Omaha orange stymies Kato F unit noses once again.

[wcfn100]

I thought they had figured this out.     Do I remember right that they replaced those F3 shells that looked like this?

At least they got this one perfect.



 


Jason

[Missaberoad]

Ugh... those mold separation lines... 

[Mark5]

Well they seem to have screwed up the yellow on the ATSF Cigar Band Freight F7s as well. The pics on the Kato site look ok, but in person its a whole different ball game.

I only mention this cuz I was wanting to get one of the cigar band Santa Fe F7s (sentimental reasons), but now am on the fence about it due to the yellow.

Can any ATSF fans comment on this? (you have to see them in person).

Oh yeah, those mold lines, easy to fix on the undec though!

Mark

[nkalanaga]

I don't know about replacing them, but I remember the F3s.  I still have my pair, and am still tryig to figure out how they managed to screw them up.  Either color would work for Omaha Orange, but how do you get two colors on the same unit, when it should all be the same paint?  I don't think I've ever seen an other company do that, and Kato has done it twice.

Most companies just get the color so far off the entire unit looks bad...but it's uniformly bad.

Yes, the parting lines are rather conspicuous, and really should be caught be Quality Control.  They make the model look like a cheap toy.  But at least they'll be easy to scrape smooth on the undecorated version.

[peteski]

Yes, the parting lines are rather conspicuous, and really should be caught be Quality Control.  They make the model look like a cheap toy.  But at least they'll be easy to scrape smooth on the undecorated version.

I have never seen Kato shells with cleaned-up partying lines from the factory.  Usually they aren't quite as noticeable (and Kato molds are usually well-made).  Of course, if you custom paint your model, you can totally eliminate them with a quick scrape and some sanding.

[wcfn100]

I don't know about replacing them, but I remember the F3s.  I still have my pair, and am still tryig to figure out how they managed to screw them up.

Kato still sells the F3 shells as 'imperfect paint'.  I want to say the explanation had to do with pad hits and coverage where the nose and sides are done separately, but that's so long ago I can't be sure.


Jason

[nkalanaga]

Jason:  Possible.  I was thinking that they sprayed the paint, but if the base colors are pad-printed, that would explain it.

Peteski:  You're right that the parting lines often show on Kato models, and that they're worse than usual on this one.  That's why I said that Quality should have caught it.  A little ridge is unavoidable, but when it's as prominent as the intended detailing it looks unprofessional, especially for what's supposed to be a high-quality manufacturer.

[ljudice]

Obviously this is a unit which received a touchup application of paint to the nose after a minor grade crossing mishap! 

You can see the opposite issue on modern Kato UP power where the frame stripe is the same yellow as the body (and shouldn't be)

[basementcalling]

Surprised no one has asked if we are sure those "aren't Bachmann F7s in GN colors?"   

Not the finest shell Kato has ever done, but the bulldog EMD nose has messed up more than a few companies.

[peteski]

Surprised no one has asked if we are sure those "aren't Bachmann F7s in GN colors?"   

Not the finest shell Kato has ever done, but the bulldog EMD nose has messed up more than a few companies.

Bachmann couldn't come close to Kato's delicately engraved details. 
To my untrained eye, the nose seems to be a decent representation of the prototype, especially the windshield area where most other models look really awful.  I guess it is all in the eye of the beholder and I have often been accused of wearing Kato-colored sunglasses. 

[Albert in N]

Kato's F-unit horns look prototypical compared to Bachmann's F-7 toy-looking horns.  I only have one Bachmann F-7 A-B set and next train show, probably none.  I'm keeping my dozen or more Kato F units (F-2s, F-3s, and F-7s).  BTW, I traded off my one Intermountain F-7 after the side screen kept falling off and after I compared its nose to my Katos.   

[eja]

Excuse me, but would someone please tell me where the parting lines that seem to of such concern are on this model?   I an NOT being a smart a**hat here  - I just don't understand what is the problem and would like to increase my knowledge of both the prototype and the model.

By the way, I was 8 years old when I last saw an "F" unit in revenue service.  Please, don't ask me which "F" unit it was.   All I knew then was that it was our TRAIN!   It was in St. Louis and I was being transported from Montreal to some gawd forsaken place in Texas.   

When was the last time you saw an  "F" unit  ??


 

[Missaberoad]

The parting line is the thin line that forms a right angle that goes from the bottom of the window and down through the number boards  to the frame
that whole area should be a smooth compound curve.
Its a flaw common to all Kato EMD cab units, but is particularly offensive on these ones. I almost wonder if the mold is getting tired.

Last F in service here would have been the VIA FP9's they lasted up to the turn of the century on the Hudsons Bay.

[peteski]

The parting line is the thin line that forms a right angle that goes from the bottom of the window and down through the number boards  to the frame
that whole area should be a smooth compound curve.
Its a flaw common to all Kato EMD cab units, but is particularly offensive on these ones. I almost wonder if the mold is getting tired.

Mold wear might be the problem - they have probably used the same nose molds since the first F3 was produced in the 1990s.

Here is a visual indication of where the mold parting line is.

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[nkalanaga]

My last working F unit was sometime in the 80s, on the New River Train.  Executive units...

My last one in regular service was late July, 1978, the day before we moved from Pasco, WA to Kentucky.  The BN was still running solid sets of them in the Northwest.  They'd rounded up all they had, including regeared ex passenger units returned from Amtrak, painted them green, and put them to work in Washington state.  40 foot boxcars were also common, especially on the grain branches, where light rail restricted car weights, so it actually looked like the 50s and 60s.

Both the NP and GN still had large F fleets at the time of the merger, and the BN was perpetually short of power, in spite of buying SD40-2s as fast as they could, so the Fs lasted through the 70s.  The SP&S Alcos, except for the FAs, were also in service, and the oddest set I ever saw was four Fs and a C-415.  A-B-C-B-A.  The Fs were often run in A-B(s)-A sets as EMD intended.  The longest I ever saw was A-B-B-B-B-A.  The BN green looked good on them.