Model Railroading > MTH HO Weathered line sales

Am I the only one who doesn't think sales will go well with the MTH HO scale line of weathered locomotives? I just cant imagine paying that much for just weathering, even if it's done by a master model railroader. For example the SD70ACE which retails for $249.95 is selling weathered for $399.99 I just won't pay $150 extra per locomotive for weathering, even with certain dealer discounts the average is $150 more per loco. Your thoughts?

I agree... if you don't do it yourself, there's plenty of folks out there that'll happily weather it for you for a fraction of that $150 difference.

From the pictures I remember seeing when they were first announced, the weathering didn't really look unique at all. Just a little bit of accumulated road grime in random patterns.

Beyond that, if you're one of those people (like me) who hates leaving engines with their original numbers out of the box, buying a pre-weathered engine is foolish. Because now you strip the numbers off, and reapply new ones, and the weathering will not look consistent across the whole carbody.

FWIW in the UK Bachmann Branchline and Hornby both produce weathered versions of locos and stock with no price surcharge. You do get what you pay for, to be honest, as the weathering appears to be a quick pass with an airbrush along the skirts of the item. I certainly wouldn't pay the surcharge MTH wants.

I would *consider* paying a bit more for a weathered locomotive but it has to be done RIGHT.

- Bachmann China C30-7 locomotive weathering is nicely done along the trucks and matches photos well, but there is no exhaust weathering on the roof. The roof is completely clean. The aqua-green 2-10-2 steamer appears to have two dirt patches randomly painted on the sides of the boiler and the drive wheels seem to be clean. I still haven't seen a close up picture of MTH's efforts on the UP SD70.

- Different parts of the country have different weathering colors. Units from the Southeast usually have a lighter color weathering on the trucks compared to Midwestern locomotives which have a more brown color on the trucks. For example, the FEC silver underframe weathering would not match the BNSF silver underframe weathering.

- Units used in higher speed service typically have more truck and underframe dirt with a reasonably clean car body , while coal haulers have a more even coating of grime. If MTH did both versions, the pattern on the FEC SD70 should not match the UP weathering.

A generic spray down with tan paint at the factory just won't do it. There is potential in this idea, but its definitely not there yet.

Michael

Their samples on their website look pretty nice. It certainly makes the models look better, in my opinion. I hope they do well with this option. There probably won't be many of them available.

One of the brass importers offers a weathered line of steam engines and I've been told they do well with their efforts.

Although I think it's a nice effort, the results don't reflect a job done by a craftsman... What blows the effort completely out of the water is starting at 2:33 in their product demo video, the SD70ACe is rolling by and only a portion of the locomotives wheels were "weathered", leaving half of the wheels "clean". You can imagine what that looks like rolling down the track... A professional job? Not really...

Sorry MTH.

Andy

emd_mrs1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would *consider* paying a bit more for a
> weathered locomotive but it has to be done RIGHT.
>
> A generic spray down with tan paint at the factory
> just won't do it. There is potential in this
> idea, but its definitely not there yet.
>
> Michael

I agree. Weathering is dictated by so many variables it should be left to the owner of the model. More often than not the most important weathering is actually aligned vertically (lime scale, oil stains, etc.) and the horizontal weathering is purely a function of the track bed characteristics, brake dust and other related stains.

But if the buyer just wants a weathered loco and doesn't have the time or inclination to experience what actually causes weathering, then I am sure MTH will have a customer.

wheel_slip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Although I think it's a nice effort, the results
> don't reflect a job done by a craftsman... What
> blows the effort completely out of the water is
> starting at 2:33 in their product demo video, the
> SD70ACe is rolling by and only a portion of the
> locomotives wheels were "weathered", leaving half
> of the wheels "clean". You can imagine what that
> looks like rolling down the track... A
> professional job? Not really...
>
> Sorry MTH.
>
> Andy

As much as I like MTH products, I think this is a non-starter. Half-painted wheels would be awful. I cannot see any model manufacturer mass-producing "properly" weathered rolling stock and structures. Look at some of the horrible stuff on e-bay that is labeled "professionally" weathered. Bad idea. Let the owner of the unit do the weathering. Bob