F-UnitMad Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Here's a little Dark Side project I've managed to finish today; a repaint of an Athearn HO scale CF7 into the colors of the Minnesota Commercial Railroad. If the shade of red looks vaguely familiar, that'll be because it's Soo Line Red.... Finally here's a picture of the real loco.. http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1132348 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor quinn Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Very nice, whose decals did you use? Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 The decals are a bit of a mix... the wasp stripes and "City of Bayport" are Microscale; the main name and numbers are dry-rub Letraset-style transfers I've had years, and the number box numbers are dry-rub British Railways Pre-Tops Diesel numbers!! The chassis white 'visibility' stripes are off a Highball Graphics Progressive Rail sheet. There was a bit more to do to the model than just a straight re-paint; the radio antenna 'plate' had to be moved from back to front of cab, the supplied horn taken off the nose and replaced with another on the hood, and the various grab irons removed & replaced after the white wasp-stripe decals were done. MU pipes were added on the pilot beam. Working ditch lights were also fitted, and the model has a Soundtrax Tsunami DCC chip so has genuine EMD 567 engine sounds. Possibly there should be more details added, such as wipers, coupler cut bars and more accurate fuel tanks, but these days I reach a certain level of detail that I'm happy with and tend to stick to that; some details can be awfully fragile, or just a plain hassle (as changing the fuel tanks would be here) for very little gain. Especially in HO scale I'm going for the 'overall look' rather than absolute fidelity. Well that's my excuse anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbonnetuk Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Nice job with that repaint and detailng. Always thought it a little strange that Athearn never produced this scheme esp as they did do some pretty obscure ones like Pee Dee River RR Dan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supaned Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Nice loco - the layout it's working on also looks good - any further info on that? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcanman Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Very nice indeed! Normally, I'm not a great fan of CF7s, they're not the most handsome US loco type, but your model looks great in that paint scheme. I'd also be interested to see more of the layout. regards, Mal Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Nice one, Jordan - you are getting good at these re-paints - and that one is different enough to really catch the eye Jack Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Nice loco - the layout it's working on also looks good - any further info on that? I'd also be interested to see more of the layout. I must admit I haven't done a seperate thread "Over Here" about the layout, as progress is pretty slow - it's a long term project up my loft, so here are some details culled from other Forum posts.... The overall layout size is about 17ft x 8ft, and if you're expecting something really spectacular sorry but this is really a large trainset... The layout is really just two big ovals with a passing loop each and a freight branch around the outside. There's no hidden sidings - I don't see the point in this case. The inner oval is DC; the outer oval & branch are DCC. There is just one crossover links them, but has insulated fishplates. Eventually if/when the happy day arrives that we have an all-DCC fleet, the inner oval will be wired to the DCC bus. I know mixing DC & DCC is strongly advised against, but that is mainly aimed at club layouts as far as I can see, with many possible operators. For us two alone we shouldn't get confused, and all locos are having little sticky 'dot' labels put under them - red for DC, green for DCC. I am not enabling any of the DCC locos to run on DC - something that isn't very good for them anyway as far as I've read? The side with the plain running lines is where we plan to have a "British" station for my lad. The other side with all the loops and sidings (or sidings and spurs in US parlance) is the "American" side for me. Curves are nominally 3ft radius on the outer oval, but tighten to Hornby 3rd radius (about 21inch?) over the central heating boiler. I made the boards narrow over that, mainly so they don't get in the way when it's serviced. All the curves are canted, by setting them in coving adhesive spread out when the track was being laid. They're a little bit unevenly canted in places, but certainly help keep the Pendolino on the rails! The tight curves in the one corner do mean that fast trains have to slow a touch around there - this is a good thing really as it means you really do have to drive them - they can't just be set to full power and left to their own devices. There are just three sidings on the freight branch, holding about six boxcars each. Yes - it's really just a rather large Inglenook!!! One picture shows one of the sidings "disappearing" in a grey mess - this is in-laid track, using coving adhesive smoothed out, and the flangeways formed by dragging a home-made scraper through the mix before it drys. The loft itself has just been insulated and boarded, with the joists etc having more wood added to them for weight support, and a velux skylight put in - it's not a full-blown conversion, doesn't add value to the house (except in layout terms!!) and counts as storage, so no planning permission is required. The internal walls of the house rise up into the loft to support the main beams, which is what the two 'intrusions' are - the builders boarded them is right up to the ceiling, which was easier for them and saved us a bit of money. On the one I removed just part of the plasterboard, leaving the framing wood, as that is the side the loft ladder comes up, and there's a handrail fitted at the bottom of that wall to assist entry. On the other side I took out the plasterboard completely, which really opens up the view down the layout, but explains the 'patch' in the ceiling boarding! The boards themselves are Knauf Spaceboard extruded foam sheets (no longer available) from B&Q. They are supported by wooden battens that are screwed to the main roof beams. Hardboard strips are stuck to the edge. It's all very light but quite strong enough for HO trains - I wouldn't like to put my Heljan O Hymek on it, though!! Best of all there's no legs cluttering up the floor space. Here's a few 'progress' pics - nothing is "complete" yet, but they give the idea... One part of the Industrial Park. Freight Transfer building & team track on the left, Food Processor on the right. From a low angle, I think it looks quite good... Further along we have a Chemicals Distributor, and a Cold Store on the same spur.... At the far end, where it is imagined the old Depot used to be, Progressive Rail have a small Yard Office. Behind it is an Industry no longer rail served, although the derelict old track is still there (turnout "removed") .. and a rudimentary start has been made on the scenery. In some areas it looks quite spacious, amazingly enough.... Over the boiler, the scene is narrower of course... Finally on the "British" side a Metcalfe platform has made an appearance - another one is to be built for the left hand track. It holds about 8 coaches. Beyond is the Exchange siding for the American side, so it always looks a bit weird around here, but if/once my lad loses interest.... (evil laugh at prospect of re-development!!!) Obviously, there is plenty more yet to do...!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allegheny1600 Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Hi Jordan, Great job on MNNR 484 - I'm envious!! Did you use an 'undec' loco or a full on repaint, please? I've always though that doing a repaint must be harder! As Dan says, it's odd Athearn haven't done this livery as I think this is quite a popular little road! Cheers, John E. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 I started off with a painted one - the ADM Milling one, which happily has the right antenna (just in the wrong place!!). It's a fairly plain livery to start with so mostly I just removed the lettering. I hope Ian Holmes doesn't mind too much if I borrow a picture he's posted on his thread here showing the model he bought; mine was identical. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 I'm obviously going to have to keep an eye out for an ADM one to use as an ADM one, most seem to be going for repaint fodder! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjgardiner Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 I'm obviously going to have to keep an eye out for an ADM one to use as an ADM one, most seem to be going for repaint fodder! Its light grey, a nice base for re-paints once you get the lettering off. It's the same reason i chose a Clinchfield Bachmann GP7 for a custom project into a CNR GP7, the base grey is essentially pre-primed once the pad printed lettering for Clinchfield is removed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveB Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Love it Jordan, my two favourites - PGR and MNNR. Very nice job on that loco. Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Love it Jordan, my two favourites - PGR and MNNR. Very nice job on that loco. Dave I thought you might, Dave!! I meant to have it ready for TVNAM, but didn't finish it in time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.