Weathered Aristo Mallet 2-8-8-2 Improvement??
- Thread starter main131
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Personally I love it. In my opinion locos never look as clean and shiney as they tend to when you take a brand new one out of it's box. When I took this photo the loco had only been in service for a matter of weeks and yet there are still plenty of signs of oil and water leaks and spillages.main131 said:
Even when a loco comes straight out of the workshop, the motion is covered in grease and oil. The buffer beam is also not plain gloss red, there is all sorts of staining around the rivets.
The question of losing it's value is a difficult one. A dedicated collector will not usually want anything that has been modified in any way. But someone who wants their rolling stock to look realistic would be quite happy to buy a weathered model as long as the weathering has been well done.
I wonder how long it will be before a manufacturer brings out a ready weathered G scale loco in the same way as is done in OO and other scales?
main131 said:
I don't really care about resale value. Its about enjoying seeing them running.
I like fairly subtle weathering as most items I see on the railways aren't filthy just a little grimy here and there.
The Mallet looks great
A weathered loco is a joy to behold - although I think at times some people go "over the top". Also applies to stock 
Your Aristo Rio Grande mallet looks very nice weathered Trevor 
I would like to do my Aristo K-59 Mikado as the metal drive wheels and motion gear look to polished & clean .
I would like to do my Aristo K-59 Mikado as the metal drive wheels and motion gear look to polished & clean .
Don Gilham said:A weathered loco is a joy to behold - although I think at times some people go "over the top". Also applies to stock
Whoops, does you mean me Don...........................
I am kit bashing my mallet 2-8-8-2 at the moment. It is a Rio Grande one and I am making it look more like the real prototype for a class L95 in the late 1940's to early 1950's. Moving the air pumps, extra piping, moving the running lights etc etc. Then........a weathering jobbie. It has taken a leap of faith to move on from weathering rolling stock to expensive locos..
I'm curious, do the LGB Mallets run well? Any issues with them?
I'm looking at doing one of those instead of a Big Boy, which are way too expensive for me.
I love this hobby.
I'm looking at doing one of those instead of a Big Boy, which are way too expensive for me.
I love this hobby.
The Mallets (my avatar) run very well. With twelve pick ups and two motors, running is very reliable, especially over dodgy areas like plastic frogs. Perhaps the only drawback is running in to the evening dew on less than clean track when a bit of stuttering can occur. I am confident this is because there are no skates on this one. This is a minor issue.
Can i run the LGB Mallet on batteries instead of Track power?
Just a novice. An old novice. An old novice obsessed with this new hobby.
Just a novice. An old novice. An old novice obsessed with this new hobby.
Quick answer, yes. Plenty of room inside for the batteries and whatever kind of control gear you wish to use.
This thread might possibly be of some interest.....
https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/multi-power-loco-mark-ii-this-time-its-steam.309393/
It's a Meyer rather than a Mallet, but all the principles still apply.... do note that I had a very specific purpose in mind here, which was to build a loco that would run on track or battery, and still have full control over all DCC functions even when running on battery power. If you want a simple RC battery conversion of an analogue loco, then there will be simpler ways to do it!
Jon.