Yeah, well at least you have to strip the paint off the NS units. On the prototype CSX units, from the look of some of them, I think the rain just washes off the paint. ;-)
So... Who really has one in their hot little hands? Dealers not included, as you probably will not have tried to run a train or pull any cars with your! Who will be the first to strip theirs? I ordered a bunch from multiple dealers because I don't know who will be able to actually come through first, and I don't like being LAST! I want mine YESTERDAY! Do I have issues... Heck Yeah! I need my SD40-2's! Now!
Robert, do you have the BN decals ready? I will strip it and repaint into a YN3. I hope to get mine tomorrow, but I doubt it. It usually takes 3 business days to get to me from Oregon. I actually dont mind you guys stripping it. It still counts as a CSX sale, which means I get more CSX stuff.
Hey Robert, Loren didn't have time to come by and pick up your order, so I sent it from MTL yesterday. You should get them today I hope. I haven't had to strip any of course, but am doing a number of different paint schemes on them. For those of you doing repaints, the railing is made of celcon so it will not take paint well. I have been working with two products, one is the flexable paint you get for RC Car Bodies at the hobby shop, and the other is a Adhesion Promoter you get in a spray can at places like Napa Auto and the like. You will need something flexable to stand up to handling. The Adheasion promoter is a clear primer that when used as directed, holds fast and takes any hobby enamel or lacquer very well. We have even twisted the parts in knots and the paint stays put. Hope you all enjoy the engines! Joe MTL )
Thanks Joe, that's great news! I have next week off from the day job, so I want to have some repaints done. I am thinking MRL and BN painted FURX leasers to start.
MT Joe Patt yourself in the back, I saw the SD40-2 today at my LHS and must say they look like you guys in Talent to the shrink ray to a Kato N SD40-2. The model looks oustanding. If I was still in Z i would get a few.
Just got mine today, and I am checking every inch with a microscope. It looks like its going to run with a SD70. Heck, what am I worrying about. I run dcc.
Mine did not show, so it's next Tuesday at the earliest. Postman is always slow! I wanted to be first to mod mine, but Hien got his already, and this morning he brought over his first stripped unit, with BLAMa fans, lift rings, MU hoses, windshield wipers, add on grabs, and cut levers. He had re-located the horn to the back, added a firecracker antenna, plugged all holes, and is ready to shoot it in the BNSF Swoosh scheme. We made laser precut decals for the Swoosh model, and they came out real good! I'll probably have photos of the finished model by morning, because Hien ran home real quick after we finished the decals!
I know, but the boys in Hillside and Schaumburg keep bringing new stuff in N that take most of my train money.:tb-biggrin:biggrin:
Robert, I plan to do all the detailing too, but I desided to take it easy. For now, I am content on running my new engines.
I am having real issues with the decoder installation. The desing of the slots are totally different then the ones on the GP35. From what I see, the Digitrax decoder will not work because it cant pick up power from the slots. Maybe if you wire it to the chassis. I am trying to use the TC decoder, but still having problems getting the decoder to fit. I need all the decoder gurus to take a look at it. I have no answers. I am not a happy camper. Why in the worl did MTL change the design. Its impossible to take the pc board off.
John, I am not a DCC guy so I can't help you too much. But I did take quite a few photos of the SD40-2 for our upcoming review. Here is an interior shot to help troubleshoot the DCC installation. Rob
The MCX board for the GP-35 looked impossible to install also. But if you loosen by 1 turn the three screws (one on each end and one under the fuel tank) the old board comes out and the new board drops in. Re-tighten each screw one turn. Much easier then the Digirtrax install and the "post" in the way. Does the MCX board fit the SD40-2? We will find out when Robert gets his SDs. David L.
Looks like Hien has a nice start! Rob from Ztrack - looks like you'll have to have another section dedicated to SD40-2 projects in the upcoming months.
