Brew Man Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 Does anyone know why Bachmann Presflo wagons are so expensive? typically around £45. I've never bought one so cannot make a side-by-side comparison with, say a Dapol example which are around half the price or less. Is the detail on the Bachmann ones noticeably better? I've wondered about this for some time but only just thought to ask the forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atom3624 Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 There's a couple 'more reasonably priced in Ebay at the moment, if they're any use. Al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What About The Bee Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 Hi Brew Man Surely you are aware that there are many components of a suggested retail price. Debt service. Salaries for accountants, etc, etc & etc. Perhaps, as you suggest, a comparison of the features of each is better suited to decision making. Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 (edited) Having searched around I found I actually have one of each. I must have got the Bachmanns either second hand or in a deal. Yes there is a big difference unless Dapol have upgraded theirs recently. The big difference is in underframe detail, the Dapol is nearer to the original Wrenn ones (which I have a lot of as they were cheaper). Here are some photos, first ones are the Bachmann. So if you can get then cheap the Bachmann is a better bet, although if it is running around a layout I doubt you see the underside. Edited August 17 by ColinB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 57 minutes ago, What About The Bee said: Hi Brew Man Surely you are aware that there are many components of a suggested retail price. Debt service. Salaries for accountants, etc, etc & etc. Perhaps, as you suggest, a comparison of the features of each is better suited to decision making. Bee You forgot the top of the range battery Range Rover for the top execs. Has to be battery to project the right image. As to the wagons I never realised there was such a difference. I know I was buying second Wrenn for a while because they were cheap. I must have bought the Bachmanns in a sale, I can't see me paying £50 for each one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What About The Bee Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 (edited) You are correct Colin. I never understood underside detail. What you can see from the sides is perfectly rational. What is not? Detail I have to turn the carriage over to see. Detail up top is fine. Detail inside of closed wagon, that you can never see? Seriously, no. You may be able to make out the brake handle through the window of a brake van, but not the desk in the corner. Why add a desk? Or invisible underside detail. Bee Edited August 17 by What About The Bee Spell words correctly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 21 minutes ago, What About The Bee said: You are correct Colin. I never understood underside detail. What you can see from the sides is perfectly rational. What is not? Detail I have to turn the carriage over to see. Detail up top is fine. Detail inside of closed wagon, that you can never see? Seriously, no. You may be able to make out the brake handle through the window of a brake van, but not the desk in the corner. Why add a desk? Or invisible underside detail. Bee I know we all get carried away with it. The trouble with wagons is you need so many so if they are £50 each it becomes a limiting factor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelink Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 Each to his own, of course, but being a mean old man I would never pay 45 pounds for one wagon. I need a roster of about 200 to run them in trains of anything up to 30 and so just can't afford that sort of expenditure. At normal viewing distance the Dapol (ex Airfix) kit Presflo fitted with decent pinpoint is perfectly acceptable. I can pick them up, knocked about, for next to nothing at fairs and car boots, repair, fit second hand wheelsets and 3 link couplings for a total cost of 3 pounds per wagon including paint and glue. Other wagons similarly using, for example, old Triang jobbies. Why pay more? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fazy Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 It’s simple people want detail, you want a model up to date detail you have to pay. Look at it this way wagons use to cost £3 to £7 ish in the seventies a loco £15 to £20~ was in the ball park for some so we can say roughly 4 times the price. The locos are average £200 for an average loco so the prices are pretty similar. Just lots of inflation. If you want a highly detailed loco why put up with toys from the 1970s for it to pull. At the same time the new models are light years ahead in technology and detail. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelink Posted August 17 Share Posted August 17 That's fair comment Fazy. The point I was aiming to make is that no one need be put off modelling by its cost because there is no need to pay a lot of money if one is content with stock that looks OK from normal viewing distance. Close up it's a different matter of course but I do not view my layout through a magnifying glass and, as, I said each to his own. For those who want fine detail and can afford to pay for it, I say more power to your elbows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Man Posted August 18 Author Share Posted August 18 @ColinB Thanks for the pictures. I see there is a considerable difference in detail between the two. As others have said, it's a toss up up between acceptability and fine detail. I'm not actually looking for any at the moment. I have a couple of Wrens and Airfix but they are really outside my modelling period as they weren't manufactured until the early 50s. Should I extend my modelling period to early BR I might look to getting some more. Thanks for clearing up the conundrum for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelink Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 Just to give some idea of what I was talking about here are some shots of a Presflo I am working on. I have yet to finish painting and weathering, transfers and the addition of screw links and pinpoints It is a repaired Airfix kit that cost a pound. The wheels are Hornby and perfectly serviceable but too coarse for my taste, so will be replaced. Crude close up maybe, but at normal viewing distance it's just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LY shunter Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 The top hopper part of the Dapol one is made from the Hornby dublo mould and now 63 years old so all the set up costs for that part have now long since been paid for. It is only finer painting detail and highly detailed chasis and some pipework of the Bachmann one that is improved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 4 hours ago, threelink said: Just to give some idea of what I was talking about here are some shots of a Presflo I am working on. I have yet to finish painting and weathering, transfers and the addition of screw links and pinpoints It is a repaired Airfix kit that cost a pound. The wheels are Hornby and perfectly serviceable but too coarse for my taste, so will be replaced. Crude close up maybe, but at normal viewing distance it's just fine. Looks ok to me, in fact very good. I assume that is the Airfix kit. I have one of those that I bought ready made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelink Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 @ColinB Thanks for your kind comments. Yes indeed it is the Airfix kit, also bought ready made but knocked about. It looks better in real life than it does in the photo even if I say it myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
What About The Bee Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 A proper working wagon will have dings, dents, scratches and other odd scrapes. That one looks like it has a long hard working life, which is exactly right. Good job Three Link! Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelink Posted August 18 Share Posted August 18 Thanks Bee. My layout portrays the late 1950s/1960s so I like my goods stock and locos to look well used if not abused. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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