GP35 (Torpedo Boat) Modification

Thanks Sherrel,
I do have a lot of fun doing this stuff and it is kind of therapy as well. The pipes you refer to are indeed air tank drains that go down to valves in the car body.
1/2 of the fun for me is trying to figure out how to do some of this stuff.
Tom Holley

 

More great work Tom! Your detail work is even superior to the Overland model ..... and that is saying a lot!

Ken

 

Tom, as stated and implied by others, truly impressive. I can't wait to see the final product!

 

That looks great. A pat on the back is in order. All that piping makes it look so realistic and makes it really stand out as a custom detail job. Can't wait to see her painted and weathered. Keep the photos coming.

 

Thanks Guys
For the comments, I do enjoy this group of Frisco people, all of them. Real class acts, one and all. Have a good start, but still a ways to go.

Sherrel, I dont think I am ready to try 1/4 scale yet, I will leave that for you guys for now

Ken I wish I had your OMI GP35, it is a great looking model for sure.

John, Here is the stripping process I am using on the other 2 geeps in the works. I am using Super Clean for removing the paint, Got me a pasta container, it is tall enough to hold most HO stuff I need stripped. I do not advise long term storing the Super Clean in anything except the container it comes in.

Thanks Jim, I will try and keep the Photos coming

Keith Thanks, I need some parts, will PM you.

Richard, I bent the wire by hand, with round nose pliers,taking my time, laying it out on the roof top, and trying to match photos. I am not saying it was easy, but I just took my time, measured every bend 3-4 times.

 

|-||-|A couple progress photos. Although these shells were left in the Super Clean for much longer than I thought necessary, It didn't even touch the Paint on the Athearn RTR shells.
So, I washed them off let them dry, and tossed them into the trusty old Scalecoat paint remover, I wish the Super Clean had worked, and it usually does, but it didn't this time.
Got them Cleaned, and starting the shell mods, being careful not to loose all them little parts. The Frame Mods were also started, this one shows Evergreen 3/16 Angle pieces cut to HO 16ft, sanded .020 off of one side of the Angle and glued to frame, then the end pieces were put in to plug the open ends.
Still a long way to go.|-||-|
Tom Holley

 

Thanks Tom. It will be great watching your progress. The Frisco "Torpedo Boat" GP35's served long and well, in spite of some maintenance problems from an over-stressed 567 engine, plus they looked impressive. You going to do these in b/y or o/w?

Ken

 

I hope B/Y.

 

You know that 1 will be
Tom Holley

 

Got some of the roof top stuff done in the last couple days, still a ways to go, decided to use Cannon exhaust hatches, the RTR Athearn exhaust is weak. I decided to build some of the interior stack as well on all.
Building 3 of these things at a time has given me new respect, on how much of a challenge 1 of these is to build.
No More well, for now.
Tom Holley

 

Thanks Sherrel
I always seem to be able to leave something like that out, that is why I will never make a descent article writer about the stuff I build.
Anyways the tanks are Detail Associates AR 3202. I used these because they had the tabs on the bands that wrap around the tanks, that happen to be in the right place too. You just need to be real careful when cutting these apart to keep the band lugs on the tanks you want to use. Some cleaning and sanding to get them where you can use them.

 

Decided to apply all this to an RTR Athearn GP35, SLSF 717 one evening. I cant imagine why it would not work on a Kato or other makers or scale locos.
Cut the channel and glued to shell, made a couple more air tank mounts glued them to tanks, drilled them out w .033 bit, glued them to the top. I then spent 1/2 hr bending the piping. Then laid the piping in place, used paper and ACC wraps to hold the piping to the channel added the other piping, eye bolts.
Now on to the side modifications. The real challenge to this is going to be painting the shell after the mods.|-||-|
Thanks for looking,
Tom Holley

 

Tom - You are becoming a master pipe wire bender!

You might have said before - what wire are you using for the pipe?

Love these "TT" GP35's. They often ran kind of rough, as the 567 was really stressed in this unit - it was at its design limits. A couple of them in a consist, running a bit on the edge as usual, really made good noise climbing up Rolla hill at night.

Ken

 

Thanks Ken
I guess you could say I have been on quite a "bender" lately

I have been told that engines run their best right before they "blow up"
Tom Holley

 

Dude, you're a regular pipefitter! No horns yet...