A couple of years back, I picked up a Frisco-decorated GP7 shell for the Atlas "yellow-box" era GP7. It's been sitting in storage until recently, when I got a later-model GP7 from eBay. That Geep was painted for the Lackawanna RR and had DCC installed, but somehow a nasty melted spot showed up on the engineer's side of the long hood. No problem, it was mentioned in the sale, so I expected it. That shell will become scrap fodder, while the Frisco shell will go on the chassis. However, the paint scheme and lettering are a bit too garish, and I'm sorry, but I've never been a fan of the reflective red nose stripes. Plus, the "yellow-box" handrails are quite clunky. So, one good soak in the 91% isopropyl, and viola- a clean shell. Next, removing the cast-on grabirons & lift rings & drilling holes for new detail parts. This Geep won't be super-duper-detailed, but will have enough to set it apart as a Frisco locomotive (including the L-shaped grabiron on the right side of each hood end). Plus, when it's ready for painting, it (and the undec GP15-1) will get a new Mandarin orange & white paint job. I am now waiting for proper detail parts to arrive from Caboose Hobbies so's I can install them, and I have a set of newer GP7 handrails to use. Should bump my DCC fleet up to 6 engines, all Frisco, and heavy on the GP7s. No plans to install sound at this time- I'm going the DCC route as cheaply as possible, merely installing decoders into DCC-ready engines. (Why don't I paint it black? I already have three black & yellow Geeps, and inasmuch as I think the full striping looks cool, I need at least one other O/W diesel.)
Pics you want, pic you shall have! Here's one of the Frisco shell in question (click on pic to enlarge): I am no fan of the reddish nose stripe, plus the red is too red, and the lettering is a bit chunky. Nice-looking shell, right? Look on the other side: That nasty melted plastic trench both ruined the shell and made the diesel a real steal from eBay, even with a Digitrax decoder installed! I've employed the use of a bottle of 91% isopropyl alcohol to remove the paint off the Frisco shell, plus I've taken off the cast-on grabirons and lift rings with an Xacto knife. Next will be drilling the holes for the aftermarket parts, plus holes in the cab roof for an amber rotary beacon and a proper Leslie 5-chime air horn, and the shell goes into the paint shop. This will be the first shell I've painted using the Badger Frisco mandarin orange (ran out of Floquil SP Daylight Red, and there's no chance of getting any more of that). Stay tuned.......
