CP 6234, ex SOO SD60 CAD rebuild

[CP_8530]

This is a sort of "for-fun" project I'm doing on the side, with a spare P2K SD60 SOO Line unit I really didn't have any plans for. P2K did a lousy job on the SOO white/red paint (it looks like they used creamy white and dark red, the photo doesn't show it that good), not to mention colour variations due to parts cast in white and black plastic. Note the difference in the shade of red between the cab and sub-base on the victim:



So, rather than strip and redo it up as a SOO, I decided what the heck, let's do a CP 6200-series rebuild for fun. As such, I won't be Cannonizing any minor inaccuracies that may or may not be present on the P2K shell, it's nice enough for our purposes.

www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=7991

First step is naturally to take all the pieces off and strip the shell. Easier said than done...

[liengineerbob]

I can usually get 95% of the P2K parts off with little problem. The trick I found out is to use a small chisel blade (or make one out of a #17 blade narrowed down) to remove the heat welds on the inside of the body shell. Then I poke the parts out with a T-pin. It works great on the handrails and I can now get those off without breaking a single mounting pin.

[iomalley]

And the fact the road number touched the red bothers me too...

You might want to toss the long handrails at least, cuz they seem to have shrank since they were cast. If you stand the first stanchion up straight, the last one leans about 3-5 deg....you can't win.

I did like those releases, with all the extra parts! I ended up repainting the red on mine, and dirty the crap out of the cream/white.

[CP_8530]

Bob, that's usually how I do it. Either a sharp x-acto knife, or for the more stubborn ones I use a small drill bit to eliminate the plastic "melting joint" inside keeping the part on.

Sean, I'll keep that in mind. I notices the long ones had a bit of a slant near the ends, grrr. I have 2 SOO's, one new with all those nice separate parts, but the other (this one) used and missing them. Anyone have any winterization hatch part recommendations?

[emd16645]

Mar 13, 2013 1:50:48 GMT -5 CP_8530 said:

Bob, that's usually how I do it. Either a sharp x-acto knife, or for the more stubborn ones I use a small drill bit to eliminate the plastic "melting joint" inside keeping the part on.

Sean, I'll keep that in mind. I notices the long ones had a bit of a slant near the ends, grrr. I have 2 SOO's, one new with all those nice separate parts, but the other (this one) used and missing them. Anyone have any winterization hatch part recommendations?

I have some spare proto winterization hatches for SD60s.  PM me if you're interested.

[CP_8530]

Thanks for the offer Chris! I think for this build I'm just going to borrow the one from my other unit I'm not using.

Disassembled, stripped, repainted and primed. Not much to look at now, but it'll look better in red...

[emd16645]

Mar 15, 2013 23:24:53 GMT -5 CP_8530 said:

Thanks for the offer Chris! I think for this build I'm just going to borrow the one from my other unit I'm not using.

Sounds good. If you decide to use the other shell and need one, let me know.

[EMDX6043]

Looking good so far.

Since we're on the topic, here's a small project I did for a friend and fellow railroader. I installed NCE's D13SR decoder (dual-mode for his DC layout) in this ATHEARN RTR SD60, and LED head/ditch lights. The strobe was tricky-I had to use some fiber optics for the beacon since it sits right above the headlight. The "double-strobe" was incorrect, and has since been reprogrammed to a single-flash type beacon.

I don't mean to hijack the thread, I just thought you might be interested!

[CP_8530]

I'm liking the effects on that unit Dave! Unfortunately it seems CAD removed the strobes when they were rebuilt.

Here we are, most of the main painting is done. Unit CP 6234 (ex-SOO 6034) was chosen, as it was one of the few that had its plated-over class lights removed and filled smooth. All that's left are decaling and detailing the pilots, the plow, winterization hatch from the other unit, and the numberboards (I'm not sure whose decals to use for the font. Any suggestions? (photo link here)).

Most of the units got two long white PTC antennas on the roof at some point, but they weren't outshopped from CAD like that so I think I'll leave them off (donno who makes them either - it'll save me work custom building them).

[stevef45]

Mar 21, 2013 2:26:02 GMT -5 CP_8530 said:

I'm liking the effects on that unit Dave! Unfortunately it seems CAD removed the strobes when they were rebuilt.

Here we are, most of the main painting is done. All that's left are decaling and detailing the pilots, the plow, winterization hatch from the other unit, and the numberboards (I'm not sure whose decals to use for the font. Any suggestions? (photo link here)).

Most of the units got two long white PTC antennas on the roof at some point, but they weren't outshopped from CAD like that so I think I'll leave them off (donno who makes them either - it'll save me work custom building them).

Model looks good.  I can see it beeing Athearns next new release since they are hinting at Canadian railfans to watch out.

[CP_8530]

Thanks Steve. It's possible, but who knows what they're planning.

[trainoholic]

beautiful repaint

[CP_8530]

More photos. All done, except for a few minor odds and ends (all weather window on the engineer's side). I didn't have all the correct warning label decals, so had to compromise and leave one or two off here and there. Numberboard font isn't exact, but the closest I could find at the moment.

[spud7378]

Looks great nice work.

[57603oh]

beautiful!