Bachmann CP GP38-2 - Detailing/Repaint Project Log

[CanadianRails43]

Back in January 2014, I received this Bachmann DCC On-Board GP38-2, CP 3126 by trade from a friend of mine. Today, this model is completely different from the factory version I acquired. Basically, I'll be posting a log of the work done to it. I am going to stagger the posts to keep things short. Because I have either lost or simply didn't take some progress photos, this first bit will be jumpy on detail.

Starting off, here is the model as it was in November 2014. Weathered and has basic detail that are relevant to the CP GP38-2s. I'll list the details below. Notice the dynamic brake has most of its weathering removed for reasons that will be explained later.



Some progress photos I was able to find in my archives. First is the removal of a radiator fan for the Winterization hatch and then the installation of the front classlight housings.




Detail parts applied:
• Front headlight - Details West (EMD Twin Pyle Dual Beam)
• Bell/Bracket - Juneco Scale Models (CN/CP Low Hood Cab Mount)
• Winterization Hatch - Details West (GP50 design)
• Classlight housings - Miniatures By Eric (rear type)
• Horn - Miniatures By Eric (Nathan Airchime K3 - CN)
• Sinclair "Ice Skate" Antenna - Athearn RTR

More posts to follow soon!

[CanadianRails43]

In late November 2014, I began planning for a new direction with the GP38-2. My plans landed at a full repaint and renumbering project that would turn this from CP 3126 to heritage unit CP 3084. CP 3084 is painted in the company's 1963 - 1969 Tuscan Red/Grey "Script" scheme. It was originally painted this way in 2000 to be used as the backup for the Royal Canadian Pacific luxury excursion train, which is normally powered by CP FP9s. I chose to model the locomotive as it was before 2013, due to its latest repaint in 2013 involving the removal of classlights and the change to modern rounded numberboard numbering. You can see roster photos here


This would be my first time repainting a locomotive, so I was a bit nervous, yet excited. To make things more interesting, I would use spray paint or "rattle cans". With no available airbrush, or the money to buy one plus equipment, spray was my next best option.

Before getting started with stripping of paint, I took a file to the paper air filter box and angled the edges, as is prototypical for all of CP's GP38-2s (except the 3000-3020 GP38ACs).


After that, I decided to remove parts of my weathering to see the contrast. The weathering was completed using a dust-like powder, with acrylic paint for the rust, and sealed with dullcote. The weathering was based off the actual 3126, but I did my own rendition of it.



Cab rain gutters or "drip strips" applied using styrene. These will be later replaced with No.10 staples.


And finally, the start of the full strip down. Removal of front and back is first. Then the sides go for a soak in 90% rubbing alcohol.





That's it for now. More will come!

[Deleted]

Nice watching with interest

[pacbelt]

So am I - and I'm also currently building a B'Mann GP38-2, in the "WHAT'S ON THE BENCH" sub-forum.
I look forward to seeing what you do with yours!

~ Carmine

[iomalley]

Huh, I never gave the Bachmann GP38-2 a second look until now. Looks like the blower bulge pops right off! Definitely handy for changing it to the angled bulge.

[CanadianRails43]

Nov 28, 2015 5:36:05 GMT -5 pacbelt said:

So am I - and I'm also currently building a B'Mann GP38-2, in the "WHAT'S ON THE BENCH" sub-forum.
I look forward to seeing what you do with yours!

~ Carmine

Nov 28, 2015 9:29:32 GMT -5 iomalley said:

Huh, I never gave the Bachmann GP38-2 a second look until now. Looks like the blower bulge pops right off! Definitely handy for changing it to the angled bulge.

Thanks everyone for the interest! The Bachmann model isn't much at first glance. But as I've found with another project of mine, these cheaper models have great potential if you put time and effort into them.
iomalley, it made things much easier when I found the blower housing came off. It doesn't easily, but will after a little coaxing. I wasn't able to find an angled blower available until a few months ago when I found a MBE part in Calgary. Honestly, I think the Cannon blower would've been the better choice. I'll explain in a later post.

[pacbelt]

I actually LIKE what you did, with filing the corners down on the air filter housing... I'm trying that on MINE!! It will either work, or I just get another Cannon part!

~ Carmine

[pacbelt]

Nov 28, 2015 9:29:32 GMT -5 iomalley said:

Huh, I never gave the Bachmann GP38-2 a second look until now. Looks like the blower bulge pops right off! Definitely handy for changing it to the angled bulge.

Sean, I didn't either! 20 years ago - NONE of us would...
Their can motors are actually smooth, the drive is fairly quiet, and the important measurements are nearly correct (except the fuel tank and fans!).

They're NOT terribly expensive, and easy to work on.
I call them the "modern day blue box"!

Most of the newer stuff is worth another look.

~ Carmine

[CanadianRails43]

Thanks pacbelt! Your GP38-2 is coming along beautifully!

The paint stripping process is complete. It's now January 2015, and progress is back in motion after the Christmas season break. During that time, a little decal work was completed on the numberboards, the feel-good renumbering from 3126 to 3084.


At the same time, the cab went for its shower under the mist of grey paint. I used the Testors spray enamel for the grey. Later on, I realized I could've used a slightly lighter hue, however it doesn't concern me too much.


The stripped shell is ready for paint as well. First, a few details get added. The headlight is now a Miniatures by Eric casting, which has more depth and detail compared to the previous Details West piece. A square sandfiller hatch made from styrene is added to the nose, and the rear headlight is changed to the correct vertical twin beam using the Miniatures by Eric GP38-2 rear casting. Finally, the DW Winterization hatch gets placed back into position.



Fresh from the paint booth is the shell with cab back in place and other details. The dynamic brake is the only piece left red because it will get the next colour.
Now the shell is ready to get masked off in preparation for its second colour, which will be Tuscan Red. However, due to availability plus my own preferable choice, Tamiya Maroon will be used instead.




A day later and with great shine, the grey and maroon shell is complete. You may notice the little grey spot under the dynamic brake. It got nicked while the paint was still drying. No worry though… it will be easily touched up with a maroon-dipped toothpick. The horn on the dynamic brake cover is now an Athearn RTR Nathan Airchime K3LR2 (2 forward, left bell reversed), correct for the CP models



And finally, the black is added to the bottom half of the shell. I originally bought Tamiya black spray for this, but I decided to use acrylic paint and brush. A process that takes not much more than 15-20 minutes after masking. A few extra details are applied, including classification lenses, made from expanded ends of 0.010" (2.5mm) fibre optic. Also I fabricated the curved grab iron behind the rear-most radiator fan, using a standard staple. Easiest grab iron I've ever done! The sandfiller hatch needed to be changed out and a temporary one is in place for now.



And that's it for now. The decaling process will be next, so stay tuned!

[pacbelt]

That truly looks great!!! The colour is good, and the number boards came out better than I've done!

Between us, and Sean's B'Mann SD45, maybe we could get more people to take a look at Bachmann - again!

~ Carmine

[pacbelt]

WAIT! The blower housing comes off too??? I thought that just the ECAFB was removable...
I gotta give mine a second look!

[CanadianRails43]

Nov 29, 2015 2:57:57 GMT -5 pacbelt said:

That truly looks great!!! The colour is good, and the number boards came out better than I've done!

Between us, and Sean's B'Mann SD45, maybe we could get more people to take a look at Bachmann - again!

~ Carmine

Thank you Carmine!! Honestly, the numberboards were the results of my second and third attempts at decaling ANYTHING! So Im truly honoured hearing that! Absolutely lol!
Yes, the blower housing will come off after a little bit of prying. However, expect to look for new solutions to putting it back in place

[pacbelt]

Hmmmm......... you're giving me ideas!!

[CanadianRails43]

Before starting the decaling process, the one thing I made sure I had of course was decals. I was able to find a sheet of MicroScale decals at Trains N Such in Calgary.


We start at the cab area. Numbers are added, then the Imitation Gold striping is applied. Note though, that MicroScale's attempt is brighter for striping, more a Medium Yellow.


Next the whole shell gets the striping, right where the maroon meets the grey.


Now the "Script" lettering and the pilot warning stripes are added. Everything else is also complete, finishing the the whole repaint part of the project. It's February 20, 2015. Note the pilot stripes are cracked up badly due to the decals being too thick and not adhering as well as they should to the surface, which is a major MicroScale flaw. With all decals in place, the unit gets it's finishing of dullcote to seal everything in and give it a less shinier appearance.






Just for fun, here's a comparison between the GP38-2, versus an Athearn RTR SD40 model which I'm also detailing and working on.


More still to come!

[Deleted]

Turned out nicely Braedan

[pacbelt]

Wow!! That DOES look great!! The chevrons on the pilots always gives me fits! Yours look fine.
Love the way the angles on the air filter housing turned out.

You should send those pictures to Bachmann, so that they can see the potential of their models!!

.... I'm still waiting on new fans, then I've got catching up to do!
Fine work indeed.

~ Carmine

[CanadianRails43]

Dec 2, 2015 1:51:45 GMT -5 pacbelt said:

Wow!! That DOES look great!! The chevrons on the pilots always gives me fits! Yours look fine.
Love the way the angles on the air filter housing turned out.

You should send those pictures to Bachmann, so that they can see the potential of their models!!

.... I'm still waiting on new fans, then I've got catching up to do!
Fine work indeed.

~ Carmine

Thanks Carmine and @bicentennial! Haha, these are after at least 25 applications of MicroSol and then dullcote. I may send pics once the whole model is complete, which will still be quite a while from now.

[CanadianRails43]

With the whole repaint finished, all that's left is additional detailing. I like to look for small, interesting details on the prototypes that I could try out myself.
So one detail I found was on the cab roof. It's a square plate bolted down to the roof, it's purpose I assume is a cover. I replicated this with a piece of .010 x .125" (0.25 x 3.2mm) strip styrene cut to a square 2.5 x 2.5mm piece. Before applying it to the roof, I stuck a thumbtack into each corner of what will be the bottom, not going through the styrene, to create the rivets.


Another detail I focused on were the exhaust stacks. CP's GP38-2s have flat stacks, with a square base and round openings. I took the same styrene I used for the plate on the cab. I made two square pieces cut to 3 x 3mm, and drilled a 1/16 hole into the centre of each. After those two, I made a temporary access door for the paper air filter using my trusty recycled cardboard paper.


Now we move to some serious work. Bachmann's GP38-2s have what looks like a 3600gal fuel tank, which is a fairly large tank. CP models however, have smaller 2000gal tanks, which is appropriate for their classification as diesel road switchers (hence the DRS-20 found on most units). The biggest obstacle with Bachmann is the fact that the metal frame is made to fit the 3600gal tank piece… no more, no less. Because I wanted to work with the Bachmann, having come so far anyway, I made up a plan that would work if everything was done right. Using a hacksaw with a 1.8mm blade, cut the metal where the screws mount the shell to the frame, and relocate the screw mounts closer to the centre. Tedious work no doubt, especially when drilling the new holes for mounting, which are literally right on the sides of the frame. This also involved moving the screw pegs on the shell. A task that proved easier, but still needed to be no less than 99% accurate. Once the pegs were lined up, I CA'd them to the shell.
This whole plan took roughly 2cm off the fuel tank part of the frame, and 2cm off the fuel tank itself.



Shown here is where the mounting pegs are. Circled are where they originally were.


Here is the before and after - 3600gal to 2000gal.



Still working on the fuel tank, details are next. Not long after the completion of the resize project, I got an order in from Walthers via my local hobby shop with numerous detail parts. Included were Details Associates fuel tank fillers and gauges, flush mount gauges, and Details West fuel tank brackets.





Another detail part in the order was a pack of CP pilots for the GMDD models, made by Cal Scale. I was NOT going to go through another hellish time of decals, and decided to make my first attempt at masking the warning stripes. Basically, I used the decals to cut and line up the tape for the stripes. What I forgot of course was that I shouldn't have masked onto the decal. That was another amateur hour for me So I masked the pilot again and hoped for the best. Turned out pretty good, although it still needs a little more work.





And that lands us at current (December 5, 2015)! I'll continue to post as further progress gets complete. With a whole bunch of stuff and projects ongoing at the moment, including the Walthers Trainline GP9u, things will be slow.
I do have another Walthers parts order coming in soon, an order of a bunch of Cannon and Co details!! So stay tuned for that!

[iomalley]

Braedan, you have made chicken salad out of chicken sh^t with this model. You have made that Bmann look better than the more premium RTR Athearn behind it! Take a bow!

[pacbelt]

Dec 5, 2015 12:46:27 GMT -5 iomalley said:

Braedan, you have made chicken salad out of chicken sh^t with this model. You have made that Bmann look better than the more premium RTR Athearn behind it! Take a bow!

I could not have said it better!!
That looks GREAT. The tank really impressed me! I may attempt that on mine. I was considering a 2600 or 3000 gal tank...

Can I get the part number for the tank detail kit please??

Yes, take a bow!

~ Carmine