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!