Hi!
I tend to agree with Randy - the Stewarts are among the best choices for F units! While I do not have experience with Walthers P2K F units, I do with E units. Getting replacement shells for factory defect product was impossible (they said), but they did repair mine to my satisfaction. Your situation - IMHO - does not look like something that could have been easily repaired - at least not cost effectively.
As an aside, I have often read how difficult it is/was to make a mold to form the bull nose of F units, do to the complexity of the various curves. Obviously, P2K chose to make the mold in two parts, but the seam is not seamless.
You know, this “parting line” reminds me of several Lionel post war cars that had similar situations. Ha, those lines have become identification marks for collectors.
One last point… be glad you got rid of it. If you had kept it, every time you looked at that loco you would see the defect, and it would grind away at you!
Mobilman44
Seems like nobody has commented on how interesting and strange it is that the prototype photo linked above seems to show the very same line … I somehow cannot conceive that P2K went that far in prototype specific details! Or was there in fact a prior owner who scribed it in and this is not actually a factory fresh unit? It would be interesting to know if that same line showed up in the inside of the shell because it does look more like a crack than a mold line.
Dave Nelson
I don;t see the same line on the prototype photo at all. Themodel has a line that appears to start right at the yellow/blue line under the wing window, all teh way along the hood top/side line out to the edge of the number board and then appears to go vertical down to and maybe through the number board. I’m no picky rivet counter - I don’t bother to move the horns on my P2K Geeps - but that line/mark really stands out on the model picture to me. I’m not sure about those who said they didn’t even see it at first. It’s like the sprue mark dimple on the top center of the Atlas RS-3 cabs. You can’t miss it.
–Randy
OP has asked that we lock the thread for him. Done. Thanks, all.
-Crandell