Since I have been told that confession is good for the soul, I feel I must come clean about an outright act of heresy: The other day I bit the bullet and purchased an Athearn Genesis GP15-1, in the Frisco version, for a very good price. That's good so far- where the heresy lies is that-GASP!- it's undecorated, unpainted, and (oh, the shame of it all!) requires some- er, uh- ASSEMBLY!!!! This means I'll have to turn my back on the accepted practice of buying RTR models and- God help me- ACTUALLY DO SOME MODELING!!! :wideeyes::headspin: OK, so I'm being a little sarcastic here, but it's to prove a point- anymore our hobby seems to be about buiyng an already-detailed, decaled, painted and otherwise ready-to--roll model, placing it on the tracks, and running it. Some even beef if the color isn't quite right, or a handrail isn't attached, and demand a refund. When I first started modeling the Frisco in the mid-1980s, the only way I could get any decent diesel models was to paint, detail and decal a particular diesel- of all the diesels I own that are Frisco, only a few are RTR. At least I have all the superdetail parts I'll need, plus paint and decals. I even ordered decals for the "cigar band" seen on the black & yellow F-units (won't mention the name, since this particular gentleman is currently out of business, and this was an earlier run I found on eBay), so my undec Atlas FP7 can be worked up into another Frisco locomotive. No, I'm not painting the GP15-1 black & yellow, but it IS tempting.............:teeth:
Now you're headed down that slippery slope my friend. Before you know it, RTR won't be good enough for you. Post up pics along your way on this project. Is it DCC and sound equipped or are you adding that as well
Now see the only sin I see is buying the Genesis in the first place. If you're going to do the work yourself buy a cheaper model.
Gasp. OMG....NO! I'm so ashamed. We will have to call together the NMRA Ninja's to look into this. Actually, just envious as hell that someone has the talent, skills and know how to do what you are doing. I want to see pictures. Thumbs up!
yeah, not naming any names though. My SP&S fleet as well as my fictional company(and trucking company partner) will require lot's of painting.
Guess I'm part of the hobby destroying problem. After 20 plus years of painting & decaling for my 3 favorite roads when factory painted units became even quasi-available - no comparison! I scrapped some 20 odd of mine and replaced them with about 80+ r-t-r's. Much happier now. Thanks to the mftrs. who took a chance on seldom modelled roads.
There's nothing wrong with rtr as long as those of us who don't mind putting in the work have the industry support to do so. There's more to model railroading than super detailing a locomotive. Too many super detailers don't even have a layout.
I think...yes, sometimes I do.....I think it depends on what you like to model. I like building structures and creating scenes. I like a RTR loco simply because I don't have the interest or talent to paint and decal a naked loco. And let's face it, the factory does a much better job anyway.
Ohh, I wouldn't go that far. Intermountain has gotten better, but their early "dip" jobs were horrendous, especially in N Scale... Had to repair a factory smudged reporting mark on an Athearn Genesis hopper this weekend. They aren't perfect either.... You'd be amazed at what you can do with a good airbrush, but it does take some practice and tons of patience... Brian
Don't feel bad Friscobob,Iwould guess i'm committing blasphemy too since the only way I can get most SCL engines is to build and paint them myself.Athearn surprised me with their recent announcement of SCL GP40-2's,and that was a blessing,since I was contemplating building about four of them.AFAIC, if the genesis version is correct,that will save me some modeling,but I do get a lot of satisfaction with the finished units.
Ya know, a GP 15 in B&Y would look very cool. I just hope you have a decent stash of old decals to get 'er done.
The vast majority of my Frisco diesels were paint-detail-and-decal jobs. I had to learn as I went, and even after making some mistakes, I was able to build a decent fleet. I do confess to owning a few RTR diesels (my E8, one GP40-2, one GP38AC, and two GP35s) as well as some "blue box Athearn" painted diesels (still added handrails, grab irons, nose lites, rotary beacons, plow pilots, proper couplers). And I have retired older Athearns along the way (one GP35 and two U30Bs) due to their wider-than-prototype shells. I admit to being rusty in the painting department, since I haven't picked up an airbrush in a while, but I hope to change that when the new diesel gets here. ANd no, it doesn't have a decoder, but it is DCC-ready, so I'll get one to install. Unsure yet about sound, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. ANd for those of you who stick to buying RTR models- hey, it's whatever make you happy, it's all good. Me, I'm trying to put "model" back into "model railroading" for me.
