RCW December update

Photo from the Richard Hendrickson Collection.

Here’s news from RCW honcho Frank Hodina.

Resin Car Works is going on hold until the New Year. The holidays are compounding our commitments with family activities and a vacation for a couple of weeks.

We had the best of intentions, but the UTLX Class X kit is a bust! No additional models will be produced. I don’t know what it is about the model, but I just don’t like how it has turned out. If I had known what I know now I would have saved many people a lot of work. I don’t like wasting time. We apologize if you were looking forward to these kits but there have been too many difficulties in the production process and additional product will not be released.

Would you like some good news? We are working to produce a mini kit similar to the car kit that was given away to RPM Chicagoland attendees. We have heard from many folks who did not get one of these. Parts and decals are coming together for Chicago Great Western and Chicago & Eastern Illinois versions. We will make an announcement here on the blog when these are ready to purchase but it won’t be until January or February 2018.

After that, Resin Car Works will focus on kits for the 2018 Santa Fe Railroad Historical & Modeling Society convention. Their July event will be held in Chicago. We expect to have HO scale SFRD Rr-35/36/39/40 reefer and Santa Fe “Whalebelly” 50-foot auto car kits ready for the event.

For the 25th Anniversary RPM Chicagoland meet (save the dates -October 18-20, 2018), we are starting early on parts gathering and production. The target model is a modernized InterMountain SFRD steel reefer with a six-foot sliding plug door as the Santa Fe started installing these on the older USRA rebuilt reefers in 1953. For those who model an earlier period new 4/4 Dreadnaught ends with “W” corner posts will also be providedto convert the IM model into a Rr-33 or -34. I’ve started the patterns and one of the RCW minions has been playing with the decal art.

As for additional kits, here are some possibilities that are in no particular order.

  • CB&Q XM-32 steel boxcar
  • ACF Type 27 8K insulated tank cars
  • UTLX X-3 6.5k tanks
  • Several open loads either complete or nearly so

Decal art is complete for a couple of these already.

That’s the full scoop on Resin Car Works production. We look forward to better kit runs!

– Frank


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14 thoughts on “RCW December update

  1. I would definitely take 5 of the ATSF reefer mini kits. I did a 6′ plug door
    for my own conversion but didn’t do the ends. Have a Happy and Healthy Christmas and New Year. Paul Greenberg

  2. The Santa Fe Whalebelly auto boxcars will be most welcome as they were more common than you think for both as-built DS cars and rebuilt steel cars. Why pay premium prices for an out of production Sunshine kit when you can pay a similar price for a state-of-the-art kit?

  3. I fully appreciate your priorities and your standards.
    The SFRD Rr34 is exciting as it was the most numerous of the rebuild classes.
    Now, how about re-releasing the Rr9,10 and 11? They looked really neat.
    Merry Christmas
    Dave Yingst
    Corning, CA

    1. The recent 2017 event had the CGW car minikit. The C&EI also used these prototypes. You have not missed it. – Eric H.

      1. Eric,
        I’ll clarify my question. I’d like to know what type of car – box car, flat, etc – and if possible the road numbers. I didn’t attend the meet and missed the announcement – and photos if there are any – of the car.

        Nate

  4. One of the most difficult decisions in all of business is to pull a late-stage product that you’ve invested time and effort developing… just before market release.

    The ongoing cost of correcting products, managing returns/replacements, and even just corresponding with customers on the issue will eat up any potential profit.

    NOT killing a product that does not meet expectations… tends to result in dis-satisfied customers and damaged reputation.

    Congratulations on a tough but good decision

  5. Frank, family time and personal sanity come before any other commitments, so I also applaud your decision to take a break. Sometimes models are hard to accomplish, and tank cars are my least favorite resin kits to build due to many factors, including that they are complex and fragile. So, RIP Type X, best wishes for a restful and restorative holiday season and vacation break!

  6. A quick question: are the GN wood sheathed boxcar and the MILW gondola mentioned in the RCW summer update still in the mix?

  7. Frank, the ‘good news’ more than outweighs the ‘bad news, and knowing your reputation for excellence, I have no doubt you have made the right choice. Have a happy holiday season!

Comments are closed.