A Spokane, Portland & Seattle moment...

EMD F7A Jul 11, 2018

  1. EMD F7A

    EMD F7A TrainBoard Member

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    A little diorama I threw together. The FA1 and FB1 were custom painted this past weekend using some old-school techniques including tape masking for all the stripes, not decals! Colors are all Tru-Color paint.. These locos came out well, and were a fun exercise in airbrush methods! Way better than painting 3x5 cards ;)

    923D07A6-6C07-48E3-B3A0-7DD22CB1A04E.jpeg 4F123CB5-28E3-491B-966C-A9A1A1FA232B.jpeg DC8A8BD0-8402-4413-8E4A-1BEC234A3AA9.jpeg
     
  2. VinceP

    VinceP TrainBoard Member

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    Nice work like the tru-color paints.

    Did you mask to make the fan show.
     
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  3. SF Chief

    SF Chief TrainBoard Member

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    Yeah, how the heck did you do that?
    Rick
     
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  4. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    If I had to hand mask those stripes, I would got crazy! :notworthy: Nice job!
     
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  5. North Bank Road

    North Bank Road TrainBoard Member

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    Hello. Great paint job. Life Like units? The colors look dead on. Why did you find it necessary to paint the stripes? I have several waiting for paint, but have not had the time for such a challenging project. Again very nice! PS with Atlas purchasing the FA1 molds from Life Like I am hoping they finally do a SP&S covered wagon......
     
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  6. EMD F7A

    EMD F7A TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks guys! So; the Life-Like 2nd gen had removable grills with the fan details recessed in the roof, allowing me to black the background and do a silver paint on the blades! Then pop-in the painted cap/screen and off we go!

    I decided to paint the stripes because on these units, all four stripes are on the rivet lines. UGH to decal-ing stripes on rivet lines, it's the worst thing to decal. So, I said 'I'm gonna go old school' and tried the masking. The colors came through super well, next time I'll use a higher quality tape than Tamiya so I can really get a razor's edge going. With my NP trains (Loewy and Pine Tree), it will be painfully necessary! I can paint in minutes what decals might take an hour plus cure time, and a bit of decal float/wander is nearly inevitable on those 85' cars...

    I'm jazzed that Atlas is taking on all the old LL tooling, and yeah a set of Atlas FA-2's would really cook my bacon! I'm a sucker for those giant numberboards...

    Oh, and North Bank? I happen to know a painter if you need one :LOL:
     
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  7. jlundy46

    jlundy46 TrainBoard Supporter

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    Very nice paint job! It would be great if Atlas made a run of SP&S FAs or at least undecs.
     
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  8. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    I thought Tamyia tapes are the best for masking, no?
     
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  9. EMD F7A

    EMD F7A TrainBoard Member

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    Not so much. They don't have the 'razor's edge" it's really quite rough compared to a plastic tape like scotch or particular hobby tapes (Tamiya is honestly closer to blue painters' tape in its edge sharpness), but I'll be testing a few brands to get it dialed in and share my results :)
     
  10. Ghengis Kong

    Ghengis Kong TrainBoard Member

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    I am looking very forward to this as I haven't been the most happy with some recent paint jobs using the Tamiya tape. Any estimate as to when you might be testing these tapes?
     
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  11. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Super nice masking and paint job. I found using good old cheapo masking tape, applied to a clean glass plate and cut with a fresh #11 blade to give passable results. I haven't painted a loco in close to 10 years, FWIW.
     
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  12. EMD F7A

    EMD F7A TrainBoard Member

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    Give me a week or so! I took some videos on painting the loco, I just started this paint job again on a kato F7 shell which should come out nice ;)
     
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  13. NorsemanJack

    NorsemanJack TrainBoard Member

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    Nice work!! (but, to be honest, I was a whole lot more interested in your OUTSTANDING work on NCL equipment (y) )
     
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  14. EMD F7A

    EMD F7A TrainBoard Member

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    Just you wait! Sample white stripes on a Loewy NCL dome are coming this weekend! Getting back at that train with full interior lighting and paint/detail, DCC & Sound matching FP7 AB too....
     
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  15. wpsnts

    wpsnts TrainBoard Supporter

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    Nice looking models.
    Do like HemiAdda2d says and you will get great results. Burnish the edges well.
     
  16. marty coil

    marty coil TrainBoard Supporter

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    REALLY, REALLY NICE!!!!!!!!!
    IMG_2631.JPG
     
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