arent too big. I use Zap-A-Gap to glue everything in, and a friend of mine says he uses nuts (from Home Depot) to weigh the cars down. Says you can buy them for 3 cents a peice.

Scott

I received two of their kits as gifts and they were as much of a pain as anything else which I have tried but look great once done. Price could be a wee bit better though and I was glad mine were gifts.

I use penny's with clear silicon.
Any petro based glue seem's to distort the plastic underframe.
Works good for me.........

icg8021 wrote:
>
> I use penny's with clear silicon.
> Any petro based glue seem's to distort the plastic underframe.
> Works good for me.........

Me too.

One advantage clear silicone has over some of the other adhesives is that it doesn't give off fumes that etch or fog windows in cabooses or passenger cars. It's also far less prone to shearing off over time than ACC.

-fm

First, don't take this personally, this is meant to be a group observation;
Why are model railroaders afraid of kits with more than ten parts????

I also hang out with the crowd who builds aircraft, ships, tanks. In that hobby, the more parts the better! They are also big into multi-media kits, often combining plastic, white metal, resin, etched brass, etc. Multi-media also doesn't seem to go over with model RR's. I understand that our models must be more "rugged", that is they have to survive handling and movement, but it seems that model railroaders don't like kits.

Anyway enough soapbox! (Flame away, I'm braced!)

I do suggest that you give the IM kits a fair shake. I've built dozens of their reefers for my PFE train. After the first dozen, they almost assemble themselves. The earlier P2K kits were almost identical in construction style to IM. Many of IM's kits are available built up if you don't like assembly. I agree that providing your own weight is a pain, but it's simple to fix.

I am in awe of the work that P2K did on the recent "war emergency" hoppers. They have combined the beauty of a kit, but assembled it so well that it's a real pleasure to have on your layout. Their new approach is the "quick kit", meant to simplify the modeler's life.

I think that the Kadee boxcars are great. I wish they would do something besides PS-1's.

Atlas's recent cars are some of the best RTR's around. I'm really looking forward to their new ASF "Center Flow" cars.

All-in-all I think that we are swimming in great freight car models. I think that we need to practice our modeling skills to get the best results.

Don't get me wrong,little buddy.
I love to build kits.Problem is,I model the present time and very few manufactures make kits of modern equipment.
I have Detail Assco.'s center flow covered hopper,and a ballast hopper from someone(can't remember who)that goes together like the C/H above.Seperate roof,sides,ends,ect.
Both are great looking,and run wonderful.
It's just hard to find kits of modern equipment.I know they're out there.
I just look toward Atlas and other manufacturer's equipment because you can get these for a good price,add Kaydees,weather it and plop it on the layout with in a few days.(Work permitting)
This also allows me to spend more time on engines,shoving platforms,and "strange" equipment I've seen over the years,and the layout as well.
I wish more companies would make real kits,like IM,of modern equipment.
MetallicA

IM makes a few pretty good "newer equipment" kits also. I have built a bunch of the IM PS 4750 3 bay hoppers, the cylindrical Canadian grain hoppers (both with Plano roof walks), and a bunch of ACF 2 bay hoppers (comes with etched roofwalks). All three of these cars can be seen on present day trains AFAIK, and they look great!

FE

If you think Intermountain's are bad, try some of Westerfield's kits, especially the brake rigging.

First - Sorry! I model HO. And I have been at it for over 30 years, and have done mostly craftsman kits and scratchbuilding.

And if you have done 20 or so of these kits, then my hat is off to you. While I would love to have a PFE train - it won't be of these kits. This is actually my second one - I did the first a couple of years ago, and must be getting senile for buying another one.

I just finished one of the P2K War emergency hoppers, and I would agree with your analysis - they were fine. One I drilled out all of the holes for the grabs, it went together very well. I wouldn't agree with their "do it in an hour" claim, but it is a fine kit.

My personal favorites are still the Tichy/Gould kits - I have quite a few of their 50 ton hoppers, and several of the type 103 tank cars - lots of parts there, but they all go together like clockwork. If only they would prepaint the sides - maybe I should just break down and buy an airbrush....

I hafta fall on the side of N scalers who think these kits are just too darn hard!!! after about 5, I gave up, sold them all on eBay, and am in the process of buying RTR whenever I can. If you have 5 hours to spend assembling one hopper, then have fun!!! I'd much rather spend that 5 hours running trains. To each his own, I guess. I'm just thankful that intermountain has thought this through and offers BOTH kits and ready to run. thanks for your time this time, till next time!