Saturday, June 14, 2014

Auscision's WAGR WBAX wagon review

There have been allot of firsts this year in Australian Modelling, this includes the first real attempt at a ready to run WA wagon.
Thus Auscision have released the WBAX wagon.  At first view it is a fine representation of the prototype.
The obligatory under floor detail, that you won't see in operation on the prototype, but if it allows you to sleep at night its definitely there!


  • The rivet detail is nicely defined.
  • The foot stirrups seem to be a bit more robust, one was tested to failure, a little push with my thumb and it sprung off.  Seems to be made of metal wire, but the one near the hand brake is definitely not.  However this is a clear step ahead over the NLKY, which if you just look at them they fall off!
  • There are individual hand rails on the doors, a nice touch.
  • The bogies look right for my era, and had the 100 kmph symbol.
  • The wheel sets are PR125.
  • The model is nicely weighted, again another step ahead of the ABFX, and AOOX.
  • The couplers jaws still don't open enough to be used on Alice Springs, so they will be replaced by Kadee No.5s.










the only bit of detail that does not seem to be consistent with the prototype is the stirrup step need the hand brake, some wagons had it some didn't.  But hey, at least we don't have to add this detail. easy to remove!


 The WBAX is a welcomed addition to the Ozzie modeller.  The best bit about these wagons is the weathering, these wagons were utterly filthy, cant wait to get into the weathering job.  See the example below:
For Alice Springs and Barcoola the WBAX is a great addition, with a change of couplers and some weathering it will looks like they always have been around.
Auscision may have started to listen to their market, with a well weighted wagon, and detail that is at least seems more robust than previous models.
Lets hope it does not stop there, WQCX, WOCX,  Prospector cars!  The mind boggles!

Enjoy

Scott

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