You know, no matter what work I do to custom mod and detail my GP40's it's one hassle after another. I'm getting frustrated with them. First off, and USA Trains is not an exception to this problem as they did it to the GP38-2's aswell, lets start with the front and rear bumpers. It's bad enough they make it so the removal of the battery cables are bad enough, but Aristo and USA both put an extra grab iron bar across the top part of the cut levers. I have yet to find a prototype photo of this. Rip that bar off and it's gone. I go to mount the MU Boxes were the wire was in their proper location and their too wide? Didn't seem right. I went and found copies of the GP40 Blueprints from EMD. I measured the space and then scaled it down. AristoCraft is off by half an inch. This forces me to cut the MU Boxes because I can't cut into the bumper. There is a molded part extending out. It interferes with the poor measurement. Bad enough they didn't paint the top of the cut levers white, or the nose/walkways black as per BN PROTOTYPE. They are a manufacturer. They're supposed to rivet count in production so I don't have to do it later. Being that this was a custom run unit, they really have zero excuse on the paint foul up. But the addition of parts that in certain photos look like they're on the unit is unforgivable. There's a spot that looks like a wire bar. It isn't. Now the rear grill covering the brass grills. I've had it with the plastic. If you so much as bump it by mistake, it comes loose and is a bear to put back in place. What's wrong with using brass to cover it? You used brass on everything else, Aristo, what exactly are you cutting corners for?! At this point I'd love to ditch these units, except they have those amazing power trucks that work. Sometimes I have to wonder what these companies are thinking when they produce these units. My entire build has been one roadblock after another and I'm tired of having to fix Aristo's foul ups. I Though model trains were supposed to be easy, not a headache
