Perhaps I’ve gotten too cynical with age. I do recognize that a publication like Model Railroader must tread carefully in reviewing products made by advertisers–an issue that comes up in these forums from time to time. But I can’t help but feel a little uneasy about Tony Koester’s “Weathering a Steam Locomotive in 7 Minutes” in the current issue. For all of the qualifying statements he makes (“I’m not claiming…” “To be sure, I’ve seen better…”), Mr. Koester, whose work I benefit from, seems to have produced a four-page advertisement for PanPastels. This strikes me as more than just a pragmatic caution toward manufacturers whose efforts help support the magazine.
PanPastels appears to be a distinctive, if not unique, product; I’ll be buying some this very day, I expect. Nevertheless, the “7-minute” hook, the fine photographs and graphics, and the accompanying piece on classic tips did not obscure, for me, this rather naked endorsement. The irony is that Tony is one of a very few who has a forum for praising a product by name; I would have thought nothing of this had it appeared in “Trains of Thought.” A product review by Tony or Cody or another staff member would also have gotten the message across without what is to me a blurring of the line between advertising and editorial content.
I agree. A very good article but it was like a coming out party for PanPastels, yet I have not seen any advertising in any of the magazines that I receive about this products use in model railroading. At first reading I was looking for the word ,“ADVERTISEMENT” usually found on the page border. WOW! What a spread for this product and free too. I will order some right away and thanks for the idea. I also believe it would have been better in “Trains of Thought.” Doug
Agreed, I quickly scanned the 4 page article and found 11 instances of PanPastels mentioned. Truthfully I didn’t really notice initially, as I have been using Bragdon Powders for a couple of years, I read the article subconsciously with “Bragdon” replacing “PanPastels”. It does seem to appear to be a flat out endorsement for brand of powders instead of the medium, since in reality, any good quality powder will achieve the same result.
What about pretty much EVERY other how-to article that specifies exactly whuich products were used? Like all the Step by Step articles saying which scenery materials were used. In many of these cases, there aren’t a whole lot of alternative options. I see no problem with mentioning a specific manufacturer, it’s one thing for an experienced modeler who might already know which brand they prefer, but to just generically say “pastels”, many might not know what product to get - and the quality art products will almost certainly produce better results than the cheap kind-oriented versions you might find in a big box store. Mentioing of specific product brands goes back the entire history of MR, based on what I’ve seen in reading all of the 75 year collection. It is a fine line between saying “I used Brand X” and “You should go buy Brand X” and I don’t think this article crossed it.
LION did not read it that way, because him never figured out that PanPastels was a brand name instead of a generic name similar to chalk pastels or stick pastels or even pastel powder which one might put in a pan.
Him lost LION when he put a steam engine on his work bench. That is far too much work. Besides, trains of LION weather quite nicely just gathering dust on the layout.
I have to agree with Randy. If you walk into Michaels or A.C.Moore and just ask for pastels, who knows what you will get? Stick chalk, powders, paint? Ask for Pan Pastels and you stand a better chance of getting the right product.
Likewise if you go into your local hobby shop and ask for a decoder you may get any decoder they carry. Walk into your LHS and ask for a Tsunami TSU-AT-1000 and you will get a sound decoder for an Atlas engine you may be working on.
As someone who has written articles for RMC as well as MR, there is a reason that product names are mentioned and part numbers are supplied. It is so John Q Public can duplicate our efforts if they desire, provided they have the ability to do so. Another brand of weathering powders or chalks may not give the same effect that Mr. Koester achieved in his article, either better or worse. AFAIK, that’s the logic behind the brand name usage. [;)]
I have never tried these but I understood that they were more than just a powder with better adhesive properties. Product placement is used regularly in movies and television and if that’s the case here, I see nothing wrong with it.
Conversely contrary to the advertising aspect of the Panpastel article, the article about using electrical toggle switches for turnout control would be a much less expensive way of achieving remote control without using their advertisers’ products.
Back in April when Tony spoke at the NMRA Michiana Division E&T Conference, I showed him PanPastels that we’d received from the company. Tony already knew about them and was as excited as I was to demonstrate to others just how quick and easy it is to weather just about anything with these products.
I weathered a 2 Bay Hopper in less than 3 minutes while we were chatting, and it turned out pretty well.
I don’t see Tony as inappropriately promoting anything, and I’ve only met him twice.
LION saw that article. Him said, and I paraphrase, “ACK! I ain’t doing that: It is too much work for such little return. All those fussy rods got to work perfectly. My TIME is worth more than a Tortoise! Install a tortoise with a glob of glue, walk away, it’s done!”
The next expedition up Everest will use Waukesha, WI as its base camp as the Himalayas have now been “kitbashed” out mole hills in Wisconsin. I think I also hear the faint whop-whop-whop of the black helicopters approaching.
Did anyone pay any attention to the fact that Tony was introduced to PanPastels at an RPM meet a couple of years ago and the whole point of the exercise that’s causing all the wailing and gnashing of teeth was to demonstrate what could be done with these particular products. Not generic pastels,. but these pastels which were manufactured with certain characteristics.
I could show you a picture of me mowing my lawn and explain the technique I use, but it would include an image (oh the horrible commercialism of it all) of a John Deere L-110 ride around mower. I could demonstrate how to change the oil and filter or pull the deck and replace the blades but the images of green and yellow would fry your brain with the crass product placement, especially since I would be wearing my John Deere hat while doing so (I’m pure evil).
It’s ironic. Every 3rd or 4th post in this place seems to go something along the lines of "What’s the best -------- "? which is an explicit request for a recommended brand (or brands) and yet when somebody does an article whose whole point is to demonstrate what can be done with a specific product with specific characteristics, everybody starts hyperventilating and the demand for paper bags rapidly overtakes the supply.
My real objection to the article isn’t PanPastels, it’s that Tony can’t seem to get beyond his slavish devotion to the Nickel Plate Road and those accursed Berkshires. Talk about pandering to a small special interest group. I mean, c’mon Tony. Weather a painted, but undecorated mystery locomotive representing no known prototype and scratch built out of a material nobody can identify by someone whose name has long been forg
However, were I you, I wouldn’t hold my breath. Blue just doesn’t seem to be an appropriate skin color for a human being, especially since the only way to achieve that particular color is to deprive your body of oxygen.
I suppose it would be possible for a humanoid species to have a blue skin while still being healthy, but for Homo Sapiens, only oxygen deprivation will do it. Every medical practitioner I’ve ever run across recommends against the practice, however.
In fact I like it better when an article tells me exactly which product was used.
The worst is some article that contains a neat paint, structure, car, scenery, etc. that I’d like to get and there is no mention of the product actually used. Then I have to root around, search the Internet, etc. just to find out what it is.
One of the things I like about MR is that they are always exploring new products.
I think it’s a great article and I have no intention of weathering my engines.
Ever heard a rebuilt “Merchant Navy” working? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg1ah0l_9p4 If it sounds as if the exhaust is too fast for the actual speed, it’s a 3 cylinder engine.
Good grief, some crazy stuff going on around here…
One, since Tony models the NKP, and they had a lot of Berkshires, that’s the kind of loco Tony has available to weather. Seems like a natural choice, and since steam loco weathering is generic enough for the same technique to be used on other models, why should we care if the loco in the article is an NKP Berkshire or something else?
Second, I belong to an e-mail group where Tony participates, and many of the members besides Tony have just been going ape over Pan Pastels for a long time. They have specific characteristics that make them more useful for weathering applications where other brands won’t work at all the same way. Again, it made sense to use this brand for the article as it works very differently from other pastels. Following the discussions on the e-mails, it’s pretty clear the brand matters and the article would be of much less use if it didn’t mention this brand by name. The same holds true for everybody else involved in those discussions who are using this product.
I don’t see the article as advertising in the slightest. The author developed a weathering technique that requires the Pan Pastel brand product and tailored the writing to it. There’s no nefarious advertising purpose that I can see, just a satisfied user trying to present some information to help people.
Of course , when you receive products at no charge, for review, it makes it easier than if you have to go out and buy every new thing that comes down the pike. And also, i am sure they have a hefty budget for purchasing items required to complete each Layout, engine, rail car, building, or scenery item to compliment the articles in each issue.
If an individual had all this at his/her disposal, we all would have fantastic rail empires.
Most, like me, read these articles and try to find a cheaper alternative that we can afford.
Aah, finally some one else using my favorite weathering powder—common household dust! Nothing does a better job of dulling down the sheen on styrene plastic. Still, if color shading is wanted, then I reach for my box of Bragdon powders.
