I recently had an opportunity to view the most recent release of Life-Like's Heritage Series 2-8-8-2, and to my chagrin, the smokebox was UNPAINTED GRAY PLASTIC, just like the first release unit that I had assumed incorrectly was shipped unpainted by Life-Like Canada. As far as the rest of the unit is concerned, I believe it was unpainted black plastic, with painted trim (cab roof, back of fuel box) for the PRR. This is very disappointing, given the high retail cost of these units!
Frank Eva DCC Models