here are some pics of the GP9 i'm working on this unit will be in the pre merger IR scheme of large light Ivory band black top and bottom with red pinstripes and black lettering this unit will also be post in the N scale deisel detailers section in the group board here is the cab after i opened the door on the firemans side of the cab remember long hood forward this was fun here are the footboards before i replaced them with ho FM grill material here is the material used and here is the screen in place on one side and how i cut the plastic footbioard to support the mesh please see next post
here are last pic of the soon to be 1762 in a side by side to show the stock and the mash footboards so till next time
That mesh makes the difference! might have to try it on some switchers someday... Looks great already.
I too would have NEVER have thought of this detail! I LIKE IT! I use HO scale roofwalk grating for catwalks on the sides of my bridges. But this one I didn't even think of. I guess you learn something new everyday.
wel here are some update pics ofthe hood and the cab here is the hhod showing the drilled out and sanded down grabs i also removed the stock lift rings to replace them with GMM details i also snatched a winterazation hatch from an IMRC F unit not quite right but it'll do until i can make my own this shot shows the roof angle and yes i opened the area wher the cab goes so i can make a partial cab interior for this unit as you look at the cab you can see i'm scratchbuilding my own 3 pane all weather window for this unit my first attempt so let me know what ya thunk here is the side view of the cab with the start of the all weather window and yes those other geeps in the background are just a part of the 33 i'm working on enjoy
had a slight setback on this unit as i was working on the hood something caused the winter hatch to get cracked so i've had to remove it and now i'm going to replace it with a scratchbuilt one so we'll see if i can pull it off just a quick update
Nick it'll be a little while before i get to the door i'll most likely use epoxy to mount it or a couple of little drops of super glue to mount it wish i could help you more as i'm still working on the sill unit and the hood as i just relocated the brake ratchet handle to the other side of the brake stand ala GN style so i can put grabs up both side of the hood per GN standard kinda nice to have proto pics to build my freelance roster from
I highly recommend using a Miniatures by Eric GP Winter Hatch (NH5), he includes the metal mesh with it. You would be hard pressed to find a better one on the market.
What mfg GP 9 are you using as the base for this project? It looks like Atlas but that cant be as the handrail sections are completely wrong. The handrails on this model appear to be molded onto the sill plate, which the Atlas is not. But then looking at the long hood, I can see indentations for grab irons. The Altas' are molded on but I know that the Bachmann are NOT included. Are you using the Bmann as your basis? If so, how do they run?
CWW question this unit is all atlas if you look under the walkway after you take it off the sill you will see two dimples that stick up i removed them with an exacto knife them sanded them flush if they need it that is why the walkway looks flush but it is all atlas here are some more pics these are of the end work i'm doing as i'm adding a buffer plate and here is the side view of the pilot and her is the end view of the hood next to a stock atlas unit that's to become IR 1745 in St.Paul & Western (aka NP freelanced) but if you look you will see that i relocated the brake handle from the right side of the ratchet brake to the left side of the 1762 (per GN photo) i still have to add all the extra grabs to the right side of the hood and you'll notice my pilot buffer 1762 on the left 1745 on the right and here are the roof shots showing the 1762 with the start of my scratchbuilt winter roof hatch and the last sunrise hatch i have on the 1745 so the 1762 is slowly getting there but still a ton of work to go L8R all enjoy p.s. i also removed the one pilot footboard screen as i kept damaging it, next unit i wont add the footboards till i'm almost done they can be a pain in the butt but in the end i think they'll be well worth it
here are some more pics of the 1764 along with in progress GP7 1639 this is looking at the front pilot footboards the white strips are to be put under the front the box in the footboard mesh when i'm done with it all as i have had to tmporarily remove the mesh so as nopt to damage it while working on the unit as the prototype has 5 steps this unity will to it's getting to be fun and yes it will clear the railhead here is the unit on my scratchbuilt atlas bridge the steps make a world of difference this view shows the stock steps of the 1745 which will also get the 5 step i believe have to look at the proto pic but as you can see a real change in the step area next post
here is another angle looking at the steps and here is a look at the steps before i put it on my bridge with GP7 1639 and here is a couple of pics of the 1762 with the rotory beacon set in place and as you can see in the previous pic of the 1639 i have scratchbuilt my own radio antenea and added a 3 chime horn to the cab i also set it's beacon in place and here is an angled shot with the beacon of the 1762 and the homemade buffer plate and steps starting to look real good to me at least enjoy
and here are some in progress pics of the 1639 as i need to go back and correct a couple of things i missed like the old horn holes need to be filled an a few other things but they are getting there so her is the first pic introducing the Indian Rock please ignore trhe GP9 frame as i have stripped this unit to many times and the sill didn't make it through the last sripping i have one on order here is the engineers side sill needs to be lettered and have the striping finished and the final shot for now enjoy
That's gonna be one fine paint scheme!!! Love what you shared about the pilot steps... saw a shot on RRPA (didn't keep the link) of the side steps on one of these early GPs and the same material was used for them. Maybe I can find it once again... Found it... http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2455663
