Then, last week, I finished off the remaining B units to fill out the set of ABBBA Santa Fe
freight Kato F7s (from the 1996 Kato run):
Even though Intermountain is coming out (eventually) with N scale Santa Fe freight F7s,
I prefer these older, non-DCC-capable Kato F7s for their lower ride appearance, closer
coupling with Unimates, and silky smooth mechanisms (did need to oil/tune the mechanisms
after all these years).
Overall, I happen to like the hunkier, heftier appearance that I think these old
Kato F7s have.
Here is a closeup of the lead F7, Santa Fe 272L:
The pilot / trucks / fuel tank on these Kato Santa Fe freight F7's are hand-brush painted with
Pollyscale acrylic Grimy Black.
I mask the part of the body shell that is below the yellow stripe (i.e. fuel tank cover and grab
irons), and hand-brush them Grimy Black as well, so that they match with the trucks/fuel tank.
Then, weathering is done with Bragdon Enterprises weathering system (his adhesive-impregnated weathering 'chalks').
I don't use the weathering chalks on the trucks, obviously, to avoid gumming them up. I do the
weathering with the shell off to avoid gumming up the split-frame and motor for the same reason.
FYI, the numberboards and kickplates on the cab doors are done the old fashioned way - cut out
individual numbers and individual kickplate decals from MicroScale Decals number 60-793 'Data
for EMD E and F units', and apply (patience is a virtue in this operation!). Getting the size
of the numbers on the numberboard right was a multiple-LHS-visit exercise in trial and error
with several different Micro-Scale decal sets, before I finally found/settled on the 60-793s.
In the case of the number boards, once I got the numbers positioned properly and dry, I
applied to the numberboards a coat of MicroScale Gloss to simulate the numberboard glass.
In the case of the kickplates, I applied them carefully, then applied Microscale Sol to allow
the decal to snuggle down over the 'bolt details', then applied MicroScale Flat over them to seal them on.
The tiny little 'Fuel' decal I applied to the sideframe's fuel tank filler is sealed with a
downward brush of Microsoft Gloss, using that Gloss to double as looking like spilled fuel.
Naturally, the decals and Gloss/Flat sealing coats all go on first, then afterwards the
weathering chalks are applied.
Thx to Randgust and others who have supported me in upleveling my modeling.
This is probably 'Stage 1' of the weathering. Later, much more could be done at the detail level - we'll see how much time I have.
Just weathering the entire fleet to this basic level is clearly going to take all of 2006 and beyond..... but it is fun as hell and well worth it. Thx to modern technology such as the Bragdon Enterprise weathering system, even *I* can do this (smile!). If I can, anyone can!
