Thanks, William, I'm glad you found this to be inspirational to your own modeling! This is my 2nd pair, so I have a fair idea of how they go together! This one is becoming a monster project--but it's almost come to fruition!
Almost. Still, a lot of work yet to be done. The side sill white stripes, and numberboards on the cab need decaled yet; still need to install the side handrails, all the grabs *among other things, when my BLMA order comes in*, glazing the cab and portholes, windshield wipers, plow, MU hoses and cables, couplers, cut levers, handrail ends, cabe window frames, wind deflectors, etc.... I think that's all that's left.
Decals, baby! man, these are really blossoming from the ugly duckling that they started out as.... Clear gloss sealed now, they'll dry overnite before I resume detailing.
Thanks, all! Still quite a bit of work yet to go, but it's all worth it! Nick, either unit could be a leader. If unit 426 was an F45 rather than an SD45, that would naturally been my leader! (426 Hemi) A 440 was a fearsome Chrysler big block motor, so that number was a natural. And it was the last F45 rostered by GN. There's 5 decal sheets worth of decals on each unit. Numberboards and rear numbers were Shellscale (8" block lettering, and 7" Roman lettering), heralds, cab side numbers, and visibility stripes on the sill were from the Microscale GN BSB locos set; "F"s on the front of the unit, and builder plates are Microscale from the EMD diesel data sheet; the grip tape stripes on the top of each nose were from the Microscale Ski Train/D&RGW business car set.
HOMANA HOMANA HOMANA HOMANA HOMANA... I like the units. How much? :tb-shocked::tb-ooh::tb-biggrin: Looks GREAT as usual!!!!!!!!:thumbs_up:
I'm not sure I'd sell them--just so much time and effort put into them that I wouldn't want to repeat that anytime soon! ;-) Thanks, all! I'm awaiting an order from BLMA, and I need to start doing handrails on the sides. The etched ones sometimes come up too short, and I figure I'll need to build them with brass rod. Will .010 brass rod look that much different from flat, photo-etched stainless steel sheet? If so, all of them need to be done by hand. This is turning into a contest model.
Nothing new tonite--too tired from a long, exhausting day. Tomorrow will be better. Nothing new, but some of yesterday's photos that I hadn't posted yet:
Wow, Hemi, those look awesome!! That's a killer paint scheme, it looks great on that loco. Outstanding work so far!
Drooooooooooooool, that's what I'm doing as I look at those pics! Keep em coming, no sleep, no rest, we need pics of a finished model, lol.
Until my BLMA order comes in, I cannot finish it. The 18" drop grabs, bells, trainline air hoses and other stuff is in there... Thanks, Guys! Today, I'm going to try to build all the side handrails out of brass rod, as the stock ones are usually too short. That should take a lot of time. Painting them all 3 colors, too!
I finished the side handrails this morning--really didn't take too long. Not as long as I figured, anyhow. They are secured with CA, and painted, as per proto photos. Next item up for bid: detailing the pilots, and installing plows! Pics later...
Hotness! And I thought I liked Empire Builder! Has to be the best F45 scheme, except for maybe the MRL paint. Now they just need a train to pull... What's next, BSB SDP45s?
Don't tempt me on those SDP45's.... The handrails on the sides are hand-bent .010" brass rod. The ones provided with the kit usually are too short. My modeling is not perfect enough to use the rails incuded on the fret. I used .020" styrene strip material to evenly space the rails from the body.
