06-21-2014, 02:45 PM
I've been scanning a lot of French photos from four different trips lately, so I'm in sort of a French mood, but let me make one or two points to show what I'm after.
Here's a shot that shows something of what I enjoy about European prototype:
There is a great deal of Reiz here, "atmosphere" that involves on one hand weathering and other artistic approaches, as well as catenary, which is something we don't have a lot of in the US. Wheel standards are very secondary in trying to bring these things onto a layout, in my opinion. Commercial European models are too clean and shiny, and weathering does a lot to bring them in line. But also, while you show a bare metal individual wheelset in your post above, that's actually pretty well concealed even on commercial models, including brake shoe and journal detail, blackening, etc. If you're aiming at getting to an overall scene, as in the photo here, a lot can be done to draw attention away from the wheels.
Naturally, I'm not using C-Track!
Here's a shot that shows something of what I enjoy about European prototype:
There is a great deal of Reiz here, "atmosphere" that involves on one hand weathering and other artistic approaches, as well as catenary, which is something we don't have a lot of in the US. Wheel standards are very secondary in trying to bring these things onto a layout, in my opinion. Commercial European models are too clean and shiny, and weathering does a lot to bring them in line. But also, while you show a bare metal individual wheelset in your post above, that's actually pretty well concealed even on commercial models, including brake shoe and journal detail, blackening, etc. If you're aiming at getting to an overall scene, as in the photo here, a lot can be done to draw attention away from the wheels.
Naturally, I'm not using C-Track!