Hi all,
I've checked out this board again after an absence and wanted to bring people up to date on some things.
FIrstly, IHP is still very much alive. Just because our website's been down doesn't mean we're out, or in trouble. Actually, very much the opposite. The original intent of taking down the website was to make some upgrades to it, including things like streamlining, adding online ordering and new menus and photos. This is such a big job, though (and the site was originally built over a period of months), so in retrospect, it may have been premature to take down the whole thing for this long. The site is back up with some information and a link to the available items on our eBay Store. However, it did allow me to begin bringing production and marketing under better control. And...
...Then, last year, I decided to begin taking IHP in a different direction. We are slowly phasing out many shells and kits in favor of RTR and RTF products. We have ceased production of N scale items. We have reduced production of 1:700 ships and curtailed plans for new O scale models. We have also stopped marketing the Branford Hobbies HO FL9 and EP5 locos (they are still available direct from BH). This paring down of different interest areas allows focus on my personal favorite interest area: HO commuter, transit and traction models.
New HO items include ready to run versions of some of our more popular past items. All HO SEPTA Silverliner models are now being produced in RTR format with authentic SEPTA graphics, working pantographs, clear tinted window inserts, interiors, and our own power drive. All-new ready to run (and ready to finish) models now available include Reading MUs, SF MUNI double-end PCCs, NJT Arrow IIIs and SEPTA Silverliner Vs. For the O scale traction modelers, we now have a SEPTA Kawasaki DOUBLE-END LRV (Red Arrow version) Kit.
Quality is still what you expect from IHP- still the best. In fact, despite some claims being made to the contrary, IHP's Silverliners are still the most accurate and detailed HO Silverliners you can buy, reflecting 25 years worth of research and experience of the prototypes and modeling them, as well as unparalleled access to the prototypes and their references. Guaranteed. You still get models that 'look' right, as one customer put it, and finish and casting quality done with care. You don't have to 'rebuild' an IHP kit before you build it, as with some other, more recent offerings. This is a reflection of 20 years of experience in the field of resin casting and patternmaking. Guaranteed. And, it's getting better: future IHP models will be CAD designed and tooled.
We've also been working on some projects for some major clients, including several major transit agencies, carbuilders, and another model railroad manufacturer.
Most available items are still available by special order, if we still have tooling for that item. Contact us to see if that item you were interested in is still available.
Some items have been requested for re-run. For you commuter modelers, these include the F10 and GP40FH-2 loco shells. If there is interest in these, contact Mike at IHP.
Also, as an aside, there was a thread here again asking for 'dream models', with some responses asking for things like plastic HO MU cars. I can't say more right now, but I can say that these might not be dreams much longer. Though there's not a big market for them, there's been talk of some known names taking some chances!
Thanks for everyone's support of IHP, past, present and future.
For more info on IHP items, contact Mike at IHP.
Thanks,
Mike Bartel
IHP
http://ihphobby.tripod.com
I've checked out this board again after an absence and wanted to bring people up to date on some things.
FIrstly, IHP is still very much alive. Just because our website's been down doesn't mean we're out, or in trouble. Actually, very much the opposite. The original intent of taking down the website was to make some upgrades to it, including things like streamlining, adding online ordering and new menus and photos. This is such a big job, though (and the site was originally built over a period of months), so in retrospect, it may have been premature to take down the whole thing for this long. The site is back up with some information and a link to the available items on our eBay Store. However, it did allow me to begin bringing production and marketing under better control. And...
...Then, last year, I decided to begin taking IHP in a different direction. We are slowly phasing out many shells and kits in favor of RTR and RTF products. We have ceased production of N scale items. We have reduced production of 1:700 ships and curtailed plans for new O scale models. We have also stopped marketing the Branford Hobbies HO FL9 and EP5 locos (they are still available direct from BH). This paring down of different interest areas allows focus on my personal favorite interest area: HO commuter, transit and traction models.
New HO items include ready to run versions of some of our more popular past items. All HO SEPTA Silverliner models are now being produced in RTR format with authentic SEPTA graphics, working pantographs, clear tinted window inserts, interiors, and our own power drive. All-new ready to run (and ready to finish) models now available include Reading MUs, SF MUNI double-end PCCs, NJT Arrow IIIs and SEPTA Silverliner Vs. For the O scale traction modelers, we now have a SEPTA Kawasaki DOUBLE-END LRV (Red Arrow version) Kit.
Quality is still what you expect from IHP- still the best. In fact, despite some claims being made to the contrary, IHP's Silverliners are still the most accurate and detailed HO Silverliners you can buy, reflecting 25 years worth of research and experience of the prototypes and modeling them, as well as unparalleled access to the prototypes and their references. Guaranteed. You still get models that 'look' right, as one customer put it, and finish and casting quality done with care. You don't have to 'rebuild' an IHP kit before you build it, as with some other, more recent offerings. This is a reflection of 20 years of experience in the field of resin casting and patternmaking. Guaranteed. And, it's getting better: future IHP models will be CAD designed and tooled.
We've also been working on some projects for some major clients, including several major transit agencies, carbuilders, and another model railroad manufacturer.
Most available items are still available by special order, if we still have tooling for that item. Contact us to see if that item you were interested in is still available.
Some items have been requested for re-run. For you commuter modelers, these include the F10 and GP40FH-2 loco shells. If there is interest in these, contact Mike at IHP.
Also, as an aside, there was a thread here again asking for 'dream models', with some responses asking for things like plastic HO MU cars. I can't say more right now, but I can say that these might not be dreams much longer. Though there's not a big market for them, there's been talk of some known names taking some chances!
Thanks for everyone's support of IHP, past, present and future.
For more info on IHP items, contact Mike at IHP.
Thanks,
Mike Bartel
IHP
http://ihphobby.tripod.com
