Best Of New Brass EP-2 assembly & Mod clinic

[u18b]

With new decals in hand.... it is back to work.


Man o man, it was almost an emotional thing when I dropped that beautiful boiler room in a cup of acetone.



This was with no scrubbing.  That acrylic paint came right off.
Leaving mostly the primer.
In fact, I almost just dried it off as-is.  But somehow, in this process I slightly banged it and chipped the paint down in the bottom right corner (zero damage to the brass, just a little chip of the paint).
Rats.  More acetone with scrubbing this time.



After sandblasting the metal again, and another bath in acetone to clean up, I immediately airbrushed primer on it.



I then placed it in the oven at about 220 degrees for 3 or so hours.



When it came out and cooled, there was virtually no odor of paint at all- a sign the paint had cured and could accept water based acrylics.

So (all in the same day) I could start painting.

First a good coverage of orange with a clearcoat.
Then masked, and the gray applied.



Then another masking and the berry/maroon applied.  With another clearcoat.
I could then re-assemble.



Now time for some decal work.

Almost back to where I was before I hit a snag.

[jpwisc]

No no no no no no! What happened?!?

[peteski]

No no no no no no! What happened?!?

Read through the last few pages of the thread. Ron was convinced not to except anything less than perfect on this model.  Plus he learned few new skills (like creating his own TrueType font).

[u18b]

No no no no no no! What happened?!?

LOL.

When I said it was an emotional experience dropping the boiler room into a cup of acetone.....

It wasn't an accident.  I did it on purpose.  LOL.

I was stripping just the boiler room to start over on the boiler room.

Woohooo!   Wait till you see version 2!

[u18b]

Boiler room painting done.
Pin striping is done.

Now, the big moment.  Time for Peteski's decals.




As he intended, you can see that they are a basic magenta color (by themselves).




Use my reference to try to line things up.




Decal simply laying on the shell.




....and it darkens slightly more when setting solution locks it down snugly.




Peteski!  You are the Man!!!!!!!!!!!!!




I felt the need to take a macro photo and look at it on my big screen.
Just checking to see that everything lines up.
It is a little hard to see on the photos, but I'm assuming all the words are on the same line at the bottom of their characters.



I'm ready to do the box herald. 
On the prototype, it is thick because I'm pretty sure it was a cast bronze plaque.
I debated and debated what to do.  Should I cut some thin brass or plastic?  If so-- how would I afix it?

So since I had to use TWO decal sets for one model, I decided to try something.
I first applied the first red square.




Then when that is sealed and protected, I added a SECOND red layer- hoping the rivets would be less noticeable.  I was correct.

[u18b]

I've been dating her for almost a year.

I think I'm falling in love.

[nkalanaga]

Beautiful.

[Chris333]

Wow looking hella nice 

[Cajonpassfan]

Ron, she's beauuuutiful, what an effort  absolutely incredible!
Can't but think the pantographs need to be a slightly different color...not the body grey?
Keep us entertained please, spectacular work!
Regards, Otto K.

[peteski]

<New England Accent>  Wick'd awesome Ron! </New England Accent>

I'm glad to be part of this project and I'm also glad that you didn't settle on the ill-fitting decals.  After all the work you did, this model deserved better.

I'm a bit puzzled about the nose decal.  The nose and the cab are as a single piece, correct?  If that is the case, with the side cab lettering not applied yet, there was no clear coat. Why couldn't you remove the nose lettering at that point and replace it with the better fitting set I printed?

[spookshow]

Can't but think the pantographs need to be a slightly different color...not the body grey?

There aren't a lot of decent color photos from that era, but based on this one I'd say that Ron got it right. Or at least right enough (barring any better photographic evidence).



Cheers,
-Mark

[u18b]

I'm a bit puzzled about the nose decal.  The nose and the cab are as a single piece, correct?  If that is the case, with the side cab lettering not applied yet, there was no clear coat. Why couldn't you remove the nose lettering at that point and replace it with the better fitting set I printed?

Peter,
I'm sorry to report that it is indeed sealed.  I don't wait a long time to seal decals. 

However, your nose decals are absolutely superior to the other guy's.
I will find a use for them.   

[mmagliaro]

Ron,

It's hard to think of an N Scale locomotive anywhere that is better made, mechanically, electrically or cosmetically,
or more prototypically accurate than this one.  You really put your shoulder to the wheel on this thing.
Heck, I'm exhausted just watching this! 

Models like this show the world what is truly possible in N Scale.

[peteski]

Peter,
I'm sorry to report that it is indeed sealed.  I don't wait a long time to seal decals. 

However, your nose decals are absolutely superior to the other guy's.
I will find a use for them.   

No problem - I was simply curious.

[bbussey]

Yet another Bearden masterpiece.