Author Topic: Micro Trains May Releases  (Read 10374 times)

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bbussey

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Re: Micro Trains May Releases
« Reply #60 on: May 28, 2014, 08:47:02 AM »
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In a moment of weakness I picked up the 12-1, East Alton, tonight.

The whole car side is "painted" with the new 3D inkjet process. So it sparkles like a disco ball. The ends are not painted the same way and are a completely different shade of gray. Same with the underbody.

Also, the car was crooked in the printing fixture, so the stripes are angled on the car side. With the white stripes half on and half off the battens, it looks like an elongated BNSF power bar instead of a simple 2" stripe.

I used to say that I was disappointed because MTL had the sharpest tooling and best printing in the industry, and that the frustration was that they didn't use the talent to create great prototype models.

Now between the faceted tooling marks in the air ducts on this model, and the horrible painting, there are no redeeming qualities left. How frustrating.

Are you flippin' kidding me??  :o  That is incredibly disappointing.  Does anyone know if the previous NYC TTG releases were deco'd using the same process?
Bryan Busséy
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bbussey

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Re: Micro Trains May Releases
« Reply #61 on: May 28, 2014, 08:52:26 AM »
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I've been saying this for a while now. See https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=28938 The ink jet process is just not up to the standard I would expect from MT.  Maybe cars from the beer-reefer set were decorated that way. I was going to post my evaluation of them here, but haven't found the time yet.   I noticed that on some of those cars MT did a satin clear overspray. That improved the appearance considerably (the sparkling effect was reduced) but I am still not happy with the overall quality of that type of decoration. The fuzziness of the edges is noticeable as is the thickness of the ink.  Since MT is using the ink jet printing process on more and more cars, that has curbed my desire to collect their cars.

I stopped collecting MTL cars years ago.  I can't remember the last boxcar I bought, most of which I've unloaded at this point.  I will buy a decorated model on rare occasion if the model is prototypical and if the deco scheme is prototypical and if it fits into my region and era.  Otherwise, I pass.  I think the last decorated car I bought was the black SHPX triple-dome tank, and even that model is compromised in the dome height.

Needless to say, I definitely WON'T be picking up next month's height-compromised FMC boxcar runner packs masquerading as Pennsy X58s ... with incorrect decos to boot.
« Last Edit: May 28, 2014, 08:55:06 AM by bbussey »
Bryan Busséy
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ljudice

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Re: Micro Trains May Releases
« Reply #62 on: May 28, 2014, 08:58:49 AM »
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I've noticed some Kato stuff is being produced with the same process - for example, I believe the BNSF "Swoosh" locos are done this way...


Sokramiketes

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Re: Micro Trains May Releases
« Reply #63 on: May 28, 2014, 09:40:06 AM »
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I've noticed some Kato stuff is being produced with the same process - for example, I believe the BNSF "Swoosh" locos are done this way...

I passed on the Kato Amtrak "El Cap" set because of this process as well.  The Pacific Parlor release was the first I'd noticed it, and started watching carefully from there, but hadn't seen the BNSF engines yet.

I knew about the process being used on the MTL complex reefer schemes, and the weathered cars, but shame on me for not paying attention on a simple passenger car scheme before taking it home.

Scott Lupia

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Re: Micro Trains May Releases
« Reply #64 on: May 29, 2014, 03:55:23 PM »
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And it is because of all of this that I am not even bothering to furnish the Erie artwork for their new baggage car. The offer was on the table from the ELHS but the car will undoubtably be done incorrectly whether it be wrong lettering/color or poor printing/painting quality. I will just get the plastic and paint my own. What a mess this whole thing has turned out to be. I used to look forward to the monthly releases.

Scott Lupia
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peteski

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Re: Micro Trains May Releases
« Reply #65 on: May 29, 2014, 05:46:37 PM »
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And it is because of all of this that I am not even bothering to furnish the Erie artwork for their new baggage car. The offer was on the table from the ELHS but the car will undoubtably be done incorrectly whether it be wrong lettering/color or poor printing/painting quality. I will just get the plastic and paint my own. What a mess this whole thing has turned out to be. I used to look forward to the monthly releases.

Scott Lupia

Unfortunately for the small minority of modelers who noticed and are not happy with the new ink-jet printed MT cars, I have feeling that most others do not even notice the difference and they keep buying all those cars without having a clue that up close those cars look quite crappy.=

Probably similar to Shapeways and FUD printed parts - to some people these look quite acceptable, while to a small minority, they are far from acceptable.

I realize that both of these computer-based technologies are here to stay, but IMO, they aren't quite mature enough to be used for a retail product (especially one coming from what used to be the Cadillac of N scale).
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