My research of Milwaukee's FP7's in the original scheme of orange/maroon/black show unpainted grills. It seems they were painted black in the 1960's when they simplified the paint scheme to orange black. And yes, the paint often flaked off afterwards. So, I think Intermountain's is more correct however their attempt at lift rings on the roof come off as large plastic blobs. They are the first thing I carve off the shell and replace with etched metal parts.
My research of Milwaukee's FP7's in the original scheme of orange/maroon/black show unpainted grills. It seems they were painted black in the 1960's when they simplified the paint scheme to orange black. And yes, the paint often flaked off afterwards. So, I think Intermountain's is more correct however their attempt at lift rings on the roof come off as large plastic blobs. They are the first thing I carve off the shell and replace with etched metal parts.
Pretty sure he meant the prototypes? Kato hasn't made any other FP7's, ever. Here's a GN FP-7 right? http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/8/0/5/3805.1296617940.jpg
Did the GN ever have any FP7 locos? http://www.greatnorthernempire.net/index2.htm?GNEGNDieselRosters_EMD.htm http://www.greatnorthernempire.net/index2.htm?GNEGNDieselFleetTimeline.htm
Hard to find, but that pic above shows the late pre-merger GN scheme on an FP7, and we all know BN wouldn't have wasted the paint.... fishy!
I have a question for you Milwaukee modellers...I have Erie Builts with grey roofs. when did they change to black, and did they ever run with grey roofs on the Hiawatha. Rather not repaint them.
My guess is that they would either just print them over the grilles or tool a new B unit mold that would provide flat surfaces for the lettering. Not sure which would look better. Probably the new mold.
I'm guessing this post is saying "no, the grills were painted black in the original scheme." Is that correct? If so, I am so thankful that Kato has provided evidence that they understand that not all F7 side grills should be painted silver. Now, bring on that NCL!!!!!!!
To me, the framework of the grilles appears to be silver while the louvers/grates appear to be black. Maybe this photo will make that more obvious: http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr0201/mil92c.jpg
Maybe. I just think that all black (or all green for the NCL) will look infinitely better than all silver. Those all silver on F units that aren't otherwise silver just stick out like a sore thumb.
You can see through the grills to the paint underneath. Intermountain has etched grills which makes this possible. Kato does not as its molded on the shell. Makes it easy if the grills were painted but not so much if they weren't. You can overlay Plano etched metal grills over the Kato model and can even paint the carbody openings before gluing on (provided they contrast with the carbody color) Makes a neat effect !
Found a photo of a Kato unit that I streched into a FP7 a while back. You can see the metal grill work with carbody openings painted on behind the grill. Of coarse this doesn't work if the carbody is also painted black in this area like the original Milwaukee scheme but you can still see through the grill work.
firstly, beautiful models, Bill! ...also, hard to fault Kato because of the way these may have looked originally... we KNOW that the entire area was painted black at some point, but, even if only the grillwork remained unpainted (and the rest of the underlying carbody is black as we also know it was), it's not really possible to paint the separate colors with the beautiful relief Kato has molded into these F shells. So i can fully understand their reasoning in painting the entire area black; it's the 'lesser of the two evils'...for those who are fine with the later all black versions, your work is already done. For those who want their grills to stand out and remain 'stainless', a simple drybrushing of silver will bring that out, or, better, as Bill may have done here, modify a Plano 'horizontal' grill (matching the style Kato has molded for all of their F7 units-and correct for these units), or source an Intermountain piece(s). I did much the same thing on my Kato F units...I used decal film to simulate the carbody openings, then applied Plano PE grills over the area to achieve the proper detailed look. ~Bruce
The are here and they are stunning!! The observation comes lighted (in the end) from Kato! Ceiling, marker and tail lights all lighted by LED's hidden in the floorboards!! What a knockout! Paint is crisp, engineering is even better than before. The light boards install in a new way, too. I decided the white light in the red interiors looked too pink/mauve, so I tinted these cars too!! Enjoying them already, hope they do an armour yellow train too. Loco is by intermountain. Darn close color match and I'm very, very happy today