Painting a GE44 tonner - How crazy should I go?....

[fast_ian]

Get an air bulb designed for solder. Melt the solder with the iron and suck it up with the bulb.

Hmmm - I have one of those spring loaded "solder suckers" somewhere - Might just work, but I think the pads are just too small - At least for me!

I generally use copper braid to desolder, but that's definitely too big.....

So much for every decoder being tested after assembly!

Indeed! My guess is the shrink wrap was holding it all together As noted, it did all work initially and I *know* I never abused the leads.

I installed my first decoder last week(all went perfectly!)
and read the Digitrax decoder manual.

Hopefully you read the manual first! Congratulations on a painless install, and even bigger congrats for wading thru the manual!

Good job & nice to see credit where it's due for the manufacturers that go the extra mile!

Any other all round shots of your finished handiwork?? (With a tad more lighting!) lol...

Thanks and "not yet" on the pix - I wanna get it together and the hand rails attached first - Then the criticism can begin!

Cheers,
Ian

 

[fast_ian]

...Any other all round shots of your finished handiwork?? (With a tad more lighting!) lol...

Here you go.....

FWIW, these were shot outside with a "real" camera + flash. [Everything to date has been iphone pix.]

Man, as we've discussed before, the camera is brutal! - I was reasonably satisfied until I looked at these.

It's a long way from perfect, but overall (and when viewed with the mark-1 eyeball) I'm pretty satisfied for my first effort - Had some "trials & tribulations" along the way, but isn't that all part of the fun?.......

Some comments;

- The damn beacon was, at one time, vertical!
- I'm not sure on the Micro-Glaze; The "cloudy" looking windows got oversprayed with clear - Next time I'll do them later!
- The colors aren't "right", but I think they actually look better than the prototype - So screw 'em!
- I think I have a yellow stripe that can be added along the sideframes, but didn't notice they were missing until after I took the pix.

OK, there we have it, as noted above any and all *constructive* criticism gratefully received - I've got pretty thick skin!...... Seriously, please go ahead and "have at it" with pretty much any comment other than "that sucks!".......

Cheers,
Ian

 

[fast_ian]

She lives!..... A pic with the headlight & beacon doing their things

I gave up on the DZ143 and replaced it with a DN163 which I had laying around. [Pretty much the same $, so why not use it and waste all those lovely functions! ]

I'm about to go play with "effects" on the beacon - Given it's a real lamp, with the possibility of "holdover time" etc, I'm stoked!

Cheers,
Ian

 

[RW&C]

Looks good. It could use a little touch up here and there (around the end grilles, stack, and where white's showing around the keep off decals), but from a usual viewing distance, it's great. And considering all that this one's been through, it turned out beautifully.

For some reason the beacon puts me off a bit. It looks, well, it looks like a light bulb. A dab of silver paint on the top and a trim ring around the base would really help it out imo. (A trim ring wouldn't hurt the headlight either, but it's probably not as important there.)

This has been quite a project. It has a few little issues but, especially considering where it's been, it turned out pretty well. And didn't you say you had another one to do? I'll bet the second one will go more smoothly.

 

[Rico]

Hey looking good!
I agree with the trim on the beacon, I need to do the same with an LED I stuck thru the roof of my SD 9.

 

[fast_ian]

Thanks for the kind comments guys! Appreciated.

Looks good. It could use a little touch up here and there (around the end grilles, stack, and where white's showing around the keep off decals), but from a usual viewing distance, it's great. And considering all that this one's been through, it turned out beautifully.

Indeed.

You raise an interesting point WRT "touch up" - Believe it or not, the white edges around the keep off decals are not visible to the eye! (Really!) There was quite an edge, and I touched that with a sharpie after they dried and before the clear. There's the same issue around the heralds, but not nearly as noticeable.

I wonder if the edges could be given the sharpie treatment before application?

I did think about trying to touch up the green around the stacks, but limited experience suggests brushing over the airbrushed finish makes a mess.... At least for me... It tends to turn out looking like what it is - A brushed on touch up..... Anyone got any ideas?

As for the "front" of the stripes where they reach the grille - I thought about trying to lay another piece of green decal over the original, but chickened out! Anyone ever had success with "multi layering" decals?

TBH, at the time I was so chuffed with getting the "Virginia & Truckee" more-or-less straight, I completely forgot where they curved around the hood - They kind of finished where they finished! [If you look close, you can see 'em over the grille in places.....]

For some reason the beacon puts me off a bit. It looks, well, it looks like a light bulb. A dab of silver paint on the top and a trim ring around the base would really help it out imo. (A trim ring wouldn't hurt the headlight either, but it's probably not as important there.)

+1 Indeed. I suspect someone makes a "cover" (possibly colored?) that could improve the look - Jerome?

There's also "key slots" where the light tubes used to be - I thought about trying to fill 'em, but that too fell into the "how far do I want to go" category - The LED's fit right in.

This has been quite a project. It has a few little issues but, especially considering where it's been, it turned out pretty well.

Thanks! I think I'd give myself a "reasonable" 7/10... At least when viewed by eye!

And didn't you say you had another one to do? I'll bet the second one will go more smoothly.

Yep - With hindsight, I should probably have followed the "Jerome model" and done 'em as a "batch" - Except with all I learnt, I'd have had identical screw ups on both!

I wonder if Jason (?) ever got his blue one stripped?

Did Jerome ever get his batch (initially 5, then 4!) started?

Thanks again for the comments,
Cheers,
Ian

 

[Scordicus]

Well I think you've done well not to bin it everything considered & have turned out a half decent loco! As long as it looks good from 3ft, then it's job done!!

 

[fast_ian]

The "eagle eyed" among you may have noticed that it doesn't have any couplers in the above pix..... I have a bunch of Kadee #5's, but mounting these using the steel "cover" that came with the kit results in a coupler that "flops around" all over the shop - Self centering it certainly isn't!....

I have nothing to compare with, but *guess* I need to add the kadee "mounting box with lid" http://www.micromark.com/Coupler-Mounting-Boxes-with-Lids-20-Pair,8748.html to get 'em going?

Or am I way off base here?

TIA, cheers,
Ian

 

[diburning]

Ian, the Kadee #148 will drop in just fine with the metal cover plate.

(the all-metal #148 whisker coupler is a drop-in replacement for the EZ Mate)

 

[fast_ian]

Ian, the Kadee #148 will drop in just fine with the metal cover plate.

*Awesome* - Thanks!

This is one area where I know nothing (some would say there are others of course ), beyond whatever's there needs to be at the correct height, level, and the trip pin also at the correct height. [Anything else?] I do have the Kadee guage btw.

Having said that, *could* I use the #5's + their boxes? [I've got a shed load of 5's, but no 148's of course!]

Thanks again for the response,
Cheers,
Ian

 

[Cjcrescent]

Yes you can use the #5's, instead of the #148's. But I would mount them in their own draft gear boxes to eliminate the "flopping around".

 

[diburning]

Yes, you could use #5s with a separate coupler pocket, but I would check first to see if the coupler pocket would clear the trucks (or at least trim it down)

The #148 shouldn't flop around if the cover plate is tight enough to hold it in place, but loose enough to let it swing freely.

 

[fast_ian]

The #148 shouldn't flop around if the cover plate is tight enough to hold it in place, but loose enough to let it swing freely.

+1

Rather than mess with #5's + pockets, I picked up some #148's as suggested - I believe the majority of my (limited) rolling stock is on "EZ Mates" - So, I'm gonna need a bunch.....

They do indeed drop right in and center beautifully - I even remembered to add a little PTFE lube before putting the covers on

Thanks again!
Cheers,
Ian

 

[cn854]

That is a great little model of GWWD 100, very nice! Where did you get the nose striping and the cab decals for it? I've got a brass W&R GE 44 tonner that I want to do up but need some decals.


Mark Perry
Winnipeg

 

[fast_ian]

That is a great little model of GWWD 100, very nice!

Thanks! It was an "interesting" project to say the least.....

Where did you get the nose striping and the cab decals for it? I've got a brass W&R GE 44 tonner that I want to do up but need some decals.

DIY!.... The whole (somewhat sorry!) tale is documented herein - If you go back to about page 8 I detail what I used and how. If you decide to roll your own, buried in this thread are many of the lessons I learnt along the way, but of note;

- The instructions for the decal paper say to set your printer to "standard paper" - Rubbish! (At least on my printer) - Tell it it's using glossy photo paper and the quality is much, much, better.
- Solid colors (in my case, red, yellow and green) print much better than solid black - Try not to have too much solid black.
- The decal paper does "age" - The old stuff I tried initially wouldn't separate from the backing paper.

HTH - Any other Q's feel free,
Cheers,
Ian