I got my Ferromex unit from Chuck the other day, finally got around to really taking a look at it last night. And this would perhaps be a bit of an overstatement, but I've got to say that I really think that this unit may be about the single most revolutionary (perhaps evolutionary might be better) locomotive model we've seen in N-Scale in a very long time.
The separate grabs and the dimples -- absolute genius. After seeing this unit no one should every put molded grabs onto a locomotive ever again. The lack of grossly-oversized molded grabs makes all the other details appear so much finer and you truly don't even notice that they're not there. Mal-proportioned grabs are so much more obvious than missing ones. I'm not saying that every manufacturer should put the dimples (though I don't see why not) and don't expect seperately painted and bent grabs included (but it's welcome); but, without a doubt, there's no excuse for putting those grabs there any longer, it makes the unit simply look a million times better, whether you want to apply the grabs or not. I think FVM has proved that quite well.
The fact that you can install a decoder without even removing the locomotive shell. All you've got to do is pop off the top of the flared radiator (super easy) and you have access to the decoder plug (albeit a bit tight with the rear LED in the way) Have we ever seen that in any locomotive in N-scale? Certainly not that I've seen. Is that even prevalent in HO scale for that matter? Now that is "plug-n-play". It was literally easier and quicker to install a decoder in this unit than it is to change the AA batteries in a remote control.
The painting and printing is absolutely perfect. Not "really good with caveats." Opacity is spot on. The printing carries over the panels perfectly. The warning labels everywhere are amazing and really, along with the lack of oversized grabs, really make this unit transcend a lot of the N-scale barriers in regards to suspension of disbelief. This is the first N-scale locomotive that I have ever wanted to run straight out of the box and felt good that I would not regret it one second. The fact that there's all these separate details is just gravy.
I often get discouraged with what is, in my opinion, a much greater difficulty of making N-scale models appear as realistic as larger scale ones (no offense to the work of anyone here). Or even the fact that something as simple as working ditchlights can be a total PIA to do in N-scale or even decoder installations that are never truly plug-n-play and can require a lot of time just simply getting a unit apart (and if the unit is detailed/weathered it absolutely sucks). I get so turned off when I think about how much time I have to put into a single locomotive or car to make it look as good as I want (and have a fair % chance of screwing it up), I know I'll never be able to achieve the final results I want to achieve on a larger layout-sized scale and I don't do anything for months and months at least. But when you are presented with a starting point like this FVM loco though, it's a whole new ball-game. This really is very refreshing.
Maybe it's just me. And, it's quite likely that, like I said, I'm overstating it. But if more companies adopt FVM's strategy (and since they're virtually all using the same supplier, I don't see why not) I feel better about modeling in this scale than I have in a long time.
The only thing I'm not liking right now is that they did an EVO instead of an ACe. I would buy a fleet of the things if they were EMDs, but instead we got Kato's version which was extremely underwhelming before, particularly in regards to the things that FVM did so superbly (Kato's ACe just looks wrong due to oversized details and the paint/printing is only okay). All I can do is hold out hope that FVM does well enough against Kato's EVOs that they decide to take them on with an ACe too. But FVM's desire to stay rather close to the prototype might scare them off as the ACes have more than a fair bit of variation.
