I second John's comments. The level of detail -- both accuracy and
precision -- is remarkable. The state of the art certainly has advanced in
the years since I bought my last "new" brass steam locomotive. The
"delicacy" to which John refers is palpable and has an astonishing effect
on perception. It made me feel as though I was looking not at beautiful
model but at an exact miniature of the prototype.
And it's the effect that produced on my understanding of the prototype
which really turned my head around. I never saw one of these beasts "in the
flesh," only in photos. And photos (we're talking Otto Perry here) just
don't capture the engine's overall sense of balance and proportion. Nor, I
must say, do photos of the CIL pilot or even production models.
I had wanted one of these engines because of my modeling interests (era &
geography), NOT because I thought it was an especially attractive piece of
machinery (unlike the USRA 2-10-2s, which I always thought of as handsome
engines). This perception -- or should I say mis-perception -- was based on
collecting and poring over scores of M-2 & M-2A photos these past few
years. And yet, until I saw this model, I honestly had not grasped that it
was such a beautiful prototype. That's about as powerful a testament to the
quality of the model as I can imagine.
It reminded me of an admonition my old choir director gave us once before a
concert. He said something to the effect of, "If you overhear people
talking later about what a great choir you were, you haven't really done
your job; if you hear them say nothing about you afterwards but they're
talking only about what an amazing piece of music that was, then you've
gotten through to them." And that's what I feel Challenger achieved with
this model: they made me see and appreciate the prototype with new eyes.
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70
http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/8ZCslB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
CBQ-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|