Superb detailnig job on this locomotive. Some detail jobs I have seen look "chunky", hand rails painted white that looks globby, but this example is well done, apprears to be crisp, has that micro look, well done mate.
Thank you, it is also something that bothers me about N scale locos, along with cut levers made of plastic, since they jump in your face right away with their oversized dimensions. The handrails on the loco body with bent from steel piano wire, and the porch rails were soda-blasted to remove the factory thick paint, then covered with very light coats of white until opaque. Fortunately, the raw plastic is a translucent whitish colour to start with on the FVM units. I left the side handrails alone, other than retouching and a bit of weathering. Richard.
I think my post just disappeared. If so, I thank you, and am also very aware of obviously oversized details and try to minimize their intrusiveness. I soda-blasted the porch handrails down to bare plastic (a whitish, translucent material), then painted several thin layers of white until opaque, thereby greatly reducing the apparent thickness (the factory rails have two colours, white over red, with very thick white to cover the red). The loco corner rails were bent from steel piano wire, and are a touch smaller. I didn't want them to be much smaller or the discrepancy would become an issue in itself. Nobody listens to me (boo hoo)when I extol the virtues of a cheap Badger air eraser and a bag of baking soda from your local bulk store or supermarket. It does wonders in finely abrading slippery plastic, removing paint, removing decals and excess weathering. Couldn't live without it, but that's me, a lone voice in the wilderness....
