Well, I'm a big fan of Wisconsin and Southern. I've taken a recent swing towards modern, and am leaning towards something along the lines of a WSOR switching layout or something portable. While their rolling stock seems easy enough to come by, a locomotive is not. Turns out that the only company that ran anything WSOR was a run in 2006 of GP38s by Atlas. I almost got my hands on a few on Ebay a few weeks ago, but they slipped through the cracks (bidding war down to the last second :'( ). That's alright, though, as Atlas did have a few mistakes on the model (particularly the color of the roof and walkways!). So, I guess I'll be painting one soon! But there's a few problems: 1. I have never repainted a locomotive 2. Decals have been hard to come by I figured I'd go all out and detail the engine, too. Also have never done that. Regarding the decals; the only decals I have been able to find are listed as "Switcher" and "Striping". The problem is WSOR has seen several switcher type locomotives on their tracks, so which decals are they for? They're also listed as 1985+, but they've seen multiple style changes in the actual lettering of locomotives between then and now. What should I do?
You will have to have decals custom made. The micro scale decals will only work for the end stripes. The lettering is wrong for the SD40-2s and GP38s. As for paint, SP Scarlett an Undercoat Gray are a good combo for the WSOR. If you are going modern, a word of caution. Watco bought the line and has already started patching engines (WAMX I believe).
I have 2 sets of Scale Rail Graphics Wisconsin & southern Diesels for 2003+. It looks like each set will do two engines.It has pictures of the GP-38's and SD-40-2's for decal placement. If you send me your mailing address ...you can have them....Jim
Thanks for the advice on the paint schemes. I have to ask, though; will the Undercoat gray be too dark? If you look at any pictures of WSOR engines, they seem to be painted with a very light gray sometimes even appearing to be white, although some of that may be attributed to the lighting conditions in which the photos were taken, fading, and weathering. I've seen a few modeled locomotives that have a much much too dark gray on them. Jim, thank you very much, that is very kind of you! I hope I will make good use of them... Alex
Check out my thread. It documents a first time kitbash on an NS high-nose. I'm about 7/8ths done. I also added a ton of BLMA details, etc. Not exactly a "how-to" thread but it gives you a good idea of what you may be getting into (I was pretty darn suprised) http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?114099-N-scale-quot-What-s-on-your-workbench-quot Can't help you with finding paint colors or decals though.
There's a pair of Atlas Wisconsin Southern GP40's listed in the TrainStore by txronharris. I was looking at them myself, except I was going to strip the paint.......
Alex, This is a very good tutorial on repainting a GP: http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/entry.php?340-Modeling-CB-amp-Q-GP30-974-step-by-step Happy railroading Harold
Jim is indeed doing you a real favor. Not much of a kinder act than helping a guy find the decals he needs. I sure do miss Scale Rail Graphics! :crying:
Hmm.. I would jump on them, but because I'm modeling a more modern WSOR, the GP-40s just wouldn't fit in... I don't think they've had any GP40's for over a decade, and many were not in that paint scheme when they did. GP38's, SD40-2's, and MP15AC's make up about 97% of all their locomotives, although SD20's were very very common up until around 2009 or so. However, if you buy them, you may want to hold on to them... because WSOR locomotives are so rare, they can go for some pretty large amounts. The last I saw on ebay went for over $120, but it was an Atlas GP38. Also, thank you to anyone who's given me tutorials or help. Primavw, I've already been following that thread! Looking great!!!
Hello everyone, I have some good and bad news. The good news is that, through JBrown's extreme generosity, my decals have arrived! Some other good news is I realized I had purchased two new Wisconsin Central GP40s from Ebay for $40 a piece a few weeks ago, but, since I don't model WC, they will be perfect to snap a few GP38 shells on! The bad news: Upon closer examination, there are a few things about the decals. 1. It looks like all you have to do is paint the shell a nice red, then apply the gray decals. The decals nicely model the popular light gray stripe down the engine and the stripes on the front. However, the prototype engines also have gray roofs (but red fan housings, making the roof appear to be red if viewed from the side) and the top of the hood is gray, as well as the walkways. I would love to represent this, but I feel like it would be much to difficult to match the colors. 2. While it could just be the blue backing on the decal, the gray on the decals looks much too dark. The more modern WSOR engines almost appear to be white, especially in the sunlight, and that's before they age! I'm sure I can lighten the decals with a few coats of thinned Polly Scale 'Aged White', but that would also make matching the gray on the rest of the engine (if I were to do it) extremely difficult, and it would also fade the red! I can't check the color of the decal until it's applied on the red engine if I want to use all of my decals properly, meaning it would be almost impossible to match the paint color, too. Maybe I could use some of the extra road numbers..? 3. There are decals for the gray stripe and WSOR logo that's under each window of the cab, however, they include 3 decals that look like they'll span the entire cab, as they should, and 2 that won't. That leaves me one whole engine short if I wanted to eventually do all four locomotives from the sets! What to do, what to do... Alex
Interesting, I never new the roofs were painted that way, here is a good shot to show what you are talking about...
Pretty sneaky, huh? The hood is the same way. While it's hidden by perspective on the prototypes, my concern is how obvious it'd be in n scale... Alex
Hi guys, Does anyone know where I could get some speed recorders in N Scale? BMLA doesn't carry them, and I can't seem to find any anywhere else in N Scale. And does anyone know when the BMLA air hoses will come back in stock?? Alex
Sunrise made speed recorders, however that was long ago and you will have to scour fleabay and the like for them. Your best bet for speed recorders is custom styrene and very thin bronze wire(experiment with different sizes). On a different note, I am glad WSOR has some of The Rock's old SD40-2's!
Looks Like I'm off to a good start! All my parts from BLMA came in today, and WOW, am I pleased! BLMA has offered me some of the best customer service I have ever seen. I'm not even joking. Not only did they take the time to email me asking permission to ship out one product without having the proper packaging (just the nice header), but I ordered Thursday night, they emailed me Friday morning, and it was on my doorstep TODAY. CA to WI in 2 days!?! Not to mention the hand written thank you note on the receipt. Everything was there, packaged nicely. Amazing quality on the products as well. Beyond happy, they should expect MANY more orders from me! Second, I have two brand new GP38 shells in the mail all ready to be detailed, I have paint and some new microsol on order from my job which will come in Tuesday (just like my shells), and I have the chassis all ready to go for painting. I'll be ready to go by Tuesday night! Anyone have any tips? Alex
A few more questions for you guys! Since I'm spending so much time and money on these locomotives, I might as well try to do everything possible to make them look good. 1. Has anyone used 905/903 couplers on GP38s? Is the install easy and worth it? 2. Wire handrails. I saw a tutorial once on how to solder them up and install them on a loco. Is the time worth the look still? Is it super hard? Thanks, Alex
alexkmmll - I have painted aleast a have a dozen of these GP38s and also a few SD40s. I have used Polly S "Southern Pacific Lettering Gray". I gave the shells a light coat of Primer Gray, Then I oversprayed the area on the body where the gray stripe/ban appears. I used 3M "Blue" tape to maskoff the shell. Besure to "mold" the tape into every crevice there is. If you paint is not "dry" enough when applied, it will bleed underneath the tape. I than airbrushed the body, CP Caboose Red. I usually wait aleast a few days between painting/taping/painting. To let the paint setup. Jerry G.
