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Does anyone use resin brake components?

Tom Madden
 

On Mon, Jan 27, 2020 at 10:51 AM, Ron Merrick wrote:
I've taken to substituting more and more plastic parts on resin kits lately, like brake gear and roofwalks, where they're appropriate.  The one-piece F&C cars have meant that I don't need to find plastic roofs or ends, which I've even done on some of the more modern Sunshine prototypes.
An interesting point, which I wonder about every time I demold detail sheets for Resin Car Works kits. Does anyone actually use those resin brake cylinders, air reservoirs and triple valves included on the sheets of detail parts in many resin kits? They are very difficult to extract from a mold without tearing either the mold or the detail sheet. It's like trying to pull billiard balls through buttonholes. My defect rate on detail sheets is roughly 10%, compared to 1% to 2% for car bodies and frames/underframes. It keeps the kit price down when you don't have to buy parts from another manufacturer, but if those three components are only placeholders that give the illusion of completeness to the kit, and no one actually uses them, it might be time to reconsider.

Tom Madden
Tim O'Connor
 


I have rarely used the resin brake appliances myself - Usually on kits where
there is a specialty item, like the twin-piston cylinder on the R-70-2 kit, or
a Royal F slack adjuster. It would not bother me if the appliances were omitted
from the kits - and the brake housing and brake wheel either, if those are not
difficult to procure somewhere else.

Tim O'



On 1/27/2020 2:50 PM, Tom Madden via Groups.Io wrote:

On Mon, Jan 27, 2020 at 10:51 AM, Ron Merrick wrote:
I've taken to substituting more and more plastic parts on resin kits lately, like brake gear and roofwalks, where they're appropriate.  The one-piece F&C cars have meant that I don't need to find plastic roofs or ends, which I've even done on some of the more modern Sunshine prototypes.
An interesting point, which I wonder about every time I demold detail sheets for Resin Car Works kits. Does anyone actually use those resin brake cylinders, air reservoirs and triple valves included on the sheets of detail parts in many resin kits? They are very difficult to extract from a mold without tearing either the mold or the detail sheet. It's like trying to pull billiard balls through buttonholes. My defect rate on detail sheets is roughly 10%, compared to 1% to 2% for car bodies and frames/underframes. It keeps the kit price down when you don't have to buy parts from another manufacturer, but if those three components are only placeholders that give the illusion of completeness to the kit, and no one actually uses them, it might be time to reconsider.

Tom Madden

--
Tim O'Connor
Sterling, Massachusetts
Bruce Smith
 

Tom,

They go in the trash because the injection molded plastic sets I have have much better fidelity. Indeed the resin parts are made worse when things like the reservoir come in multiple parts and have to be assembled.

Regards,
Bruce 
Bruce Smith
Auburn, AL

On Jan 27, 2020, at 2:03 PM, Tim O'Connor <timboconnor@...> wrote:


I have rarely used the resin brake appliances myself - Usually on kits where
there is a specialty item, like the twin-piston cylinder on the R-70-2 kit, or
a Royal F slack adjuster. It would not bother me if the appliances were omitted
from the kits - and the brake housing and brake wheel either, if those are not
difficult to procure somewhere else.

Tim O'



On 1/27/2020 2:50 PM, Tom Madden via Groups.Io wrote:
On Mon, Jan 27, 2020 at 10:51 AM, Ron Merrick wrote:
I've taken to substituting more and more plastic parts on resin kits lately, like brake gear and roofwalks, where they're appropriate.  The one-piece F&C cars have meant that I don't need to find plastic roofs or ends, which I've even done on some of the more modern Sunshine prototypes.
An interesting point, which I wonder about every time I demold detail sheets for Resin Car Works kits. Does anyone actually use those resin brake cylinders, air reservoirs and triple valves included on the sheets of detail parts in many resin kits? They are very difficult to extract from a mold without tearing either the mold or the detail sheet. It's like trying to pull billiard balls through buttonholes. My defect rate on detail sheets is roughly 10%, compared to 1% to 2% for car bodies and frames/underframes. It keeps the kit price down when you don't have to buy parts from another manufacturer, but if those three components are only placeholders that give the illusion of completeness to the kit, and no one actually uses them, it might be time to reconsider.

Tom Madden

--
Tim O'Connor
Sterling, Massachusetts

Steve SANDIFER
 

I don’t use the brake details. Many are distorted anyway. I use plastic.

 

 

J. Stephen Sandifer

 

From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io [mailto:main@RealSTMFC.groups.io] On Behalf Of Tom Madden via Groups.Io
Sent: Monday, January 27, 2020 1:51 PM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: [RealSTMFC] Does anyone use resin brake components?

 

On Mon, Jan 27, 2020 at 10:51 AM, Ron Merrick wrote:

I've taken to substituting more and more plastic parts on resin kits lately, like brake gear and roofwalks, where they're appropriate.  The one-piece F&C cars have meant that I don't need to find plastic roofs or ends, which I've even done on some of the more modern Sunshine prototypes.

An interesting point, which I wonder about every time I demold detail sheets for Resin Car Works kits. Does anyone actually use those resin brake cylinders, air reservoirs and triple valves included on the sheets of detail parts in many resin kits? They are very difficult to extract from a mold without tearing either the mold or the detail sheet. It's like trying to pull billiard balls through buttonholes. My defect rate on detail sheets is roughly 10%, compared to 1% to 2% for car bodies and frames/underframes. It keeps the kit price down when you don't have to buy parts from another manufacturer, but if those three components are only placeholders that give the illusion of completeness to the kit, and no one actually uses them, it might be time to reconsider.

Tom Madden

Todd Sullivan
 

It depends.  If the resin brake parts are well molded (and demolded), I'll use them.  If they are not, or are not accurate or true to the prototype parts, I'll substitute plastic parts.

Todd Sullivan.
greg snook
 

For me, it depends on the car.  Decently deep side sill?  Resin air brakes will be used, no need to add to the cost of a kit if it won't be seen in any reasonable operating scenario.
Cheers,
Greg Snook
Bill Welch
 

I have about 30-40 Grandt Line AB sets left from a bulk order a few years ago that I save for special models self defined. Sunshine enclosed Bowser/Cal-Scale and Terry Wegman's sets and I use those. But I have several resin sets that have been given me that I use for not-so-special models self-defined plus I use the Westerfield sets whenever possible.

Bill Welch
Steve Salotti
 

Hi Tom,
I'd say I use them about 60% of the time.  And save most of the pieces (most kits seem to come with extras) in case I don't like the pieces in the next kit.

Steve Salotti
Lester Breuer
 

Yes and No.  It depends on the quality of the resin parts and the car I am using them on.  Of the brake components I use the control valve the most due to the quality of many plastic ones.

Surprised to hear about the casting defect rate.  I have attempted to mold them and as you stated difficult to extract from the mold.  I find even more difficult is to fill the mold with proper amount of resin to get a good part even if vaccum chamber and pump used.

Lester Breuer
mopacfirst
 

Funny you should ask.  Early Sunshine (or maybe even late ones) always included at least two triple valves along with the other small parts.  I have always saved them and used them on kits like Intermountain where the supplied triple valve just looks like a cube.  In my early days of building resin kits, the most common plastic AB brake set that I could find at the hobby shop was the DA, I believe, and I recall they were hard to come by (or maybe they weren't stocked) so I used the resin ones.  Now I use the Tichy brake set, mostly, which is the one that's included in a lot of more recent resin kits, but I also keep an inventory of them.  I'd rather use a plastic brakewheel if there's one that matches the prototype.  And a few of my builds with deep fishbelly sides have no brake gear at all under the car.

Same goes for ladders, I would rather use a plastic ladder if it matches closely enough.  Many of my builds of postwar cars get Branchline ladders.

Speaking of which, I need to call Atlas to see if I can get a couple dozen sets of end and side details.  Those parts aren't on Atlas' on-line parts list, or I haven't found them.

Ron Merrick
Tim O'Connor
 

Excellent point Ron! Replacement parts for many plastic kits really uses up the stash of brake components.

Byron Rose (Pittsburgh Scale Models) packaged both his detailed coupler gear box (that everyone has now
copied!) and a 3-set of AB brake components that are highly detailed. Way better looking than Tichy parts for
example.

Tim O'


I have always saved them and used them on kits like Intermountain
where the supplied triple valve just looks like a cube.
Ron Merrick




--
*Tim O'Connor*
*Sterling, Massachusetts*

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