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This model has been sitting on a shelf under my layout ever since February 2005, waiting to be painted in the colors of my chosen road. I've been too focused on building a layout to do any loco modeling work. Well two weeks ago, I finally got started on it.
Part of the reason this took so long is because I photo-documented every major step of the process. I'm planning to write an Ask-Paint-Shop type of article on it in the near future. But for now, I'll skip directly to the photos of the finished product. The only aftermarket parts I used (all from Details West) are: A Pyle headlight lens cover, a CSX-style K5LA 5chime horn, and a long hood side-mounted bell.
1) A head-on view;
2) Left side;
3) Tail end;
4) Right side, from rear
Haven't quite decided yet; I put one of those [Digitrax] decoders into another Kato SD38-2 painted for my private road, but IMHO - the sound is pretty lame compared with the Soundtraxx DSD-AT100LC. It doesn't have the characteristic bark of a non-turbocharged EMD prime mover, and there isn't any separate CV setting for 'exhaust'.
The LC definitely has its own faults, but I have yet to hear any other brand of decoder that reproduces a non-turbo EMD sound as faithfully as it does. I'll probably continue waiting for the diesel Tsunami, and use a soundless decoder in the meantime.
Nice looking unit Ken. Just out of curiousity how do you get the angles right. It seems to me that would be the hardest part. I haven't done any CSX units and that's part of the reason I ask.
An interesting question, Smoke! Actually, I kinda 'cheated' ; I created some home-grown decals for the hard-to-mask areas. I'm planning to write a digital article for Joe Fugate's 'MTU' online mrr knowledge base, explaining the process. But for now, here are a few Photobucket slide shows I pieced together - since there is a 10-image limit per slideshow for 'freebee' accounts, I had to split it into two shows:
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; I created some home-grown decals for the hard-to-mask areas. I'm planning to write a digital article for Joe Fugate's 'MTU' online mrr knowledge base, explaining the process. But for now, here are a few Photobucket slide shows I pieced together - since there is a 10-image limit per slideshow for 'freebee' accounts, I had to split it into two shows:
