I see that you have the Oddballs decals for striping F units & FA units. I have tried using these and was frustrated, they where difficult to put on and would not lay flat around the curve part of the nose. You still had to cut out notched part at the bottom of the nose. After several attempts I just called it a day and disposed the used decal. I end up cutting my own mask. I drew the pattern on a thin illustration board, cut the pattern out, then placed that on my mask on glass and cut along the pattern with a hobby knife. You can use the Oddballs decal as a pattern as a starting point for drawing it on the illustration board. You might have to do this a couple of times to get the right fit. When you are satisfied with the fit, save the master pattern. Just remember, Model Railroading is Fun! John
Hard for me to admit as the late Richard Napper and yours truly were the two who talked Oddballs into doing the "stripe set", but it doesn't work too well. The side stripes are useful, but the nose cigar band is likely OK for a FA1, but is a headache for an EMD F-unit with the compound sloped and curved nose. I think John is right on with his comments above. K
Gary, don't forget the fine line masking tapes that are out there. Tamiya makes some good stuff. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...asking.TRS0&_nkw=tamiya+masking+tape&_sacat=0
I was afraid of that. I was hoping I wouldn't have to try and mask that cigar band. Thanks, I think I will try copying the decals and take your advice on making a mask. I will try the side stripes on the "B" unit, and I'll try the cigar band on the FA-1. Only thing I dread as much as masking is decaling, so I guess I'll survive. I've heard good things about the Tamiya tape on other forums (fora?). I have a couple of good hobby shops nearby; I'll take a look.
I have used the Tamiya tape quite a bit it bends nicely. For bulk areas or bigger stripes (o+w) etc. I have had real good luck with the yellow frog brand tape. With careful burnishing virtually no bleed and peels off easily.
I still have my F/FA masks I believe. I think I used "vellum" to make them. Can't recall, been a few years. Just remember that the shape of the nose paint was very different (in shape) between an EMD and Alco F unit on the Frisco.
Model Railroader ran "Modeler's Guide to F Units" in October 2006, and covered some of the same points. One thing not mentioned was that roads with lots of F units, like the UP, would have all sorts of variations, depending on what parts were available to keep a unit running and on the rails. It's possible to find pictures of UP locos with both high and low fans, for example.
Found my cut levers. They were nearly as hard to get on as the plastic ones. Cal-Scale makes a brass one. I'll see if my LHS has one.
I had some time this afternoon between chores, so I got out my airbrush and put on on coat of Yellow. I used Badger Modelflex Insignia Yellow: I shot it straight out of the airbrush at about 25#. It went ok in thin coats and dry almost immediately, but it does seem to be a bit rough. I may back the pressure off a bit.
Gary - Is that the Atlas model FP7? Will you are doing an early b/y FP7, or one that has been around a while and been modified a bunch? If it's to be an early one, as delivered and running for several years before things start changing, you should have a Nathan five-chime up top. K
It's an ER/Roco FP7. I think it's very close to the Atlas model, if not the same shell. I want to do an early model, like this view of a brand-spanking-new 5045: http://www.frisco.org/shipit/index.php?threads/slsf-5045-fp7.521/ The horn is a Cal-Scale 190-316, which is listed as a Nathan 5-chime. I may have got the wrong one, though: http://www.bowser-trains.com/history/hocalscalediesel.html
Looks like you have a Nathan P-series horn up top. Resembles a Leslie, and was probably intended to compete with Leslie. I'd suggest the Nathan M5 for an as-delivered SLSF FP7. i.e., like the 190-551. Details West and some others also make a good one. Unusual in that SLSF had all the horns facing forward, and had no second rear facing horn as they did on the other F's and E's. Nothing like variety! K
I broke my #80, #79, and #77 drill bits detailing these F units, so I went to my LHS today (stopped on my way to the grocery store ) , and looked for a Nathan M5 and a brass cut lever, but no luck. The wrong horn will stay for the meantime. They did have a detail kit for Stewart Fs, though. Meanwhile, I finished the Stewart F3 and put a coat of primer on it:
Whenever I had to paint multicolor steam, I would spray a blank decal sheet with the colors and the if there was any bleed, I could use the decals.
Gary, to reduce the likelihood of breaking those tiny numbered bits, consider getting yourself one of the Tamiya Handy Drills. I haven't broken a numbered bit since I started using mine. http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Tamiya-...945159?hash=item21004caa87:g:AA4AAOSw1ZBUrgV1 I make a collet adapter that will allow you to use any Dremel collet with it.
I can testify to this, they are really neat little drills. Mine came in kit form, it was a blast to build and with the little piece that Keith can make for you along with an upgraded bearing, will allow you to use Dremel Collets that work really good too. It has been well worth the money for me. The drill turns slow enough to not heat the plastic for better more accurate drilling. Saved enough $$ in bit to pay for the drill
Some yellow on the Stewart: And I installed a Tsunami 567 sound decoder: Replaced the bulb with a Golden White LED. I think I will have to remove the board and mount the decoder on the motor to get the shell to fit, though. I also did some simple programming with DecoderPro. The Kato drive is very smooth and starts moving right away, so it will take some tweaking to make the sounds match.