Hello All,
Rambo2Why are they the same price? One should be cheaper no?
All things being equal- -decorated vs. undecorated- -I think a little more prototypically...
I run a freelance pike in the 1970s to 1980s. It is an independently owned coal-branch loop served by the Santa Fe.
The mine owned motive power is "patched out" second- or third-hand diesel units from the Denver & Rio Grande West, Southern Pacific, and the B&O.
My point...
I can justify a previously owned, patched out unit, with a non-native livery, that is RTR over having to wait to do the paintwork myself.
Yes, in a fair and just world undecorated should be less expensive. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
With packing engines, it can cost more money to sell an undecorated diesel engine. This I have on good authority from a current American importer.
Why? Because the whole Chinese assembly-line model is geared toward selling RTR models. If they lose a part on the floor, they simply pick up another from the pile and glue it on the model.
With undecorated kits, the photos above show an extreme example. With diesels, they have to be packed differently for safety. The packages are designed differently. Also all the parts have to be counted out, and then somebody has to double check the counts. Therefore, it takes MORE labor to offer an undecorated diesel model than to offer a decorated rtr model, even after allowing for NOT painting the model. The painting is usually a very efficient process; packing kits and doublechecking the parts count is definitely NOT (I have personally done it myself).
John
SeeYou190 This is the viewpoint of a modeller that NEEDS undecorated models. 1: Please do not start to respond by telling me stripping paint is an option, it is not. Sure, you can remove the paint and lettering from a Stewart F7 if you need to, but a modern hyper-detailed Chinese made Rapido FP7, never. I challenge anyone to strip the paint off of one of those in any sort of practicle fashion. -Kevin
This is the viewpoint of a modeller that NEEDS undecorated models.
1: Please do not start to respond by telling me stripping paint is an option, it is not. Sure, you can remove the paint and lettering from a Stewart F7 if you need to, but a modern hyper-detailed Chinese made Rapido FP7, never. I challenge anyone to strip the paint off of one of those in any sort of practicle fashion.
-Kevin
And try removing the glued-on handrails on a Bachmann loco, I still haven't found a solvent for that glue.
I have 2 atlas CO cabooses, 2 FMC 5077 50' boxcars, and 3 single sheathed boxcars that will hold the old railway reporting marks.
There has been times I wanted to get some GP38, 8-40CW, covered hoppers, data only open hopper. I just don't have the supplies to do it.
I'm thinking of getting painted LW passenger cars, strip them for my road. Including SD40-2. The same with F3 and F7 with single headlights. I did miss getting the undecorated F7B. Because I struggled to figure out how many I needed to model two different paint schemes.
I can't seem to open an Atlas N scale CO caboose. One caboose has a broken ladder handle.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
SeeYou190SeeYou190 wrote the following post 22 hours ago: MARTIN STATION when you bought an undecorated locomotive you used to get a lot of optional parts like both dynamic/non-dynamic brake hatches, plows and footboards and other optional parts, My Proto-2000 SD-7 was really a weird experience for me. Every undecorated model I saw said something like "SD-7 with dynamic brakes" on the box, I did not want dynamic brakes. Finally I just went ahead and bought one, and in the box the non-dynamic hood was included in the parts pack. I wish the box label would have let me know the parts for both options were included.
The Missabe RR Historical Society magazine had a great article about detailing and decorating an Athearn SD-9 into a correct DMIR engine about the time Proto came out with their SD-7, so I figured that was a good start and picked up an undecorated one. It turns out that I didn't need to go out and buy the list of detail parts included in the article, IIRC the only thing not included in the parts that came with the undec SD-7 was a five-chime airhorn and all-weather cab windows.
Of course a year or two later Life-Like came out with an SD-9 decorated for the Missabe....
PRR8259With packing engines, it can cost more money to sell an undecorated diesel engine. This I have on good authority from a current American importer
I have the exact same information on good authority from a major importer, directly from the owner.
Producing an undecorated model gums up everything.
Engi1487, so learning how to take off the paint off the shell, and fine details such s grab irons and ladder rails is a bit nearvracking to me.
Good luck. I would not attempt it.
Living the dream.