Arizona & California GP35's

[dmidkiff]

After befriending an old trainmaster for the Arizona & California Railroad and seeing the exceptional work here at The Railwire, I wanted to try my hand at modeling with more of a prototype focus.  I've always been a fan of GP35's and the A&C has one particular locomotive that is an ex-SP unit that has some neat detail that would push my modeling skills and hopefully teach me some things. I decided to build two of these locomotives so I would have the extra practice and two unique pieces of equipment.  The prototype is ARZC 3503, ex-SP 6356. I'm still earning about the nuances with EMD units and their rebuilds, so there are a few details on these that are not correct.

I started with two Atlas/Kato GP35's and stripped them down.  The first thing to do was model the old SP light package. I used various styrene shapes to build the clusters and plates and used Archer rivet decals for the bolts. Detail Associates pyle headlights were used for the actual light housings. I also modified the pilots and built the plates at the bottom with styrene. I've never been a fan of the BLMA MU hoses, they are 2 dimensional and I've never had luck making them look good. They also do not have the small angle iron above the hoses which I think is a really neat little detail. I used the smallest styrene channel I could find, cut it in half then sanded it down to create those angles. The MU hoses will come later using 0.008" brass wire. A lot of detail parts from BLMA, GMM and Miniatures by Eric came next. Lift rings, a bell, cab sunshades, windshield wipers, trainline airhose, MU stands, cut levers, fans, drop steps and an Atlas horn.  The BLMA sunshades are very flimsy and I'm not happy how they came out at the end, I'll be using GMM parts from now on. I also built the brass handrails at this point with 0.010"x0.018" brass bar and 0.008" wire.








Next came paint. I used Tru Color paints for these two. First up was a light coat of grey primer, followed by a base coat of white. I then masked the units for the green. The green used is Reading Green, it's nice to have a railroad color and not a custom mixed one. The color of the MicroScale decals matches perfectly. The trucks were painted silver.








Decals followed starting with the numbers and stripes on the cab. I use the stripes here to help locate them down the hood. Next came the roadname and stripes down the hood. I cut individual decal stripes to go all the way around the sill, between each stanchion and around the pilots. Once the decals were done, I did the detail painting on the handrails and cut levers. After that was done, I added the MU hoses and painted those, I'm very happy with the final look of the hoses. I added the grabirons and painted them the correct color based on location. Finally, the unit went back into the paintbooth for a final clearcoat and then they were assembled.












Unfortunately the paint has started to peel off the cab sunshades, not sure why.  I'm also not happy with the front numberboards and may redo those. They are printed on paper and cut to fit, glued with Krystal Klear. I believe I need to cut a larger section so you can't see the edge of the paper. I think the font and the appearance is on the right track though.

I'm very happy with these units and I learned a lot during the build. I'm looking forward to the next unit that I do based on the prototype. The next one will be California Northern SD9 201.

Thanks for looking!
Doug

[C855B]

...Unfortunately the paint has started to peel off the cab sunshades, not sure why. ...

I learned from a talented custom painter that Tru-Color has issues with raw brass. I solved the problem by sandblasting the brass to give it enough tooth, and the result so far is fairly durable - even passing scratch tests. You probably could get similar results with 400- or 500-grit sandpaper. Also important to know is Tru-Color "Primer" is not a primer, but just another color.

Your models are beautiful, Doug. The GMM stanchions and the effort you put into the pilots make a huge difference, not to mention the rest of the detailing. When you see the pics and have to ask, "These are HO, right?", the quality of the work becomes pretty clear.

Raising the bar, you are.

[ednadolski]

Hey Doug, that some really impressive model work you've got going on there!  The detailing and parts fabrication are looking top notch, but to me the crowning touch has got to be the handrails.  Great work there, to get everything straight and square, and excellent soldering work looking all well-fit and free from blobs.  Your pics and the dio are as impressive as the diesels.

One thing I do when painting metal parts (brass, phosphor bronze, and stainless steel) is give them a light primer coat with some Scalecoat MOW Grey.  That seems to give enough of a base for the TCP to hold.

Side question, how goes the layout build? 

Ed

[SSW7771]

These turned out great! Can you share some more details on how you built the ex-SP lights and pilots?

[dmidkiff]

I learned from a talented custom painter that Tru-Color has issues with raw brass. I solved the problem by sandblasting the brass to give it enough tooth, and the result so far is fairly durable - even passing scratch tests. You probably could get similar results with 400- or 500-grit sandpaper. Also important to know is Tru-Color "Primer" is not a primer, but just another color.

Your models are beautiful, Doug. The GMM stanchions and the effort you put into the pilots make a huge difference, not to mention the rest of the detailing. When you see the pics and have to ask, "These are HO, right?", the quality of the work becomes pretty clear.

Raising the bar, you are.

Thank you Mike.

I did see your thread about paint and brass parts.  I've never had much of a problem with raw brass other than the BLMA sunshades. I did give the fret a vinegar bath, but to no avail. I have some older builds that were painted with PollyScale and the paint has done the same on the BLMA shades.  I wanted to use them here for the drip rail, but moving forward I'll stick with the GMM parts. I agree that the sandpaper should give me enough tooth.

I realize Tru Color primer is a color and I use it just to get a light even coat of color on a model before the model colors. I think their white covers really well and could be used first as a "primer", but not the green.

Doug

[dmidkiff]

Hey Doug, that some really impressive model work you've got going on there!  The detailing and parts fabrication are looking top notch, but to me the crowning touch has got to be the handrails.  Great work there, to get everything straight and square, and excellent soldering work looking all well-fit and free from blobs.  Your pics and the dio are as impressive as the diesels.

One thing I do when painting metal parts (brass, phosphor bronze, and stainless steel) is give them a light primer coat with some Scalecoat MOW Grey.  That seems to give enough of a base for the TCP to hold.

Side question, how goes the layout build? 

Ed

Thank you Ed.

The handrails were a labor of love.  One thing I did differently on these from older builds was to leave the stanchions long and lay the handrail over them for soldering. I used to try and cut the stanchion to the perfect height and then solder the rail on top of it. I think having the rail on top of the stanchion made things easier and it also gives the look of the little loop on the prototype. Careful work with a dremel takes the blobs away and gets a nice smooth top at the stanchion handrail connection.

Do you prime the parts before gluing them on the model?

The layout has stalled since we had our little one two years ago, there just isn't time, or energy after she goes down, to get much done in the basement. I have been building locomotives though!  Since you were last here, I've ripped up portions of the mainline to realign them to better match the prototype, as well as I can with limited space anyway. You are always welcome to stop by if you are down this way. I don't get up your way very often...

Doug

[dmidkiff]

These turned out great! Can you share some more details on how you built the ex-SP lights and pilots?

Thank you Marshall.

I'll have to get the calipers out to measure styrene, but for the most part I used various sizes of strip to build things up.

For the rear cluster, I found a piece that matched the size of the molded in Atlas light that way I could build up on it. The two plates are 0.005" x 0.020" pieces that I cut to length and then sanded the curves on. I used both MEK and CA to help fill cracks and holes and lots of filing to get everything smooth.

For the nose light, I first sanded the flat recess on the face of the nose to locate the actual headlight. Once I had that measured and located, I took an Xacto and cut the opening on the top. I used 0.010" strip to build up the plates in the nose as one assembly so that I could glue it all in at one time. I would have preferred to use 0.005", but the MEK melted those pieces instantly. I glued the assembly in from the inside of the shell and then filed and sanded the outside for a get fit.

The plates at the bottom of the pilot were built up with a piece of 0.010"x0.010" and 0.010"x0.060". The smaller strip was glued to the larger at the bottom and then they were cut to length. After they were cut to length, I cut the angles on all four corners. A quick swipe with a file on the bottom made sure they were even.

Here are a few more photos of the initial construction.






Doug

[Mark5]

Very nice work on the handrails. I tried and failed at various attempts to make them way back when there were no stanchions in N scale  -  I appreciate the effort you put into this.

[Santa Fe Guy]

Really great work Doug and this scheme just pops.
I can see some fluffy edges on the colour change and maybe you could try and old trick. When you have painted your first colour and masked ready to spray the green, give the loco a light spray of the first colour in this case the white to seal the edges of the masking tape. Then give it a coat of the green. When peeling off the Masking pull it back slowly on itself. This helps to break the surface tension and you will then achieve very clean lines.
If you use painters tape cut a new edge to remove any furry edges or use Tamiya Masking tape but you probably already know that.
Just some tips I picked up years ago and it is surprising just how much better the painting looks when you follow these.
Rod.

[jagged ben]

This is N scale, right?

[ednadolski]

One thing I did differently on these from older builds was to leave the stanchions long and lay the handrail over them for soldering.

Yep for the GMMs that is my preferred approach too.  I find that it's too tricky for me to use the exact-length ones and get them all vertically aligned well enough before installing the wire handrail.   IRRC the GMMs also have a tab that some folks will form around the top of the wire, but I've never succeeded with that as again it is too tricky for me to make it look right.

Nowadays I make my own etched stanchions which by design are made as attached to the overlay sidesill.  The downside it it takes a separate design for every type of loco.  (I have threads on these, but I have to fix all the links since PB ate all my pics  )

Do you prime the parts before gluing them on the model?

Yes in most cases, I will prime them all while still on the fret.   Other cases (like handmade wire parts) I find it easier to do that after they are installed.

Ed

[dmidkiff]

Really great work Doug and this scheme just pops.
I can see some fluffy edges on the colour change and maybe you could try and old trick. When you have painted your first colour and masked ready to spray the green, give the loco a light spray of the first colour in this case the white to seal the edges of the masking tape. Then give it a coat of the green. When peeling off the Masking pull it back slowly on itself. This helps to break the surface tension and you will then achieve very clean lines.
If you use painters tape cut a new edge to remove any furry edges or use Tamiya Masking tape but you probably already know that.
Just some tips I picked up years ago and it is surprising just how much better the painting looks when you follow these.
Rod.

Thank you Rod.

I've heard of the trick to shoot a light coat of the base color but have never tried it, I will one the next ones. I do use the Tamiya tape and peel it back on itself. I always try to mask, shoot and peel in a 24 hour period. I pull the tape as soon as I can after I clean the brush.

Doug

[dmidkiff]

Yep for the GMMs that is my preferred approach too.  I find that it's too tricky for me to use the exact-length ones and get them all vertically aligned well enough before installing the wire handrail.   IRRC the GMMs also have a tab that some folks will form around the top of the wire, but I've never succeeded with that as again it is too tricky for me to make it look right.

Nowadays I make my own etched stanchions which by design are made as attached to the overlay sidesill.  The downside it it takes a separate design for every type of loco.  (I have threads on these, but I have to fix all the links since PB ate all my pics  )

Yes in most cases, I will prime them all while still on the fret.   Other cases (like handmade wire parts) I find it easier to do that after they are installed.

Ed

I hear ya on the alignment. I don't use the GMM stanchions anymore and prefer to bend my own from brass bar, that's what I did on this model. I remember seeing your etched parts when I was up there and the threads, they looked great. The ones on the pilot are the worst, I wonder if there is commonality enough to produce those generically for EMD and GE?

Doug

[ednadolski]

I wonder if there is commonality enough to produce those generically for EMD and GE?

For the GE pilot railings there are two basic styles, wide and narrow, that seem to suffice for most of the Dash-8, Dash-9, AC44, and GEVOs (at least for BNSF and UP, tho perhaps some other prototypes had a different arrangement).  So I am using those as a common element in my etchings.  The side handrails are a different matter and have to be updated for each type.

I haven't gotten quite so far for the EMDs, but I have done some end pilot overlays which seem usable for a variety of models.  One thing holding me back (aside from layout construction of course ) is that I want to see where MT is going with the TSCs, as I will adapt the coupler pocket opening to fit those.

Ed

[SSW7771]

Thank you Marshall.

I'll have to get the calipers out to measure styrene, but for the most part I used various sizes of strip to build things up.

For the rear cluster, I found a piece that matched the size of the molded in Atlas light that way I could build up on it. The two plates are 0.005" x 0.020" pieces that I cut to length and then sanded the curves on. I used both MEK and CA to help fill cracks and holes and lots of filing to get everything smooth.

For the nose light, I first sanded the flat recess on the face of the nose to locate the actual headlight. Once I had that measured and located, I took an Xacto and cut the opening on the top. I used 0.010" strip to build up the plates in the nose as one assembly so that I could glue it all in at one time. I would have preferred to use 0.005", but the MEK melted those pieces instantly. I glued the assembly in from the inside of the shell and then filed and sanded the outside for a get fit.

The plates at the bottom of the pilot were built up with a piece of 0.010"x0.010" and 0.010"x0.060". The smaller strip was glued to the larger at the bottom and then they were cut to length. After they were cut to length, I cut the angles on all four corners. A quick swipe with a file on the bottom made sure they were even.

Doug

Thank you Doug!