I'm hoping Rapido can produce an American version of their F40 to go along with these puppies.
Here's my review of the phase III Amfleet I's I picked up:
They're nice, but not completely without issue.
Over all, these are the best yet and near perfect. The window gaskets look amazing and the detail is good. Yep, they roll only marginally and need mechanical work. To me, that's much easier than correcting issues with tooling.
I too noticed the end doors on the previous generation of cars are more detailed.
Previous release:
http://www.pbase.com/tom_murray/image/154827623" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Current:
http://www.pbase.com/tom_murray/image/154827622" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I agree that the lack of anything to position the curved grab on the door is a little annoying. A fairly easy thing to correct, fortunately. Additionally, the lack of recessing the door and the look of the angled opening are more difficult to correct and I'm not sure why that was missed.
The other, more obvious missing piece is the lack of an overhang at the end of the car. This was done on every other incarnation of Amcan, but this one is completely lacking it. While easy to add, matching it to the so-so plating job is the most difficult part. Top down can be seen here, new car on the left, an old-school Bachmann one on the right that I *was* working on:
http://www.pbase.com/tom_murray/image/154827624" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Prototype image:
http://www.pbase.com/tom_murray/image/154827619" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
No clue, with the apparent attention that was paid to these models and their tooling, why this was missed.
Lastly, the most topical, complete misinformation on the lettering placement for the phase III painted cars.
In Walthers enclosed information, it states the following:
http://www.pbase.com/tom_murray/image/154827620" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Placing the car numbers in the stripe here:
http://www.pbase.com/tom_murray/image/154827621" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
That is incorrect for an Amfleet I car, but correct for an Amfleet II car.
The word "Coach" should be in the stripe as it is at the opposite (bathroom) end of the car.
This can be seen in Geno Dailey's image here:
http://www.trainweb.org/amtrakpix/paint ... 21267A.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As for the numbers, yes, the 20000 and 21000 series were as dleivered, 44000-series were those that were train-lined for push pull, and those numbers aren't included but were in previous runs.
All in all, not bad. But at $75-80 each, I'd have hoped at lest one of these things would have been corrected. I'm going to finish decaling one of the cars this weekend, and should have images once it's done -and has some "service wear" added to it.
-Tom