Milwaukee Road SDL39's

[m a y o r 79]

Since I'm starting a painting spree soon I wanted to share a few quick photos of another project I've been working on. These are a pair of Kaslo SDL39's that I started a few years ago.



The pictures aren't the best but it gives you an idea. These are going to be #584 from the first order and #589 from the second order. The major difference between the two is the showshield and jacking pads on the #584. You can kind of see it in the first pic and the one below



Otherwise they are more or less the same. I'm planning on painting these up for the Milwaukee Road circa 1972ish so....no billboard lettering. (hopefully I have enough paint)

[mrlfan]

very nice Mike! I can't wait to see them painted.

Glenn

[WC 7499]

Fantastic! What will you be using to power them???

[deez]

Those look great! Where is the hand brake on those units? Is it a wheel on the back like regular 39's?

[m a y o r 79]

They had a ratched handbrake on the engineers side, figures the one side of the unit I didn't photograph.

They came with an underframe, trucks, and motor from Kaslo so I'll be using that. I'm not sure how well they run though. I know the early ones had issues with truck clearances but mine was one of the last ones shipped and supposedly they fixed the trucks by then.

It got the orange paint today, if I'm lucky I might get the black painted on Sunday.

[Wammi]

Goodie Goodie!!!!!


I wish I would have been around when Kaslo was selling those! I'd have 2 or 3! But alas, I missed out.

[greenbaywestern]

would love to find these someday!! or maybe they will be produced again.........

any updates on these models Mike?

[DRGW 5398]

Very cool, I'd also like a pair of them. Such a neat prototype! Can't wait to see them done.

[champstermike]

Very nice models. I recently saw one of these in Chile. Too bad I couldn't stop to get a photo.

[m a y o r 79]

Yeah I can't wait to see them done either Andrew. Unfortunately I dont have the space right nwo to set up for modeling so I don't really get much done. (trying to sell our townhouse so we can buy a basement). It's sad but I haven't taken a train out of the box in about 7 months now.

[dmfoamer]

Anxiuos too see these finished. A buddy of mine has a couple of the brass ones from Overland Models.. There was one just on evil bay last week that went for almost $300. was thinking about it but got a little rich for my blood

[m a y o r 79]

I haven't run tehm yet Jim, so I dont know if I got one of the corrected ones or not. Knowing my luck finishing this project out is going to require a re-motor and new/fixed trucks.

[slowfreight]

Try Al's Hobby Shop in Elmhurst Il

[shooter]

Mar 16, 2011 9:12:17 GMT -5 dmfoamer said:

Anxiuos too see these finished. A buddy of mine has a couple of the brass ones from Overland Models.. There was one just on evil bay last week that went for almost $300. was thinking about it but got a little rich for my blood

Actually, I won the auction for ~$250. I hadn't found the kit available at all anywhere else, so it was worth it for me.

But now, after spending that much on a kit, I'm a little hesitant to start it, for fear that I will mess something up .

---jps

[m a y o r 79]

So I finally pulled these suckers out again and after looking them over in some good light it appears that the orange paint didn't cover as nicely as I thought it did initially. Since one loco was only a few years old (built 1969) and one was only a few months old (built 1972) during the time period I'm modeling I need good coverage on the paint. Can't hide anything with weathering.

I'm hoping that another very light coat of orange will give the finish I'm hoping for, otherwise its a trip into the paint stripper for these shells. If all goes well I'm planning on getting the orange re-painted next weekend, and the black painted the following weekend. (My spray booth is at the parents house so......gotta wait till I head over there). I'll post some progress pictures next week.

In the mean time I think I'll work on getting the handrails drilled out and assembled.

[m a y o r 79]

Well, I finally got back to my paintbooth to finish up the painting on the SDL's so they're finally orange and black. I still have some detail work to do on the bodies (all weather windows, glass, windshield wipers, etc.) but the bulk of the work is done. The handrails are also about 75% done, I just need to finish up the end ones but I think those will be easier to build on the model rather than as a subassembly. So..... I figured I'd share a few quick progress photos.

They're going out to get a coat of gloss for decaling in a few minutes. Since the weather in Chicagoland has been so bad the last few days I've had more time to work on these, I should be able to get them decaled sometime tomorrow.

So, here's a few quick photos. Let me know what you guys think.

[David]

Love them so far Mike. I know what you mean about the weather in Chicagoland, I got project on hold until I finish building my Ark! Can't wait to see them finished!

[diesel]

Nice job Mike! I've been waiting to see these come along!

[m a y o r 79]

Thanks guys, this has been a fun (if not agonizingly slow) build. I did work on them some last nite though, got all of the side handrails painted and installed, just have to finish up the end ones now. I also got one unit mostly decaled before I ran out on my Milwaukee set.

[m a y o r 79]

Well, probably the last update on this build for a while. We bought a house so it's getting to be time to start packing things up for the move. Fortunately I was able to get the shells pretty far along. Here's a few pics of what they look like as of tonite.





Not the best photos but its something. On the shells I still need to get some cab details wrapped up (all weather windows, wind deflector on the conductor side, windshield wipers, glass, etc.) and of course get them weathered and dull coated. The frames are pretty much done, just need to attach the truck sideframes and fuel tank.

The next update probably wont be until later this fall when I find the boxes these bad boys get packed up into. Shouldn't take too much to wrap up the final assembly.