Yes, the glaring gap around the ill-fitting nose numberboard...well, I saw it right away, and that combined with other issues, some discussed in the last several pages, and others perhaps not, is specifically why I have not been able to bring myself to buy more PA-1's. Some things just cannot be unseen.
CA could be used to fill the gap around the number boards. Apply small drops with a very fine wire. I've done that to fill the gap around the dome on a resin tank car kit.
Matching touch up paint can be had by rubbing a paint brush with some MEK or lacquer thinner on a hidden painted area of the shell.
mvlandswCA could be used to fill the gap around the number boards.
I've been using several types of PVA "canopy cement" for many tasks that I formerly would have used CA or "super-glue".
There are times when CA is the right choice but I've had much more success with the PVA. One of my favorites is the Faller Expert Laser cement.
The one in the middle here:
Glue_bottle by Edmund, on Flickr
It is thin enough that it will flow into the gap yet if any gets on the paint surface a slightly dampened lint free cloth will wipe it away. It can be removed after it sets using a toothpick or other semi-rigid scraper. I've had some bad cases of CA fogging the surrounding area and in a prominant spot like these number boards I wouldn't want to risk that.
Being a long-time NYC modeler I have lots of various grays on hand. Touch-up souldn't be a problem.
Thanks for the suggestion. Presently I have the shell removed so I might just have a go at it
Regards, Ed
I'm definately in agreement with the "canopy glue" option. I rarely use anything else - it can't be beat for its combination of strength and forgiviness.
If you are not happy with the Rapido PA/PB and/or prefer brass, Jack Vansworth of Division Point announced in his latest newsletter that the Alco PA/PB project is "back on the table". Estimated retail price (gulp) $2,700 A/B (and that is for DC).
Well, I finally got my units. I got both an AB set and a single A. I took them to be certified to run on the museum layout (Colorado Model Railroad Musuem) last Saturday (10/1) and took them on a maiden run. The detail on the units is really good. Indeed they have road specific items. Mine are painted Santa Fe with the details as they appear to been in the early 1960s.
The drive is smooth, silky, and quiet. Despite that, the front truck on each unit is loose and wobbles on the track. One A unit is so bad that the whole locomotive duck walks down the track. I've contacted the vendor to get a replacement or a refund.
The finish is good except each A unit has a tiny "mark" in the paint on the nose. I assume it is where some machine picks up the unit during the assembly process. One of the units also has some variances on the yellow nose decal where it looks like it did not properly integrate into the base paint. Fortunately this is the same unit that wobbles, so a replacement will kill both issues with one transaction.
The units have ESU sound, so operating them will take some getting used to, or I'll have to reprogram them to move functions to match what most other vendors use.
Over all I like them. I will use them to pull my heavy weight California Limited, and a very long San Francisco Chief, but I am questioning if the great detail is worth the price. I do not know if I would purchase them again. Could get a lot of other stuff for the same $.
Waiting on the main at Quartz Mountain.
A panned shot approaching Sprague.
Well, it has been a few weeks for me, and I've gotten some break-in time on my one NKP unit, and it is a bit of a growler. It seems like the wheelsets in the trucks just make a lot of noise while rotating. It hasn't really gotten quieter. I don't think it is a gear issue because the noises are not constant but intermittent, and if it was a gear issue it would be all the time. I have lubricated the axle bearings and that did not seem to help at all.
Since this purchase I have received a Walthers Proto CB&Q E-9A, a Walthers Proto ATSF F-7A, and a BLI PRR E-8A (Paragon 3, 2018 production). All three units run quieter than the Rapido PA-1 unit that I have, and they did so pretty much right out of the box without my needing to do anything to them.
On this club layout with generous curves, they certainly look impressive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVmQNK2wnAc
These are stock models, just with window shades added in the cab and a bit of weathering. Looking at my own PA/PB set, there is a gap of less than 1 mm between the diaphragms of the A and B unit on straight track. In the video (3 ft rule), this is barely noticable. The only thing I still do not like are the windshield windows (go to 3:38 in the video). They look like inch-thick windows in high-security trucks. But that is a truly minor complaint. Well done, Rapido.
I know I have complained about the apparent "thickness" of the windshield windows of the Rapido PA. It was explained this was necessary to make the windows flush with the frame. I have to admit that Rapido's solution is far superior to that offered by the Walthers PAs ("newly-tooled") for the COSF where the window glass is now a scale foot too far into the window opening. A picture is worth a thousand words - see below. I should add, the MSRP for the Rapido and the Walthers units is comparable.
Well, here's another issue that I cannot un-see:
The Walthers Proto PA-1 does a better job to my eyes of modeling the frame around the outside of the cab windows but underneath the trim strip that comes up and over the front of the cab.
It's clearly visible in the photo shown of the SP units above, and that detail looks ok.
Rapido did a 3D scan of the restored "NKP" former ATSF unit. That unit appears based on photos I've seen to NOT match the other PA's from years ago. Rapido's model seems to match the restored unit. The "before" photos reveal the PA's to have been pretty badly mangled prior to restoration.
So a prospective buyer has a choice:
Have the window frames (or perhaps better explained as the flat area around the outside of the openings) looking more like the prototypes looked years ago, but put up with the too-far-inset windshield.
OR
Have better looking front windows but with what appears to be window exterior metal work that only matches the restored NKP unit.
I personally would order the Walthers Proto units. Others might choose differently.
I will credit the Rapido PA for getting me more interested in modeling or attempting to model passenger trains, and as a result of some of the issues with the Rapido PA, I have decided that I really prefer the E and F units more than Alco PA's.
I am getting one of the Rapido Amtrak special edition E-8's (when my local store's order from the distributor gets big enough for free shipping) and I have two of the Rapido/Heartland special edition late PRR E-8's pre-ordered. All three of these units will not have the incorrectly modeled by Rapido portholes, so I will avoid that issue (which people on other forums are indeed making a big deal out of--because Rapido was notified and chose not to fix it).
John