CR\PC GP38

[rdg5310]

This was one of those quick projects I needed to do. I took a Atlas painted Penn Central GP38 and turned it into a Conrail patch unit. Since CR inherited a ton of these, I saw them all the time in the early years of CR. I picked 7855 because it had a CR blue sunshade on the conductors side and lasted in the patch scheme until 1983. When I paint engines, I re-search to find any paint differences or details that makes it a little unique. Below is what I started with.



The engine has been completed and I submitted a pic for Randy if he wants to use it for our logo of the month. Below I have a list of upgrades that I did to this engine.

C&C- fans, step lights, air tanks.
DA- grab irons, signal box and Sinclair antenna.
DW- plow, air hoses, horn and air tank details.
Plano- lift rings.
modified frame- added frame rails and details.
modified fuel tank and detailed.
Replaced Atlas side frames with Athearn's.

I took pics as I went along on this project. I will start adding them on my next post.

[Randy Earle]

Looking good.

[deez]

I saw the unit finished on the logo of the month thread. It looks pretty spectacular from the one pic! Do you have any more photos?

[rdg5310]

Thanks Deez, I'm posting the project below.

I'll start with the mods of the Atlas trucks, as mentioned above I replaced the Atlas frames with Athearns using the Details West adapter kit. It was pretty easy. Brian Banna has a how to on his website www.6axlepwr.com/SIDE_FRAME_CONVERSION.html. I did take his advice and made a gage for cutting the axle gears down. Once all was put back together and checked for problems, I disassembled and detailed the frames along with cleaning any flash.



Next, I cleaned up and rebuilt the fuel tank. I cut off the unsightly cast on sides at the top of the tank. With these removed, the tank is no longer a friction fit. I set the tank on the frame and drilled and tapped for a 2-56 flat pan screw. I also counter sunk the hole in the tank to allow the screw to be flush. For detailing I used a mix of Cannon, DW and Athearn parts. Tank end were made from .005 styrene and I used .005 Brass shim stock for the tops of the tank. I did leave in place the Atlas cast on fuel sight glass and gage.





The drains on the back of the tank were angled like that on the prototype. I took a bunch of detail shots of these years ago and was able to get underframe details while parked. Next post will be the frame mods.

[deez]

Thats a great idea with the Atlas fuel tank! I think the top of the fuel tank is the part that is least appealing on the Atlas Masters. I look forward to more!

[rdg5310]

Before moving on to the frame, I did forget to mention that I rebuilt the top of the fuel tank for the fuel fillers. I did this by adding .030x.125 styrene on each side. I cut the styrene long enough to match the end of the Atlas fuel gage.

The frame work wasn't to bad, it should be done first before you modify the fuel tank itself. I wanted to use Cannon air tanks and I needed to modify the fuel tank area. I placed the fuel tank back on the frame after I removed the unsightly cast sides. I scribed a line across the tank on both sides. I then milled the frame flush to the frame rail and to the top of the scribed line's. Also, I milled the motor cradle area flush to the frame rail. You will also have to mill the front of the frame in 3 spots. The very front of the frame has a cast on block which is suppose to look like the tank hanger. I milled that flush to frame and left about .020 ledge on so the tank can sit on it. I could now add the Cannon fuel tank hangers to the fuel tank. I also milled the front of the frame on both sides to allow the modification to the top of the fuel tank.




After some test fitting with the fuel tank to make sure I removed enough material, I then cleaned the frame up of any sharp edges and washed it to remove any oil. After drying, I then started the frame detailing. I cut .080 styrene channel and glued this to the frame rail. I also filled in the motor cradle above the channel with strip styrene to clean the area up. I used .010 styrene for this.




I added electrical cables, traction motor cables, brake vents and added .010 styrene to the jacking pads. I also cut .015x.188 styrene and glued them to the bottom of the bolsters. This helped raise the frame above the Athearn side frames. The deck height will not rise enough to effect appearance or coupler height. But it is needed to prevent the Athearn trucks from rubbing on the frame rail. Next post, I will show what I did I the pre-painted body.

[Wammi]

Nice work so far. If you don't mind, I am interested to see how and where the traction motor cables are installed. I purchased them for 2 of the SD10s I am building, but for the life of me can't make sense of the instructions.

[rdg5310]

Hi Bob, You really need to find prototype pics of the under frame to see the location of the cables. I had taken detailed photo's years ago of the GP38. So I'm not sure if the caballing on the 38 is identical to the SD10. I would think that if you found some clear side shots of an SD8 or 9 would be your answer. I spend allot of time researching a model I want to build. Then make those decisions on what I want to add for frame detail. I will be adding the frame detail shots later as I update.

[rdg5310]

For the cab detail, it was really easy. I did strip the cab of paint for this. I removed the molded door handles and the tracks above the side windows. I replaced these with DW SV-365 cab shades. I left the shade on the conductors side off to be painted Conrail blue. They apparently replaced it and was the only reason I did this number. I like doing the oddities. I added PSC door handles, DW leslie air horn and DA sinclair antenna.





I painted the cab interior prior to painting the black. I make my own blend of green for the older models. I do know that Conrail repainted the interiors( all that I seen) in gray some time later. I'm not sure if they did this when they re-painted the body's blue. It would have made sense for them to do it that way.

[Wammi]

Thanks for the advice, Ron. I too spend quite a bit of time studying the prototypes for detail. Sorry to say I've not come up with a good detail shot under an SD7/9/10. But I'll keep looking!

Nice work on this so far my friend!

[Matthew]

Brian Banna has some traction motor information on his site.
www.6axlepwr.com/PROTOTYPE.html
Matthew

[RunningExtra]

Outstanding Ron, looking foreword to more updates on this one!

[rdg5310]

Moving on here, I'm just going to show what I did to the pre-painted body. As you see in the photo's I started removing the PC logo's. To do this I used 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper to start. This has to be done wet. I gently started removing the logo's. I used prototype pics of this unit to determine where I needed to remove. You can't use allot of pressure while doing this, you don't want to cut to much with the 600. I then used 1000 grit wet to smooth and finish out the look. I kept repeating the process until I got pretty much the desired look.




When I was done that, I washed the Shell off any residue from sanding. When the shell dried, I wiped it down with 70% rubbing alcohol and let that dry. I fired up the airbrush and loaded it with thinned black paint. For years I have used Accu-paint and I have a good supply of it. You need to tune up the airbrush for a light spray and lower the PSI. You need to figure out what works best for you and the paints your using. I lightly sprayed over the logos and the spelled out Penn Central. Accu-paint dries fairly quick so I was able to continue the project in an hour. I went back over all the logo's and lettering with 1000 grit wet. Again using the photo's I had, I sanded only the areas where the PC logo's really bled through (the whiter spots) and just lightly blended everything else. I didn't take pictures of the model after I did the final steps, don't ask me why, old age I guess. Next I will post detail shots of the finished model and maybe get Randy a better pic for the logo of the month.

[Wammi]

Can't wait to see the finished model, Ron! Looking good so far!

[rdg5310]

Here are the finish shots of the 38. This was any easy build. And once in awhile it's nice to do something that you can get done in a short period of time. It gets you motivated for the more intense models you might be building or planning. I would have found this to be more difficult if I started from an undec unit. The approach to fading the PC logos would have been harder to do with decals. I choose not to use brass handrails and stanchions at this time. Doesn't mean I can't change my mind later on. That was the real beauty of this project, to take a decorated model and upgrade it's appearance as much as I wanted to. For me that is a real change. Enjoy and thanks for the comments.

[icghogger]

And you did an EXCELLENT Job, Ron!

[deez]

The unit lookes awesome Ron! I must say I've really enjoyed seeing this project come together! Excelent work!

[Randy Earle]

Looks great Ron, I'm gonna add a PC Unit to my list. (I have a GP-40 in undec)

[gnsteve]

Good looking engine. The PC bleedthrough is a great added detail.

[rdg5310]

Again thanks for the comments. Randy, I have a GP40 undec that has been started to run with the 38. That will be a future post. I'm actually planning a trio of ex PC units, just haven't decided what will be the third. My approach is to find units that lasted into the mid- eighties patched. This way they fit right in with early Conrail blue. I know this all brings a tear to Red P's eyes, sorry "P". It had to be done.