Zenner Saxon baggage Car.....

MTheStrong said:
One of the best locations for Fish and Chips
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Absolutely! While I was growing up a couple of miles away in Ferry Road, the old Ferry Cafe was a real dump with a most dubious reputation.... nowadays following several revamps over the years, it is still basically the same wooden building on stilts but is now a superb little "diner" with some of the most amazing fish and chips in the area...
http://www.visitfelixstowe.co.uk/places-to-eat/ferry-cafe/

Now to open the parcel..... ;)

Jon.
 
Parcel open, baggage car has travelled safely and overall, I'm very pleased with it! :)
Have taken some pics, but will have to upload them tomorrow along with a proper review - afraid I don't have time now as friends due to start arriving any minute for a Movie Night..... so, more tomorrow....

Jon.
 
OK chaps, sorry these have taken a while, just too many things to do..... ;)

Right, here are the pics of the baggage car - it arrived very well packaged (just one pic of the outer box, more to show that they didn`t skimp on it rather than as a "teaser"....). Wagon was sent in the original "Train" packaging from the chassis/roof donor coach, which makes sense.
Overall, I`m pleased with it. The construction of the (all-new) body seems robust enough, the sliding doors on both sides work smoothly and there is an internal partition to the guard`s compartment. The whole assembly of chassis, body and roof is held together by some very long screws that pass right through the body and clamp it between the chassis and roof. Windows are neatly milled, and internally glazed. Some of the original NQ plastic railings are re-used on the end platforms, but other parts are newly added metal railings. At present it has the original plastic wheels, I chose not to order the optional metals as I have plenty of them here already.

So, the decals..... yes, they are too glossy - but this appears to be a result of them being self-adhesive labels rather than actual decals, and their printed dark green backing, while a good colour-match to the sprayed car body, is shiny compared with the body paint. This could have been done better - but it actually looks worse in the pictures (to my eyes, anyway) than it does in reality - as the wagon will mostly be viewed from a few yards away when running in the garden, I don`t think it`s going to worry me too much.... if it does after a while, there are various possibilities for dealing with it.

Here are the pics, see what you think.....

Zenner package.JPG

Zenner box.JPG

Zenner side.JPG

Zenner end.JPG

Zenner open.JPG

Zenner on track.JPG


Jon.

 
Needs weathering :o
 
Very nice. and a little tease is OK ;)

I note that the Hilbert van is on smaller wheels which may also effect its height appearance. I wonder where the couplings end up?
 
stockers said:
Very nice. and a little tease is OK ;)

I note that the Hilbert van is on smaller wheels which may also effect its height appearance. I wonder where the couplings end up?
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From looking at various photos and drawings, it would appear that all the Saxon stock ran on much smaller wheels than the "standard" ones LGB use - so I'd assume the Hilbert model is more accurate in that respect, which would be fine if you're going to buy a complete rake of their products - as I'm using the LGB historic coach set, I'm happier with the slightly overscale Zenner wagon to match the coaches......

Jon.
 
totally agree with that. Why make life complicated.
 
Thank you for the review; I'm curious about the Zenner / Feld / Hilbert models because they do fill some important gaps in Saxon rolling stock.

The Hilbert vehicle is indeed, as surmised, accurate to 1:22.5 and does run (correctly) on slightly smaller wheels. As supplied, it has Saxon style couplings but LGB style couplings can easily be fitted to the bogies and are then at the correct height to couple with LGB vehicles.

IMAG0341%252520%252528Small%252529.jpg


One obvious area of difference with the Zenner model is that the Hilbert van has a scale underframe and a correctly profiled roof, whereas the Zenner model uses proprietary items. Probably the most obvious difference is with regard to the roof; the roof of the prototype is to a different profile when compared to coaches, though whether it is particularly noticeable at garden railway viewing distance may be another matter.

IMG_4742%252520%252528Small%252529.JPG


(Yes, there is a standard coach at the left, partly obscured by the sign!)

IMAG0340%252520%252528Small%252529.jpg


I think the height differential is similar to the prototype, but I haven't measured to confirm. It may be a little too much.

IMAG0339%252520%252528Small%252529.jpg


The lettering is like the Zenner vehicle - self adhesive labels with white print on glossy clear plastic. As they're nicely square, they don't look as bad as that suggests, but neither are they completely unobtrusive.
 
I am surprised with any of these maker's models either bespoke or "transkit", at any price, that the makers have not had the lettering done as rub down dry print rather than stick on with near match or clear glossy carrier. It's not expensive to have an A4 sheet done that way filled up and then cut up to meet the needs of each wagon/coach in a range.

I know having water slides made up would impractical and can be expensive, especially if you do not have an ALPS printer to do white, and I can appreciate an "artisan" maker not going down that route for that reason. And yes, waterslides would require an all over dull/satin finishing coat to the coach to cover the initial gloss finish requirement that would eat into the profits. Certainly, Tampo printing is out of the question at these volumes to get round the laquer requirement.

Sorry, the way these have been done would be a big "no sale" in my book in any subject area. Having been in the model production business this one just bugs me as sloppy. But then I am not the buyer or beholder. Max
 
Have to say that I agree with you there Max. The Lettering does spoil the job a bit. But I guess if the buyer is happy, well then all is well.
JonD
 
Max and JonD, I do agree with both of you that the decals/stickers could have been done better... but at the moment it doesn't distract or annoy me enough to spend the time and effort doing something about it (besides which, if I tried anything to matte them down I'd probably end up b*ggering either the decals, the paintwork or both!). YMMV of course, as always.

Mike D, if you're reading this, did you do anything about the decals on your example, at the same time as you were rebuilding it to get rid of the Nasty Newqida chassis? Did you swap the roof and the balcony railings for LGB too, or was it only the chassis that was real problem for you?

Jon.
 
Z I guess that where I am comming from is to do with the price that you paid. As for Matting of Transfers, well yes it is a problem to get right. I used some Michael Troeger Transfers on one of my Newquid Coaches to renumber it. Expensive Transfers and nothing I have yet used has made an acceptable finish. Copped out with some subtle weathering. Still not that good though. However from average viewing distance it works OK.
JonD
 
I think you've pretty much summed it up right there, JonD, with your description of the problems you had even with some expensive specialist transfers - short of the professional pad printing (?) that is used on mass-produced items like LGB, is there actually any kind of short-run decal that will really give a good result for this kind of job?

Jon.
 
I hadn't realised when I ordered the Hilbert wagon that they wouldn't be transfers - I'd rather assumed he would have used Michael Troeger, who seems to be the German supplier of choice for such things. The labels, as Jon says, are actually less obtrusive than the description implies, and I'm sticking with them for fear of messing up what is a beautifully finished vehicle.

On decals, I'd agree with JonD that Michael Troeger's transfers are a bit thick and even with careful cropping are difficult to conceal completely, although careful trimming around the letter shapes helps. As for fine transfers, I now use Precision Labels. Their decals are really thin and delicate (and correspondingly scary to apply) - but look better than Michael Troeger's, although you do have to generate your own artwork.
 
Zerogee said:
is there actually any kind of short-run decal that will really give a good result for this kind of job? Jon.
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Dry print rub downs. You may have to cast around for a supplier. Blackhams Transfers is one but I have heard some negatives with regards to lead times, don't pay till you have got them in your hands sort of thing. A lot of my RGS and D&RGW bashes use stuff from David Bailey Designs http://www.davidbaileydesign.co.uk/trans.html in the UK but I do not know if they do commissions. There are makers in the US. I have had vinyls made up but you would not get anything down to the print size you would need for most of it. You naturally will need to know the font used.
 
Sadly I never could get on with Dry Rub Lettering from ANY make, believe me I tried loads. But Methfix I just love, can move to EXACT Location, no shiny film perfect. Trouble is they appear to have gone out of fasion, plus for my need of Din1451 Font for East Germany. Well I guess I can forget that unless anyone knows better. Oops forgot Thread Drift on n Off for above!
JonD
 
Don't worry about thread drift, JonD - I think most of what needs to be said about the Zenner car is done, I'm quite happy if this devolves into a discussion about decals! ;)

What is Methfix, I haven't come across the term before....?

Jon.
 
Zerogee said:
What is Methfix, I haven't come across the term before....? Jon.
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I'd like to know this one. I still have a 1:12 Group 5 BMW CSL "Batmobile" I built after over 25 years ago awaiting the application of its tyre sidewall decals (still have them). They are of the "methfix" type I understand. Serious thread drift right out of this hobby and into another. Max.
 
dunnyrail said:
plus for my need of Din1451 Font for East Germany. Well I guess I can forget that unless anyone knows better.
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The various fonts including Alte DIN 1451 Mittelschrift are freely available on line, as is the compressed version DIN 1451 Engschrift and Aachen Std Medium for the more serif style DR lettering as well. Just do a search and you'll find them - I can't now remember where I located them specifically but once I had the formal font name it didn't take long.
 
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