BEWARE!!! Newly Delivered MTH 20-21058-1 BNSF Paint Scheme Not As Advertised Or Illustrated By MTH.

Simply to play devil's advocate.  Would they be easy to paint black?  I did that with a C30-7 a number of years ago and it was really easy. 

I understand that it is frustrating to receive something this is not as advertised.  However, I've come to the conclusion of why ruin it for someone who doesn't know any better or for that matters cares? 

Just my opinion anymore in a post-modeler age of model railroading.

I made my decision to order and paid $500 (you expect to get what is illustrated and advertised) and waited for this item.  It would “not” be easy to paint because of the minute detail, besides I do not have the time, equipment or money to do so (that is why I ordered it that way).   I am awaiting a response from MTH (it is their responsibility in correcting their problem).

I can provide pictures if you are interested. 

Thanks for your concern

Don't hold your breath waiting to hear from MTH.  Every manufacturers' catalogs have the disclaimer that the final product may vary from the picture in the catalog.  If the black grills not being black is that big of issue for you, these are your options: return to point of purchase; paint them yourself; have someone else paint them for you; accept it as is.

In a hobby where a lot of items arrive not working the way they should right out of the box, if a little variation in the paint is the only issue you have, I'd say you are pretty lucky!

I know your frustration but these are very easy to do. I’ve done my BNSF AC4400s like that and agree that makes them look outstanding. 

Here’s a quick pic. I also made the pilots fixed and added full length handrails 

It is not a small variation in the paint!!!  Here is what MTH advertised/illustrated the paint scheme on their website and catalog of this  engine should be and what they actually produced.  To me this is false and misleading advertising (bait and switch) far from any small deviation that they could claim as a disclaimer.  Not only are the grills not black (left and right sides) but if you look at the forward left side of the engine (under the 7 of the road number) you will notice that the lower half of a grill is black but not the upper half of the grill.  The right side of the engine does not have this problem in this grill area as it is not painted black at all.   All of this is defective manufacturing for which MTH is responsible for.  It is time for us to standup for what we paid for and not to standup for and accept misleading advertisement.   I am still waiting to hear back from MTH as to how they are going to resolve their problem (not only for me but for all of those who ordered this particular engine and have the same defects) .

rattler21 posted:

Many moons ago John Smith(PRB) compared three rail modelers and two rail modelers.  He sold 150 two rail Santa Fe Hudson locomotives, not one complaint.  From the same production run he sold 50 three rail Santa Fe Hudson locomotives, twenty five were returned for cosmetic alterations.

Would a black felt tip marker make the job easy?

John in Lansing, ILL

This is typical for 3rd Rail product as well.

To the OP, I'd offer that if you are that unhappy with it, return it for a refund.  In my experience on the receiving end of criticism, justified and not, a phone call or email directly to the manufacturer explaining the problem at least generates a conversation and a greater willingness to try and make it right.  Posting on a public forum and telling everyone to avoid a product typically gets ignored. 

Not at all saying that is right, just stating a fact in a niche manufacturing reality.

Rattler and GG1,

Not to steal the thread or criticize anyone but I would have guessed the opposite of the example you gave.  Any guesses on what might be behind the thinking?  

northern southerner posted:

BEWARE!!! Has anybody ordered or received the recently delivered 20-21058-1, AC4400cw Diesel Engine w/Proto-Sound 3.0 (Hi-Rail Wheels) - BNSF that was advertised and illustrated both on the MTH website and Catalog and was not as described (major paint scheme discrepancy).

The access panel grills on the rear sides of the engine are not black as described or illustrated by MTH. The black access panel grills are the main reason I wanted this version of this particular engine. This is a not a minor detail omission but an extremely major omission so I do not consider it an acceptable factory manufacturing or design adjustment.

 

"Lighten up Francis"

One huge positive here, is the sound set in these locos is one of the best I’ve heard. It truly is spot on. 

hokie71 posted:

Rattler and GG1,

Not to steal the thread or criticize anyone but I would have guessed the opposite of the example you gave.  Any guesses on what might be behind the thinking?  

No judgement on my part either, but most in 2 rail tend to come from a modeling background only because it is such a small market space compared to 3 rail.  As a result they just tend to fix things and move on partially because they have not just the skills, but also the correct tools to make most minor corrections.   

I'm not at all implying that 3 railers aren't modelers as well and this forum shows that clearly, but with the relative abundance of product in the market there is simply a different expectation that everything be perfect out of the box.

Don't get me wrong, I would love that too but for these small runs, it just isn't possible to catch everything.  Should there be better quality control?  Absolutely.  The reality is the manufacturer wants it to be right too.  I can say from my consulting to 3rd Rail we agonize over minor issues in production only to find that it wasn't that big a deal and then alternatively think something isn't a big deal and catch he-double-hockey-sticks over it. 

Paint it or return it.

I agree with Jeff, sounds great and runs great on my layout. I am happy.

I think that this says it all:

"Every manufacturers' catalogs have the disclaimer that the final product may vary from the picture in the catalog. "

I see it as an easy fix.

PAUL ROMANO posted:

"Lighten up Francis"

X2. Much ado about what is essentially nothing.

It looks like about 30 minutes with some flat black paint and a small brush would solve your problem.

Where's the problem?

I certainly hope (but doubt) your correspondence to MTH is better phrased and carries a tone of politeness rather than what comes across here in your several posts. It never hurts to at least start off nice and assume that the issue will be resolved in a manner agreeable to all. This is supposed to be fun and relaxing. Give MTH a chance...

I'll not claim to know what is "correct" or more prototypical, but what was produced clearly is not what was cataloged. 

If a company specifically goes to the trouble with Photoshop (or whatever professional product they use these days) to show the grilles as black, they should be black out of the box.

When I saw the catalog pic the first thing that caught my eye was the vertical grills under the angled ones near the top.  "Oh, those are interesting."

I'd be upset too if I had ordered and they were not that way out of the box.  Silly me, I expect good quality control/production monitoring too.

As for the grille under the numbering on the other side, I don't have a specific opinion there, not knowing what makes more sense (like I said, have no idea of prototype).  It would look OK to me either way, but if the orange is broken up with solid black grilles for the vertical ones and the angled ones near the top on each side, it would sort of make sense that the one on the other side should be pure black as well.  (Had the vertical ones not been black, I would expect the split color was better for the paint scheme).

That said, I'm sure there is nothing that will happen to "fix" this.  Hopefully your dealer will issue a full refund, but I can't imagine MTH actually fixing the paint to make it match the catalog (though there are a few recent examples from other companies lately that were swapped out for bad paint matches, I think those were more shades wrong or trucks wrong color - though I'm not following those too close since I didn't buy those items.)

-Dave

For 500 dollars that sucker better look like the picture.