How many of us remember the Bowser Company, that made HO steam locomotive kits using metal castings? Does anyone think that a similar product line could be viable in G Scale?
Years ago I built some Bowser loco kits. I liked them. I think G gauge loco kits like the Bowser line would be a great idea!.
I built two of them, also. After many moves, I still have them, wrapped in tissue paper, that stuff we used to form the skin of our flying model airplanes. I’m just not sure which box they are in… 
If the kit was made of quality parts, and well designed, I would do it in a heart beat. Count me in.
Bowser is still bought and sold at many train show flea markets. With an upgraded motor they are great runners.
Like Steve said, if it was a quality kit it would sell.
Terry
As a niche market product perhaps, but it wouldn’t be inexpensive. It would largely depend on the size and the big question would be who makes the drive mechanism?
Some time ago there was a discussion regarding “how about unpainted/unlettered models?” If memory serves it came down to “no cost savings” since painting and lettering is (apparently) a smidgen of the cost in the manufacturing process.
I made a couple of them a long time back and enjoyed doing so .
I shall have to try getting a picture of them .
I believe that anyone making a half decent body kit would sell quite a few because mechanisms are not that difficult to do , nor is painting .
I think that the normal problem with these things would arise , that is , many would-be train runners would only want “ready to drop on track and run” stuff .
There are a number of extremely good metal kits of cars around and they are not expensive , they have a niche market and do sell quite well , so it may be that locos would do OK .
When the best 0 gauge stuff around was Japanese brass , I got a couple of 0 F7’s in diecast by a company whose name I forget . I sold all my 0 when these were no longer available and for anyone going through that , it would be off putting .
Therein lies the problem of getting a market ; it wouldn’t take off like Lego .
Mike
Neat idea, not going to happen. LS Market is too small and too fragmented these days. and the molding and tooling costs would be astronomical in LS, and no matter what got made someone would complain its the wrong model for the wrong market. Look at what happened to the Masterclass over on MLS, it didn’t die from lack of interest, it died from fractionalism. No one could come to an agreement over what type of model, what era, or what scale to model.
Better option for the future would be for someone to provide a reliable drivetrain block, 4, 6, 8 or 10 wheel motor blocks, then using 3D printer technology, you order what specifically what you want, say a Niagara or a Russian, then the parts for that specific models are printed out and the kit of parts is sent to the buyer to be assembled or for a fee assembled and shipped to you from the printer. If you have your own printer then you just buy the download file and print it yourself, the only hard product you would need to buy would be the drive block and wheels, but even that has been shown to be doable via the printer and likely coming down the pikeway.
Its a UNIVERSE more simple to keep create and keep a library of model locomotives in 3D format than to try and produce the complex tool and dies needed for more traditional model product building. 3D printers get twice as good every couple of years, I heard that one of the major players in HO is going to produce a 3D printer specifically for model railroaders.
I honestly believe that is where the future of scratchbuilding and alot of product is going to to go. Just look at what Mark has done with his printer.
Vic Smith said:
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Better option for the future would be for someone to provide a reliable drivetrain block, 4, 6, 8 or 10 wheel motor blocks, then using 3D printer technology, you order what specifically what you want, say a Niagara or a Russian, then the parts for that specific models are printed out and the kit of parts is sent to the buyer to be assembled or for a fee assembled and shipped to you from the printer.
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Yep, that’s the fly in the ointment, the drives, especially on steam engines. And that’s where the investment money will need to go. Working in tandem with a good designer who can crank out 3D files for the printers.
I know just such a guy but he is busy doing “his own thing” and BTW as someone pointed out quite gently on the RhB forum, there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. There always is when doing good design work.
I think kits are a niche market also. Bachmann dropped their line of kits for a while, but enough people screamed that they did bring them back. If they dropped them, then they weren’t making enough money on them. Athern had the blue box kits in HO, and they stopped making them years ago. Many of us would like to see kits, but so many folks in the hobby (in all scales) are RTR folks. Buy it, bring it home, take it out of the box and plop it down on the railroad.
Since kits are nearly non existent in large scale, those of us who want to make stuff resort to purchasing an RTR model, usually used, and bash the heck out of it. But how many of us are there? And how much stuff do we do that with? Would a company actually be able to stay afloat, making kits for the small segment of folks in this scale, that is small segment of the model railroad industry?
Adding another fly in the ointment “What Scale” ?
At times there have been kits in 1:20.3 But that # has currently dropped to one if you can get them.
hopefully the guys doing what there doing in parts can hang on.
Al P.
There are companies making short run large scale kits . I have made several from GRSUK , they are very good and are not riotously expensive .
But each of the early runs that were done finished up going cheap because the market had been filled , for want of a better expression .
The kits were brass and whitemetal and made in China .
Another company makes bodies , they are sold as straightforward etched sets and you have to do your own thing with the motion bit .
Obviously , being UK companies they make UK outline in anything from 00 up to LGB scale . But the point is , they do it , and presumably don’t go broke in the process .
Similar things happen in the 0 market , but these generally have chassis too .
Have a look at SLATERS on the web , they show what can be done , and they go up to 16mm . But do take note of the price . They are very very good models .
Mike
David Maynard said:
Since kits are nearly non existent in large scale, those of us who want to make stuff resort to purchasing an RTR model, usually used, and bash the heck out of it. But how many of us are there? And how much stuff do we do that with? Would a company actually be able to stay afloat, making kits for the small segment of folks in this scale, that is small segment of the model railroad industry?
There are at least two companies/individuals in Germany who produce excellent kits for my favourite RhB in exact 1:22.5 scale . They both gear their complete line-up to modelers who are not happy with what is available from the Big Guys. The kits are produced on CNC machines - milled styrene.
I learned one or two tricks 
looking at those kits and apply the same principle on our laser - I don’t believe in re-inventing the wheel. BTW that applies to rolling stock and structures.