Heck, I'd take ANY D&RG locos on the BAZ BoyZ layout. Another key road this is sorely missing. Thanks for constantly reminding me That is one sweet bash. Keep it up but I hope something rolls off the production line sometime soon ! .
hi jeff, the ACe is in the works. you probably know more about it than i do, since robert is in your neighborhood. he has the shell and is doing the drawings for the railings before sending it on to tim. yes, the Grande and SP had a nice marriage of sorts, sharing similar equipment and operating requirements. i would often see SP locos on Colorado turf. we in colorado always resented Anschutz for buying out the SP but setting out to paint the Grande in SP colors! i guess there were more SP equipment than Grande equipment, so it was going to be cheaper to paint over the D&RGW stuff. still, it never sat well with us. but it's moot now. i always thought of Rio Grande and SP as having a kinship anyway, but was told that it was the Western Pacific that was a closer relative to the Rio Grande, being owned by the same interests. don't know if that's true, but it came from a reliable source. makes sense too, since the Grande and WP ran the Cal. Zephyr with the CB&Q. ok. i'm done. dave f.
Dave's SD50 Dave, I'm interested in how you thinned the MTL GP-35 cab and nose to fit onto the AZL frame. I did a similar kitbash a while back. I took a cast Rogue GP-38 shell,cut it off just behind the cab. then I cut the AZL SD70 frame off behind that cab. Squared and sanded the surfaces very smooth and then attached the GP-38 cab end. It turned out very nice, cause the GP-38 cab has more closer tolerances to the AZL shell than the GP-35 shell. Also Dave Explain the trucks.
hi harold, a friend of mine who knew i was making this kitbash offered me the sideframes. i think they were cast, so they must have come from an SD45 or SD40-2. i know AZL SD40-2s are still available, so rob probably has the truck parts. the GP35 cab: i cut right at the angle of the cab sides where they meet the top. i used a Zona saw, so that removed some material. i CAREFULLY cut a little from the windows and roof and carefully sanded them smooth. the risk was in snagging the front windshield frame and breaking it off. then i glued the sides back onto the roof and used some squadron putty to fill any cracks. the nose i cut right smack up the middle and sanded until both sides combined to the same width as the long hood and re-mated together smoothly. i used putty on the top of the nose and sanded it smooth. there is a plate on top of the nose of GP60s and SD50s, so that would have helped cover any potential gaps. i used some thin styrene strips around the indents on the nose where the cab slips down. i wanted as much nose length as i could get, so the nose now fits flush against the cab. i glued the nose to the long shell and reinforced with some thin styrene strips. it wasn't as tough as i had thought it would be. the rear break wheel (well) had to be filled in with putty and any doors filed smooth (on the other side too -- SD50s have a blank space under the last radiator grill on both sides). SD60s have one door creeping into that end space, and the SD70 has it full of doors. one of the few obvious spotting features (at least to me). where the chute/vent fits against the shell (brakeman's side -- left) it should be flat, but the SD70 shell has a raised panel there. i sanded it some, but didn't try to remove it completely (to make it flat). maybe i should have, as the chute is very small and needs depth to look right. so that is one of my compromises. the handrail was the tricky part. i'd have to draw it to show you how i cut it. i'll see what i can do about that later. i hope that answers some of the questions. it was kind of a fluke really, as i studied the shell and looked at pictures of Rio Grande SD50s -- i suddenly saw that i might be doable, so a little here and a little there and it was suddenly done! if the railings were drawn/etched/available, it wouldn't be that hard to modify an (upcoming) AZL SD70 with standard cab. just some filing, filling, and a new chute (and truck frames). dave f.
Dave, if you still deny to be one of the best Z scale "kit basher" I get really angry Wow, this "love" to details is incredible!
Just a short note in regards to stripping AZL plastic shells with brake fluid: good news and bad news, good news: it's not damaging the shell, bad news: not stripping anything at all. So, try to get Pinesol in down under....
Hi, I need some help: looks like I can't get hold of Pinesol in Australia...Does anybody know if this ship can be shipped with airmail, so it's not DG and flammable? Pinesol's customer service is not very helpful, because they are not answering....
gerd, pinesol is just a strong detergent. one of those "multi-cleaners" for floors, cabinets, walls, etc. i would try what you have near to you (hopefully some others on this forum can make suggestions). there is stuff called "simple green" that is like it, but it is known to make rubber "tacky" so it might have a similar effect on plastic too. i only bring it up to caution you about it, if it's available there. if you can try some non-essential painted part with whatever strong detergent you have there, you might come up with a workable substitute. i would try a short bath with a painted part and then soak it longer and longer watching the effect. if after 12 hours there is no effect (paint sluffing off), i would move on to another product. i just think there must be something there as good as pinesol. that's my opinion. dave f.
This is the MSDS for Pine-sol. http://www.thecloroxcompany.com/products/msds/pinesol/originalpine-solbrandcleaner1.pdf Try to find something that is made of the same stuff.
