Proto GP38-2's

[Sokramiketes]

Can someone point me in the direction of the epic topic on the GP38-2's outlining everything that was wrong or missing?  No matter how I search I can't seem to locate it...

Thanks!

[Allentown Hump]

All you need to know is not to buy them unless you find them somewhere for like $29.99 or something...

[up1950s]

http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=30502&SearchTerms=gp38

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Wow! That was one of my shining moments!

Still, unfriggenbelievable.

[Allentown Hump]

They still allow you on the A-board Ed?  ;D

[tom mann]

Just do a search on "Ed Kapuscinski" ;D

I bought one of these some time ago and just started working on it (adding blma fans).    

Pros:

• Paint is the best, lots of little detail (like gaskets) painted.
• Runs very smooth
• Best handrails

Cons:

• The fans.
• No sight glass, no cab overhang.
• big flanges.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Tom, how does adding the BLMA fans help em? I've been curious. My major fan complaints were mostly around the shrouds, not the actual grills, and I thought you leave the shrouds for the BLMA fans, right?

[Sokramiketes]

All you need to know is not to buy them unless you find them somewhere for like $29.99 or something...

Bingo.  I did start messing with one.  The separate fan housings acutally made it really easy to carve them out and add BLMA fans and grills.  Still need to order a sight glass.  Don't know what to do about the roof overhang yet... if anything.  Trucks... well...

Thanks for the lead guys!

[Sokramiketes]

Tom, how does adding the BLMA fans help em? I've been curious. My major fan complaints were mostly around the shrouds, not the actual grills, and I thought you leave the shrouds for the BLMA fans, right?

Are the shrouds too tall?  The molded in grills are awful, but the housing looks OK once it's painted to match. 

[tom mann]

Tom, how does adding the BLMA fans help em? I've been curious. My major fan complaints were mostly around the shrouds, not the actual grills, and I thought you leave the shrouds for the BLMA fans, right?

Are the shrouds too tall?  The molded in grills are awful, but the housing looks OK once it's painted to match. 

Yeah Ed, what is the problem with the shrouds?  I always assumed your beef was with the grills, which on my SOO model look like translucent white gummy grills. To complain about the shrouds and not the grills doesn't compute!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Horrible photo, but it looked like the shrouds were rendered as bad as the grills:

[tom mann]

Ed's photo shows the excellent handrails and detailed paint work.  The holes in the steps are pretty cool, too.  I agree that the whole fan assembly is sub-par, but replacing the grills with BLMA parts makes a huge difference.  I'm not sure why the model was even constructed this way, as I can't see the logic of having a separate piece.

[Ryan87]

as I can't see the logic of having a separate piece.

Perhaps at one point a "Q-tron" fan was planed...

all the major complaints seem easy to fix fan housings and a proper cab can be got from a 10 dollar Atlas shell, BLMA makes grill's & a sight glass.
My biggest issue is they glued the damn things together   

[Sokramiketes]

Work in progress, but some shots showing BLMA fans in place on the Proto shrouds.

Mine's got a small overhang on the rear of the cab also, though definitely not pronounced.  I've been cutting the window glass apart and gluing it in flush in the cab as well.  Seems to help overall appearance.  I'll glaze over the numberboards with .005" clear styrene at some point, as they are back to far anyway.  Just painted the gaskets black currently.  I'm also not happy with the new nose headlight... may pull it off so I can carve more plastic away and set it back more.

Anyway, like I said it's in progress, but comments are welcome.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Are those down for good? They look a little "tacked on".