250BOB Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Hi Guys, I have been buying a few packs of Metcalfe Models Blue Engineers Brick code M0053, accumulating over the past year or so, ready for when I am starting to do scenery...which is now. The first two packs of this brick I have opened are like chalk and cheese.??? The redder blue brick is on thinner card......the bluer blue brick is on thicker card, and yet they are coded M0053 on both. Also, I have tried to weather the redder version using some model mates dyes, and the ink comes off the card, which is not so with the bluer thicker card version. This is annoying, as I am half way through a long wall, and the brick now changes colour.....dramatically....!!! Any thoughts as to why the change....and when.??? Bob PS....I have worked in colour manufacture all my life.....and if I passed this off as ok, my customer would be sending it back as off standard. PPS....just checked another box........am I getting confused......there are 4 sheets of each type in this box.???????? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danemouth Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 Bob, Same happened to me about 12 months ago. Have a look at: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/23828-danemouth-oo/?p=718527 Regards, Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
14Steve14 Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Probably down to the ink used in the printing process. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250BOB Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 Probably down to the ink used in the printing process. I know....I've made inks for printing all my working life.......what I cant understand is how the change has been made without a change of product/code number, because its clearly a different product, both in colour and card thickness.?? Bob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LULFAN Posted May 28, 2013 Share Posted May 28, 2013 Sorry to read about your Metcalfe problem. I expect you're livid, I certainly would be Metcalfe have certainly shown no thought as to the trouble it causes changing the spec of a product (and not telling anyone) Have you considered using the ScaleScenes brick paper sheets ? They sell 3 blue bricks, plus one that bluish on my pc http://scalescenes.com/products/TX25-Blue-Brick http://scalescenes.com/products/TX27-Dark-Blue-Brick http://scalescenes.com/products/TX26-Aged-Blue-Brick http://scalescenes.com/products/TX04-Grey-Brick (Looks bluish on my pc screen Before you buy you can do a test print to see how the colours will look on your printer here http://www.scalescenes.com/test/scalescenes_test_print.pdf They cost GBP 1.99 each, but you can print as many as you need for the one price You will to buy card to stick the paper on to and printer ink, but you might be able to get some of your money back, if not all, selling the Metcalfe sheets on eBay By the way, I don't work for ScaleScenes, just trying to help Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campaman Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 For information on the above, I have TX04 Grey Brick and it does print as Grey not blue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250BOB Posted May 29, 2013 Author Share Posted May 29, 2013 Thanks Guys......I did download some scalescenes blue brick a while back...wasnt that impressed I'm afraid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Iceman Posted September 15, 2013 Share Posted September 15, 2013 What was wrong with the scalescenes. Metcalfe quality just doesn't cut it any more. Its been dodgy for a good few years and most people agree about the sheen and card used making the product perform below par. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250BOB Posted September 17, 2013 Author Share Posted September 17, 2013 What was wrong with the scalescenes. Metcalfe quality just doesn't cut it any more. Its been dodgy for a good few years and most people agree about the sheen and card used making the product perform below par. I didnt like the colour that it printed out....for a blue brick it was really just a dirty anemic grey. Nothing wrong with my printer either. I used the Metcalfe in the end......I managed to find enough sheets of the same colour to complete the job. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted September 17, 2013 Share Posted September 17, 2013 Hi Bob, Looks OK now. I spoke to Metcalfe a few years ago, asking about their 7mm card kits. They seemed very helpful back then. I think in the situation you had - different shades of printing - I would have phoned them and asked them to colour match the sheets, and refund you for the odd ones. wrt scalescenes, you can readily alter the hue, etc, even in free image viewing software such as Irfan view - you don't need photoshop/gimp or anything fancy. There may be nothing wrong with your printer, but colour rendition of images depends on many things - if the icc profile is embedded it in the image, printing intent, type of paper, etc. Best wishes, Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Campaman Posted September 18, 2013 Share Posted September 18, 2013 Also having your printer just automatically print won't always give you the best results. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Izzy Posted September 26, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 26, 2013 What was wrong with the scalescenes. Metcalfe quality just doesn't cut it any more. Its been dodgy for a good few years and most people agree about the sheen and card used making the product perform below par. I don't know about the 4mm stuff, but having bought some Metcalfe N brick sheets, and then tried Scalescenes, I have to say that the Metcalfe is far preferable to me. The brick pattern is perhaps rather overscale compared to the Scalescenes, and nearer 3mm size than the 2mm of the Scalescenes, but there is a far better overall production of colour rendition and mortar definition with no obvious repeating pattern as there is with the Scalescenes, all colours of which seem to use the same basic brick pattern/colour variation and looking like modern day reclaimed brickwork. This is the basic sheets, not individual buildings/kits. Hi Guys, I have been buying a few packs of Metcalfe Models Blue Engineers Brick code M0053, accumulating over the past year or so, ready for when I am starting to do scenery...which is now. The first two packs of this brick I have opened are like chalk and cheese.??? The redder blue brick is on thinner card......the bluer blue brick is on thicker card, and yet they are coded M0053 on both. Also, I have tried to weather the redder version using some model mates dyes, and the ink comes off the card, which is not so with the bluer thicker card version. This is annoying, as I am half way through a long wall, and the brick now changes colour.....dramatically....!!! Any thoughts as to why the change....and when.??? Bob PS....I have worked in colour manufacture all my life.....and if I passed this off as ok, my customer would be sending it back as off standard. PPS....just checked another box........am I getting confused......there are 4 sheets of each type in this box.???????? I also found a similar issue with the Metcalfe N Red brick I bought. Generally each pack now seems to contain two sizes of sheet thickness, and colour rendition does seem to vary between packs bought at different times. I actually didn't mind this myself, as it gives some variation and less uniformity to buildings and thought that perhaps it was deliberate. Now I just wonder if it's normal variation between production print runs where colour matching hasn't been undertaken. Must be very annoying when you do want overall uniformity. Izzy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250BOB Posted October 1, 2013 Author Share Posted October 1, 2013 I have worked all my life for a colour manufacturer......if we passed off product like these, we wouldnt have been in business very long. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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