I thought that I had some old Life-Like E6 A units! I think they came packaged with E6Bs. Here they are side by side. Left to right are the Life-Like E6A, Kato E5A and BroadwayLimited E6A.
Interesting. I compared my BLI E6A to the KATO E5A and wanted to pull out a Life-Like E6A to compare noses given the pre-release concern over the Kato nose being too long. IMHO the Kato and BLI are spot on. The Life-Like, from these photos, isn't bad either. I thought maybe it would be too short and that was the reason some thought that the Kato was off....but it doesn't look like it. The biggest deficiency is the E8/9 size side window. Otherwise it certainly is the most accurate of the Life-Like Es. Charlie Vlk
The "cheeks" on the Kato nose do seem to be fuller in this view. The Life Like has the narrowest cheeks.
I bought the Life Like E units due to they were the least expensive, and they look great to me. Different paint jobs have a little to do with the way they look to in comparing photos, but I'll stick with the life like locos I have, they run great, look great, and I happen to be a Life Like fan anyway.
I thought the BLI was the least accurate of the 3. Life Like did an excellent job and is the shell I am using for my Rock Island E6's. The factory Santa Fe paint jobs on mine were great before I removed it lol. I hope to see Kato's E6's soon though!
The BLI just doesn't look right to my eye. If Kato does do an E-6 in Southern, I just may have to change my policy of no new locomotives. Really not a problem - there's a fat chance that they'd do an Eastern road.
A Life Like incarnation of the Silver Bullet on my Sam Houston Zephyr. Oh I have been doing more than peeping. Today I was racing my kit bashed Life Like and the Sam Houston Zephyr I put together with my brand new Nebraska Zephyr on the club NTRAK layout. It was an unfair contest. The LL was on the outside Red line and the Kato was on the shorter Yellow line. Both trains are five cars. The Sam Houston Zephyr had a lone baggage car, three coaches and the observation car whereas the Nebraska Zephyr had the RPO/baggage, full baggage, two coaches and the observation car.
Finally found the box with my Life-Like E6s. Here are some comparison photos of the Kato E5, BLI E6 and LL E6. I think the LL nose has a little too much roundness to it, making the surface behind the headlight shorter (which may be the reason some thought the Kato nose was too long) and the curve off the top of the nose extends too far down to the "cheeks" of the side of the nose. This is a failing of the E8 and E7, even more so, as any stripe at the batten level that continues around the nose is distorted onto the curve beyond the cab windows instead of being on a flat vertical surface as it should be. However, for as old as the tooling is, it stands up to the newer entries pretty well. Note that the Kato E5, being a Phase I, has the Roof Radiators of an E3 in case anyone is interested in kitbashing a correct E3 from either the BLI or LL E6. Charlie Vlk
My main concern is the "cheeks" if you will. Look at how much more straight tangent extends from the base of the windshield on the Kato E5. It gives the appearance of too much real estate on top of the nose and has caused the whole arc of the front face of the nose to be circular, instead of a pinched ellipse. I've added red lines to show the rough extent of the problem.
I guess the real test is 'What was the actual nose design of prototypical E5's?' And did the "cheeks" see any modification between model revs. Perhaps comparing an E5 with an E6 isn't all that helpful. To me, the Kato model looks more accurate unlike the more 'roundy', less "cheeky" look of your E6's there.
Classic Trains E Units by Jeff Wilson has an overhead drawing of several E units. They E6 on page 12 I think shows the Kato model is closest based on the pictures in the prior posting. I tried to scan the document but my wife's scanner is giving me fits. I would hope someone else has this book and a scanner.......
Humpf ... nit and pick. I have to remind myself not to read posts like this... it takes the fun out of modeling knowing that the OC's think one is better than the other .
I just want the baseless complaining about the Kato model to stop so that more will sell, which will lead to more releases and hopefully matching B units. I think many of the folks complaining are just comparing models to models, without having much knowledge of the prototypes.
If your not interested in accuracy, then can it be called "modeling"? This is hardly a case of rivet-counting. The shape of a locomotives nose, it's most prominent feature, deserves to be accurate. This is not the `60's or `70's when locomotives were often simply vague resemblances of their prototypes ('Yeah, if you squint long enough it kind of looks like an E8'). This is the 20-teens now. The quality and accuracy of model railroading today is unprecedented. We should be applauding the effort manufacturers are making toward this end, not discouraging it.
So... if someone were to suspend themselves from the rafters above the Silver Pilot at the Illinois Railroad Muesum... took a picture of the nose of the E5... then super-imposed the photo over the photos of the 3 models shown above... what could possibly happen... right??? Well... how about if none of the are 'dead on' correct? Are we all going to riot and burn effigies of the model company's owners in protest??? Frankly... these models are very convincing... they are not going to be mistaken for anything other than an E5A/E6A. Sure there are some slight differences between the 3 models... but... its darned close enough to as far as I care to know. I have all three models shown above and they represent the E5A/E6A very well... none are grossly incorrect... which was a common problem of pre-1990's N scale models.
Who here has said anything about being even the slightest disturbed by the differences? On the contrary, all I have seen is an appreciation for improved accuracy. Even a comparison of one model against another should not be taken as a knock. These are merely observations that the OP and others above are making. What's wrong with appreciating these improvements? Who would trade in their current Katos, Atlases, BLIs, Life-Likes, etc, for 30 or 40 year old Mehanos, Rivarossis, Bachmanns, Model Power, or Tyco locomotives? I doubt anyone would. Why? Because the hobby has made advances. What's wrong with taking note of that? If you're happy, then you're happy. No one should criticize that. On the other hand simply making an observation that one manufacturer appears to have improved upon the accuracy should not be taken personally either. It's merely an observation and an appreciation that the hobby is advancing. I don't see how anyone can be opposed to that.