and easy to use. However, I discovered that I had to thin the paint despite the manufacturer’s claim that it can be sprayed straight from the bottle.
chian roads, and CWE is no ex- ception. After removing the facto- ry sandfiller, I soon had a Details West (#135) bell casting cement- ed in place on the end of the hood, bringing it into spec with the rest of the CWE fleet. Details West (#123) “super” spark arres- tors replaced the conventional ex- haust stacks found on the dynam- ic brake blister to complete the bodywork. I then found one much less obvious change that was nec- essary: the fuel tank.
When ordering new locomo- tives, railroads specify the size of the fuel tank, which are available in several standard sizes between 1,700 and 3,600 gallons. The type of service in which the units will serve usually dictates their fuel tank size. Thus, locomotives destined for long-haul road ser- vice generally received larger fuel tanks, while locomotives intended for short-haul or local service re- ceived a smaller option.
Out of the box, this Atlas mod- el came equipped with the larger 3,600-gallon fuel tank; however, CWE’s fleet features the smaller 2,600-gallon tank as a standard. While this may seem trivial on the surface, the smaller tank size ex- poses more of the locomotive un- derside, resulting in a substantial visual difference. I changed out
the fuel tank using a replacement part purchased from the Atlas parts department, completing the transition from a generic loco- motive to one matching the CWE standard. With the detail changes com-
plete, it was finally time to head to the paint shop to see if my computer design would trans- late into real world form as I ex- pected. A longtime Floquil user, I now found myself turning to the new line of paints from Tru-Col- or (
http://trucolorpaint.com). I selected White #5, Caboose Red #52, and BC Rail Blue #127, all of which would combine to provide the bright, color- ful bicentennial scheme. After ap- plying a base coat of primer, I began with the lightest color, airbrush- ing the short hood, cab face, and the center of the long hood white. I first painted them up- side down and then turned them up- right to ensure I left no surfaces untouched. At the same time, I also airbrushed the handrails using looped tape placed onto a discarded kit box to hold them in place while I painted them. Over- all, I found the Tru-Color paint covered evenly, was self-leveling,
After drying overnight, I then masked the portions of the body and cab to re- main white using painter’s grade tape. One area often overlooked when paint- ing multiple colors is over- spray from the interior of the model that can mar paint previously applied to the exterior. In this in- stance, the number box on the front of the cab would remain white. Therefore, I also masked the interior front wall of the cab to prevent red overspray from coming through the windows and landing on the number box. I airbrushed Caboose Red onto the cab and front third of the shell. I made sure the red evenly covered each nook and cranny, especially around the recessed lo- comotive brake found on the side of the short hood. Once the quick- drying paint had cured, I peeled the tape from the model and set it aside to once again dry overnight.
Number Boards Clear parts such as the number board inserts cannot be chemically stripped without the potential for fogging or other damage. These must be hand stripped and then repainted in preparation for a de- cal with the new road number.
After remasking, I applied the fi- nal color — BC Rail Blue — to the rear of the long hood and the sep- arate walkway component. With the locomotive compo- nents painted and set aside to dry, I now focused my attention on an essential item when reas-
Decals Two different decal sets provided the bicenten- nial graphics for the CWE locomotive, ensuring the combination would not directly reflect either prototype scheme.
JULY 2015 69
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100