Athearn Primed for Grime

[basementcalling]

Athearn has touted this style of finish on a number of new releases in the last year, but I have yet to see one in person. Has anyone bought any of their releases finished this way and do you have photos of what the factory painting looked like before you finished the weathering process? 

Curious to see what they look like, and with no local hobby shop, I'm limited. Most online shots of the cars are renderings or drawings and not actual photos of the cars themselves, which seems a bit strange to me that Athearn didn't supply finished photos to help publicize the idea.

[James Costello]

I posted this in a thread a little while ago, so here's a look at one in the box:

[sundowner]

I got the 3 ABOX cars from the last release and they look great. They are basically fade like above and they are base on a real car per online pictures for the specific number minus the graffiti. Even the trucks are faded it. I did change the trucks on mine to BLMA but you barely notice it unless you look.

[ednadolski]

Are those (still?) available?   Looks like one would be a lot of fun to take a brush to 

Ed

[Rivet Miscounter]

I hope this is the future.   Basic fading, trucks done to a basic level...boom.    No crazy over the top graffiti, no overdone dusting of the undercarriage, no overzealous roof stuff.

Hover between this and MTL's rare bout of subtlety and you've hit the sweet spot, IMHO.

[ednadolski]

I hope this is the future.   Basic fading, trucks done to a basic level...boom.    No crazy over the top graffiti, no overdone dusting of the undercarriage, no overzealous roof stuff.

I would just install wire stirrups      (and body-mount couplers)

[Ike the BN Freak]

I would just install wire stirrups      (and body-mount couplers)

Athearn retooled the floor of the ex-MDC boxcars to include body mounted couplers

[Rivet Miscounter]

I would just install wire stirrups      (and body-mount couplers)

Yes, no doubt.   To clarify, (and yes, I see the emoji's...  ) I wasn't necessarily referring to this particular model, just to the finish of the model when released.   And, I wasn't meaning that you would buy it and do nothing else either.   Just meant that it would be a great starting point for just about any model released, IMHO.

Most paint fades within 6 mos to 1 year of the car being painted. So for a car 20 years into its years of service, (mid-life for most cars) you're talking about a shiny new paint job representing at BEST 5% of the time that car actually looked "new".   I'm not saying *never* release a new paint version, but why not shoot for the 95% part first, or at least....sooner than later?