Hi Everybody, this is my first attempt at repainting a locomotive (I've been largely an electronics and scenery guy, and thought I'd take up the challenge). I had two of Kato UP heritage Rio Grande sd70ACEs, and decided one could go to a project. Furthermore, I only have about an hour of airbrushing under my belt! Yeah, my layout goes from central Iowa, skips into Yosemite, then is at the coast....total license! Here is what I did, essentially creating a modified phase IV paint scheme: 1. Disassembly, two day PineSol bath, toothbrush scrub, then rinse 2. Mask nose and tail, airbrush Polly Scale Engine Black to body, cab, etc. 3. Mask body and cab, airbrush Reefer Yellow 4. Clear gloss coat 5. BLMA radiator fan kit installed Then received Microscale 60-551 (which turned out to be the "old" version, but I was too anxious to wait around so I went with it). 4. Body stripes (flub on the aft grills), number under cab window, dry transfer "F" on lower cab #1001 is fictional. IAIS only goes up into the 900s, but all my locos are 4 digit, and I figured it was plausible that if they bought more locomotives they would go into 4 digits 5. Badge on nose 6. Safety chevrons on rear of the body shell. lots of Solvaset throughout (first time using...that stuff is amazing). 7. Brush painted sideframes, trucks, and full tank with Grimy Black. 8. Dullcoat to seal it all 9. MT #2004 couplers added Inside; digitrax dn163k1c decoder. Working ditch light modification-used magnet wire (radioshack) to save space. Included a really short video here just because we can now! Huge thanks to those on Trainboard who have answered questions about painting, and a big thanks to the Unofficial IAIS fan page http://www.iaisrailfans.org/ for so many great proto photos. Still a few details to add (handrails on cab, numberboards), but have learned a lot! [video=youtube_share;28sWQZh1JKk]http://youtu.be/28sWQZh1JKk[/video]
For your first N scale locomotive paint and decal, I think you did just fine. Hopefully this encourages you to do some more.
Nicely done, can't wait to see your next one! BTW, an easy detailing project would be adding some BLMA mirrors, it would be a great engine to add a couple small details to!
Great job! It would fit right in with their current fleet. I have always liked the smaller nose herald, so I think you made a good choice.
Nicely done! Pine Sol, eh? I've never used that as a stripper. Did it remove everything? And no damage to the shell at all?
Yes! Did a little research here on trainboard, the Pinesol worked great, absolutely no loss of detail or indication of melting. It took two full days, then most of the paint just slid right off. Some of the creases and corners needed a little help with a toothbrush. Smelled real fresh when done too!Also, thanks Cyrail! I agree the smaller herald is good, understated just like the IAIS workhorse of a road
Update...IAIS #1001 Here is where IAIS #1001 is at this point. I have done the following; 1. Swapped out light tubes for Kato's aftermarket clear light tube kit for sd70ace. 2. Added BLMA rearview mirrors 3. Added handmade sunshades. still need to make numberboards!
jglossip, I sure hope my first paint/decal project looks that good. I have several undec locomotives plus some 'strip & repaint' projects that will eventually happen. Right now all my limited hobby $ is going in to amassing switches, track and cork for when I finally get my room freed up (son hopefully soon moving out...). Would love to see some close ups though...looks pretty crisp from the pics you posted! Smooth rails!
thanks all! Only took weeks and weeks of doing everything four times over! Will post some close ups tomorrow...the difficult ares were the rear intake grilles, and the painting on the complex shapes of the nose (paint got a little caked on some bits).
A bit closer pictures. I am still learning how to shoot my railroad! You can see in the second photo where the decals just wouldn't seat into the grilles. Any advice would be appreciated (i did use like 5 coats of solvaset, and trying to manually manipulated them into the dips just wouldn't work).
