Thanks. I use Modelflex Great Northern Green. I find that it is quite close to the color that Santa Fe used so I don't have to do any mixing. When we repainted this car at the Houston Railroad Museum, we were able to retrieve a good color chip from the upper inside surface of the bottom side sill where it was never exposed to direct sunlight. We used that to get the correct color in Imron paint to repaint the car. I have a sample sprayed on some scrap metal that I use to compare.
I call that modeling by digital camera......drives me crazy everytime. But, you look at it with 'normal' viewing eyes and it looks great. Awesome job John!
At the moment this is my workbench https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-...f-the-Missouri-Pacific/400978519962021?ref=hl With a pending move of house in the next 18 months or so I am contemplating a new layout and wondering whether to takes portions of the current layout of build a total new end to end layout with lots of switching opportunities. You can see my layout design thread here http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?144528-New-MoPac-layout-shelf-layout-end-to-end
Russell...looking great! I have to say...I like the decals I/we acquired from you...I think they're more prototypically sized than some of the microscale decals I've used...in particular, no 60-383 , which I used on the RPO...the 'too large' lettering is bothering me so much...I'm about to remove it and apply lettering from two of the custom sheets! Bruce Otto, I use Pollyscale Great Northern Green also...but I add a touch of yellow Bruce
Thanks. However I am a little disappointed in the drop-out of the thin sections of some of the letters and numbers from the silk screen process that produced the decals. I wish I had used a bolder font.
I use the large 'Santa Fe' lettering from the Microscale sheets... I use the custom sheet for the car designation lettering...I'm about to apply the new lettering to the RPO Bruce
Finished my CNW C628s. Now I don't know if I want to round it out as a three pack (the Northwestern normally ran them in three unit sets), or do some C425s. Would the LL C424 be a good starting point? Anybody done one?
Nice Alcos Mike. Yes, make another, in Zito yellow. I've started one, but it's down my list of projects to complete. The Life Like C-424 is a nice model that does convert to a C-425. Briggs Models make a very good conversion kit for a C-425. You can get them from Central Hobbies in Vancouver. The one in the photo was built before the Briggs kit was available. The life-Like C-424 does have a few weaknesses and I've started to tinker with one to see how it can be improved. I've added an Atlas C-628 cab, sort hood and radiator, and added a dummy frame and new air tanks. I'll post a photo later. Cheers Steve Modelling NJ in NZ
Thanks guys. Yeah, a zito yellow one would give some nice variety. I painted and stripped one of them four times trying to get the yellow right, I ended up using floquil cnw yellow over white primer. None of the acrylic yellows seemed to cover well even over white primer, unless applied way too thick. I don't think floquil makes zito yellow, or anything close for that matter. Any suggestions? Thanks for the shot of the C425 M&E, that's a great looking model. I was thinking of using the radiator end off the 628 as well, but I hadn't thought of replacing the cab. Is the LL cab inaccurate?
The LL C-424 is great, but the longer I looked at it, the more I thought it was a little off in places. The air tanks are the worst, the cab roof is to flat across the top and too rounded at the sides and the short hood doesn't have the nice feather edge at the top. Apart from those things the shell is a very good looking phase 1 C-424. The next photo shows the initial changes beside a standard version. I had trouble finding something to resemble Zito yellow. I bought a can of Humbrol fluro yellow enamel, and planned to tone it down a little. I'm having trouble posting images. Managed it earlier, but not working now! What's the trick? Cheers Steve
Mike,those turned out great! They just need more weathering. Most of the time, these were so dirty you couldn't tell the green from the black, especially in iron ore service. I'd also vote for a third C628 for a very impressive consist.
I am working on another project here. For my Sunset Limited I am building a new blunt end 10-6 sleeper using M&R sides mounted on a Kato Budd 10-6 with the undercarriage and roof end from the Kato business car. I have not decided if I will mount a lighted drum head on it or not. It will have a mars light and marker lights. I modified some Con Cor Budd trucks using parts from the Kato trucks that lack the upper half of the side frames from the full skirted Budd cars. They now have all wheel electrical pickup.
The N scale U30CG's and U28CG stand-in are now weathered. I used this unusual 'helicopter' angle for these shots, because while this angle is unusual in real life rail-fanning, IMHO this angle is actually the common normal angle in viewing a N scale model. Hence, the roof weathering is disproportionately important in terms of giving a good impression. Hopefully, these are done now (unless I find some other flaws that need to be fixed.... like wire handrails, steam generator details on the foobie U28CG above.... or do another U28Cg with the correct steam generator details and correct non-yellow-outline red Warbonnet paint scheme ...... ) Now I can move to Sarasota, Florida in peace and pack my modeling tools.
