Post by rock on Nov 3, 2013 22:09:42 GMT -5
I backdated one of the new Kato P42s to fit my 1998 era. In the process, I decided to change it to a P40 because I really like the original paint scheme on these units with the fading stripes. The main difference between a P42 and a P40 is the extra window at the rear of the locomotive next to the door. Because I would always have a passenger car here, I decided to skip this step. The other difference is three small lights above the front windshield, which I modeled using the Microscale decal set.
The biggest difference between the Kato P42 and the original P40 is the nose, where Amtrak added a fiberglass section bolted to the body. This was an easy change; I just shaved off the bolts and filed down the nose a little so that it's nice and smooth. Here are some photos of the process and the final product.
The Kato P42 out of the box:
Shamu gets a bath:
The paint was tricky to remove, as per usual for a Kato - it seems to be the standard "ink" that they use. I soaked it in 91% isopropyl alcohol and then removed most of the paint with my Dremel tool brush. The blue never really came off, but since I was repainting it gray, it wasn't that big of a deal.
The paint - I used Badger ModelFlex CSX Gray and Santa Fe Silver.
The decals - I used Microscale's set for the P40/P42.
The finished product after a little weathering.
This Kato is a pretty smooth runner. It has two motors, one in each truck, two speakers, and one sound decoder. I chose the Soundtraxx Tsunami version. Here are a couple videos without any alterations to the sound or speeds:
The only trouble I really had was this project was taking apart the underframe to paint it silver. I had to disconnect the wires to the motors in each truck in order to remove the plastic chassis/underframe section. This wasn't too hard, but it did involve soldering the wires back in place and is something I wouldn't want to do too often!
The biggest difference between the Kato P42 and the original P40 is the nose, where Amtrak added a fiberglass section bolted to the body. This was an easy change; I just shaved off the bolts and filed down the nose a little so that it's nice and smooth. Here are some photos of the process and the final product.
The Kato P42 out of the box:
Shamu gets a bath:
The paint was tricky to remove, as per usual for a Kato - it seems to be the standard "ink" that they use. I soaked it in 91% isopropyl alcohol and then removed most of the paint with my Dremel tool brush. The blue never really came off, but since I was repainting it gray, it wasn't that big of a deal.
The paint - I used Badger ModelFlex CSX Gray and Santa Fe Silver.
The decals - I used Microscale's set for the P40/P42.
The finished product after a little weathering.
This Kato is a pretty smooth runner. It has two motors, one in each truck, two speakers, and one sound decoder. I chose the Soundtraxx Tsunami version. Here are a couple videos without any alterations to the sound or speeds:
The only trouble I really had was this project was taking apart the underframe to paint it silver. I had to disconnect the wires to the motors in each truck in order to remove the plastic chassis/underframe section. This wasn't too hard, but it did involve soldering the wires back in place and is something I wouldn't want to do too often!
You pointed out something I hadn't noticed as a difference between the P40 and the P42. That's the raised fiberglass shield on the nose. I have one of each of these models, the Athearn version, that I'm getting set to do some modeling on. Their P42 lacks the fiberglass detail. Is there a chance you know if that feature is present on ALL P42's, or appeared at some point later in their manufacture? Athearn did another difference correctly at least, which is the hosteling window on the P40 and the lack of it on the P42. I can't speak for any other feature, just that one. Thanks for any info'
