To celebrate the completion of my railway today, I decided to purchase a couple more coaches, some Pullmans. But my budget only allowed for one of the hyper detail models and one of the budget models, which has lead me to do something I've always wanted to do-a comparison review.
Let's start with the superdetail model. Handrails seperate to the body, printed curtains, pipes on the roof, lit table lamps... Which present a problem on DC layouts-the lights slowly dim as you pull into the station, but they stay light constantly on on a DCC layout.
The couplings on this model don't deal with older couplings well, making it impossible to connect them on corners, and the underframe detail is so fragile, I broke it when taking it out of the box.
The Railroad version, on the other hand, gets over this problem-it has large metal couplings, and basic underframe detail. And basic detail everywhere else. The moulded pipes on the roof look a little dissapointing when paired next to the hyper detail version, and there are no printed curtains on the windows. The window plastic is also a lot clearer-sometimes, it looks as if there is no window plastic at all!The moulded handrails by the door are also not a problem from a distance, but the corridors on the two vehicles are different widths, and the Railroad version has no doors on it.
So which one is best... The super detail version, undoubtly. However, the Railroad version isn't too bad for it's price, and if you're a bit short on cash, then the budget alternitive will do just as well.
