timberley
Member
Posts: 189
Primary Railroads: VIA Rail Canada, AMT (Montreal)
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Post by timberley on May 8, 2017 7:16:55 GMT -5
The new Rapido VIA rebuilt F40PH-2D is arriving imminently! Models are shipping this week. I should have mine soon (can't wait!!), and will post a review when I'm able. For now, here's a pic from the latest Rapido News. These things look AMAZING.  |
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timberley
Member
Posts: 189
Primary Railroads: VIA Rail Canada, AMT (Montreal)
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Post by timberley on Jun 12, 2017 12:33:08 GMT -5
I received my trio of rebuilds a couple weeks ago, and I've got to say I am just blown away by them! I've said before that it seems like Rapido just keeps doing a better and better job with every model they put out, and this is no exception. I'd even say there are improvements here over the original F40PH-2D run - everything just seems a little crisper. I was part of the group involved in reviewing and providing input into the design of this model, so I know first hand just how much effort went into making it as good as it could possibly be - it definitely shows! Detail-wise, the model is just about perfect, though there are a few little discrepancies. For one, Rapido decided to compromise and re-use the original underframe from the F40PH-2D model. It's still pretty darn close, but there are a few things that need to be changed (move speed recorder, add electronic fuel gauge, other minor tweaks). I plan to make those changes in time. The rear headlight recess is a bit too shallow and the grills on the lower body on the engineer's side by the HEP compartment need a bit of work to look better, but those are fairly minor points. Some small tweaks I made so far to improve the models: 1) Adjusted the windshield wipers to a prototypical position 2) Carefully painted the rim of the xenon/HID light red 3) Adjusted the angle of the uncoupling levers (downward angled to underneath the coupler) 4) Painted the snow-cones on the emergency horns with Tamiya smoke to better simulate the mesh over the front 5) Painted the lower part of the radiator grill bars with Rapido ProtoPaint VIA Teal. Basically up to the same point the teal colour comes up the side of the body otherwise. The mesh itself should stay black, just the bars should be teal. Here's a photo of my 3 units, showing some of those little changes:  Now I still have a few more things to do (e.g. underbody additions) and then some light weathering to complete the look. Overall, they look incredible, and the detail is very well done. The HEP generator in particular is spectacular, with so much fine detail inside under and behind the grills. As for sound and operation, they get a 10/10 there as well. ESU has once again done an incredible job with the sound recordings, which are very clearly from a rebuilt VIA unit and not just some other F40. Those rebuilds have a very particular sound, and as someone who has spent a lot of time around, behind, and even inside them, I can say they've nailed it. The HEP generator sounds great too. There's full lighting functionality, with the xenon light independently controlled but it also shuts off with the headlight dimmer, as per the prototype. Numberboards can now be turned on and off as well. Even the beacon on the cab works, despite being a very rare function (on the prototype it only comes on to indicate that the engine didn't shut down properly so the hotstart isn't functioning properly). The addition of full throttle features is great too. Unlike the original F40PH-2D, the rebuilds have the separate HEP generator so the prime mover revs up and down like a standard locomotive. So having full throttle with drive hold is quite useful, not so much for revving up when starting a train (unless you're running straight to 8), but more for coasting when the train is already up at speed. I had a chance to play around with this on our club layout two weeks back, and it sounded just awesome!  |
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timberley
Member
Posts: 189
Primary Railroads: VIA Rail Canada, AMT (Montreal)
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Post by timberley on Jun 12, 2017 12:36:13 GMT -5
Just for fun, here's a photo I took with one of my units that shows off how awesome the lighting is. This was shot on a temporarily constructed snow diorama. The image is in black and white - in colour, you can see the lights are actually a much warmer hue, and very convincing looking. As with the original run, there are step lights there as well, the light of which can be seen just to the side below the cab.  |
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Post by slowfreight on Jun 12, 2017 21:13:12 GMT -5
There's something really nice about opening a box and pulling out a 98% accurate version of that thing you thought you'd have to kitbash 3 times over...
Glad you're happy with them. I haven't played much with my few Rapido models, but their work is great.
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Post by backshophoss on Jun 13, 2017 1:18:39 GMT -5
There's word that 2 Via F-40's will be spending an extended "vacation" at Churchill Manitoba due to 19 washouts on that route, along with a set of passenger cars.  May not be till next spring till that set can leave,if the CBC news reports are correct. Timberley,How did you do that Snow Scene?? |
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timberley
Member
Posts: 189
Primary Railroads: VIA Rail Canada, AMT (Montreal)
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Post by timberley on Jun 13, 2017 7:20:10 GMT -5
There's something really nice about opening a box and pulling out a 98% accurate version of that thing you thought you'd have to kitbash 3 times over... That's for sure! Rapido has done amazing things for us VIA modellers. It's great to have these models that were through-and-through designed from the ground up as proper, VIA models, and not just a different prototype with a few extra bits added to try to make it close enough. It's saved me a lot of time and effort, which I can now spend on other models I know are much less likely to ever be produced! |
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timberley
Member
Posts: 189
Primary Railroads: VIA Rail Canada, AMT (Montreal)
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Post by timberley on Jun 13, 2017 7:37:01 GMT -5
There's word that 2 Via F-40's will be spending an extended "vacation" at Churchill Manitoba due to 19 washouts on that route, along with a set of passenger cars. May not be till next spring till that set can leave,if the CBC news reports are correct. Unfortunately that is true - 2 F40s, a baggage car, 2 coaches, a diner, and a Chateau sleeper are stuck in Churchill. One of those locos happens to be 6402, which is one of the five F40s decorated in the Canada 150 wrap. VIA has blocked reservations between Gillam and Churchill until December 1st, and from the sound of things it could take longer than that to open things up. The train is still running from Winnipeg to Gillam. Not a good situation for anyone involved, and not good for VIA to have equipment stuck up there when they're already stretched pretty thing, especially over what promises to be a very busy summer! Timberley,How did you do that Snow Scene?? I wish I had taken photos of the little diorama to show off (it was just a temporary setup for the photo shoot), but I neglected to do so before taking it apart. So here's a description: The scene is barely larger than what is seen in the photo. I laid down a large sheet of paper, then cut a strip or cardboard the shape and profile of the roadbed, and laid a piece of flex track on it. Before adding the snow I actually put down a ballast profile, though I don't know how much that helped. The snow itself was baking soda, which I sprinkled across the scene to try to let it fall very naturally. One I had built it up and covered the tracks, I took a piece of card the width of the locomotive and ran it down the tracks like a snow plow, pushing the "snow" off to the sides to give a plowed look. I then took a spare freight car truck and ran it back and forth down the track to clear the flangeway. After doing all this, I sprinkled some woodland scenics snow across the scene to add a little extra sparkle. The two trees you see to the side are the only scenic elements. I placed them off to the side with a black backdrop. When darkly lit, it's quite difficult to tell there isn't anything beyond that. I carefully cleaned the bit of track where the locomotive would sit, and gently placed it there without moving it (so as to avoid ingesting "snow"). I hooked up DCC power to the track so I could light it up, and then set up to do the photos. What you see there is a 3.2 second exposure. I did a really quick low angle pan across the scene foreground with an LED flashlight during the exposure to add a little more light and bring out the snow a bit more. In that photo, I have no idea how I got the sort of blurred areas to the sides of the locomotive nose. A complete accident, but it does really help sell the look of a train running through snow on a frigid night! As I said, the whole thing was temporary, so it all got cleaned up at the end and I reclaimed what I could from the scenic materials. Here's a second shot from that photoshoot, at a slightly different angle:  |
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Post by backshophoss on Jun 13, 2017 17:02:26 GMT -5
You pulled off that snow scene very well,makes me think it's somewhere on the Ocean's route in eastern Quebec.
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timberley
Member
Posts: 189
Primary Railroads: VIA Rail Canada, AMT (Montreal)
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Post by timberley on Jun 14, 2017 9:55:34 GMT -5
You pulled off that snow scene very well,makes me think it's somewhere on the Ocean's route in eastern Quebec. Thanks! That's exactly the sort of look I was going for. |
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Post by backshophoss on Oct 1, 2017 21:10:19 GMT -5
The Rapido newsletter hit the inbox today! TWO LIMITED EDITION F40ph-2D's in the Canada 150 scheme arrive in 2 weeks!
MSRP is cdn$ 399.95 and includes a display case (wood/plastic) Done for VIA Rail, units 6454 and 6402 are road numbers.
ONLY 150 models of each number were made! Rapido is selling DIRECT to the public on behalf of VIA RAIL,link in the newsletter.
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