GEC's EOY 2010 Challenge

[Green_Elite_Cab]

PROGRESS!

On Thursday, I removed EVERYTHING off the casting that was problematic (bubbles/anti-bubbles, badly molded parts). I also removed the Cab, Nose, Fans, and grills. These parts i had intended to replace with Cannon parts and such.

Here is the shell as I cleaned it up. the fans are still on in this picture, as are the grills. You can see the steps, air tanks, and pilots are all messed up. my mold for this was the second mold i ever made in my life, so thats expected.



I used a Dremel drill press and side cutting bit to do most of the heavy duty work. As always, safety first! Resin dust is bad for you to inhale (trust me), and it gets in your eyes easy enough. I probably didn't need the respirator, but it makes for a goofy picture



You can see i got overzealous, but it looks like i've polished the rough spots down. In the future, i'll take less off with the dremel, but use heavier grit sanding paper to get it down. the model dusted up to fast for me to see what i was doing, and i had to constantly brush off the dust.



While I was at it, i also cut off the front pilots and steps, replacing them with a spare Smokey Vally deck and pilot sub-assembly kit. This is actually EXACTLY what is on the GP40FH-2, unlike the original pilot on the IHP casting. Not to mention, smokey Valley pilots are scale thickness as well. I'm still working on cleaning up the front steps. I might drill it all out (or try the dremel again, CAREFULLY), and replace some with styrene. the "outer" battery box detail is in good shape though, so i don't want to replace it with cannon parts also.

I also installed see-thru metal grills while i was at it.



focusing back onto the Dynamic/Radiator fans, I used files and various grits of sand paper to eventually smooth everything out and size it properly. This step took me a few days, especially where the Cannon Fan bases needed to be installed, as there was a small margin of error for the hole size (to small, it wouldn't fit, but a teensy bit bigger left gaps). A few times i had to glue in a styrene sheet, and sand things smooth and try again. So far, the shell its coming out alright, with all the fans lined up.





I then assembled a Cannon 35-line cab (without the back wall). I left the number boards loose so that i could drill holes for the headlights without damaging the cab, and also to simplify painting. (the number board is all black, but out would get in the way of the masking if I installed it). I also half-assembled a Cannon 81" nose, minus the marker lights, for the same reason above (to paint the gaskets and drill holes for lighting). everything is just fitted now, as i'll have to make some styrene filling pieces behind the cab, and between the deck and the nose. I'll probably try to sand down more of the conductor's side steps so that it is smooth.

I plan to replace the remaining steps and pilots next, as well as the air tanks with Cannon air tanks, and lift pads (pretty much anything that isn't coming out smooth on the casting).

I've been thinking about replacing the air filters and exhaust, but that would be more work. It could be done, but is it worth it?