Anyone who don't like theirs, because of the stripes, considering everything else works properly. I would offer 25% of the original price, for a limited time.
One last post about color: yellows and reds. Both yellow and red paints fade toward a lighter color when exposed to sun unless protected by a UV protective clear coat. So a yellow will become lighter and a red will shift toward orange or pink depending on the original mix. Chevy Engine Red (Frisco Red), when exposed to UV and weathering, would begin to reveal more of the orange component over time finally yielding to white, whereas a pure red will merely fade towards a pale red or pink. A good example is what happened to the 3M Scotchlite Reflective tape that was put on the nose of some of the road switchers such as the GP35s for a while.
Steve said: "I saw the preproduction models over the summer and thought they looked great. (Less spark arrestors)" About those Genesis spark arrestors: I suspect they are supposed to represent the tall rectangular box arrestors that Frisco used on the Geeps from about the mid-50s until the advent of the flared arrestors. (Which began appearing '64-ish.) Here's a quick proto example of said tall rectangular box arrestors: http://frisco.org/mainline/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/GP7-546-date-and-location-unknown.jpg If anything, I think the Genesis representation of them is a bit small. Still, though, gotta' give an "A" for effort for modeling a unique nuance of the prototype! As is, the Genesis model will stand-in nicely for a unit in service from about the mid 1950s up to the advent of flared arrestors. Andre
Photo was taken by Frank Tribbey at OKC in March 1962. It appears on p. 33 of Frisco in Color, V.2. GS
AND... Athearn included the distinctive to the Frisco front "L" grab on the short nose! Another reason for my "A" for effort! Andre
I appreciate that you took the time to substantiate my claim. All of those, even the filthiest one, exhibit a brighter yellow than my photo.
Interesting thought Andre. I built my model of that unit and used DW arrestors that seemed ok to me but maybe they are on the small side too, I thought about making some before finding the DW parts. Maybe the ones in that pic are what they modeled?
EDIT: I just looked at the Bachmann Decapod thread. I think I was too hard on Athearn I got the Genesis GP7 for $200 and the decapod for about $220. You just have to shop around a little bit. GS
I got a set of these F3's when they came out, but haven't put too much time in with them yet. They have some sort of light casting on the end doors that get in the way of coupling the units together. Anyone else have issues with this and a solution? I don't really want to put long shank couplers on unless I have to, I like close look with the stock couplers.
I had time to go take pictures this afternoon to show the issue. I think the manual called these a marker light, but I might be wrong on that. First picture is the problem part circled in red. It sticks out from the door on the rear of the unit. Second picture shows the two light fixtures hitting when I try to couple an A and B unit together.
Ethan, I do not have these on my Athearn Genesis F3 A & B units. I have the first run of these when they came out. Are yours a recent production I assume? Might call Athearn on this and see what they have to say. Did you purchase from a dealer or private seller? If Private they may have been add ons. Glad that you have brought this out to our attention, hopefully you can solve this ! John
Backing lights. Those were backing lights. (An available EMD option, I think.) I can see how (as modeled) those would definitely be an issue.
I don't plan on ever actually needing these to be functional. These units will spend their life in an ABBA configuration. Unless someone has a better idea, I'm probably just going to chop the light castings off with an xacto knife.
Doooen't! Sand them down a bit enough to clear each one. Don't take the easy way around this for crying out loud!
