Some of you may have already looked at my topic comparing photos of the Roco and LS Models SBB EC Coaches.
https://www.marklin-user...co-vs-LSM-SBB-EC-Coaches

On this lockdown Sunday, I was trying to figure out what to do next...

and this brought me to the great (exact scale) Eurofima comparison:

I have the Roco (44655/54236D), LSM 47300, ACME 52400 and the Piko 58531.

To start, there were two versions of the Roco model. The first, 54236D came out in 1985. It was one of the first Roco Exact Scale Models. A few years later, it was renumbered as 44655 when Roco changed it's numbering. The second model then came out with a white stripe, instead of the original grey one. LS Models, ACME and Piko are all more recent models of the same type of coach.

The first of the new models was the ACME 52400. The LSM coach followed a few years later and this year, Piko introduced a new model in Exact scale.
LSM has released three or four individual models with different coach numbers. Additional versions of the LSM coach have appeared in sets by LS Models, ModelsWorld (a LSM subsidiary) and PiRATA (LSM's Italian partner).

All models are 303mm long, which is 26.4m in exact 1/87.

Here is a review of the Piko model from Modellbahn-Schweiz:
https://modellbahn-schwe...a-1-klasse-sbb-von-piko/


LSM 47300




ACME 52400




Piko 58531




Roco 54236D/44655



Roco 44655 - 54236D


ACME

LSM

Piko

Roco



There is a difference in the quarter panel adjacent to the doors. The angle of the part is different on some of the models.
The earliest ACME models had more of a vertical slant, as they seem to have mistakenly borrowed the shape from the later FS coaches.
They also had little metal inserts for the running step adjacent to the doors, which have a habit of falling out and getting lost.
The Roco and ACME coaches have a reproduction of the little light that was originally on the roof above the right side door.
The Piko model is the lightest of all of the models. It also has the darkest tinting of the windows, which results in a washroom window that is too dark.
The LSM coach has an incorrect line cut into the molding of the coach ends. I did not get a photo of this.

I know that the couplings were different (Swiss Express vs normal) but I would have loved to see this consist in regular operation. It looks nice.


Regards

MC

Edited by user 25 January 2021 07:06:12(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I did it to allow for a discussion rather than to pick one or the other. Each model has it's strengths and it's weaknesses.
For me it actually works out. I have a few Roco coaches with white rather than light grey stripe, which go very nicely with the Heris 13020/13021 SBB Bpm coaches as well as with the first LSM coaches (WRm and 2 x Bpm 47235).
The LSM Eurofima coaches go with the coaches from the LSM/PiRATA "Rossini" and "Monteverdi" sets.

Overall, even though there is a rendering flaw in the roof ends of the LS Models coach, I think that it is my overall favorite.


The ACME model is improved compared the the DB Avmz207 that I got a year before the SBB version was released, notably regarding the side panel adjacent to the doors. See: http://www.reisezugwagen...oads/ACME_55043_Avmz.jpg
The footsteps falling out is a strike against the ACME model. The paint on the ACME is a little darker in tone than the others.

The Roco model was very nice at first (1985), compared to the 1/100 models from Maerklin, Roco and others, but over the years, it now looks a little plain next to the next generation of models.
The Piko model is decent. It is a little lighter than the others and could have used a little more weight. I don't like the dark tinting on the washroom windows.

I leave it to each of you to decide which one best suits your tastes.

Regards

Mike C