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Post by tornado64 on May 3, 2013 3:23:57 GMT -5
i bidded on an unusual ( to say the least ) ebay ad for a bachmann GP35 ( odd because the photo's were of an athearn GP30) anyways the parcel arrived and inside were 2 locos for the knockdown price of around $ 12.50
my intentions were to start on the athearn GP30 first but sypathising with just how bad the bachmann gp40 looked i felt my attention should lie there first as my first full loco project and experiment bed to see what i can retrieve from this awful model
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pacbelt
Chairman
Building Layout #11!! ;)
Posts: 682
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Post by pacbelt on May 3, 2013 12:21:07 GMT -5
That is one smashing deal!!!! I've always wanted an Athearn GP30! Not for the scale fidelity, but for the nostalgia!! Good luck with it.
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Post by tornado64 on May 5, 2013 11:15:22 GMT -5
stripped down the old rails will be used for templates for scratchbuilding new railings , the body has ha 48 hrs worth of stripping in "mr muscle oven cleaner " so all detail is recovered and it is actualy very crisp detail beneath the very thick bachmann factory paint that obscured the detail
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pacbelt
Chairman
Building Layout #11!! ;)
Posts: 682
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Post by pacbelt on May 5, 2013 22:23:39 GMT -5
Looks GOOD!! I've got a B'Mann GP40. I may have to give it a second look!!! Thanks for sharing!!
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Post by shoofly on May 5, 2013 23:15:49 GMT -5
Lookin' better already!
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Post by tornado64 on May 6, 2013 4:01:12 GMT -5
cheers guys !!! sanded some of the mould seams off , filled the horn mounting square on the roof and scratch built some new rails out of 1mm brass wire altho unsure wether 0.8 mm would be better altho checking against some of my other locos 1mm seems to be about right
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Post by danraitz on May 6, 2013 7:54:13 GMT -5
In my option 1mm looks WAY too big for the handrails. I would go with something smaller, say 0.5mm
Dan
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Post by tornado64 on May 6, 2013 8:19:12 GMT -5
yeah 0.5 sounds good but i'm thinking of a happy medium for handling etc i may stick with the 1mm for this one as it is merely an experimental build to see what can be done and for scratchbuilding practice so i'm not expecting miracles just so long as it is better than the starting point
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pacbelt
Chairman
Building Layout #11!! ;)
Posts: 682
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Post by pacbelt on May 6, 2013 12:34:04 GMT -5
Mindful of Rule #1 (it's YOUR model, your layout, your world)..... Respectfully, I do have to agree, that 1mm is way too big. Sounds like you concur. With that, you did a great job, bending those handrails!!! I'm not sure I could do that well....
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Post by tornado64 on May 6, 2013 12:47:31 GMT -5
CHEERS !! compared some more modern bachmann GP30's models from my collection and 0.5mm does indeed seem the way to go (easier to bend too ) compared to the original bachmann rails ( probably 1970's vintage i'd say ) and to athearn blue box and they were 1mm so it seems newer models are closer to scale , only done 1 side so far and it was a quick and easy job so i may well re do in 0.5mm
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pacbelt
Chairman
Building Layout #11!! ;)
Posts: 682
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Post by pacbelt on May 6, 2013 13:30:20 GMT -5
I believe you and I aren't building showstoppers, but do want satisfying, well detailed models. I'm starting to think however, that this detailing game is like a drug!!! The more you do, the more you WANT to do!! Cheers!!
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Post by tornado64 on May 7, 2013 3:58:55 GMT -5
re made in 0.5mm for comparison and even though only 0.5mm difrence devides the two sizes it makes 3 miles difrence . filled roof hole now sanded
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catt
Superintendent
Posts: 155
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Post by catt on May 7, 2013 9:53:19 GMT -5
If memory serves me right this shell was also used by LifeLike and possibly Model Power at one time.The newer Bachmann's cabs are part of the body casting.Never the less the first time I stripped one of these shells I was amazed at the fine detailing on the body. The smaller wire really looks right for the hand rails and your wire bending skill is way better than mine.
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pacbelt
Chairman
Building Layout #11!! ;)
Posts: 682
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Post by pacbelt on May 7, 2013 12:36:25 GMT -5
That smaller wire looks GOOD!!!
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Post by m a y o r 79 on May 7, 2013 19:48:00 GMT -5
Those handrails look much better.
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Post by tornado64 on May 12, 2013 10:15:46 GMT -5
not the correct chequer pattern , but as yet i have to find a source for that !! but seing as at least it is a better representation than smooth plastic a start has been made , first off i made a paper pattern then used that to mark the reverse side , cut out with scissors , glued down then final tidy up with a file , pilotshave been blanked off with plasticard and bachmans tanks have been cut off ready to scratchbuild something more suitable..
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pacbelt
Chairman
Building Layout #11!! ;)
Posts: 682
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Post by pacbelt on May 12, 2013 15:32:40 GMT -5
That makes quite a difference! Looks great!!
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Post by diesel on May 12, 2013 22:24:10 GMT -5
very interesting. would you consider making a slug out of this? that would make a decent use out of this and keep a more expensive donor for other use later on.
most of the doors get removed as both of the fans.
also whatever you do if you're going to add things like tread plating, i would also like to see the pilots sanded smooth removing that cast on uncoupler bar and filling in the holes. (stretched styrene trick)
this is in the cheap builds category so i don't think you want to put a lot of dinero on it, but the pilot details can make a nice presentation.
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Post by tornado64 on May 13, 2013 3:49:32 GMT -5
not being american and from the UK some of that was like totaly japanese to me !!, a slug ? why remove doors/ fans ? dinero ? there is further work being carried out and mostly it is seeing what can be done for a minimal outlay which will mean building things from scratch the main expense will be for brass stock but as a lot goes to other builds it is a small outlay about the £8.00 mark up to now so totaling loco price into it so far i'm upto about the £12.00 figure so i would gues around the £20.00 mark finnished the cheapest new locos here come in around the £50.00 mark so it definately fills the cheap criteria over here as around £25.00 is about the going rate for a poor quality second hand loco
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Post by tornado64 on May 13, 2013 14:07:57 GMT -5
one of the biggest problems with this model are the plastic handrails that include the air tanks being clipped over big lugs that were allegedly fuel tanks as can be seen here so the grey lugs were cut off leaving minimal remaining to enable body to still clip onto the chassiss the air tanks were then cut away from the plastic handrails and liquid pollied into place over the clip the plan is to build a more accurate tank over the chassis out of plasticard i already have !!
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