Railflyer GP38-2W/GP40-2W

railflyermodel · May 26, 2011

Guys,

I cobbled this together with some parts and tape. The fans are just placed by hand with no cement or adhesive. I just wanted to get a pick me up and see what the big picture looks like. Next week we'll have some killer trucks under this. The frame is one of Stan's MILW GP38-2 builds.

The hood area and fans are EXTREMELY rough but so was our cab in the first round. A year can do great things, last year we were struggling to stay in business, this year we're worrying about QC on the modular sections to complete a FULL kit.

All the best, thank you very much for the continued support. We also have the parts for a SD40-2W with this tooling as well so don't forget about that too.

Christopher Howard
Railflyer Model Prototypes Inc.
www.railflyermodel.com

TrainboyH16-44 · May 26, 2011

Guys, it looks great - I'm just wondering...with the Atlas GP40-2W, do you think that this is the best time to be releasing this kit? The SD40-2W and 38-2W ought to go over pretty well, at least.

NYSW F45 · May 27, 2011

looks good. how do there cab and long hood attach to the frame?

cv_acr · May 27, 2011

TrainboyH16-44 said:
Guys, it looks great - I'm just wondering...with the Atlas GP40-2W, do you think that this is the best time to be releasing this kit? The SD40-2W and 38-2W ought to go over pretty well, at least.

Well, the one nice thing about this concept is that you can mix and match parts to make just about ANY prototype. And the parts are looking to be pretty nicely detailed, albeit a fair bit of work.

diburning · May 27, 2011

TrainboyH16-44 said:
Guys, it looks great - I'm just wondering...with the Atlas GP40-2W, do you think that this is the best time to be releasing this kit? The SD40-2W and 38-2W ought to go over pretty well, at least.

Intermountain is coming out with a SD40-2W

Railflyer is known for their precision for Canadian prototypes. Theres another thread on here that shows the difference between the Atlas cab and a Canadian replica cab (apparently the Atlas cab is a hair off dimensionally, but it still looks good to me!)

Railflyer makes the best ditch light housings

railflyermodel · May 27, 2011

The concept we're using is that this is a running model kit. You pick and chose your unit number and we provide the exact parts to match. You then just build a locomotive as opposed to buying an RTR unit, hacking it apart and rebuilding it to get it done right.

We've spent a lot of time with R&D and the overal quality of the product and accuracy is much better than the Atlas model. If you cannot tell the difference or care, we're not really aiming for your business. Our client's appreciate the extra effort made to replicate an accurate model.

With the modular approach, we have all the parts to do the GP38-2W, GP40-2W, and SD40-2W in the same release. We'll follow up with a taller frame for the GP40-2L. Our trucks are due next week. We've got a state of the art drive system that also works with P87 standards.

All the best,

Christopher Howard
Railflyer Model Protoytpes Inc.
www.railflyermodel.com

diburning · May 27, 2011

GP40-2L huh? I'll watch the announcements closely then!

jeffrey-wimberly · May 27, 2011

railflyermodel said:
The concept we're using is that this is a running model kit. You pick and chose your unit number and we provide the exact parts to match. You then just build a locomotive as opposed to buying an RTR unit, hacking it apart and rebuilding it to get it done right.

Custom ordered eh? Sounds pricey. What's the average projected cost?

NYSW F45 · May 27, 2011

diburning said:
Railflyer makes the best ditch light housings

They are nice, but man what a PITA to assemble.

diburning · May 27, 2011

jeffrey-wimberly said:
Custom ordered eh? Sounds pricey. What's the average projected cost?

Probably still less than brass though. They are coming out with powered trucks with actual traction motor motors. The prices for those are on their site.

railflyermodel · May 29, 2011

NYSW F45 said:
looks good. how do there cab and long hood attach to the frame?

The frame has two mounting points that will connect to the hood weight to secure the hood. The cab is glued to the clean air room. There will also be two clips in the truck area that are in the cab area and rear hood to apply some downward pressure.

This hood and cab are just placed without any adhesive or tape.

Thanks,

Christopher Howard
Railflyer Model Prototypes Inc.
www.railflyermodel.com

PS we have a "24" sale going on tonight for the next 48 hours.

markdeimling · May 29, 2011

Man that thing looks great, so there is going to be a complete kit coming out soon? Im not a Canadian modeler but I have been looking at doing one. If there was a complete kit I would definitely be interested. Keep us posted of your great work.

jbaakko · May 30, 2011

I can't see a downside here. Better, more accurate detail, PLUS you get to build a kit! Heck, the unit costs just about the same as buying an RTR unit.

Chris, will all this stuff be at Lisle IL (RPM Conference, formerly Naperville RPM)? I hope to see you there again, with a more complete project to drool over!

railflyermodel · May 31, 2011

jbaakko said:
I can't see a downside here. Better, more accurate detail, PLUS you get to build a kit! Heck, the unit costs just about the same as buying an RTR unit.

Chris, will all this stuff be at Lisle IL (RPM Conference, formerly Naperville RPM)? I hope to see you there again, with a more complete project to drool over!

Josh,

I just confirmed with Dan that we will be attending the St. Louis RPM meet in August.

We just got word on Sunday night that our Blomberg/HTC side-frames are done and samples are inbound. We also have our plastic traction motor casings in the same shipment. Our other supplier sent in final samples for the gears and traction motor POM which consists of the wheel isolators and axle bushings.

The remaining item we need to recieve is the traction motor heat sink before we can build the running samples. They will be done next week.

We have over 90% of the locomotive kit done at this point. we just have to wrap up Quality Control on the new samples for the hood items and other areas.

After we get the GP40-2W, GP38-2W, and SD40-2W out we will bring out spartan cab units and expand the offering. The GP40-2/SD40-2 hood we have tooled is also good for the GP40/SD40. Our GP38-2/SD38-2 hood can be replaced by an earlier version to get the GP38 series completed.

There is a 24 sale on the web-site until late tonight. 24 in your discount code field gives you 24% off your entire order.

Thanks,

Christopher Howard
Railflyer Model Prototypes Inc.
www.railflyermodel.com

railflyermodel · Jun 2, 2011

HTC Side-frame