• News from Imperial Hobby Productions

  • Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.
Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.

Moderators: 3rdrail, stilson4283, Otto Vondrak

  by Mike@IHP
 
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
  by Earle Baldwin
 
Mike:

Thank you for the update regarding the range of upcoming models. That's certainly some exciting news you had there.

Would you be able to provide an approximate time frame regarding availability of the NJT Arrow III models?

Thanks in advance.
  by Mike@IHP
 
Hi guys,

SteveF45: Contact IHP and let us know how many GP40FH-2 shells you'd be interested in. The more people who want them, the sooner the new mould can get made. They'll be priced at about $50 each.

Earle: Arrow III single-unit ready to run units are shipping now. The first two have already sold. Due to a limited availability of the Stemman pantograph, they are being done only a few at a time as pans are available. They can be ordered without them at a reduced price, if you have a substitute pan. Power and dummy units are available for ordering. Contact IHP to order.

Thanks, guys!

Mike Bartel
IHP
http://ihphobby.tripod.com
  by green_elite_cab
 
I'd be willing to purchase one or two of those GP40FH-2s
  by ns3010
 
If the GP40FH-2's were to be re-run, I would also be interested in one or two.
  by Steve F45
 
I saw you had a post on a yahoo group about doing 3-D printing. Would it be cheaper to do the 3-D printing of the GP40FH-2 or have it resin cast?
  by Desertdweller
 
How come you dropped your N-scale products?

I can't buy anything from you if you don't make anything I can use.

Les
  by Otto Vondrak
 
Steve F45 wrote:I saw you had a post on a yahoo group about doing 3-D printing. Would it be cheaper to do the 3-D printing of the GP40FH-2 or have it resin cast?
Rapid prototyping is not really meant for production work. That's why it is called "prototyping." You make one to see what it would look like, how the parts would fit, etc. You ever see something that came out of a 3-D "printer?" "Rough texture" is being charitable.

-otto-
  by Otto Vondrak
 
Desertdweller wrote:How come you dropped your N-scale products?

I can't buy anything from you if you don't make anything I can use.

Les
Most likely because not enough people were buying niche products made in a niche scale?

-otto-
  by Steve F45
 
Otto Vondrak wrote:
Steve F45 wrote:I saw you had a post on a yahoo group about doing 3-D printing. Would it be cheaper to do the 3-D printing of the GP40FH-2 or have it resin cast?
Rapid prototyping is not really meant for production work. That's why it is called "prototyping." You make one to see what it would look like, how the parts would fit, etc. You ever see something that came out of a 3-D "printer?" "Rough texture" is being charitable.

-otto-
Mike is already offering models from 3-D printing, thats why I asked if this could be done with this model. If I had the link he provided from yahoo i'de share it.
  by Desertdweller
 
Otto,

I think it is unfair to characterize N-scale as a "niche" scale.

There are plenty of scales that fit that definition, but not N. Last time I looked, N was the second most-popular scale in this country.

IHP is not a huge sausage-grinding company that can afford to produce products in multiple scales, and as such, has to pick the markets they want to compete in. I can understand that. On the other hand, you can't sell what you don't offer.

Most products that have a demand in HO scale would also sell in N-scale. After all, we all model pretty much the same operations of the same industry. If I were to enter the N-scale model railroad market, I would start by offering things other than the trains themselves. The trains are era and locale specific. I would opt for things that could be used on railroads spanning a long period that would look right on many different locales: vehicles, buildings, bridges. Maybe even people and animals.

Les
  by Mike@IHP
 
Les, bottomline is that the N scale shells weren't selling for us whether they were being pushed or not. It wasn't worth keeping production open for a few shells that were becoming impractical to produce in resin for the small returns we were getting. Turns out that N scale traction is a VERY small market, too small to support even a resin caster. IHP isn't the only one, either; Miniatures By Eric had a range of N scale resin shells that he also decided to drop a couple of months ago shortly after we did, and for the same reasons.

I decided to give N scale another go, this time with rapid prototyping. No patterns, moulds or casting. Just create a CAD design and order a 3D part from it. Makes my life a lot easier! The real work is in the CAD design. We have a few shells now on Shapeways: http://www.shapeways.com/shops/ihphobby

This all just happened in the last couple of weeks. Making saleable parts via 3D printing has great potential. It's not perfect, but it's getting better all the time and might be the answer for niche scales, small runs or one-offs of certain items. Most of you know how particular I am about quality in IHP products, and I wouldn't have decided to embrace this if I thought it would produce a part I myself wouldn't be happy with. I've gotten some sample shells done with details that even I thought wouldn't render properly, but there they were- in N scale, too! HO is a little expensive to get done via 3D printing so you probably won't see many 3D-printable HO cars from IHP in the immediate future. N scale is a natural for it, however. As for the GP40FH-2, unless there's a landslide of interest for a re-run of the HO resin shell, I will probably set it aside for now and see where the 3D printing route goes before deciding how to best offer it in the future.

Thanks,

Mike Bartel
IHP
http://ihphobby.tripod.com
  by green_elite_cab
 
I'm guessing Matt Snell's recent GP40FH-2 construction article using the IHP shell didn't do much to encourage more interest?