A typical Brawa product: highly detailed and nicely made. This is an older design, so it lacks a base that can be planted under the layout. For that reason, it's somewhat unstable.
Busch 59903 Slavia 12 HP Stationary drive HO NEW
Jan 16, 2017
New technology in miniatures
This model is a decent 1/87 version of a portable stationary gasoline engine, probably dating from the 1920s. The original was probably designed as farm equipment, as it has a belt drive attached. The detail of the model is OK, but there's a catch. The entire model was made by 3-D printing, which leaves characteristic build lines. Busch chose the technology because it can be used to generate complex shapes with undercuts, which injection molding cannot. Also, no mold making is required, so these models are cheap to produce. But the build lines are visible everywhere. Furthermore, there are fuzzy edges on some of the forms, which means nothing was trimmed. Expensive handwork, you know.
I don't mind, because I intend to modify it to make a gas-powered water pump. I'll be able to smooth and trim all I like. But if you are a stickler for precision, you will be a bit disappointed by this model. Busch is experimenting with cheaper technology, but they have not worked all the bugs out yet.
Bruce Metcalf