UP 5441 ES44AC Detailed and Weathered

[ednadolski]

Hi Everyone, here are some pictured of an HO scale Intermountain ES44AC, UP5441, that I recently finished detailing and weathering.  The detailing portion was shown here in this thread: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=23991.0 , and so now here is the finished version with the weathering in place.  From looking at proto pics, these UP engines can vary greatly in the amount of soot and grime that they are sporting at any point in time, even for pics of the same engine taken at later points in time.   As these are pretty new engines, it's mostly a matter of grime and not too much in the paint fading, rusting, patches, tags, etc.   I was trying for a look that was more than just light, but not the really heavy, near-black look of some prototypes.  So for weathering I used airbrushing, along with artists paints (acrylics, gouache, and water-mix oils), plus some powders in a few places, as well as some brush detailing around the trucks and bearing caps. 

(Now if I can only figure out a way to make traction motor cables for N scale GEs....    )

As always, all comments, feedback, questions, etc. are most welcome.  Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Ed

[Philip H]

Ed, that is Seriously hawt! Well done!

[GaryHinshaw]

Excellent! The road spray over the front trucks is especially well done.  Many of your photos - especially the first two - could easily be mistaken for proto photos.

Cheers,
Gary

P.S. What's going on with the right handrail near the back?  (A little jog in the rail.)   Did you snip yours the way I did on my CP unit? 

[ednadolski]

I've replaced the links with some embedded images.  These are re-sized to be smaller, for some reason it was having trouble with displaying the larger ones.

Anyways, thanks guys for looking.   Gary, the handrails seems to have actually broken at that point -- didn't notice it until after I had taken the pics, and haven't had time to repair & re-shoot.   Just another reason not to like plastic handrails I guess...   I'm still thinking about maybe coring the stanchions and installing some wire handrails, OTOH I'm also tempted just to wait until Railflyer makes some GE stanchions, but I'm not sure if/when that might happen.

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

It's good to hear that not everything about HO is perfect...

I really dig the scenery on your diorama too.  I'd love to see you do one with dry summer grass and a smattering of live oaks.  Then you can teach me.   

-Gary

[MrKLUKE]

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[nscalemike]

Another very nicely weathered piece from Ed!  Wow, once again I thought you put a prototype photo for comparision.  I also agree that your model scenes blend with the natural background perfectly.

Mike

[jsoflo]

Ed,
those really do look like proto photos, great weathering and great photography!

My best,
Jan

[unclepete2013]

One thing I would like to point out... darken your side windows. the 1:12 has deep tinted windows.