Lehigh Valley GP9/18s

[amato1969]

Getting the decals rolling while waiting for replacement decoders.  The 301 was repainted later than the 305, and like many LV units, had variations in the paint job; in this case, the positions of the billboard "Valley" was different:





Wrestling with stripes is next 

  Frank

[amato1969]

This week I finished the striping on the two cornell red units:



There are still some air bubbles here and there that I need to slice and hit with more MicroSol.  Flat boxcar sides are a lot easier to decal!

  Frank

[craigolio1]

That's a very sharp looking paint scheme. Nicely done. 

Craig.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

After watching all those JPM videos, this build thread excites me greatly!

[crrcoal]

This week I finished the striping on the two cornell red units:



There are still some air bubbles here and there that I need to slice and hit with more MicroSol.  Flat boxcar sides are a lot easier to decal!

  Frank

Optical illusion or is that a chunk missing out of the unit closest to the camera? Nice paint job BTW!!

[amato1969]

@crrcoal, no illusion; I carved that out to clear the new BLMA horn mounted on the cab roof.

I think I finally have all the silvering handled, so a matte coat is next, setting the stage for some weathering.

  Frank

[Santa Fe Guy]

Looking very swish Frank. I am looking forward to seeing them weathered.
Rod.

[crrcoal]

Interesting. Can't wait to the finished product!

@crrcoal, no illusion; I carved that out to clear the new BLMA horn mounted on the cab roof.

I think I finally have all the silvering handled, so a matte coat is next, setting the stage for some weathering.

  Frank

[amato1969]

Long time no update 

I knocked down all the decal silvering and hit the body shells with matte varnish.  Weathering is in progress...

Most recently, I installed TCS decoders thusly, but wound up scuffing the paint on the truck frames 



  Frank

[amato1969]

I squeezed in some modeling time this weekend!  Excel worked great for the numberboards, and I started the (heavy) weathering on the 302.  Judging by proto photos, there were some major radiator problems by the 70s.  This is all oil paint so far; I plan to follow-up with Mig pigments:



In contrast, I am leaving the 301 pretty much as-is, to represent a fresh repaint:



  Frank

[BobRunty]

Looking good Frank. The number boards do look nice.

Bob

[wmcbride]

Sharp units and great work.

Did you use gloss photo paper for your Excel number boards or just regular paper? Are you covering it with gloss?

[amato1969]

@wmcbride thanks for the post!  They are coming together slowly...

Short answer is I used "regular" paper on the office laser printer.  I cut them out and attached them with white glue, followed by a few coats of gloss varnish.

I'll get some better front-end pics soon.

  Frank

[amato1969]

The 301 is first onto the layout; the trucks and fuel tank have a base dark grey coat, but they definitely need some more dust pigments:



And, wow, my iPhone sure can't capture up the red very well, ugh 

  Frank

[unittrain]

That's some fine work there, those are awesome!