warbonnetuk Posted March 26, 2012 Share Posted March 26, 2012 Hi all In repsonse to the recent request for loco detail projects I though I'd document my new project to 'fettle' a stock Trainman BNSF Genset to match a specific prototype. While I try to reseach as much as I can I don't profess to be infailable so please feel free to chip in with corrections / additional info. First installement is a bit of preamble and a list of work to be undertaken Cheers Dan Prototype Summary In 2007 BNSF began taking delivery 4 axle 3GS21B model ‘genset’ road switchers from National Rail Equipment (NRE). Delivery came in three batches with road numbers of 1220-1244, 1245-1269 and 1270-1292. In response to clean air legislation most units were assigned to work in Southern California and Dallas / Fort Worth area, Texas. In addition to this main delivery BNSF went back to NRE for a later order of 2 units fitted with dynamic brakes which, while similar in overall shape, the long hood panel detail was considerably different. Within the first batch locos #’s 1220-1234 were supplied with a curved ‘EMD’ style fuel tank while later ones had a more angular version, as modelled by Atlas Roster Details http://www.trainweb....sets/gs21b.html BNSF Genset Line Drawings http://trainiax.net/...uilt=N&lrtype=L Model Appraisal From comparing the Atlas model to a selection of prototype photos from rrpicturearchives and locophotos websites there are a number of areas that can addressed to improve the model’s appearance in comparison to the prototype: Handrails: as mentioned already on this forum the Trainman handrails are a bit chunky thus the plan is to replace these with wire. In the interests of economy I’m going to drill out and reuse the plastic stanchions Front headlight: The BNSF variant has low nose headlight where front sand filler hatch is located on the model. Thus the existing filler hole needs to be opened up to accept a headlight and the cab headlight removed, filled and repainted then the headlight LED rerouted Relocate front sand filler: a new ‘hole’ to be cut on the fireman’s side in the short hood above the fireman side of short hood above the handbrake Cab: While roof detail is provided it is either a little over scale for my taste or incorrect for a BNSF loco. Thus the large Sinclair antenna will be replaced, the incorrect GPS dome replaced, a small Sinclair antenna added and and windscreen wipers fitted. Additionally the horns provided are a little weedy so are likely to be replaced. Pilots: Once again the Atlas air and MU pipework is a little too chunky for me so will be changed out along with adding coupler cut levers, spare knuckle holders and touching in the ditchlight surrounds. Underframe: From checking photos the battery boxes seem to either be one piece or extend a lot further back across the frame so the Atlas items are to be beefed up with plasticard. In addition, decent photos allowing, traction motor cabling and an air filter air piping are to be added. Trucks: The existing piping between the air cylinders are to be replaced by wire using the originals as a template and well as adding sand lines There are a couple of additional mods that I’ll be doing that are not strictly required. The first is to change out the stock angled fuel tank for a curved one using an Atlas GP38/40 family long fuel tank from the spares box as model will be renumbered to #1228. This will also allow fitting full profile underframe airtanks. Secondly my base model came with one sunshade and one part of the front handrails missing; while the handrails are going to be replaced anyway I’ll change the plastic shade that remains for a pair of etched ones. More to follow....... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted March 26, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 26, 2012 Dan i keep toying with buying one of these in CSX livery so will be interesting to see what you do, escpecially how the handrails turn out. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted March 26, 2012 Author Share Posted March 26, 2012 Dan i keep toying with buying one of these in CSX livery so will be interesting to see what you do, escpecially how the handrails turn out. Ian Ian Would be worth doing a check of some proto pics vs the Atlas site as IIRC there are a few more detail differences between the CSX and NS versions and the stock version that Atlas have done. Could be doing Atlas a big diservice but there is something in the back of my mind........ Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted March 26, 2012 Author Share Posted March 26, 2012 Evening all. Made a bit of progress over the weekend and tonight so here's the next instalment along with some photos. Those of a sensitive disposition metal working wise may wish to look away now! Dan Fuel Tank Swap (Pt1) Rather unwisely I made the decision to do this mod without really looking properly at the exploded parts diagram supplied by Atlas. Instead of the usual clip-on tank used on other Atlas locos the Genset tank is part of the rig that holds the motor retaining cradle in situ. However after stripping down the mechanism to the bare chassis block and offering up the Atlas tank moulding it looked possible to change the tank and fix the motor down without extensive surgery on the chassis block. Health Warning: To my non-technical eyes the wiring on the PCB is more complex than others I've dealt with. If you are similarly challenged it’s advisable to note what wire goes to which terminal before pulling the chassis apart. After measuring the internal dims of the fuel tanks a 3mm x 5mm triangle of material needed to come off the bottom corner of the tank section of the chassis block. Not having access to a milling machine this amendment was done with a large file from the DIY toolkit. The new method to hold the chassis in place would be 2 x 8BA cheesehead nuts and bolts (Eileens Emporium) using the existing holes in the chassis block. The holes in the plastic motor cradle were carefully opened up with a 4mm drill to allow the bolt heads to fit virtually flush. The two holes in the chassis were opened up with a 2 mm drill for the screws to fit through. Flipping the chassis over the bottom of the two holes were opened up to 5mm just enough for the nuts to sit flush with the botton the the chassis block. Once all in place the bolts were cut to length Turning to the fuel tank moulding the upper moulded sections of the tank were removed and sanded flush including the fuel gauge mouldings and expansion pipe. Then all the internal bulkheads and ribs were removed and smoothed as far as possible (Fig x). Using the original angled tank as a guide the inside length of the curved tank needs to be reduced from 61mm to around 50mm. This was done using a miniature mitre box and Xacto razor saw to carefully cut off one end and then removing an 10.5mm section (just to be on the safe side) including the old fuel gauge from the other. After a little truing up the two sections were glues together woth liquid cement and left to dry in the mitre box to keep it square. Once hardened of the my wonky cutting was fixed with some Milliput filler and set aside how to harden. To be continued........ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted March 28, 2012 Author Share Posted March 28, 2012 Hi all A little more progress made...... After the liberal application of filler the shortened fuel tank moulding has been sanded down using a mix of Course, medium, fine, extra fine and finishing Squadron sanding sticks, then given a quick dusting of Tamiya grey primier from a rattle can to highlight any imperfections. This done and to my amazment it can up v nicely so next step is to mark out where to add the detail to be added. NOTE: from discussing this project on a separate forum I discovered that a Kato fuel tank (assuming an SD40-2 one?) moulding can also be used without the need to alter the chassis block. However it will still need to be shortened To be continued.......# Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted March 28, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 28, 2012 Only another days wok to finish it now! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 Ok....... So a bit of a lull in activity on the project due to combo of domestic priorities and also doing some more photo research. To recap I currently have a slightly altered frame and a shortened fuel tank devoid of any detail. The next step is to start adding some of this missing detail back. Having looked round the net I have struggled to get any really clear close up shots of BNSF fuel tank furnature however the first pic below gives a idea of layout. There are three main items to replace (from the rear forwards); the fuel filler neck, fuel gauge and what I'm assuming is some sort of release valve (light grey). In addition to these there is also an overflow pipe starts on the enginners side behind the fuel gauge and then runs across the back of the tank to the firemans's side. Finally there is a drainbar that runs along the bottom edge of the rear end of the fuel tank underneath the drain pipe. To illustrate these details a bit better I've used a couple of shots of nice clean UP units in bright CA sunshine which show up a lot better After a lot of looking I've also come to the conclusion that the fuel tank ends on the gensets lack the small lip found on regular EMD diesels so no prelim work will be needed on these areas Next installment will be actually doing some constructive work using some detail parts and some bits from the scrapbox Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Since the last mini update progress has been made on detailing the fuel tank (see pics below) Having consulted a couple of side-on photos gleaned from the web I came up with some rough measurements using the relationship of the filler etc with stanchions and hood doors. Having marked these off holes were drilled each side for the filler necks and also to small pipes feeding back into the tank. Also a hole was drilled on the engineers side behind where the tank gauge would be to the vertical section of the overflow pipe. The filler and gauge were scrounged from the spare parts box, their origins being unused pipeworks details from Athearn RTR locos and spares from a Cannon & Co EMD Fuel Tank detail set (TD-2156) respectivley. Another source of these details would be Detail Associates FU3102 fuel tank set. The vertical pipe for the overflow was also from the Cannon set The remaining details were bits and bobs of wire, old brass fret, Evergreen section and rod plus some copper wire. The vents (??) next to the fuel gauge were a couple of pieces of 0.45mm brass wire with a drilled section of Evergreen rod that was then sanded to a thinner profile. The drain bar running along the bottom edge of the tank was a piece of 40thou square Evergreen strip that was again sanded to reduce it's profile once glued up. The overflow pipe was piece of copper wire formed based a couple of pics. What I did notice was that the open end was held away from the tank by a short bracket so this was replacates using some waste brass fret with a small loop bent into it These mods cover the detail I can be certain of with the pics I have so next it will be time to add some traction motor cables and add some sandlines to the trucks To be continued............... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Gwinnett Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Hi Dan, Any further progress to report? I've taken the plunge and bought a BNSF liveried one as its more appropriate to my current Texan ideas than the UP pair. Bit nervous about relocating the headlight - hoping to see how yours goes first! I'll probably keep mine as #1251 as the factory model - it works in the right areas, so I'll be trying to detail it to match the prototype. Cheers, Jon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted April 30, 2012 Author Share Posted April 30, 2012 Hi Jon Work and domestic arrangements have conspired to put this project in temporary hold. Did pick up it again quickly last night and hope to make a bit of progress towards the weekend. Promise!! Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted May 7, 2012 Author Share Posted May 7, 2012 Evening all After a couple of weeks away from the work bench I finally managed to get a bit more done on the Genset project. Not a quantum leap but hopefully the (iffy) pics shows the addition some underframe cabling (Details West) along with some sandlines and brackets on the out ends of the trucks. The grey brackets themselves are the Detail West plastic parts fitted with pipes made from insulation from bulbs stripped from Athearn RTR locos. To fit in the end of the locating pins on the DW brackets I opened up each end of the insulation with a 0.4mm drill. The other then of the end of the insulation was fed into a DA eyebolt and cyno'd in. I'm going to compomise on not fitting inner sand lines as space is a bit tight and I'd rather have reliable perfomance I also bulked out the rather skinny battery boxes with some Evergreen section so these now need some paint, prob a weathered black / grey along with the trucks and frame. In terms of the underframe that is virtually it with attention tuning to the pipework and airtanks attached to the underside of the body. Having put together a pair of Cannon & Co EMD tanks I can how see some clearance issues with these and the DW cable mouldings fitted which will in all probability mean that the section behind the tank will be coming off. Where the Atlas frame 'steps out' around the motor section there would be the potential to mill a channel into it to match the profile either end and give the necessary clearance but as I don't have the tools / skills this will have to be another compromise..... Once again apologoes for the iffy progress pic..... Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 Morning all Progress on the build continues slowly...... After the rather dodgy pic in my last update the new one hopefully shows off progress a little better. In addition to the sandlines and battery box mods mentioned last time I decided to go back and add a set of Detail West EMD style fuel tank brackets to each end of the fuel tank unit. At present the frame interface surface alignes to thin air so there is a little job outstanding to cyno some Evergreen strip into the frame to fill the gap. Also added a speed recorder (again using photo of #1228 for reference) using Detail West Late speed recorder - sorry forgotten the part no! Turning attention to the air tanks & plumbing after assembing the Cannon & Co airtanks they were glued to the underside of the running board using the moulding grove for alignment and also ensuring that the fittings in the tank ends were horizontal. To provide a bit if strength a sandwich of 10 & 15 thous Evergreen strip was glued inside the frame to fill the gap between the tank and running board. I also predrilled the tank ends to 0.45 to prep for installing the plumbing Pipework was bent from Eileens 0.45 brass wire using photos of the web for reference. It was noted that the pipe feeding the air cleaner kinked inwards towards the frame so this was replicated. The air cleaner moulding was the larger of the two from DW139 filter set which I had to hand however I suspect that the Railflyer Salem filter would be a lot finer. At present I've not cyno'd up any of the pipes as, where I'm attaching them to the body rather than the underframe, it will foul the top lip of the chassis casting. My solution to this is to installed them with HobbyTac (non-perm glue) at the end of the build so I'll still have access for maintanence Still to address: Moving the front headlight and sand filler (next up), cab roof detail, pilot detail and handrail replacement. Cheers Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Brilliant thread, Dan. Many thanks, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted May 24, 2012 Author Share Posted May 24, 2012 Hi all Well I finally took the plunge and started on the body mods to relocate the front headlight from the cab to the front of the short hood and then cut a new hole on the side of the short hood for the new sand filler location. First up was the new headlight location. From my detail parts store I chose a Detail Associates #1004 Pyle Duel Headlight Late and then using the part for dimension and photos from the web marked out the size of hole required. One piece of luck is that the existing front sand filler slot provided an excellent guide with the bottom edge matching the same for the new headlight slot and the width is v close too. To minimise damage to the factory paint work I masked up round the slot then cut out the exisiting sand filler moulding. Then I drilled a 2mm hole to give an access point for a square needle file and then v carefully opened out the hole to close to the non-masked area. Then it was a process of offering up the DA part to check fit and fettling the hole in the required direction and then repeating this process until I had the correct size slot to take the headlight moulding and 4 (reasonably) perpendicular sides. To back of the slot was blocked off with a piece of 10 thou plasticard and then a further 10 thou spacer was cut to fit inside the headlight slot to bring the headlight moulding a little further forward to match the photos I was working to. Next up was to tackle the new recessed housing for the sand filler. Again from checking photos the front edge of the required slot is where the short hood starts the angle in while the bottom edge is along the top of the warning notice. For width I used the replacement sand filler detail part (Detail Associated #3001 EMD Sand Filler GP35 onwards) as a guide and settles on using a bit of Evergreen 0.010 x 0.120 as a base. As with the headlight slot I outlined the rectangle of shell to be removed with masking tape to protect the paintwork. To cut the hole I used the same technique as with the headlight i.e. drilling small holes near to the outline of the required slot, linking the holes but cutting carefully with a scapel then opening up gradully with a square needle file. Once opened up the new recess was contructed using Evergreen strip. The base of piece (0.010 x 0.120) was slightly sanded to an angle and glued in to gently slope upwards, as per proto photos. Where I had pre-glued the DA filler cap in place on the base piece that acted as a guide to the approx depth. Hopefully the two below pics provide some context and, yes, I've subsequently fixed the slope of the top edge of the sand filler housing (hate closeup pics showing off my dodgy modelling!!) Cheers Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Gwinnett Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Hi Dan. Sorry it's taken me so long to comment - but great work! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Hi Dan. Sorry it's taken me so long to comment - but great work! No probs Jon and thanks for the comments Have made a little bit more progress but hope to do a bit more before my next update Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 Hi all In between starting a new contract job (back to using Southern Trains - Boo!!!!) and waiting for the arrival of Child #2 have managed to make a little bit more progress on #1228 Firstly the I've touched up the housings cut for the nose headlight and sand filler and added a Details Associates Late era EMD headlight moulding. In terms of colours used the jar of Polyscale BNSF Orange wasn't a great match so I did a custom mix of Vallejo orange with a touch of yellow and mid brown (I'll check the exact colours later). The headlight was done using a Humbrol 'Aluminium' rattle can I had lying around. Where I'm going to correct / upgrade the cab roof detail I've also touching up the cab roof and removed headlight area with a little Vallejo Air light grey airbrushed on as a base of another dose of the custom mix orange. Finally the frame, fuel tank and track sides have been airbrushed using a initial mix of Vallejo Air Black with a couple of drops of Panzer Grey added to give a slightly weathered look. Once dryed they got a v quick blow over with a dilulted mix of just the Panzer Grey. In the picks belows the fuel tank, which still requires another black / grey coat, shows the contract Cheers Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parthia27 Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Excellent stuff Dan. It's funny you say that the Polyscale BNSF Orange is not a good match, I had the same issue last night with their BN Green which is not a good match for the BN Proto 2000 GP38-2. I blew a small amount on to a scratch on the cab side and found it to be much lighter than the factory applied colour. It was getting late so I'll try mixing in a small amount of Engine Black tonight and see what happens. Cheers ChrisM Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 Excellent stuff Dan. It's funny you say that the Polyscale BNSF Orange is not a good match, I had the same issue last night with their BN Green which is not a good match for the BN Proto 2000 GP38-2. I blew a small amount on to a scratch on the cab side and found it to be much lighter than the factory applied colour. It was getting late so I'll try mixing in a small amount of Engine Black tonight and see what happens. Cheers ChrisM Thanks Chris Without wanting to start a debate over what is the 'correct' colour for locos etc it is amazing the range of shades that the likes of Athearn, Atlas etc use between then for something like ATSF 'Superfleet' red. The Athearn version is close to pillar box while the Atlas version is several shades darker so it doesn't give the aftermarket paint guys much of a chance. My personal favourite was the colour that Kato used to use for ATSF yellow which was closer to Colemans Mustard :-) Cheers Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 Update on the paint used for my custom mix for BNSF Orange (all Vallejo): 70956 Light Orange 70915 Deep Yellow 70876 Brown Sand Cheers Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigZ Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Hi all In between starting a new contract job (back to using Southern Trains - Boo!!!!) and waiting for the arrival of Child #2 have managed to make a little bit more progress on #1228 Firstly the I've touched up the housings cut for the nose headlight and sand filler and added a Details Associates Late era EMD headlight moulding. In terms of colours used the jar of Polyscale BNSF Orange wasn't a great match so I did a custom mix of Vallejo orange with a touch of yellow and mid brown (I'll check the exact colours later). The headlight was done using a Humbrol 'Aluminium' rattle can I had lying around. Where I'm going to correct / upgrade the cab roof detail I've also touching up the cab roof and removed headlight area with a little Vallejo Air light grey airbrushed on as a base of another dose of the custom mix orange. Finally the frame, fuel tank and track sides have been airbrushed using a initial mix of Vallejo Air Black with a couple of drops of Panzer Grey added to give a slightly weathered look. Once dryed they got a v quick blow over with a dilulted mix of just the Panzer Grey. In the picks belows the fuel tank, which still requires another black / grey coat, shows the contract Cheers Dan Nice work...but an off topic question - your paint turntable there - Tamiya? Or whose? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted July 9, 2012 Author Share Posted July 9, 2012 Nice work...but an off topic question - your paint turntable there - Tamiya? Or whose? Craig Yes, it's the Tamiya one Cheers Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 Hi all Now some of you that have been following this tread might have been wondering what has happened to my half built genset. Well it's still a Work-In-Progress having been set aside mainly due to family commitments (new baby son) and also finally making some headway on another (railway) project that has been festering even longer. With the Seaboard Southern show and a house move looming for Sept I'm hoping to make some progress that I can share with you good people of RMWeb land but it may be a little slow!! Cheers Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Dalesman Posted February 12, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 12, 2014 Hi Dan, Any movement on the Genset front? I'm having a go at the UP and BNSF versions using Railflyer fuel tanks and other details. Cheers! Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted February 12, 2014 Author Share Posted February 12, 2014 Hi Chris Blimey.....I'd almost forgotten this tread! No, no further progress to date. Main sticking point at present is finishing the respray on the cab room ahead of fitting the correct antenna array and this has dropped down the order with the construction of 'Hacienda Avenue' That said I want my Genset to run on the new layout, it being So Cal based, so the target will be to have it complete for it's outing to Tolworth Trainshow later this year. Other bits to fit will be the correct Tsunami sound chip and also the replacement set of 'finescale' handrails that Atlas are using on their next release of Gensets (should they ever arrive!!) Funnily enough I also purchased a Railflyer tank to do my 'roundy tank' conversion by ended up amending a spare Atlas GP38/40 long tank. Immediate target is to have 'Hacienda Avenue' operational and presentable for the end of April then it's back to the loco projects Look forward to seeing your projects Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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