That’s what we get for being interested in a railroad besides the Pennsy, or the UP, or the Santa Fe.
Yup. It's only been over the last decade or so that more RTR Frisco engines have been appearing, though typically not without issues. Back when I modeled the Frisco... NOTHING was available over the counter, locomotive wise. I had to take a model, modify it to be more like the Frisco prototype I wanted to reflect... then paint/decal it myself. That was all part of the modeling experience, then, so I did it. Alas, my primary modeling theme (my fictional "Kansas City & Gulf") has put me right squarely back into that same situation: I must modify, paint/decal/weather my own equipment. I don't mind too much, but the ability to purchase RTR sounds nice every now and then. Humorously, I do have some pre-painted Frisco locomotives... but every one of them have lettering/color issues that really would make me want to strip and repaint them anyway!! Andre
Andre The "current" offering as you call it says "FRISCO E UNITS Revised 4-95." It includes wording and nose stripes for The Texas Special. The Texas Special nose stripes were yellow. If you go to the Microscale 87-455 web page and click on the image, then zoom on the image you can tell that the TSP nose stripes are a different color than the striping. My SWAG is that the other striping is going to be gold. The yellow is not as obvious in the first 2 pics you posted.
Andre, I have read and heard that you can spray clear over the old Herald King sets and quite possibly keep them from fragmenting.
Well... I purchased two sets. Thought I'd cut out one of the horse names I won't be using and give it a try. IF it holds, then I'll cut the desired decals out and give it a go. If unsuccessful, I have the second set. I hadn't heard of giving it a coat of clear. I was going to try that Microscale "Liquid Decal" solution. Do you have any experience using that? Andre
Hey, you know what? I've got a couple of the old Herald King sets, #L464-1. These are new in the (unopened) packages. Let me know if you still need them and we can work something out. GS
Thanks for your kind offer, Greg. However, I have two "new in the pack" sets of #L464-1, as well as two "new in the packs" of the gold set #L463-1. Covering my bases, I am.
Thanks again for your helpful offer. It's always great to have a safety net in place in case I boink it on the decals!