Fairbanks Morse, Balswin and a few other rarer early diesels

[lateagain]

Hi Gaetan, Hi Rick,

Firstly a big thanks for the alternate texture switch on the excellent Milwaukee Set. That's a BIG plus and for my money the "No Shine" models look much better in MSTS and in fact (IMHO) gain a better 3D effect in certain lighting environments.

Looking around for more transition era power for some variety I realised that there is a lot missing in the current quality of modelling and skins that MSTS is hosting now.

Specifically Fairbanks Morse and Baldwin loco's. There are a few in the libraries but not with the best of skins?

Obviously with photo skins these earlier models are not easy as colour shots of these locomotives in the 50's and 60's are rare and the passage of time has not been kind to transparencies and the negative stock of that era was not very good.

None the less I can't think of anyone else making transition era models to your standard? ...so how about some Erie Builts, C Liners etc.

BTW I'm no good at modelling but I have a degree of skill at colour correction so if anyone has ANY colour shots of these makes I'd be more than happy to spend time on restoring or correcting colours.

As these were not widely used a pack such as you released for GP's and SD's would be a "must have" add-on for roads that you may already have covered?

Keep up the good work.

[lateagain]

Errrr Obviously that was meant to read BALDWIN!!! but for some reason I cannot edit my own post?

[rfranzosa]

Hi Geoff,

The issue with Baldwin's and FM's is not skins. There are enough sources out there for creating skins, and Gaetan and I can certainly create the models.

The issues are these:

1) Accurate, clean sounds that can be used to create SMS files

2) Clean cab interior shots to create a cabview.

Example. I have probably 3-4 DOZEN shots of EMD Switcher cab interiors. but not ONE that shows the engineer's view from the engineers eye level. I have spent a dozen hours this week trying to create an SW1 cabview that meets our standards. I am no closer to a result than I was at the beginning of the week.

Now, keeping in mind that the EMD SW1 is a fairly common locomotive, what are the chances I will find cab shots for Fairbanks Morse and Baldwin diesels?

Sorry if I sound defeated, but it has been a pretty tough challenge to put this together.

Rick