Is this eBay seller serious?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Medina1128

I wonder if that's what living in Southern California does to paint jobs. No wonder people are leaving there in droves. Hate to see what it does to one's car...

I was born in Van Nuys, here in Southern California and have lived here since 1955. Your comment is totally uncalled for and unnecessary.

California is a great state and represents the 7th largest economy in the world. In addition, Southern California has a great climate and economy that has attracted and continues to attact millions of permanent residents over the years. Everyone has a choice on where they want to live. I didn't see anyone on here knocking where you live, so why do you find it necessary to offend others?

Next time, keep your off-topic, juvenile and obnoxious remarks to yourself.

[james saunders]

woah ease up turbo

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SALMONTRAIN

Hi guys~

Yes I am Mark, the guy who was selling the SD40-2 that you're all having such a fun time bashing on this board...

My friend is an awesome modeller and artist but this muddy snoot was his first go at train weathering.

Wheras, I am a little embarassed, I do retan my dignity and not because I ended tbe auction (which was a relist and had no reserve by the way...) but because I know how I do business and that I care about fellow collectors as much or more than customers and money.

I know Chris is capable of turning out quality trains but will need to do a lot of research on prototypes to get more accurate in his weathering.

I got an email from someone and maybe he was just being a smart-*** but I'd like to think that he was being a decent. fellow.

At any rate, it would be nice if you would have the balls and/or the human decency to talk to my face or at least my email next time, rather than ranting and raving behind my back on a board somewhere.

George Carlin, your 5 year old, and even your scat-burying cat... would ALL agree~

Thanks
Mark Lynn

You know what Mark? If it matters, I believe you and your story. It's easy for alot folks to sit behind a keyboard and slam other people's items. Okay, you made a mistake. Everyone needs to get over it and move on. I commend you for coming on the board and handling the matter the way you did - good job on that (not the weathering[:D]).

Although I don't think it's a very good weathering job, that's really not what this thread is about, to me it's was almost like a public lynching. And what I find embarrassing is the way other forum members responded here.

Good luck with your future efforts.

[Anonymous]

OW MY EYES!

That is not a weathered unit, that is a destroyed model.

I think the L&N unit blurring is a problem. Note how the background buildings are in sharp focus.

[Soo Line fan]

That Santa Fe looks like something a little kid messed up. At least the price was fair if someone needed a mechanism. The L&N was too blurry to even see, perhaps intentionally.

Jim

[ProtoWeathering]

I am the person who emailed Mark. In subsequent emails I have found him to be an honest and caring individual. I apologized to him for my comment and I think that in the future I will have the courtesy to contact someone before slamming them.

[Anonymous]

Not my favorite weathering job, but looks ok to me.

[ICRR1964]

Its easy for some people to sit back and badger others work, sitting at a key board seems the best place for some people to do it. Guess if they were in public and made a comment about other peoples work, might just get them an introduction to a chair over the head or a fist shoved in their mouth. Point being here guys, Hope you enjoyed making fools of yourselves.

I give the seller of the item a thumbs up for coming forward and saying his peace! Some one please hand out towels so these clowns can wipe the poo poo of themselves they were throwing at this guy, Guess he must have had a cannon to fire the crap back at you back at you guys!

[AggroJones]

This person may be level and caring or whatever, but the listing description slammed other people's work that is actually much better than that. And tried to boast it WAY up beyond it's reality.

[Anonymous]

And it still looks like all the guy did was barf allover it.

[trainboyH16-44]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ICRR1964

Some one please hand out towels so these clowns can wipe the poo poo of themselves they were throwing at this guy, Guess he must have had a cannon to fire the crap back at you back at you guys!

I think that that solves the mystery of the weathering job..Mark, okay, he's new. That's okay. He'll learn. Maybe. But if he really is as good as you say he is, he probably wouldn't have let the paint clearly show edges like that, it's such a n00b mistake. You also kinda over-hyped it, a lot. The weathering job I did when I was 11 on my BB SD40-2 looked better than that, and I was really trigger-happy with a crappy spray-pint can. Kinda like the L&N model, but worse.
Also Mark, you made comments about chalk weathering which were totally uncalled for, chalk weathering can give very satisfying results.

[Anonymous]

And I was embarrassed about MY first attempt at weathering. I think I'm gonna hurl !!!!!!!

[Train 284]

Boy, that guy did a HORRIBLE job on weathering that engine!

[dinwitty]

smugly, not realistic weathering

[Morpar]

I have to agree with what Aggro said earlier, it's not just the bad weathering job, it's the bashing of others as being so inferior to this "model". The description gives the impression that if one were to expand this model 87 times (to full size), you would be unable to tell it from the real deal. Clearly that is not the case. I too have seen some of the truly good weathering jobs and I envy them, but if I were trying to compete for sales, I would not knock them in any way, if for no other reason than it is just bad form and seems petty. I might add that since my area still can only get dial-up, I had read all the way through the description before I got to see ANY pictures of the loco. My hopes were actually high that this might be a very nice unit, then I saw it was not.

I might add that there is also a little false advertising involved here. The description lists the loco is "custom weathered/detailed and pro-painted", but the photos don't seem to show any custom detailing other than the metal handrails installed. No cab A/C, no antennas, no M.U. hoses or receptacles, no drop steps, etc. etc. etc. And I don't claim to be an expert on Santa Fe locos by any stretch, I'm sure the dyed in the wool Santa Fe fans could find a lot more missing details. The paint appears to be the factory paint job, although I can't be sure of that. The lack of numbers in the front number boards also tell me "factory paint".

As for the comment about meeting a chair or fist if people said these things in person, well, that's pure B.S. in my case! I DO speak like that in real life, face-to-face IF the person has spewed as much swill as that description did. It generally takes the wind right out of the sails of some high-and-mighty, so much better than the rest so-and-so when you call their bluff right to their face! It's more rewarding to watch them sweat as they have to back down too, then try and explain why what they just said wasn't what they really mean. Now, if they act civilized and don't attack others for no reason and make a mistake, I am VERY willing to keep my mouth shut or try to assist them in any way I can. Perhaps if more people addressed the holier-than-thou types in the same manner instead of keeping quiet, there would be less of that kind of crap. I deal with both types of people at work on a daily basis, and quite frankly get danged tired of the ones that are good at slamming others, but produce crappy results themselves. So no, I don't need a towel to wipe off the poo-poo. I feel as though it missed me by a mile, along with many others. As soon as you put your handiwork (whether it's painting, modeling, photography, music, or whatever) out for the world to see and judge (and buy), you then have to expect to find critics that will judge against you.

[Anonymous]

Ya know, Mark, if you hadn't added the "chalk and chimney soot" and "chalk and hairspray" comments to your listing, and so overhyped the unit as to put P.T. Barnum to shame, I might'a bought it (your story, that is - not the locomotive).

But when you start the weathering discussion with "Unlike many so-called, 'customized' models," and spend six paragraphs singing the praises of this . . . thing???

And your friend "grew up near the rail yards of Sacramento," and thought this looked anything like what he's been seeing most of his life? I live near Sacramento myself, in a house that backs up to the mainline. I see at least 50 locomotives a week, and I can assure you I've never seen anything that even remotely resembled that so-called weathering job.

Oh, by the way, anyone who knows anything about weathering has a can of Testors Dull Cote (or something similar) on hand to seal the decal and weathering job, and to dull the unrealistic shine that doesn't exist on any locomotive that's been out of the shop for more than about 3 days. So yeah, we know all about clear coating.

[bryanbell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by stripes2

I have another ebay joke for you!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6046710996&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

This listing has expired and if you click on the relist link, they've bumped the starting price UP $10. It didn't sell at $120 so they are now asking $130. Whatever, if they want to waste money listing it more power to them. If they sell it for that price though, I've got about five "custom painted and weathered" models to put on ebay too.
I think its funny that some people get their panties in a bunch when someone posts a thread like this and says "look how bad this is". Both of the examples in this thread ARE bad, really bad. What is wrong with saying its bad? I know its not P.C. but it seems alot of people these days are so uptight and just looking for something to offend them.

Bryan

[eeyore9900]

In his ad, he said, "Unlike many so-called, 'customized' models you see on ebay which were 'weathered' with chalk and chimney soot to hide their pathetic and abused state of existence... this was INTENTIONALLY customized to ENHANCE its appearance and realism."

As a "weatherer" myself, you mean to say we do our work by "accident" instead of intentionally?
[B)]
& then-"Everything is painted and clear-coated so unlike the 'chalk and hairspray' guys' trains... this one will retain its paint and finish for a lifetime, at least"

& we don't? [B)]

I'm still getting my feet wet in the weathering field myself, & I fully realize everyone has to start somewhere. But that was a pure slam to a LOT of folks who do awesome work (Aggro in above posts being one of them) just to try to make a sale!
We put a lot of time & research into our work, & try do our best to replicate the real thing, using paint, weathering powders, water based oils, & gouache. Those statements in his ad were totally uncalled for IMO!
& BTW-this isn't his 1st attempt-My better half actually discovered this guy last month while on a search for weathered N scale equipment (I took her to her 1st train show-she's been bitten by the bug! [:D]) She found an N scale ATSF covered hopper done by the same, & although it was a little better, a big fingerprint was left on the side!

I'll encourage anyone starting out weathering & detailing to LEARN as much as possible, & slowly come about in talent. (as I'm trying myself-learning as best I can from some I consider "masters!"

But this fella isn't ready for ebay sales yet-he definitely needs to study prototypes, learn from the weathering & detailing, & when he creates semi-acceptable work, I'd be the 1st to shake his hand & say "congratulations!"
But don't slam the folks doing good work just to try to make a sale! (to me, it's like saying, "Unlike those crappy paintings displayed in the Louvre in Paris, we do REAL art!"

& as to the L&N engine in the other ad-it was a little better, but his ad made me feel like I was assaulted by an unscrupulous used car dealer with greasy hair, a fake smile & wearing a pink leisure suit!

[ICRR1964]

I'll get the bucket of water and the soap ready for you guys. You will have to supply your pants and shirts though. It seems the critics have spoken, and do nothing but perfect weathering, so what other people do as far as weathering deserves a neg -10 in their eye's. It's hard to beleive that there are so many people that do everything perfect as far as MR.

As far as bad mouthing other peoples work, just remember this. If it makes you feel good to cut up someone elses work, fine. I watched 2 grown men hacking on a 14 year old boy onetime at a train show, the boy and his father had a small layout set up and MR items forsale. The 2 guys waited until the boys dad stepped away and started on the boy then. They seemed to enjoy badgering him, until they saw the boy's father heading back and tried to step away before he got back to the display. Myself and 2 other people stopped them and told these 2 clowns to tell the boy's father the same thing they told his son. For some reason or another, they acted like they did not know what we were talking about. Before the day was over, the 2 grown men were asked to leave, because they seemed intent on cutting up others work, and went from display to display offering bad comments to whom ever they wanted. It was funny to leave they show later and go into the parking lot and see 2 police officers talking with 4 guys, one of them was holding a paper towel over his bloody nose. I had to go shake hands with the guy who had popped him.

Hope you guys enjoyed this little bashing, I sure did, nothing better than watching people let their mouth overload their you know whats![^] I guess next time I make any type of mistake doing any type of MR, I should look over my shoulder, and see who is watching, but what the heck, it happens.

[Morpar]

ICRR1964,
I think you might be missing the point here, or at least mine. The issue was not the poor weathering job, the issue was the B.S. the seller was slinging to hype the loco. I have some old stuff that is as bad looking, if not worse, than this loco. But if I were trying to sell them I would admit they were not the best in the world and go with the flow, sell them as practice fodder, needing to be stripped, or whatever. As an aside to the whole story, the seller's posting only seemed to do a back-peddle from the original listing. In his posting here, the "expert artist" was suddenly a first-timer who needs to do more research. There was no explanation for the lack of "custom detailing" the listing advertised. I feel the seller was trying to bully us into not talking about the over-hyping he had done to try to sell this lemon. If it had been for a car or big-ticket item, would you still feel the seller was being such a good guy? Even while the listing had many falsehoods that more experienced modelers could spot easily? And why did he need to become beligerent at the end? It was almost as if he had something to hide and was trying to bluff his way past all of us in my opinion.

As for the incident with the 14 year old, that is no way to treat anyone, unless the 14 year was hammering back at these guys. Now granted, your description doesn't suggest that, but I have seen some of these 14 year olds that were little snots using Mommy and Daddy as a shield. This doesn't sound like one of those cases, but it does happen. I am glad the big jerk got what he deserved though.

Again, to reiterate, I am no pefect modeler. That's why no one but me and a few unfortunate others see my work, as most of it sucks! I am every bit as falliable as the next guy, so thus I don't hammer on a person's ability. Until they start to pass it off as being the best, or at least better than the rest. At that point, they are fair game for anyone to pick at.

[Anonymous]

ICRR1964;

You don't get it, do you? This guy set the rules when he slammed the work of the "chalk and hairspray" crowd, and crowed about how superior his stuff was to everything else out there. And now he's crying foul because he was challenged on his used car salesman tacics? I don't think so.

James

[Anonymous]

I posted this on another site, about this subject.

Posted: Thu Apr 06, 2006 2:44 pm Post subject: Good for you Jerry

http://modeltrainsweathered.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=5670#5670

I am not the one to critisize anyones work, and I just feel like he was bringing down the quality of a craft that most all of you have brought to a higher level. I come on here and the trains forum every day thirsty for knowledge. I too want to be able to create a well made structure and/or rolling stock that I would be proud to show off on this site. I am no where near that! So, If he joins here maybe he and I can share, learn and become true craftsmen. Nuf said

Please accept my apology if I was out of line Mark Lynn

[bryanbell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by James_the_Mad

ICRR1964;

You don't get it, do you? This guy set the rules when he slammed the work of the "chalk and hairspray" crowd, and crowed about how superior his stuff was to everything else out there. And now he's crying foul because he was challenged on his used car salesman tacics? I don't think so.

James

I don't think anyone who has commented on the listings has said their modeling is perfect and they are a better person because they do better work. I don't see anything like that. I've never even tried weathering a locomotive and I don't know if I could do any better than this guy did but I'm also not going to put it on ebay and try selling it as a masterpiece.
Like James says, this guy set the rules when in the listing it says this model is so much better than anything else out there yada yada yada.
Calling this guy on his listing is completely different from two losers harassing a 14 yr old kid.
From my point of view, the only thing people have been "badmouthing" on here is the listings exaggerations.

Bryan

[Anonymous]

When I first started using E-Bay I bid on and won the auction for a "Custom Painted" Atlas/Roco SD24. What I got a few days later looked like something a three year old had painted and decalled. Since then i have stuck to bidding on NIB items.

I can't help but make some comment about this guy's unabashed approach to advertising this loco,0 like why did he post so many photos and still make all those verbal claims? Like maybe he was trying to warn the rest of us about believing the fantastic claims made by some sellor's on E-Bay?

BTW here's a link to my most weathered loco. Should I put it up for bid on E-Bay?

http://home.bellsouth.net/p/s/community.dll?ep=334&fileid=669962&groupid=151660&folderid=98999&curRec=5&folderview=thumbs&ck=

[bportrail]

I have done enough subpar work to have a mountain of spare parts, all from cars I destroyed trying to weather. It was the tone of the listing that really bothered me. By stating this engine (and weathering) was better than everything else out there,The seller brought this on himself plain and simple.

I hope that he does better on the other 999 engines he got at that estate sale....

Keith Bunch
bportrail

[waltersrails]

very true

[Bill H.]

Actually, it looks like coffee was spilled on it...

I'm told that happens on the Santa Fe's "Land of the Giants" division...lol

[Walter Clot]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mononguy63

Yeah, I remember when I also once spilled a bottle of paint on a locomotive shell...

[xx(]
I thought he spilled chocolate milk on it and it dried. The cat might like that.[;)]

[Anonymous]

As many of us have stated, the tone of the auction left me baffled. No comment on the weathering, however, as I don't want to bring that back into this.


Matt

[river_eagle]

here's my feeble effort at weathering


which I think came out better then the PRO job.
p.s.
no hairspay used.