3rd rail ATSF Alco PA

Matt Makens posted:

Scale models are not painted to an opinion, they’re painted to the prototype. I think they look great, so do my F7s which. Have the same paint. 

The 3rd Rail version may be painted to a prototype that's weathered, although even at least some of the ones that had been run for awhile often looked a bit richer in color. But they often got faded with time, too, no doubt about that.

It's great that those who have the 3rd Rail versions like them. I just prefer the non-weathered shade like the Lionel version has. They just seem a lot sharper to me. Again, that's just my personal preference. Not for everybody.

The red looks right, i have 2 of them, it’s just not glossy 

I applaud Scott's decision to make the PAs. I would've bought them in a heart beat if they had come out in 2014.

Instead, I spent countless hours scratch building brass fixed pilots, lowering and super detailing the Lionel ABA units. I still have to correct the hand rails so they attach to the steps, add two rail wheels and make a better fuel tank. I added the antenna and weathered as pictured in many of the prototype photos.

Now, if Scott would just make the ATSF mikados, I'm in on those.

And I noticed two more small oversights that most modelers will not even recognize, and I will not identify them and stir up complaints about mostly nothing.

Tom;

More likely to be noticed if you are inside the cab, looking out....

Allan

Ron, we watched your modifications and are still impressed at what you achieved - great work!  

Photos taken outside with my Pentax K-1D full frame at 35mp at -0.3 exposure value on aperture priority at F22 with the daylight setting taken outdoors.  Straight off the camera, no adjustments.

Yep, that’s end of the discussion. Thanks, Jonathan! 

Now that looks sharp.

Nice photos Jonathan. Like I said, the red looks right. If its real glossy, it looks odd

Worlds apart from the "earlier version." That looks much better, much more like the red we know and love.  Just needed "Pentax K-1D full frame at 35mp at -0.3 exposure value on aperture priority at F22 with the daylight setting taken outdoors," it appears.  Let the outdoors in! 

So what happened to the "weathered" version everyone was defending?  (Just kidding.)

You have to see them in person, they’re not glossy but the red is right

c.sam posted:

Ron, we watched your modifications and are still impressed at what you achieved - great work!  

Thanks Sam, they have been such reliable locos.

Ron

GG1 4877 posted:

I see an interesting pattern developing here. Those who have them love them. Those who do not want to nitpick.  Hmm...jealously?

Odd how there is always someone that perceives education as jealousy!

These are nice models. My wallet didn't have room enough in it for these as much as I might wish that it would. The PA's have always been one of my favorite diesels!
I have learned something looking at the photos throughout the thread. I'll use Scott's montage as an example.
I noticed that the facing on the grill around the top (Mars ?) light is either stainless or yellow and the deeper part appears black. This black adds a lot of character to the nose and would have been a nice detail to have been included out of the box. It is also one that would be easy to do yourself.

The headlight grill is just that, a grill.  It area behind the grill is sheet metal and the darker area of the grill is simply shadow.  In service, a great place to collect dirt that the locomotive washers would miss.  In this photo of NKP 190 the blue color of the sheetmetal behind the grill is visible.

As stated, it would be possible to do-it-yourself to highlight the "open" parts of the model grill, but probably would have required a tricky paint mask or printing register to do in production.

Rusty

Big Jim posted:

Odd how there is always someone that perceives education as jealousy!

Don't get me wrong, I have learned a lot from this thread too and it will factor into future projects.  Some of the criticism was known already, some was not known, and some was completely unfounded.  This scenario happens on every project.

The nature of doing a run of 20 locomotives at the same time with road specific details is fraught with challenges.  This is why no other manufacturer does this.   

I have evolved over the years on this forum.  I see lots of models that have atrocious errors in these pages.  Since I don't have them and have no interest in buying them, I don't criticize like I used to.  Why take away the enjoyment of a model from someone by pointing out all it's flaws on a public forum?  My email address is public and I am more than happy to have someone email me privately with concerns.  Often via that communication method a great dialogue begins and I have formed many friends off this forum who offer advice, positive reinforcement and criticism when it is due.    

breezinup posted:

Worlds apart from the "earlier version." That looks much better, much more like the red we know and love.  Just needed "Pentax K-1D full frame at 35mp at -0.3 exposure value on aperture priority at F22 with the daylight setting taken outdoors," it appears.  Let the outdoors in! 

So what happened to the "weathered" version everyone was defending?  (Just kidding.)

 

Yes, I got a little overly technical on the details of the photograph.    I'm a nerd in all my hobbies.  I accept it.  The whole point of the outside shoot under controlled conditions was to simply show how close the color is to the prototype in the same lighting conditions.  Indoors, these do look weathered and the very slight gloss does not shine through as much depending on the layout lighting.  

Lesson for me on my next layout is the get lighting with a high CRI around 94 or better.  

Rusty Traque posted:

 

As stated, it would be possible to do-it-yourself to highlight the "open" parts of the model grill, but probably would have required a tricky paint mask or printing register to do in production.

Rusty

Naw, it's as simple as can be. just a little paint or wash and a Q-Tip to wipe things off.

My photos that started this thread were shot with a galaxy s7  lighting was florescent 4 bulb fixtures spaced 4 feet apart at a height above the model of 6 feet utilizing 5000k florescent bulbs

Marty, you can balance that using  warm lights or incandescent bulbs in concert.

Thank you sir   lighting is still in the future I'm working on basic layout benchwork trying to get at least a couple of trains running but this exercise shows how important lighting is to proper presentation

marty track posted:

Thank you sir   lighting is still in the future I'm working on basic layout benchwork trying to get at least a couple of trains running but this exercise shows how important lighting is to proper presentation

Don't be too hard on yourself Marty.  You did a great job of showing these off.  The color question comes up on every project.  As Scott already mentioned many comments back, using a monitor for color rendition is the worst way to judge the accuracy of color.  I'd love to see some videos when you have these running! 

GG1 4877 posted:

marty track posted:

Thank you sir   lighting is still in the future I'm working on basic layout benchwork trying to get at least a couple of trains running but this exercise shows how important lighting is to proper presentation

Don't be too hard on yourself Marty.  You did a great job of showing these off.  The color question comes up on every project.  As Scott already mentioned many comments back, using a monitor for color rendition is the worst way to judge the accuracy of color.  I'd love to see some videos when you have these running! 

Jonathan, are all the Sunset/GGD units painted to match TCP colors per different road name then? Thanks.

I received my ABA set yesterday and they are absolutely gorgeous. The nicest set of model locomotives I have seen? I cannot think of a nicer set. As nice? Perhaps. None more beautiful. Am I glad I ordered these !