I'm far from a purist, but for God's sake... don't paint the J! 
I'm tempted to change my vote to paint it. Seeing this forum light the torches and pitch forks over it would be pretty entertaining. (This isn't a shot at you Lee, if you want to paint the thing, do it. Not that you need our permission anyway). Ill get my popcorn if you do though.
Mother of god Nick what have youuuuuu done?...
I have to go now...got to schedule some therapy....
Chris
Oh dear god you guys are killing me.... Gonna need more therapy....
Chris
The Penn Central looks good!
Actually, you know, it might also look even better in PRR livery - say a dark maroon with gold stripes.
Heck get it over with and paint it pink.
It strikes me as wasteful to repaint a brand new locomotive of that caliber. Given your extensive interactions with your local hobby shop -- you describe them as friends after all - I would guess you could return it for a refund. Or you could sell it here. If it is part of a list of locmotives you simply want to check off your list, you have done so and it is time to move on. There will always be more.
Originally Posted by gmorlitz:
The giving it away is a much better idea than selling it. Allan Miller could probably use a really good birthday present and I'm sure he'd appreciate it.
Gerry
Yep! Gerry has a great idea! Pack it up real good and ship it to me at the office address. I'll give it a good home.
I also have a particular attachment to the real-life "J" since, when I lived in the area, I was a frequent visitor to the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke where she resides today. I think she's quite beautiful, and I'm confident the model will run even better knowing it is being adored and not regarded as an ugly duckling.
Well: it is decided!
I asked my wife. She had no doubt, saying, "You bought it to repaint. So repaint it!"
Pictures when I get it done, regardless of what the results are, good or bad (I promise) - but there are a couple of projects ahead of it, though: compleing some more 'Streets vehicles, and maybe a trailer park (I've wanted to build one for some time - one built in N scale ten years ago was my favorite project ever).
make it a Santa Fe warbonnet J
Pepto Bismol Pink with the Penn Central worms
!
Just have fun with it!
Stack
If you wanted to junk up a J, why don't you just get a brass Williams off of eBay? This is on par with painting an ugly Ferrari 458 Spider from that horrid red to a nice British Racing Green and adding a set of Z-28 stripes.
It's your choochoo, paint it with a rattle-can if that makes you happy. I don't, however think you will be making any improvement on the original.
Gilly
BTW, I don't think the 458 nor the J are ugly.
A WIFE DECISION ????
I STILL SAY GIVE IT TO ALLAN.
Gerry
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Originally Posted by Gilly@N&W:
This is on par with painting an ugly Ferrari 458 Spider from that horrid red to a nice British Racing Green and adding a set of Z-28 stripes.
Well, we did catch a lot of flak for this similar project
Originally Posted by Gerry:
make it a Santa Fe warbonnet J
I actually thought about this. It would be grand, and I really would do it in a heartbeat!!! But I know my limits. Warbonnett only looks good when the thin black and yellow trim separating the silver and red are very straight, very true, and of absolutely constant width even around those curves. I know my capabilities and I cannot mask and paint well enough to do that so it will look good.
Don't you know how to use decals?
Now those colors are interesting...
Chris
I think either the J or the GS-2 would look great lettered for the Polar Express or Polar RR. Santa needs a super-powered streamliner!
That gg1 is wrong in so many ways! Fred
Originally Posted by gmorlitz:
A WIFE DECISION ????
I STILL SAY GIVE IT TO ALLAN.
Gerry
Nice conundrum to have. Give it a rest. It may not trouble you as much next week. I'm sure many have had 'painter's remorse' and wish they had taken their time and let the thought process filter through completely before pulling the trigger. It is a model of a classic locomotive. A reasonable facsimile of the prototype. If the small drivers are close to prototypical, they are good to go. If I were you, and I'm not sure I like that idea although I think you are cool and admire your energy, I would get the matching N&W passenger cars and run the heck out of the set. But in the end, they are your toys and have fun with them in whatever way you want. I have desired the J junior from the PWC space set with railsounds 5 for some time. In fact, I would rather own that than the Legacy version. See, I'm weird too. And so it goes.
Originally Posted by Lee Willis:
... I know my limits. Warbonnett only looks good when the thin black and yellow trim separating the silver and red are very straight, very true, and of absolutely constant width even around those curves. I know my capabilities and I cannot mask and paint well enough to do that so it will look good.
Ages ago I repainted some HO locos and later decided to stick with nice factory paint jobs; they are hard to beat without a lot of work.
If your Jay doesn't really have that much appeal to you, why not trade it off for a flashier model with longer legs?
Originally Posted by Lee Willis:
Well: it is decided!
I asked my wife. She had no doubt, saying, "You bought it to repaint. So repaint it!"
Pictures when I get it done, regardless of what the results are, good or bad (I promise) -
Aw shucks, there goes my free "J"!
OK, I'm not a conservative about much of anything (and the Penn Central J rendering was
...captivating; "Century" (Jade) green, anyone?), but, first you repaint a Southern Ps-4
Pacific black (that's OK, actually), then letter it for UP - a locomotive look that the UP
-never- had. Now, a gray and yellow N&W J - which you say is unattractive to begin
with (c'mon - second only to the Century and ESE NYC Dreyfuss Hudsons in beauty);
as someone above said: "put down the paint can and step away from the J...".
There are locos out there which would look far more UP-ish than a Ps-4 or N&W J.
I do some really strange stuff in the name of this hobby, but the UP/J idea is very, very
odd.
('Course, considering that the colors of the N&W J are nearly those of the GM&O's
Alton-derived maroon scheme, I'm beginning to see, instead of '611' in the stripe,
the name "Gulf, Mobile and Ohio" in gold. So, a streamlined 4-8-4 painted like
an Alco RS-1, pulling A LOT of banana reefers up to Chicago. Zoom.)
Go ahead ,Take the rattle can to it.
Hey, speaking of re-painting icons, I just had a wonderful idea. Imagine the Starship Enterprise in Santa Fe Warbonnet! Wow, that would be glorious!
I'm beginning to think OGR Forum management should consider instituting random drug testing for the membership.
Bob
Ok....time to quit sniffing the paint....
Chris
That would be blasphemy.
Originally Posted by Lee Willis:
Hey, speaking of re-painting icons, I just had a wonderful idea. Imagine the Starship Enterprise in Santa Fe Warbonnet! Wow, that would be glorious!
Despite the possible heresy involved in repainting a J in anything but N&W colours, I'm sure that anything that Lee does end up with will look great. 
After all, this is the man who created a good looking brick in Warbonnet colours! 
Alas, I no longer have that brick. I used it as a door stop in my study and my wife got so tired of it she threw it out one garbage day when I was at work.
I miss that brick. I may have to make another!
Good you can't paint it up like the J to pay respect to the N&W gods....
Chris
Originally Posted by Lee Willis:
Hey, speaking of re-painting icons, I just had a wonderful idea. Imagine the Starship Enterprise in Santa Fe Warbonnet! Wow, that would be glorious!
Starfleet Command:
Santa Fe 1701, you are cleared outbound.
Roger, we are taking the green!
