Model Railroading > MTH SD70ACe TEST SHOTS

Well, MTH did have a test shot of their SD70ACe at Trainfest. Although it was indeed lucky in the end. Their manufacturer sent three shells air freight in a soft pack. They had no clue what they would be getting in a soft pack from him and when they opened the package and found it was supposed to be their test shots, they were stunned. I say "was" and "stunned" because as you can guess, a soft pack and plastic shells are not a good combination. They had 2 completely destroyed units, and the third, while salvageable, was a little warped and needed some careful tweaking. Special THANKS to Rich Foster and his crew at the MTH booth for actually allowing me to take the shell Friday night to photograph for return on Saturday morning. I fully intended to shoot it on site, but with a new baby girl and not paying attention, both my batteries were dead. They were more than happy to let me borrow it for the evening, and with their blessing get the pictures up for you all to see. Basic walk around and a couple roof shots. Personally, I think it looked good, decent detail and I think a bit more definition than the tower55 shells we got to see a couple years back...but close. Keep in mind, this IS the first test shot, but they are pretty satisfied with it and don't expect the need to do too much. I was told that February was still a good date and while not 100% positive yet, on the first scheme, it's leaning towards UP. Enjoy!!!!

BNSFCSX

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Around the back...

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Up the side...

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Roof....

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Dynamic area...

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Excuse for my dead batteries....Annika

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The door hinges look over-sized and they look like wedges. I saw the T55 test shots and their shell had finer detail in this area. I don't wan't to start a flame, just stating the differences I see.

Sorry about the blurry with the roof shots gang. They didn't look that fuzzy until we enlarged them. But you should get a pretty good idea with the rest of them.

BNSFCSX

While I stayed in T55's corner, a lot of comments about lack of definition was made about the doors, hinges, etc. Not saying the MTH shots are exact either, but that was one big negative comment on the T55 offering. In person I think these look pretty good. And yes, I'll still wait to see what further information and pictures look like on the MTH to make a final judgement but so far most I talked to seemed to make pretty positive comments about what they saw.

BNSFCSX

im not to impressed with it, the only way that might change if I see a production version in person and even then that is stretching it otherwise i'll wait for the genesis sd70ace's

I, too, would vote to "refine" the details like the door hinges, knuckle buster latches, vents on the engineer's side and doors. The covering on the rear door is totally incorrect. Generally the body bends and breaks look good but they do need to be checked against the prototype.

fbe Wrote:
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> I, too, would vote to "refine" the details like
> the door hinges, knuckle buster latches, vents on
> the engineer's side and doors. The covering on
> the rear door is totally incorrect. Generally the
> body bends and breaks look good but they do need
> to be checked against the prototype.

What part of the rear door? The screen? I've seen two types, here's one:
http://www.fuzzyworld3.com/pictures3/railroad/tc12/l-1658-up1995-rearleft.jpg

Put a little lipstick on 'em and they'll be just fine.....

SPSF,

Yes, that seems to be the most common one I have seen. It is a a screen type opening not a barred type of opening.

The model railroad industry has been overemphasising details for so long modelers feel cheated if the new model is not full of out of scale moldings. The details on the carbody of most brass diesels is much closer to real than some of the plastic models. The knuckle buster door latches protrude from the side of the door less than 1/4 of an inch. In the old days of heavy primer, heavy paint and heavy clear coat the enlarged details probably served a function. With the new acrylics which flatten down tightly against the surface thinner details can be used to great effect.

BNSFCSX Wrote:
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> Excuse for my dead batteries....Annika

That's a reason*, not an excuse.

* - and a darned good one too.

I'll still wait and see on the ACes, eh, oh well keywords "test shots".


TCS - no mohawk on that punkin.

Except for the kid stickin' out the top of it, the pumpkin appears to be VERY prototypical!

Thomas

So much for the "MTH will be junk" crowd. As for the hinge size....have a look at this image below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/santafe62/1613161964/sizes/o/in/pool-432408@N21/

I really do not see anything bad on this unit that would cause me to cancel the order for multiple copies I currently have in place.

Bob

Nice shot to compare on the prototypical KCS unit. Hinges are very obvious and apparent.
Like I said earlier most of what they had to display got destroyed in shipment. With my main commitment to the vendor I work for and setting up 20 tables takes most of my time I didn't have a ton of time to thoughtfully write down questions to ask and went mainly from what was in my head.
One I should have asked was if the radiator section was destroyed or just not included with these shots. I still think seeing it in person and having it in my hands overnight it looks decent to this point. I am interested in seeing any further samples though if there are any before production since it's hard to get a good picture with no Radiator unit or walkway/side sills/pilots. But I think the main body at this point looked good. Most of the guys that I talked to that actually examined it at the show felt the same way. As for the show... a record 20,624 came through the gates thanks to a record Sunday turnout (thank the Packers for not being too good) ;o) I know we had a good show as did the vendors I saw during tear down, even with this economy.

BNSFCSX

I talked to BNSFCSX at the Show. Like I said in the past, Give MTH a chance, looks like for their First Diesel it is a good First shot on the Test Shell. Here are a few of my shots on Sunday Morning

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