finished one of my pet projects. this is a CF7 kitbashed from MTL GP35 cab and sills, with the MTL GP9 long hood. the mechanism is a GP35 cut down to 30' between truck centers. even though cutting up the chassis worked, it was tricky. i'm not sure i'd do it again. but with a really smooth working band saw i might try once more. watch your fingers!!! i painted it to look like a Santa Fe CF7 that has been passed down through leasors, but with the original paint scheme still essentially intact. the cut on the left side was a mistake that i decided to "hide" as an industrial accident. what really happened is that i was not careful with the finished shell and sanded the inside too thin in my attempt to seat the shell lower on the chassis. i could still probably fix it -- but i'm not feeling the need, right now. hope you like it. dave f.
Looks good Dave! I did the same thing with my Torpedo Tube mod, slipped with the dremel and had an industrial accident. I just used some .003" peel & stick acrylic over the mistake, and it hid the damage pretty easily. I also really like your fuel tank work. Now what did you do to get the 2 extra exhaust stacks? Having done a much much less intense mod, I can appreciate all the work you must have had to do.
It looks weird. Just like a CF7 should. Its nice to see some of your expert kitbashing. When you post a kitbashing project, I take notes on how to do it. By the way, I like the aircondition pack. I was planning to cut down a BLMA kit, but ...
Ah, booboos make for good cancer spots ! Looks awesome. I think he bashed 4 AZL brass C44's for the new smoke stacks
thank guys, i had worked on the cab and sills before the GP9 was released. the mechanism is from the GP35 which i was reworking as an experiment to see if i could get a smooth quiet mechanism under and F7 shell. it didn't take much to fit the long hood (from the GP9) and get the coupler face plates done. i've ALWAYS loved the CF7 and had tried this kitbash in N scale before, but it was actually easier to make a more authentic version in Z than in N. the one thing i couldn't change correctly was the very narrow short and high nose. i had to keep it in the GP35 width to fit on the chassis, but apart from that it is correct (prototypically) in many significant respects. dave f.
