High Nose GP40 - Rescue - Budget Build

[John]

I found this high nose Athearn GP40 going cheap on ebay and picked it up as a quick project. The model has been fitted with a high-nose, which turned out to be a Cannon & Co part, but not much else has been done to the model.



It has one of the worst paint jobs I have seen in a long time, with really, really thick paint brushed on, followed by an extra generous layer of dullcoat. A real mess but just the kind of challenge I like!





I have an idea I might be able to spruce the model up in time to put it on the display table at the club show, this won't be a concourse model but I will add some basic details and
grabirons to make it more presentable.



First port of call is the dip tank, I sat the model in 91% alcohol overnight then scrubbed with a toothbrush, I couldn't prise the handrails off because of all the paint, so I left them on until the paint had softened enough.



I don't know what brand of paint the model has been painted with, but the thick N&W blue comes off fairly easily when scrubbed with a toothbrush, the original paint is underneath, revealing this was a Conrail unit when it left the factory.



The Cannon high-nose has been fitted in an unusual way, with the previous owner keeping the original Athearn hatches at the base instead of cutting flush with the deck making it apparent that the nose itself is very slightly out of place.

There is a chance that it might need replacing but I will wait until all the paint is off before deciding.



The Athearn paint is proving harder to shift than the top coat, so I will leave the shell soaking for the rest of the day.

[John]

Here's a quick rundown on how much I expect to spend:

Locomotive £12.50

DA Grabirons £1.30
DA Fan Grabs £1.30
Cannon Fans £7.70
MU Cables £1.30
Air Hoses £1.30
LED & Fibre Optics £5.00
Misc Plasticard £2.00
Paint £3.00
Decals £3.50

Optional Parts (Depending how the build goes)
Replacement High Nose £5.50
Walkway Tread £12.50

DCC Chip & Loom £25.00

Total Cost £82.00

So, only just squeezing into the 'cheap build' catagory, and it is going to cost around seven times the cost of the engine to get it into shape.

Of course I have most of the parts I need 'in stock' already so in reality I won't be outlaying all the cash in one go, but it's interesting how quickly the ££££ add up

[Deleted]

I'm surprised that somebody actually managed to do this to a model! Once again...

Well good pick up, look forward to seeing it progress. I have a question, where do you get you alcohol?

[John]

I'm no longer surprised by anything that I find on ebay! Seems like there are plenty of folks out there who use a tin of emulsion and a four inch brush to paint models!! Luckily there are also plenty who can't spell "Aethran Genusis" properly so folks like us can hoover up the bargains!

I get my alcohol from ebay, if you do a search for IPA Isopropyl Alcohol 99% you should be able to pick up a litre for around £6 or so plus postage.

[Deleted]

Do you dilute it with distilled water or just tap water? I guess it would be 9 parts IPA to 1 part water to get a 90% mixture?

[John]

I don't dilute it at all, just use it straight. Seems to work just fine on Blue Box shells.

[EMDX6043]

Good job so far!

[iomalley]

Ugh, looks like they used black nail polish....gross...

[diburning]

You'll need something stronger than alcohol to touch Athearn blue box paint.

[John]

Sept 6, 2012 13:42:24 GMT -5 diburning said:

You'll need something stronger than alcohol to touch Athearn blue box paint.

I find the alcohol works on Athearn paint in the end, just needs a couple of days to loosen. I use an old toothbrush to scrub the crevices clean.

What would you recommend for paint removal?

[Randy Earle]

You are going to need the earlier GP sideframes also. The ones you have are -2 style.

[John]

I hadn't thought about the sideframes, same as the geep 35 right? I have some in the parts box I think.

[Deleted]

Sept 7, 2012 8:27:44 GMT -5 John said:

I hadn't thought about the sideframes, same as the geep 35 right? I have some in the parts box I think.

Yes the same as a GP35. Blomberg B is what you want, with leaf type springs between the axles and the brake clasps either side of each axle.

[John]

Yes there are a few differences I will need to address to make the -2 closer to the earlier model, I will probably not do all of them, just main ones. Cab overhang, fans and sight glass. Unless I redo the nose completely this will only ever be a 3ft model anyway, so I may not worry too much about the discrepancies (it is a budget build after all!).

[John]

I spent some time working on my newly acquired Athearn high nose and I made a fair bit of progress.

The engines history has left it a bit worse for wear and the various glue-marks mean it will be a 'three footer' rather than a showstopper, but I am pleased with how it's turned out so far.

I am using the parts I have 'in stock' so I won't be spending any extra cash to finish this particular build, and I am retaining the original modifications to keep it in the spirit of 'rescue' rather than rebuild.

I tackled the high nose end of the model first, the existing cannon nose is missing most of its detail parts and had the nose doors from the original Athearn low hood glued over the spaces where the Cannon doors should be.



I opted to retain the Athearn doors, but I trimmed them to fit the hole in the Cannon nose and mounted them flush. I trimmed too far so I will need to fill a gap on the right hand door using putty.



The numberboards were pieces of Cannon plastic and had been glued too far back (the Cannon nose has a recess designed for a clear insert).



I prised off the old pieces and fashioned a suitable numberboard from plasticard.  The numberboards look a lot better after this fix.

The Athearn model has a dash 2 cab so I trimmed off the overhang at the rear to make it closer to a GP40 style cab.



The fans were drilled out using a step-drill to create the holes for the Cannon 1702 dish top fans, and the base sections were glued into postion.





I also added Cannon walkway tread around the frame and drilled the holes for grabirons.  I used Detail Associate grabs on both ends and lift rings on the roof.





The mu hoses are Athearn Genesis parts I had in my bits box, they were very easy to fit and I think they look slightly finer than the Details West whitemetal parts I usually use.





I'm pleased with the progress so far, the next step will be adding coupler lift bars to the short hood end, all-weather windows to the cab and adding body mounted coupler pockets.

[Deleted]

Forget three foot model, looks like this one is getting a good make over and I think you'll end up with a great loco at the and of it. Keep up the good work.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using proboards

[John]

Thanks for the kind words This is vertainly the fastest build I managed!

I got some more time on it today and got the all-weather windows in and the coupler lift bars, filled the pilot holes and added the shims for the coupler boxes.

All I need now is the high-hood bell, a little filler and she's ready for paint.

I even managed to find this old GP35 to act as truck donor

[Deleted]

My GP59 will head to the paint shop tomorrow for primer, then I need to add handrails and black paint so we appear to be mirroring each others efforts, although yours is a rescue, mine is a cheap build.

Are you using stock Athearn metal handrails? I have a set of Smokey valley ones for my GP59 and boy are they nice one you've got them fixed up!

[John]

I'm probably going to use a set of plastic handrails instead of the blue box metal ones. I have some smokey valley rails for my GP60 project and they do look great. I wish I had a few more sets!

[ladderpipe]

Looks like its coming along nicely. The only thing that you may want to investigate is changing the horn to a Leslie 5 chime (this is only if you plan to reprint into NW). The part number is 235-191 / AH 191. The only problem with that is they are hard to find right now because Details West has made a run of them and most suppliers have them backordered. Keep up the good work