BoxcabE50 commissioned me to build and paint some SD45's in MILW livery, as-delivered from LaGrange. While in my zone of painting, masking, and more painting, I neglected to take pics. But I did take a few before and after shots. So far, some details remain to be installed, and a few loose ends tied up, but the major work is done. N'joy!
The Prime PM-516 electronic bell (the funny thing next to the horn) was scratchbuilt, Sunrise plows on the head ends, Sunrise debris kickers on the tails; MU hoses, cut levers are installed to prep the units for paint. After paint and decals, Loco-Motives All-weather windows, BLMA trainline air hoses, & MT 1015's will be installed. The units are stock Kato SD45's. The before was above, the after is below:
Note no 'billboard' lettering on the long hood; no lettering on the nose, minimalistic is being complimentary to describe MILW's SD45's as-delivered from EMD. After the mid-70's, they received the billboards, nose lettering, and new numbers. In 1968, this is how they looked:
Here's the real deal: http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/milw/milw4005ajs.jpg http://www.sd45.com/milwaukeeroad/images/milw4002.jpg And a unit after receiving billboards: http://www.sd45.com/milwaukeeroad/images/milw12.jpg
With the plows installed on the front & rear wont the MT#1015 shank be too short to couple anything up to them? I would maybe suggest using the MT#1016 instead. Just a thought I would throw out to you. Locos look great!!!!!
Hemi,,,, Great job, I was waiting to see what they turned out like. What paints did you use???. I am planning on doing one or two my self, but I want to try ScaleCoat paints. Adios Wyatt
I haven't shot solvent-based paints in 6 years... Even back then, I sucked at it! I used Modelflex engine black, and MILW orange. I also use and like Polly Scale colors.
Jeremiah, Great job on those two SD45's. The separation between the black and orange is nice and sharp. Did you use my favorite Tamiya Tape for masking?
Hemi, you do excellant paint work. I am going to have to comission you for some paint jobs in the future. AWESOME!
Jim, I used 99-cent Walmart tape, as I have a large stock of it. Enough to do dozens of N engines. The tamiya stuff may be nice, but this stuff is cheap, and so am I! Thanks for the kind compliments, guys! These units have gotten me wanting a custom MILW unit for my own roster now...
Hemi, Brilliant model as jim said the seperation looks great maybe you can offer some advice on how you used 99cent tape rather than the expensive Tamiya tape
Well, I removed 6-7" sections of it, applied to a clean glass plate. I then took a steel ruler, and with a fresh #11 blade in the knife, I cut down the middle of the tape. I then cut the ends square with the knife and straightedge. Application is the way I always do it--lay the tape down gently, and after you are happy with the location, alignment and if it is still straight, burnish along the paint line gently with a toothpick. Since I used Jim's methods for shooting the paint, I had much less pressure flowing thru the brush, with less problems with runs, too. Even Jim's run 'fix' worked great. I am no pro painter, I had to fix a few runs. The finer the paint mix, with the lesser pressure allowed a much finer mist,a dn much better control. That contributed to no bleed-unders, and sharp, crisp lines. I hope that explains things better. In short, use Jim's methoda, they are nearly foolproof! *at least for this fool* This method will get some more practice in a few weeks, should I finally start to build my F45 kits for Greay one and myself...
