timberley
Member
Posts: 189
Primary Railroads: VIA Rail Canada, AMT (Montreal)
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Post by timberley on Feb 21, 2014 12:48:01 GMT -5
According to the Walthers website, many of these cars are now in stock and should be on their way to modellers who ordered them. Anyone who gets theirs soon, please do post comments (and photos if you have them!)
The PhIVb lighted Amfleet Is are showing in stock so I expect to get that soon, but the Amfleet II coach and Amcafe in the lighted phIVb are both now showing April, so will be a bit of a wait before the rest of them arrive. Exciting!
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Post by backshophoss on Feb 28, 2014 19:33:33 GMT -5
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Post by mgwsy on Mar 4, 2014 20:08:51 GMT -5
I just recieved my 5 coaches today and can say they are very nice, not 100% perfect but better then the old ones.
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Post by acelaphillies on Mar 5, 2014 19:51:56 GMT -5
I just recieved my 5 coaches today and can say they are very nice, not 100% perfect but better then the old ones. Sweet! Did you order Phase III?
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Post by Amtrak207 on Mar 5, 2014 20:13:49 GMT -5
I for one love the cars, yes they are not perfect, but with some weathering (minimal, more concentrated to the underframe)and a light coat of Alclad sealant (Yes it will tone down the sheen), you can bring these models up quite a few notches. Overall I am highly impressed with them, Phase III and IVb are spot on in terms of paint schemes (I am sure the others are as well, but I only have IVb and III.) I have an Amfleet project coming up, gimme a few weeks
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Post by acelaphillies on Mar 5, 2014 21:07:37 GMT -5
I for one love the cars, yes they are not perfect, but with some weathering (minimal, more concentrated to the underframe)and a light coat of Alclad sealant (Yes it will tone down the sheen), you can bring these models up quite a few notches. Overall I am highly impressed with them, Phase III and IVb are spot on in terms of paint schemes (I am sure the others are as well, but I only have IVb and III.) I have an Amfleet project coming up, gimme a few weeks What do you plan on doing with the windows when you apply the Alclad? Will you take them out or mask them individually?
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Post by Amtrak207 on Mar 5, 2014 21:10:31 GMT -5
Stand by for new thread, typing now
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Post by mgwsy on Mar 5, 2014 21:39:16 GMT -5
I just recieved my 5 coaches today and can say they are very nice, not 100% perfect but better then the old ones. Sweet! Did you order Phase III? Yes sir Phase 3 for me, now lately I have been going through a lot of my old pics and scanning them slowly I realized that I need a bunch of Phase 4 cars too to model my timeframe of 1995-2001. Now just waiting on my Amfleet 1 Cafe's and 1 6 car set will be complete and I can start messing with them to see if I can get an AEM-7 to pull them around easily.
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Post by Amtrak207 on Mar 5, 2014 21:46:22 GMT -5
Lube the wheelsets, makes a world of difference!
Tom
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Post by mgwsy on Mar 5, 2014 21:48:50 GMT -5
Oh I will go over them from top to bottom and do a few mods to them. Also plan on doing the marker lights and maybe interior lighting along with proper colors for the interior and passengers.
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Post by backshophoss on Mar 6, 2014 2:28:16 GMT -5
Guys,Please post some pics soon,trucks and wheelsets,figure on putting LaBell oil or graphite on the bearings before the 1st run.
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timberley
Member
Posts: 189
Primary Railroads: VIA Rail Canada, AMT (Montreal)
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Post by timberley on Mar 6, 2014 14:02:50 GMT -5
Hey guys, Just got the first of my Amfleets last night (the Amfleet I coach in Ph. IVb - cafe and Amfleet II coach coming later), and I must say that on first impression it looks great! I'm not as familiar with Amfleets as some on this list, but from all the pictures and videos I've seen plus seeing them first hand a few times in Montreal, it looks like Walthers has really captured the look and details of the prototype. This is a step up from past Walthers cars, with all grabs installed and much better underbody detail. The paint looks excellent, and the plating is very nice. Yes, it's shiny, but I think they've captured a tone that looks very convincing. I set this up behind my Amtrak PhVb P42 last night, and it looks remarkably good. Of course the interior is still just that bland beige, but I can remedy that easily enough with some blue paint. This is still an area where Walthers can improve in the future. I did get the lighted version but I haven't had a chance to try the lights out yet. I'll post an update when I do. There was one major issue with this car though, and it's really a QC issue. Taking it out of the box, I discovered that one of the trucks had a piece broken off and missing (nowhere to be found in the box). The attached photo shows where it was broken (I'll post a photo of the actual truck later). This unfortunately means that the axle will not stay in one place, and wobbles all over the place on that side. I will need to get a replacement truck from Walthers, and I've already contacted my LHS to see about getting that sorted. This made it hard from me to really gauge the running qualities of the car, as that axle was undoubtedly slowing things down more than it should. So overall, apart from the QC issue on the truck (which I hope to have resolved soon) I'm quite impressed! This is certainly a high point for Walthers, and a massive step up from past Amfleets. For a car that has been ubiquitous on Amtrak for decades, it's nice to finally see an HO replica that really does it justice! I'm looking forward to the others showing up to complete my little Amtrak consist.
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Post by mgwsy on Mar 6, 2014 15:41:54 GMT -5
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Post by acelaphillies on Mar 6, 2014 16:11:39 GMT -5
WOW!! Thanks again for sharing so many detailed photos.
The level of detail is superb. With a little weathering these cars may be able to pass for the real thing!
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Post by backshophoss on Mar 6, 2014 18:57:53 GMT -5
Walters listened to the modelers about the rolling qualities by using the same kind of bearings used on the P-2000 drives and Athearn RTR drives,the inside brass bearing. From the pics I've seen,it looks like the wheel centers need to be painted with rail brown or rust (or the CLOSEST match in the military paint line:()figure next year you should be able to buy a pair of replacement trucks. Worse case,you may have to pull a wheel off to clean up the bearing axle hole with a needle file and add a drop of LaBell oil at reassembly. As a thought,try to pick up a pkg of replacement bearings from Athearn/Horizen as a backup.
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