The Carolina Sandhills Lines in HO Scale

[DKS]

Congrats! A milestone indeed.

[Vince P]

Dave this is really looking great. I like the way the terrains looking along with the ground foliage.

Now ya just need to get the 2000 painted so you can have 2 SC locals dropping to the SS.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Beautiful.

[wm3798]

Signature scene.  Top drawer!
Lee

[davefoxx]

Thanks, guys!  That really means a lot to me coming from you all.  You know how much I admire and am inspired by your work.

DFF

[Philip H]

Well spit - now I need to do some n scale kudzu.

Seriously- you have nothing to be sad or ashamed of @davefoxx 

[nuno81291]

The trestle weathering is excellent.

[Hawghead]

I’ve had this Walthers GP9 decorated for NS for quite some time.  I don’t run it much with the conversion of the former Southern branch to the Seaboard Central.  But, I’ve found that it pairs well with the SC’s (former BN) GP9, and, being former N&W with a chopped nose, it has some distinctiveness, too.  I remapped it today, to consist it with No. 1700.  This required reversing direction and messing with lighting functions, since the NS considered the long hood forward.  The short hood, to take advantage of that low nose, will be the front on the SC.  Okay, the truth is there’s no need for multiple units, since I can only have four-car trains on the SC, including the caboose!  But, I like it, and, occasionally, I stretch the legs of the A&R and SC motive power on the roundy-round SBD line.



If and when I can get around to it, No. 2003 will retain its number and be fully painted in the SC’s red and blue scheme.  I need to locate the detail kit (e.g., grab irons) for this GP9 and get it ordered.  Unfortunately, my Scalecoat II paint order three months ago never shipped.    I got my money back from PayPal this weekend.  I have a second PayPal dispute for another order of HO scale street signs that was also placed about three months ago that never went past “processing” and also never shipped.

DFF

Dave,

Having multiple units on a local is common even if they aren't needed for the tonnage.  A double ended consist allows for the engineer to always be running short hood forward no matter which direction the train is going.  Very few engineers will tell you they like running long hood forward, it's just to hard to see what's ahead, especially if you're alone in the cab.

Scott

[davefoxx]

I was JFRTM this morning, and I realized that the color and font on Seaboard Central’s office car, “Gull,” was exactly what I need to replace the lettering on a former Durham & Southern GP38-2, except that I needed HO-sized decals (I used N scale SCL decals on Gull).  Anyhow, so you understand what I’m talking about, here’s the inspiration:


(Photo by Bill McClure from one of my SCL books.)

Here’s the before, an Athearn model that I bought a while back to attempt this relettering:



Rooting through my decal collection, I found black SCL freight car lettering with “Seaboard Coast Line” in almost the perfect size and font.  This was fortuitous, because I thought that I would have to have custom decals made.  This SCL lettering on locomotive sides is usually an aluminum color, not black.  What luck!  Out came the Micro Sol, and, with some tissue to keep the D&S lettering wet for five minutes, the Athearn ink came right off.  Hopefully, the white numbers and logos will have the same result.



Now, I need to order SCL locomotive decals to get the road number and some decals to redo the numberboards.

DFF

[davefoxx]

The white lettering did not meet the same success as the removal of the black lettering.  Instead, five minutes under Micro Sol did nothing, and five more minutes removed the black paint from around and within the white lettering.  D’oh!  So, I’ll need to sand off the white lettering.  I ordered some decals from Microscale, which included black trim film for the now-required black patches.

Not the end of the world, but disappointing.  Creates a little extra work, but should be easily overcome.  I think the biggest challenge will be changing the numberboards.

DFF

[Steveruger45]

Looks like That loco was just made for you, Dave.   
Shame about the number decals though. Still, not hard to overcome. Maybe try gently scratching them off with a new knife blade? Ive used that technique on a few n scale Atlas locos and it works well.

[davefoxx]

Looks like That loco was just made for you, Dave.   
Shame about the number decals though. Still, not hard to overcome. Maybe try gently scratching them off with a new knife blade? Ive used that technique on a few n scale Atlas locos and it works well.

I might try 91% isopropyl alcohol, since the black paint has already been taken down to raw plastic in a few spots within the white logo.  I would prefer not to sand or scrape, because of fear that the scratches will show through the finish.  But, we'll see.

DFF

[DKS]

I've had good luck soaking the model in 91% alcohol and, for the more stubborn parts, gently rubbing with a pencil eraser cut down to a narrow wedge shape with an X-Acto and soaked in alcohol.

[davefoxx]

Today’s efforts have the cab lettering removed from former D&S No. 2002 with 91% isopropyl alcohol.  The black paint underneath also came off, obviously, but that white paint/ink wouldn’t come off with anything less.  By using alcohol, I have no scratches to repair, and Microscale black trim film will be used to patch the cab sides.  The proto photo looks like it was repainted in this area, so a mismatch of black paint versus decal film will not be a problem.  This is a similar process as to how I patched the cab sides for Seaboard Central No. 1700 with blue trim film over the BN green.  I do not know what to do with the logo on the nose, because, while I could just patch the entire nose, I don’t want to obliterate the painted class lights.  The numberboards will be a pain, too.

In the meantime, it just looks like someone spot-primed the cab sides. 



DFF

[Point353]

I do not know what to do with the logo on the nose, because, while I could just patch the entire nose, I don’t want to obliterate the painted class lights. 
DFF

Maybe try liquid paint mask on the class lights?
https://acrylicosvallejo.com/en/product/hobby/auxiliaries-model/liquid-mask-70523/