Hi all! Today I started with the first leg of my GP35 striping / repainting process. The most difficult was finally agreeing to part with the superb Micro-Trains painting scheme. But my guinea pig engine was wearing the 70's era UP paintscheme, that is definitly not my era. So I let the shell resting in a 90° Alcohol bath about 30', then I striped the paint off with an old toothbrush, thanks to Brian "Uncle Nugat" advise. Finally I washed the parts with tap water in order to remove alcohol and to prevent it from corroding the plastic parts. I discovered on the occasion that UP Geep shells are made with yellow plastic. The next step will be adding the pilots a fellow Z scaler (Uncle Nugat) kindly gave me on the front and end handrails assemblies. Next I'd like to remove the dynamic brake pockets. A question here fore those who already did this (Gerd?): what's the best way to remove them: cutting with a hobby knife, or filing with a very thin file? After that, the most important: as this engine is due to be repainted wearing a Genesee & Wyoming paintscheme (Ferrocarril Chiapas Mayab), what are the best paints for that, as I'm faithful to Humbrol Enamel paints. I'd like the loco to wear the paintscheme below (which is actually a GP38-2, but I can't wait next year for this particular engine to be released ). And finally, what about the number boards? Are there currently available decals of numbers small enough to find their room on a Z scale engine number board? Any input appreciated!:tb-wink: Dom
What a great photo! Are the tracks burried under all that grass or is it the end of line? That is really cool looking!
Dom, I cover the shell with masking tape to minimize the chance of damaging the shell, then I use a hobby knive to cut as much of the dynamic brakes. After that, I use a cutter with a dremel tool to mill the shell, and I paint the area to see how rough is. Finally, I use Mr white putty to smooth out any rough spots, and sanded until the shell looks smooth. I think the way Gerd does is high tech. He has a milling machine.
OK guys. So I'll just have to deal with my small hand held dremel. Not quite easy but I guess I'll be able to handle this with Mr White putty. Thank you for the input!:thumbs_up: And about your question Joe: the picture was taken at about 40 km (25 miles) from the railroad's terminus (Valladolid, Yucatan, Mexico, which is the very southeastern terminus of all Canada-USA-Mexico railroad network). Track was indeed completely embedded within vegetation, hence the train's very low speed (~10 mph on all the branch length, which is 160km/100 mph long, between Merida and Valladolid. You can understand why I became fanatic of that railroad and why I finally want to replicate it!), and hence the railroader standing on the loco's front platform! http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=98298 Dom
It looks on the picture as if the windows are still in the cab. I tried to pull it out at my undecorated but couldn´t manage, I was afraid of damaging it. Is there a trick? Mattias
Matthias, theres a black insert that keeps the window from coming out. Pull the insert straight down, and the front and the eyebrows should fall off. The black thinggie in Dom's picture is the insert. The side windows is a little trickier. You need to poke in the front and back door windows, and then poke the center window. Then you should be able to pull it out from the inside.
Dom, John is right, I'm milling the brakes off and fine tune the area with a file or sandpaper. At the moment I'm trying something different to blend this area with very thin brass, but it's quite difficult. I guess in future I will cut out the whole section and replace it with new plastic. Regarding paint I used Polly Scale or Floquil, BNSF Heritage organge and CSX yellow and Engine black is what you need. Regarding decals send me a PM. Cheers Gerd
Thanks my friends. Mmhh, BTW removing the dynamic brakes seem a little bit tricky for me. Maybe I'll leave them on the loco, I don't know yet. Anyway, I'll be far from the forum on the next 3 or 4 days...:tb-wink: The following within the end of this week.:thumbs_up: Dom
The work is preocessing slowly, with severe delays regarding my initial schedule (my lay-over in Dominican Republic beeing itself delayed - I initially planned to do the work in my bedroom while my mates were roasting on the beach and a schedule change has made that I'm only currently in DR). This is what I've done now (finally I gave up filing the dynamic brake assembly: too risky in my opinion). But I didn't go beyond: Genesee & Wyoming locomotives sport 2 stripes on the hood and cab length. (The stripes I'm speaking of appear on the above picture behind the front railroader's trouser, just below the FCCM logo on the locomotive's nose) Initially I remembered the stripes were dark green. But when looking at pictures of actual G&W locos (including my own pictures of FCCM locos in Yucatan), it seems the stripes are black olive, or even totally black. That's why I didn't go further. A question today: are you guys aware of the real colour of these? Any input welcome.:tb-wink: Dom
Hi Dom, Just use your 'modelers licence', older paint on locomotives will weather anyway. It is always difficult to get an exact match if one has to go by pictures.
I think it's black when it's new, but aged and weathered black turns often into a greenish tone, so I would say both colours are right in one way or the other. I have used black, because this is what my printer can do....
First stripe done. Matt black paint used. Some leaks of "dribble" that will be easily and quickly fixed with a small brush. (The newspaper is written in german, that's normal as my wife is german herself!) Dom
1st stripe's leaks trimmed. Prior to painting anything on the cab dealing with this first stripe I'll have to paint and to trim the second stripe (shell and cab), then put the shell, the platform, the cab and handrails together. The firsts tripe will go up to the lower handrail assembly. Just one question: I've been unable to establish what should the colour be on the hood's side platform. Unfortunately I've no picture of any G&W and subsidiaries' locomotive side platform.... Dom
Dom, gray or grey as the British would say , the same gray as the top of the long and short hood, I used SP Dark Lark Grey from Floquil or Pollyscale, don't go with Humbrol. Look at my or better Alex Buffalo and Pittsburgh GP9, it's a good indicator
Just my experience, Floquil or Pollyscale have already the right colours (most times) and I found they are much better to spray. I had also some Humbrol paint that took a week to completly dry....
