Tim, I am not on your list, if it is still available I am interested in fews of them. Let me know. Thanks, Hien
Tim, I'm good with either the first or second round of shells. Will you be contacting people for shipping details? I've moved since we ordered these...
First Run Gone! I am working on getting the second run completed now. Slow going but persistence makes progress. Will be making several molds to insure I can cast enough shells to fill all orders or until I no longer have brass etchings left. Will update in a few days! Thank you! Hobo Tim p.s. Yes, I will be contacting everyone on the list to insure I have a good mailing address for them before sending any packages!
Only one sentence: that shell is awesome. Maybe AZL should sell separate chassis in order to enhance that shell's diffusion (myself I'm the happy owner of a few SD70s, I should be interrested with one ACe or two but I don't want to part with my SD70s' shells....). Dom
Alex, I was thinking about it, but nearly everyone is going to make a heritage unit, so I will possibly not. I also planing to stretch the chassis and the shell as the ACe are longer than SD70M. Dom, if AZL would offer the chassis separate it would be the 8th wonder of the world...
Tim, I got the shells yesterday. They look great. I am in the process of painting my first shell, and everything looks great. The only problem I see are the steps. They are curving toward to the middle. It needs a pilot to keep them apart. Tim, can you cast the pilot also. David, I have seen your work in person before, but I am still amazed how good the shell looks. It looks injection molded.
Photo Photos!!! John, Glad they arrived ok. If the steps are moving inwards, the package probably got warm during shipping and the slightest pressure on a casting will cause it to bend while warm (very warm) and when cooled will permanently be deformed. But, the best thing of all is you can Reform it back to where it is suppose to be. A low setting hair dryer or putting the casting under hot very warm, not hot, water will soften the casting too. Way back during the Mi-Jack casting/shipping days, a Mi-Jack arrived in California very warped/deformed. A little heat and cooling Reformed the castings back in place, and it was a RTR painted/decaled Mi-Jack. As far as Pilots, I guess I could make some molds and cast them, but was not the original aspect. Only the modified shell parts were suppose to be cast from master. The pilots are not a modified part. Will see what I can do. I'll contact you by email. Painting!! John, please take photos thru the painting process. Post the photos here! I know Ed Turner has the same plans for his SD70ACe shells, as you do. CSX all the way!!! **Note, John is the recipient of first run shells. Working on second run shells now. Slow going as I want the best possible results from my castings. Best thing of all is Micro-Mark is in their Annual Sale Mode!!!! Dave, you did an awesome job on the Masters! Hobo Tim
Last person on the SD70ACe list Hien, You are the last person I will put on the list. Got you down for the amount you want. Not sure if I will have any extra shell kits once everyone has gotten what they requested. If I do, will announce it here on this thread. Hobo Tim
Casting Progress Report Greetings All! Just want to update the patiently waiting on progress of casting. Slow! I was mixing enough resin to fill all 3 molds and working fast to fill them before the resin started to thicken. Notice I said "was". This effort was not producing the required effects of 100% good castings. I have slowed to filling one mold at a time to ensure all castings are good. So, it is going slow. I am currently casting the main shell. When it comes to the cab and walkways, I might be able to cast the both of them at the same time. It is the main shell that requires longer prep with resin. My most nagging complaint is the wife! Driving me crazy with crap that is taking me away from casting. Other than the slowness, castings are coming out 100% good now. Will start sending shells to you waiting Z scalers real soon. Believe me when I say I can't wait to cast all of the shells. I had enough brass for 50 shells and they are all claimed. I had intensions to have 72 etchings made, but did not happen. So you, the few, who get these shells, take very good care of them. Like I told John "the Killer Whale", Test fit the brass, Test fit it again, test fit once more, then glue. NO SHORT CUTS!!! I will have no extra brass. Everyone have a great 4th of July weekend! Hobo Tim
SD70ACe Sun Shades Photo searching of various SD70ACe's has turned up an interesting issue. The following Railroads use large sun shades that cover the entire length of the side windows. BNSF KCS MRL The following Railroads use the shorter/angled sun shields on ther side windows. CSX UP (to include all Heritage and GW Bush 41) The castings have the CSX/UP style sun shades on them. I have artwork to etch both type of sun shades. Will etch this week. The etchings will have 2 long and 2 short/angled sun shades. The etched sun shades are not casting correctly on most cabs so you will have brass replacements. Easy to install with tiny drill bit same as the original AZL sun shades. More to come! Hobo Tim
This is the sun shade I consider to be the Long version. Artwork for etching already created. BNSF, KCS and MRL have these long shades. Hobo Tim p.s. The version of SD70ACe shell that was created by the Master, Dave Freehling, has the headlights mounted in the cab roof. It is the version he needed for the DRGW Heritage/UP version. You will need to modify the casting slightly to move the headlights to the front of the cab nose. I am lucky as BNSF has both types. I will model only the SD70ACe's with headlights in the roof.
SD70ACe's Begin Shipping! Just want everyone to know that the first set(new castings) of shell kits are shipping on July 14th. The second set of castings will be finished pouring also on the 14th with only cleaning and the gathering of all parts to complete the kits before those go out the door. I will be contacting those who are to recieve the second set very soon to verify your mailing address. The third/final set will follow that! The hold up was home etching the sun shades in brass. Finished those today. They look great. Here is what you will receive to create a SD70ACe shell that looks exactly like mine. Castings; Main body shell, Walkway/steps, Cab, & horn/pilot/plow Brass; Side handrails, front/rear handrails, 2 small handrails for Cab-to-Steps, Side Panels (marked L & R), & Sun Shades Misc; Clear Plastic , Fiber Optic strand (2"+per) For the most part, the major flash has been removed with only small minor areas for you to clean. Any trimming/cutting you do, make sure you use a brand new sharp hobby knife blade. I recommend you use sand paper and a small file to align/fine fit your Main Body to the Walkway before gluing them together. NOTICE; on the bottom of the walkway, on the left side, is a BELL. It is not a micro B-B so do not cut it off. Also, this is an identifier as it shows which end of the walkway is the front and which is the back. Sun Shades over the windows I left for you to trim off to replace with the brass etched Sun Shades I made today. A small fret with a pair of long rectangular and a pair of shorter angled sun shades come with each shell. A small drill bit will be needed to mount these to the cab. Walkway! With all the prep for casting it still took me more than 10 minutes each in cleaning them up for shipping to you. Then I also pre-drilled all the holes so that your end handrails will fit. The only hole you might want to drill would be in the front of the cab. I did not drill that hole. You might want to NOT glue the small handrails to the cab if you are planning to put a DCC decoder in the cab. Just glue the small handrails to the steps. Your call. Pilot/Plow; ORIGNIAL INTENT was for you, if you wanted, to use the pilot/plow that came with your SD70/75i loco. You will notice a 2" near square casting flash included with each shell. On this flash you will find 3 different air horns (Red circle around the SD70ACe horn) and 2 pilot/plows. You do not have to use them. NOTE; if you do want to attach the original pilot or one of these cast pilots to the front of the Walkway casting, you will need to drill out the holes where the pilot mounts. The horn is small, but it is actually very easy to clean with a sharp hobby knife blade. But be very careful!!! No Cursing me!!!! Coupler in Pilot; This is your own task if you so want it. I took an AZL coupler from a standard coupler/truck and modified it with a hole in it to mount it to the Pilot with a 00-90/00-80 screw. Took a bit of hobby knife carving and filing to get it to look right but I succeeded. What I plan on doing is taking photos as close as I can of each side, front, back and top so everyone can have photo reference as how I built mine. What am I leaving out for now? Just be prepared to receive an email from me soon. When you do, verify your mailing address and know that I am close to sending it out my door. If you have assembly questions post them in this forum. Hobo Tim p.s. John, how is that SD70ACe coming? How did that liquid window stuff work? Post your findings here as that might be the way some will go in adding windows.
Sir, I am late. I took the family for some R&R. Well, this is where I am at right now. The shell is painted and its ready for decals. I have to say the shell looks great. It took very little cleaning. For the windhield and windows, I use Micro Glaze. It work better then I expected. While not completely transparent, its close enough. You have to use macro setting to see its not a plastic windshield.
