Hi Gang,
Unless I have been asleep at the wheel and missed it- I haven't seen any
comments on the Stewart U25B CB&Q #100. I have had them on the shelves now
for several weeks and finally had a chance to look over the one I brought
home for me.
Over all it is a very nice model. It is heavier than the the earlier
releases that had the Kato chassis/drives and the 'new' version runs
extremely smooth. Paint work is nice although the Chinese Red seems a little
more 'brilliant' than the shade used by Atlas (GP-40/GP-7) and Proto 2000
(GP-20/GP-30/SD-7/SD-9) but it is not objectionable and when run through the
'dirt factory' should blend in quite nicely. The Gray is almost the same as
Atlas and Proto. Stewart did the wide White sill stripe accurately and all
lettering and paint separation is crisp. 'U25B' model plaques, Builders
Plate and Trust plaques are on the model. The number (#100) under the Cab
windows are slightly larger than the numbers used by Atlas and Proto- but
again- not objectionable and could probably be changed with MicroScale
decals. I haven't tried to remove them yet so don't know how easily they
will come off. The revised shell does not have the see-through screen for
the Radiators on the roof top since it is now molded into the shell but the
see-through screens on the side for the Dynamic Brake Grids are still the
same. One positive 'attaboy' is the fact that Stewart molded the Handrails
in Red so we don't have to mess with trying to paint the slippery Black
plastic ones that used to be standard. You still have to paint the Black on
the handrails by the steps but that should be easy. One negative 'no
attaboy' is the fact that the Headlight (Yellow LED) is in the Cab and
lights up the whole Cab ala-Athearn. A Low-nose Headlight has to be mounted
on the Nose anyway (Sunrise Enterprises #H-105) so I'll just disconnect the
LED. I will add a Custom Finishes Shrouded Horn (#B-197) for the Air Horn
and mount it behind the Cab and fill in the existing hole on the Cab Roof.
That is my observation so far- anyone else have anything to add? Except for
the fact that I wish Stewart hadn't numbered the locomotive so you could
make it what ever number you wanted!!! Maybe they plan on doing different
numbers in future runs. This is one locomotive that would make it easy to
own the whole fleet (6)!
John Olson
Billings, Mt.
|