My review of BrikWorx initial offering - coaches 401 and 403 in set 405.

Check out pictures of finished models and box contents at:
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=5242

My sons and I put together the models recently - I, of course, had
a head start by finishing the combination car ahead of time.  I was dying to
see the color combination come into being, since I don't have any
verdigris-colored bricks in my collection.  The www.bricworx.com website was 
very helpful and very representative of what I actually received and put together.  
I opened it upon arrival.

The instructions are top-quality.  I've been putting similar coaches
together for our 9v trains at home, and I was going through all the motions to
document their construction via instructions and LDRAW.  I wanted to create
something my sons could dig up form the attic many years from now and get
out for their kids (if I every have to put my LEGO away, that is).  "Hey -
remember when Dad made this LEGO train set?  Here's the instructions on how
he made those cool Pullman cars!"  One of the attractions of set 405 was
that the set was already documented, and provided an excellent storage box
with a picture on the cover.  The best I could do was to get a 2qt.
Sterilite clear plastic box up until now...

The presentation is very good.  My thoughts were overall positive as I
broke the seal on the set and opened the box to find some FloPak cells and 
the Authenticity document on the top.  The document is great, but the 
once-inflated FloPak cells were now flat.  They did their job very well, 
but it gave me an impression that they actually had
become deflated because the contents had shifted and caused their failure.
In my eyes, I need to see packaging materials that remains 90% or more
intact, so I know the contents had a safe ride.  I liked how the
contents of the color motif elements seperated from the rest of the model
elements, and the 401s and 403 were individually compartmentalized in seperate
zipper bags.  BrikWorx went to great lengths to make sure the contents were
shipped intact to me by insuring the package, using a sturdy USPS supplied
Priority Mail box, and filling voids in the box with bubble wrap, etc.  
Nice job!  

The design is excellent.  I wasn't after a very realistic form when I purchased
this set, but the design is plausible and non-juniorized.  The cars assemble in 
a fashion that is very consistant with the tactile feel of a good old-fashioned 
LEGO set.  There are parts where you say "oh - I get it now" and no frustration. 
My 5 and 8 year old sons could tackle all the building except for the initial 
framework of the floor of the cars, and the exact location of the buffers.  
The black color is hard to present in any contrast in any instruction
detail, but the BricWorx instructions did an excellent job.  I didn't have any
problems, but I've been at this longer than my 8 year old, of course!  They
really enjoyed putting it together with me and pushing them around the floor
for a couple of hours.  We were on a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house in
Binghamton at the time, and I didn't bring any track with me.  These models
stood side by side with my own creations and the Metroliner, each as 
interesting to me and my kids as the next.  Even my NLSO wife stopped rolling
her eyes to check them out once they were built.  I like the design
because it's close to some other Pullman-styled coaches that I've made, and I was
interested in learning from BrikWorx's execution.  It's one thing to see creations
posted on LUGNET, etc., but when you get to handle a model of someone else's
creation on your own time, that's cool.

The original sticker sheets supplied with the set were generous and represented 
a decent assortment of icons and fonts.  I had some problems applying the stickers, 
as I found that medium pressure while I rubbed them into place started to smear
the ink.  Steve and Dwayne listened to my suggestions and offered replacement
stickers in a wet decal format.  While these applied much better, I found 
that they became a bit brittle and flaked off under some handling.  I'll probably 
remove most of the larger decals, but keep the smaller ones on as long as I can.
I think the best results would be produced on clear sticker stock printed with
an ALPS dry transfer printing technique.  If I need decals or stickers that badly,
I'll figure out a way to get them on my own.  DOn't hold the sticker/decal problems
against this set - I bought it without much interest in applying them anyway, and
I'm certainly not disappointed.  Rather, I'm pleased that BrikWorx tried hard to
correct my issue.

Also of note - all of the elements were in excellent shape, except for the 1x4x2 white
fences, which were used but in good shape.  I had to clean them up a bit to
get them to match the new gloss of their neighboring elements in the set.

Did I mention that the set was shipped via USPS Priority Mail Insured - a definite 
sign of premium customer service, and that scored points with me.  

Most of all, my transaction was handled with high importance, and that was much
appreciated.  I look forward to future orders from BricWorx.