Rock Island Covered Wagons

Just finished up a few Rock Island units for a friend in Nebraska.  These came to me as undecorated Kato units with details added by the owner.  These were pretty straight forward units but did require some interesting masking on the noses.  We used Tru Color paints and Microscale decals with a Future clearcoat before applying decals.

First of the three was F7A #122 in the red/yellow scheme.  The owner added the spark arrestors and a small radiator on the top of the hood.  He also filled in the lower headlight.  This model was first based in red paint, then masked for the yellow nose and stripes.  Decals followed including the yellow stripes on the door grabs.

Second is E8A #658, also in the red/yellow scheme.  I grafted large numberboards to the nose from a donor F7 model to match the prototype 658.  This model was painted and decaled in the same manner as #122.

Last is E8a #649, this one is in the maroon/yellow scheme.  This model was stock straight from Kato and only got paint and decals.  The yellow nose was sprayed first to ease the masking and then the model was finished with maroon.  Decals followed including the yellow stripes on the door grabs.

These were fun units to do and were a real challenge to mask.  I used a lot of decal solution to get the large Rock Island letters to settle down over the rivets on the body panels.  Photos of the assembled units can be seen over on the owner's blog. thelittlerockline - covered wagons on little rock

Thanks for looking!
Doug