The redo of the XIH painting/printing body samples arrived today. Next is the approval of the fully-assembled cars-in-package a month from now, and then production goes into full swing. The solid color cars were fine; the masked cars were what had to be redone. Here are the two masked schemes from the upcoming first release:
The paint separations are crisp around the intricate side relief, and the heavy application of paint is gone. Hopefully everyone will be pleased with the finished product.
Here is a mock-up of the original Magor car, sans brass parts and brakewheel and paint on the underframe. I didn't think of it in time for the first two releases, but the underframe probably will be black plastic instead of having to be painted black starting with the third release. This scheme will appear in the second release, which will follow six to eight weeks after the first group:
With any luck, the packaged samples (which represent fully-assembled models) will be in hand in time for the N Scale Collectors convention at the end of June. Lots of schemes and roadnames to follow, including a few unexpected surprises.
