Detailing a pair of Bachmann HO GP50's
Oct 15, 2011 0:46:25 GMT -5
jazzlife1, mkl194, and 1 more like this
Post by G16 on Oct 15, 2011 0:46:25 GMT -5
Some years ago, I bought a pair of HO hi-hood GP50's ready-to-run for some USD60. They came factory painted in Norfolk Southern & Southern Railway. I decided to keep the original paint without repainting them entirely to save my time and cost.
The stock models were indeed pretty simple in appearance without a lot of body details but they featured with headlights, fly-wheels as well as reasonable drive.
To improve their appearance, I used quite a number of commercial detail parts. First of all, I started with their pilots that I think they were the most unrealistic areas of all (e.g. filling up the large opening with styrene sheet, adding snow plows, mu cables & air hoses, etc).
For the trucks, I formed the brake pipes with wires and attached them between each pair of brake cylinders. I also added sand pipes which were made from fine styrene rods. Next I installed speed recorders. Additional details & pipes e.g. over-flow pipes, air-tank pipes, etc. were also added around the fuel tanks.
I installed firecracker antennas & lift rings on their roofs. I attached wipers, wind deflectors and sunshades to the windows. Then grab irons were added on hood ends (note I did not remove those molding grab irons for convenience, you may want to file them away before adding separate ones). Thereafter I applied decals of diesel locomotive data, builder¡¦s plate and number board with the help of a few prototype photos. Next I attached some walkway lights along the hoods too.
I weathered the Southern unit because I wanted to compare the result between them.
The models seemed to be given a new life. They look completely different now.
Here are the pics of the stock GP50's:
Pics of the finished models:
The stock models were indeed pretty simple in appearance without a lot of body details but they featured with headlights, fly-wheels as well as reasonable drive.
To improve their appearance, I used quite a number of commercial detail parts. First of all, I started with their pilots that I think they were the most unrealistic areas of all (e.g. filling up the large opening with styrene sheet, adding snow plows, mu cables & air hoses, etc).
For the trucks, I formed the brake pipes with wires and attached them between each pair of brake cylinders. I also added sand pipes which were made from fine styrene rods. Next I installed speed recorders. Additional details & pipes e.g. over-flow pipes, air-tank pipes, etc. were also added around the fuel tanks.
I installed firecracker antennas & lift rings on their roofs. I attached wipers, wind deflectors and sunshades to the windows. Then grab irons were added on hood ends (note I did not remove those molding grab irons for convenience, you may want to file them away before adding separate ones). Thereafter I applied decals of diesel locomotive data, builder¡¦s plate and number board with the help of a few prototype photos. Next I attached some walkway lights along the hoods too.
I weathered the Southern unit because I wanted to compare the result between them.
The models seemed to be given a new life. They look completely different now.
Here are the pics of the stock GP50's:
Pics of the finished models:
I never thought an old Bachmann could look so good!
