The Carolina Sandhills Lines in HO Scale

[davefoxx]

Project start:




Project completion:





DFF

[wm3798]

There's a vintage Herbie for sale in Trappe right now...  very tempting!
Lee

[davefoxx]

There's a vintage Herbie for sale in Trappe right now...  very tempting!
Lee

@wm3798,

Doooooooooooo it!  Do it now!  Then, take me for a ride!

DFF

[davefoxx]

The latest project that I’m working on: backdating my Walthers HO scale CSXT F7A No. 116 and F7B No. 117 to Seaboard System F units.  I bought replacement Walthers F7A and F7B shells, so I’ll save a chunk of cash and merely swap shells during era changes on the layout, instead of purchasing two whole additional locomotives and LokSound decoders.  I won’t even have to reprogram the decoder, because CSXT kept the same road numbers on these locomotives after the merger.  This weekend, I started in on No. 116.

The goal:



The start.  After stripping the CSXT paint with 91% isopropyl alcohol (that yellow was a bear!), I laid down a coat of Tamiya primer.  Then, I grabbed a can of Krylon All-In-One Paint + Primer (Gloss Smoke Gray).  It was at this point that I realized that I probably didn’t need the Tamiya primer, but, oh well.  I bought this can a few months ago when someone made the suggestion of paint color that came close to SBD French Gray in a spray bomb, and I had forgotten it was primer and paint.  ( #1)







I have since realized that the rear porthole windows had not yet been plated over by the SBD ( #2), so, after the paint had dried to the touch, I was able to pop the porthole window “glass” out of the shell.  Because Walthers had painted these on the CSXT scheme, there was an etching to the “glass.”  I stripped the new paint, sanded, and polished the windows that would be clear with sanding sticks by incrementally going from 400 down to 4000 grit, leaving a nice sheen that should be as clear and shiny, if not more so than the rest of the “glass” on the engine.  Maybe I’ll polish those pieces, too.  I guess I’ll have to cut these porthole windows in half, because I don’t want to clear coat over the “glass,” but the painted portion will be decaled over top.



Please note that this is a “good enough” project, so, at this time, because I have a history of screwing up paint and decal projects, I am not worried about the details such as horns and window plating.  Just having an HO scale model of the SBD Fs that captures the look of the prototype is good enough for me.

DFF

[eja]

Already looking more than "good enough" to me !

[davefoxx]

DFF

[wazzou]

Nice one Dave.

Do you plan to install crossing protection?

[Bendtracker1]

Nice shot Dave!  Looks like you're hanging off a signal?   
Love that scheme!

[davefoxx]

Nice one Dave.

Do you plan to install crossing protection?

I do, but NJ International, Inc. (my preferred brand) has been short on products, preventing me from completing that task.  Admittedly, I haven’t checked in a while.  I still have leftover flashing logic (Logic Rail Technologies’ Grade Crossing Pro) from the N scale layout that never got installed.

DFF

[davefoxx]

Nice shot Dave!  Looks like you're hanging off a signal?   
Love that scheme!

Haha!  That’s actually me trying to get down low, but not show the unfinished ceiling and avoid the layout edge and get in as close as possible.  Lazy me quit there. 

DFF

[packers#1]

Had to make sure my windows were closed because I can hear the cicadas and smell the rain coming in that photo Dave! Well done sir

[Philip H]

DFF

That's the second hottest thing I've seen all weekend.

[davefoxx]

Thanks!  I hope your wife was the first! 🙂

DFF

[davefoxx]

The Seaboard System F unit project continues.  I let the gray paint cure for almost a week before taking masking tape to it, so that I could apply black paint for areas below the sill, e.g., plow, sill, and ladder.  I’m pleased with how the paint came out on the complicated masking job around the anticlimber and bumper on the nose.  I did get some bleeding paint above the ladders, but a yellow stripe will hide this paint transition:



Very early in the decaling, but this large logo gives instant gratification:



The yellow stripe was a bear.  The decal wanted to shatter.  So, I cut the decal and applied four separate pieces to complete the sill stripe.  I literally spent multiple hours trying to get these four pieces to stick and stay in place.  Trying to apply a thin decal over a rivet strip is very difficult:





If the end result of the other side is as good as this side, though, I’ll be satisfied.  I’m looking forward to applying a clearcoat to protect all of the work I’ve done so far, not to mention the decals to come.

DFF

[davefoxx]

I’m calling the decal step complete.  Not perfect, but probably good enough.  Still needs a clear coat, but I’ll wait to ensure that the decals are dry.  Time to go spend time with Dad and the family.  Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there.



DFF