P2 Cock O The North - Matt vs Gloss?

[The Johnster]

Matt every time on a model for me, or satin/eggshell if the thing is intended to look ex-works.  Shininess does not scale down IMHO; go outside and look at a parked car 20, 40, or 100 yards away, even on a bright sunny day.  Most viewing of our models is from a scale distance of such an order, and even most close up viewing is rarely from much less than about a scale 30 feet.  Shiny models in 1:76 scale just look wrong and toylike.

[atom3624]

Can you do this with your R3246 TTS?

 

It's powered very lightly by a HM2000 on DC only.

 

 

Wobbly cam time - actually left it for 5 minutes and it never stopped or hesitated once, travelling only halfway along the flexitrack.

 

Yes, I've 'lightly smoked' along the top of the locomotive as well - taken that false shine off it - and fitted a silver painted 3-link to the front, and a crew.

 

Al.

[GWR-fan]

Not mentioned but it seems that the gloss finish on the Gresley collection models was soft and marked very easily.   Many models were sold off at reduced prices due damage to the gloss finish. 

[Hilux5972]

On 17/01/2020 at 19:32, GWR-fan said:

Not mentioned but it seems that the gloss finish on the Gresley collection models was soft and marked very easily.   Many models were sold off at reduced prices due damage to the gloss finish. 

Yep it was the same with the locomotion 60103 and support coach. I sent 2 back before I received one I was happy with. 

[atom3624]

From what I've seen of 'gloss' finishes, despite being transparent or nearly, they seem to be relatively quite thick.

 

This seems to be the problem, losing a little of the fine detail, thus 'not looking right'.

 

It's unfortunate that the finish isn't reliable as well.

 

For a preserved engine, which is a static display, it makes sense that the finish is impeccably shiny.

Conversely, if it's a preserved but operational engine, super shiny and brilliant throughout is not realistic as once fired up, there'll be all manner of grease and soot in various places.

 

I would definitely like manufacturers to resolve the 'realism problem' surrounding the smokeboxes - they should definitely be matt, even mid-/dark- grey and matt, not black cf the rest in satin, once a bit of heat gets in the system. OK this isn't applicable with the P2, but is with all non-streamlined locomotives.

 

Al.

Edited January 18, 2020 by atom3624

[Hal Nail]

2 hours ago, atom3624 said:

From what I've seen of 'gloss' finishes, despite being transparent or nearly, they seem to be relatively quite thick.

 

This seems to be the problem, losing a little of the fine detail, thus 'not looking right'.

 

It's unfortunate that the finish isn't reliable as well.

 

For a preserved engine, which is a static display, it makes sense that the finish is impeccably shiny.

Conversely, if it's a preserved but operational engine, super shiny and brilliant throughout is not realistic as once fired up, there'll be all manner of grease and soot in various places.

Precisely why flattening matt to a smooth finish with wet and dry and then light buffing gives a more realistic polished metal sheen without the thick shiny look. 

 

Certainly quite a common approach  in 7mm modelling anyway.

[DonnyRailMan]

Check-out Rob Hayes on here he glossed a few of his Gresley A4s .