Went ahead and ordered the U30 shell, some Atlas B23 2-window cabs, some sills which include the anti-climber, and a shell for the access doors on the long hood bulge. Then all I need is some styrene. That nose is gonna be a pain. Maybe I should get some v-groove styrene for some of the grills/louvers too. When the shell nears completion I'll get some mold/casting supplies so I can make a few replicas.
Alister, can you tell me how the 2 noses differ? Is one shorter? Could you use any of a B40 nose in the bash? Steve, can't wait to see your progress. SF30C's are one of the things at the very top of my ATSF wish list. Mike
Why use the V groove atyrene when you will have the leftover U30 radiator section? Just use the leftover parts as much as possible to keep the grillwork uniform.
okay have a look at this: SF30C prototype nose: ATSF 9515 Now look at the nose on a 8-40B This has the nose light but illustrates the difference. AT&SF 7437 and Sisters in 1991 The SF30C has a flat front nose panel, the 8-40B is slightly peaked, the side panels on the nose of the SF30C angle 95 % of the way back to the cab and the brake wheel is mounted on the angled part not the flat part. The 8-40B nose angles to half the nose the goes straight back to the cab. However you can do the following using an Atlas 8-40B nose. Cut the front part of the U30C nose off leaving 8 n scale inches on the U30C front. Then cut off 3 1/2 n scale feet off the Atlas 8-40B nose and superglue to the U30c. When hard file the sides at an angle from the nose join back to the nose. I also filed the nose front flat then added a bit of 0.20 thou styrene to make the front truly flat and to make the nose back to it's original length before filing. Please note that where the 8-40B angle is it will become very thin. Do this on both sides and you will get something like this: Now I'm not saying the nose looks absolutely right yet, it is still a work in progress. It's taken me 2 years of research on and off to get this far. I have a ton of photographs and I've looked at a lot of HO models of the SF30C when I got stuck.... please feel free to disagree and go with your gut instinct. If you have one of these on your local then you might like to go out and do some measuring then post the measurements back here so everyone can benefit! Remember I am a bloody foreigner cheers Alister
Woah, calm down dood! I was just asking what the difference was cause I never really paid that close of attention to them. I figured it would be easier to ask someone with experience about the noses instead of me trying to figure it out on my own. And I thank you for the explanation, and showing us how to possibly use a B40 nose. That works a whole lot better than just saying "no, they are completely wrong". Mike
Dang, I should have ordered a B40 nose. Hey, couln't you just use the U30/C30 nose, and lengthen it with styrene? Then sand down the front of the nose to get it flat?
That looks pretty good. Definitely has a look all its own. Look forward to more progress on your model.
Hey Mike I wasn't revved up but you only get 4 images per post and smilies count as images so I couldn't post any smilies as I had 4 pictures embedded. Saying I'm a bloody foreigner is said in humour . Don't assume it is said in a cranky tone - I'm not an American so you should read it with happy happy joy joy feelings instead of an irate rant. It was very tongue in cheek. I said no "they are completely wrong" cause if you just graft them in they stand out like tits on bull mate! And it also makes people aware that there is a big difference. If you get your Atlas 8-40B's out then look at the SF30C photo's it will hit you quite clearly. Cheers Alister
Alister, cool mang, sometimes it hard to read into someone else's words. So you and Steve got me looking at alot of proto pics, and there seems to be a slight angle on each side of the front of the nose, you can see the definitive lines in these 2 pics: http://www.trainpix.com/ATSF/GE/SF30C/9544.HTM http://www.trainpix.com/ATSF/GE/SF30C/9528.HTM Or am I seeing something else? (and that air tank(?) in the 2nd pic would be a cool detail to add!) Mike
Yeah so if you peek at my pictures you can see I slightly angled the nose at the very front bottom to top and hedged my bets by angling the top of the nose back to the cab slightly. I have only pictures and the occasional DVD to umm work it out from. All the DVD's are Santa Fe or BNSF.
Check out the SF30B - it has the same nose and it's angled both ways http://www.qstation.org/SF30B/ Also check out the work of Steve Emerson
Yeah I noticed the bends on the front too. So could I take the U30 nose off, lengthen it, modify the front, and get that "slope?" I'm hoping I can get some dimensions of the nose from a HO modeler friend of mine, whose kitbashed a SF30C and SF30B's. The parts are still on the way, so I can wait I guess.
Okay, I got my U30 shell. So what's the best way to cut these? How do I make the cleanest, most accurate cuts without a lot of material loss? I think I'm going to just modify the U30 nose. It will take a lot of modifying, but I have to wait until I get the anti-climbers on to see how much I need to lengthen the nose.
Okay, I seem to do this differently so if you don't feel comfortable doing it this way maybe Dan will detail how he does it. I use a dremel mototool with a proxxon metal cutting blade (smallest one). U30C : Make your first cut just in front of the radiator on the top of the shell, cut deep enough to go through the plastic to the bottom of the radiator top, Your second cut on whatever side you start first starts from the end of your first cut and cut underneath the radiator for its full length when you reach the end of the radiator stop - do not cut into the rear end (you want this intact). Third cut is the opposite side. fourth cut: start at the bottom of the rear end of the shell and cut up the side of the end piece (preserving the end piece) until you reach your horizontal cut line. Do the same but for the other side on the fifth cut. You should then be able to pull out the rear radiator and end piece in one bit. C30-7. Basically you are doing the same thing cutting out the radiator and rear end piece then gluing that into the U30C shell giving you that overhanging radiator of the U36C / SF30C loco's. unfortunately I don't have any pictures
I passed dave in the siding last week and he told me to check this thread, busy working lately. The first two photos above were my first effort with building the SF30C and also my first effort at casting a shell. I scrapped both. The lower picture of the Kotachrome painted units were my second effort off a completely different master. I reccomend you find the MR article written by Rick Selby on building U33 / U36C's. Believe he started with the Trix U30C. He also used componets off the Bachmann B30-7 for the radiator. Looking at the master here is how it looks like I did it: For the Radiator section I carefully cut the Bachmann radiator wing off, along with the end wall section, leaving both attached in the shape of an L. I then cut off the KATO U30C radiator. Then I cut out the rear wall and attached the Bachmann donor piece, filing and cutting the rear wall to fit. You have to do it this way as the bachmann shell is wider but if you fit it right it is not noticeable. On the rear shell under the radiator wing you have to scrape off several vents and louvers. Then you can rob an atlas or kato donor shell for doors and louvers. I used louvers from an SD60 shell and cut them to fit. It helps to work from pictures for placement. For the bulge where the tilted oil cooler is you can use more donor doors building up the back with styrene. The nose was fabracated from styrene and lots of use of a file. Really just trial and error. The anticlimber on my first try was from scratch and wasn't right. On the final master I used one cut from an atlas SD60. You could also use the one that comes in a detail kit for KATO C30-7's, not sure who makes it but you also need it for the "bathtub" exaust stack silencer. You may be able to use one from a KATO Dash 9 though. This kit also comes with cab window plugs in case you want to reuse the KATO cab. For mine I used the Atlas B23-7 cab. I will try to get some pictures up when I can.
Well I just started on it. Got the front handrails clipped off, and go the front pilot filed down ready for the anti-climber. I've also scribbed cut lines on the battery boxes on the conductor's side, so that's ready to cut. Also filed down the doors on the long hood for the side bulge. This would be a whole lot less aggrivating if Brian would find those shells.
ummmmm........ I'm building one too..... Only just started ..... with the boobies :tb-biggrin: I've just about finished a new nose for it too. Back to the SF30C thread
That is an ART; to be able to look at parts of different Locomotives and see the one you want takes an EYE. That just doesn't come to you. Good job and there are some real creative minds here within. Thanks for sharing your insight
Thinks I'll use the B40 nose method. I think I'll also use the BLMA hood door fret and use the leuvers from that, and cut the battery boxes to match the ones on the prototype. So from what I understood from alister's post, I cut off the nose of the U30, leaving 8 inches from the front of the gap where the cab sits. Then cut 3 1/2 feet off the back of the B40 nose, file the sides, the front, then add .20 styrene. Now I need to make another parts order.
