Monday, December 25, 2017
Finished up a pair of F7 A&B units for the A&C. These are not protoypical to the railroad but I did model them as Rock Island rebuilds that my model railroad acquired. These are Intermountain units. Details include spark arrestors, colling lines over the dynamic hatch, windshield wipers, plenty of grab irons, trainline airhose and MU hoses. These units also have sound, a first for the railroad. The A unit rides a little high due to the decoder, so I'll need to mill the frame, a project for another day. The sound decoder is an ESU LokSound Select Micro with an EMD 567BC prime mover.
GP35's are finished!
I've been bad about updating the blog. I finished up the GP35's earlier this year about the end of July. Enjoy the photos!
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
A&C GP35's
I've been working on a pair of N scale GP35's for myself over the last 6 months or so and I am finally done with detailing and ready for paint.
The A&C rostered three GP35's, two of which were originally B&O units and 1 was an SP unit. I chose to model the SP unit, but instead of a single unit, I am modeling two, both to practice my skills and because there is a lot of character in the SP units. The models are older Atlas/Kato units.
Details are numerous on these units. For starters, I scratchbuilt the SP light cluster on the rear of the long hood and plated over the top two light positions. On the nose of the unit, I cut into the nose and scratchbuilt the light cluster there. I also plated over the cab headlight. On the pilots, I removed the stock details for the kickplates and added a plain plate all the way across. I also added angle stock to simulate the angle that is found above the MU hoses on the prototype locomotives. I drilled holes for all of the grabirons which I form myself and install after paint and decals. Onto commercial details, on the top of the hood, I used BLMA etched fans and GMM lift rings. On the cab, I used a MBE top mount bell, an Atlas Leslie 3-chime horn, BLMA sunshades and GMM wipers. I will also add wind deflectors to the cab from BLMA after paint and decals. On the pilots, I added BLMA cut levers and MBE air hoses. BLMA MU hoses will come after paint and decals. I also added the crossover steps and MU stands above the pilots on the walkways, both MBE parts. The last, and most time consuming detail, was the stanchions and handrails all the way around the model. I make the stanchions out of 0.010x0.018 inch brass bar and the handrails from 0.008 inch phosphor bronze wire. The stanchions are glued into the sill and the handrails are soldered to the stanchions. This detail is very strong and makes a huge impression on the overall look of the locomotives.
I'm looking forward to getting paint on these and will update once I get there.
Thanks for looking!
Doug
The A&C rostered three GP35's, two of which were originally B&O units and 1 was an SP unit. I chose to model the SP unit, but instead of a single unit, I am modeling two, both to practice my skills and because there is a lot of character in the SP units. The models are older Atlas/Kato units.
Details are numerous on these units. For starters, I scratchbuilt the SP light cluster on the rear of the long hood and plated over the top two light positions. On the nose of the unit, I cut into the nose and scratchbuilt the light cluster there. I also plated over the cab headlight. On the pilots, I removed the stock details for the kickplates and added a plain plate all the way across. I also added angle stock to simulate the angle that is found above the MU hoses on the prototype locomotives. I drilled holes for all of the grabirons which I form myself and install after paint and decals. Onto commercial details, on the top of the hood, I used BLMA etched fans and GMM lift rings. On the cab, I used a MBE top mount bell, an Atlas Leslie 3-chime horn, BLMA sunshades and GMM wipers. I will also add wind deflectors to the cab from BLMA after paint and decals. On the pilots, I added BLMA cut levers and MBE air hoses. BLMA MU hoses will come after paint and decals. I also added the crossover steps and MU stands above the pilots on the walkways, both MBE parts. The last, and most time consuming detail, was the stanchions and handrails all the way around the model. I make the stanchions out of 0.010x0.018 inch brass bar and the handrails from 0.008 inch phosphor bronze wire. The stanchions are glued into the sill and the handrails are soldered to the stanchions. This detail is very strong and makes a huge impression on the overall look of the locomotives.
I'm looking forward to getting paint on these and will update once I get there.
Thanks for looking!
Doug
A&C Alco Units
I finished up this pair of HO scale Alco units for a good friend that used to work for the railroad. The A&C never had Alco's on the roster, but his favorite locomotive is the FA and I thought the paint scheme would look great on the body.
The models are Life-Like Proto 2000 units that came decorated for the Missouri Pacific. After disassembly, they took an overnight bath in 91% alcohol to strip the paint. I sprayed a base coat of Tru Color white and then it was off to masking. The most difficult mask was across the cab doors and the curves on the nose. I found inspiration for the nose curves from MKT Alco PA's. I shot the green next, Tru Color Reading Green, then unmasked and gave them a Future gloss clearcoat. Decals came next, MicroScale produces a set for A&C units and I used the lettering, numbers and striping. I had to scrounge my decal box for the curved stripes on the nose as it's impossible to get a straight decal to curve more than a little. Luckily I came across an N scale set for Lehigh Valley F units that had the same color and width of the A&C stripes and the curves were a fairly close match. Lot's of MicroSol got the curves to massage into the perfect shape. Another coat of clear came next to protect the decals and then it was time to reassemble. The last thing to do was detail paint for all the grab irons. I also painted the cab interior that comes with the locomotives.
I hope you enjoy the pictures. These were fun locomotives to do and I think the scheme looks really sharp on the Alco bodies.
Thanks for looking!
Doug
The models are Life-Like Proto 2000 units that came decorated for the Missouri Pacific. After disassembly, they took an overnight bath in 91% alcohol to strip the paint. I sprayed a base coat of Tru Color white and then it was off to masking. The most difficult mask was across the cab doors and the curves on the nose. I found inspiration for the nose curves from MKT Alco PA's. I shot the green next, Tru Color Reading Green, then unmasked and gave them a Future gloss clearcoat. Decals came next, MicroScale produces a set for A&C units and I used the lettering, numbers and striping. I had to scrounge my decal box for the curved stripes on the nose as it's impossible to get a straight decal to curve more than a little. Luckily I came across an N scale set for Lehigh Valley F units that had the same color and width of the A&C stripes and the curves were a fairly close match. Lot's of MicroSol got the curves to massage into the perfect shape. Another coat of clear came next to protect the decals and then it was time to reassemble. The last thing to do was detail paint for all the grab irons. I also painted the cab interior that comes with the locomotives.
I hope you enjoy the pictures. These were fun locomotives to do and I think the scheme looks really sharp on the Alco bodies.
Thanks for looking!
Doug
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