GEC's EOY 2010 Challenge

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Well, i went ahead and started working on the model despite not having the parts i need. It s a shame to, the only part i don't have that i'd like to have are some Exhaust stacks by cannon.

In any event, i removed the side steps and air tanks from the long hood. Even on the original, these pieces weren't super fantastic in their appearance, so I'm replacing them with Cal scale F45 steps and Cannon air tanks. The Cal scale steps have the advantage of also being metal, and are very much tougher than the original resin or my casted resin. I also removed the inertial Air Filter hatch (this is that raised area behind 2nd generation EMD cabs on the roof). The cannon Air tanks may be a problem, as i'm not sure how well they'll fit behind the cal scale steps. I had this problem the first time i built this model, and i haven't put much additional thought into it until now.

On the prototype, the steps are actually cut into a little to make space for the tank, but that would be tough to do on the cal scale steps, and I'm concerned that they might be weakened by this. The other option is to cut into the air tank, though that one sounds tricky, since i'd have to carve it to match the step and then press in. I'm sure it can be done, but that's going to be time consuming. I'll have to take another look at it.

Speaking of tough, NEVER try snipping thing parts off. I actually cracked my shell in 4 places! Despite the initially terrifying splits in the shell, they actually came together again quite well with super glue and a little sanding/Wet sanding. You can still see the seam if you try, but you can't see it in the light, and i suspect you won't be able to see it in the paint either. In the future, a Dremel tool with a milling bit (as seen earlier) and a saw can cut the part without adding undue stress.

After all repairs and clean up were completed, I adjusted the metal tabs of the Cal Scale steps, and simply glued them in. They made a tight bond almost instantly. Unfortunately, that is about as far as i got.

The reason being is that i didn't want to add any more details to the roof of my model until i remove that exhaust stack, and while i could have cut it out, i didn't want to leave a gaping hole in my model until i got my hands on the correct parts. I couldn't really install anything up there either, as it would be a bad day if i nicked the new inertial hatch (which is literally would be butted up against the exhaust hatch). I'm going to try and remove everything that needs to be before i go ahead and add more details.

I'm also going to have to find some really skinny styrene strips to border around my radiator screens. these didn't come out as nice as I'd like them to, but the strips would also block the seems between them. Each radiator screen is three pieces, since it had to be cut from F40PH screen material (the GP40FH-2's screen is slightly longer).

I also have to reconstruct the rear pilot. The casting i made (and it's original) had funky spacing to its rear steps, but i can clean this up with styrene sheet built to match the prototype photos. For now, I'll leave it open in the bottom like the athearn style of the original part. I'd like to have a complete pilot, but I'm not sure where i can get some parts, and so I'll work on that later.

That said, the cab and nose sections are ready for painting. I may wait and paint everything on one day so that the colors don't come out funny, but I hope to paint the fans, cab, nose and body all separately. This would greatly ease masking the model.

Here are the photos of the progress described.

Removing the inertial filter hatch



Removing steps and air tanks with a razor saw



I used a sanding stick to smooth out the bottom, and prepare the sites of the new steps



Here it is so far. I placed the inertial hatch on the top, behind the cab. You can see the steps installed, and the old air tanks from my first attempt. I'll probably use the extra step as a guide when cutting.