minerman146 wrote:Rudi,I did the 'bondo" bodyline check and we got no shine! I know this is subjective. Love it - hate it - fix it?
Yes, it is very subjective indeed. Outside of personal preferences, I suppose it depends on the age / weathering of the rolling stock, and which road it belongs to. Conversely, I've seen some freshly painted prototype stock in matte finish, hence the comment about which road it belongs to, and quite possibly which shop did the paintwork. So disregarding any reference photos, I'd recommend going for whatever look suits your taste, as you're the first person that needs to be pleased with the final result. And if you're pleased with it, you'll likely keep painting things; which naturally makes everyone else happy when you share the results... well, except for the "noid" lurking in the library who enjoys clicking the one-star rating on certain contributors' files; but that's another topic.
Personally, I like just a hint of shine on all but the most road-worn rusty hulks; if nothing more than to take advantage of the sim's lighting dynamics, which can lend a sense of 3-dimensional appearance to the car's features. That, and they to to blend-in better with everything else in the consist. We've probably all seen something similar when mixing photo-real stock with hand-painted stock; in many cases, they just don't fit together visually. But again; personal preference. Although you said "no shine" for the cars in your screenshots, and I prefer just a little shine; I still think your paintwork looks great. So if there are any preferential differences, they are certainly subtle. All I know is, I'd be quite happy to run them just as they are.
Anyway, I didn't intend to ramble-on so much, as it's apparent from your screenshots that you certainly know what you're doing; but I always like to consider that there are folks who are new to the "painting world" and could benefit from the insight.
Regarding the scenery question: Buzz brought up some great points. Although admittedly, I'm one of those folks who spends most of their sim-time outside the cab; "model railroad mode" if you will. I enjoy putting the train on "auto-pilot", then going into free-camera mode and racing ahead to find just the right spot for a screenshot. So I always keep the rail-fanning aspect in mind while I'm route building. This is something I particularly enjoy about running the Bergen; I can just sit back and watch the trains run over the route, taking screenshots to my heart's content, and not be distracted by any glitches with the scenery. So indeed, the Bergen is a great route to observe the strategic placement of scenery and the distances from the tracks. Actually, I think I've learned more about route-building, simply by "touring" other folks' work, than I have by reading the manuals. And with that, I'll sign-off with one of my favorite photo-op locations on the Bergen:
Bergen NP GP9s x64 01.jpg
Yeah, I know it's not prototypical, but I get homesick sometimes. Cheers!

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