Love the M420

Great work. Looking forward to the finished model.

We re-titled your thread

maybe I'll work on my M420W

You're on a roll. Very nice

You're on a roll.

Very nice work and inspiring.

HBRY M420

So you helped me finish my M420 and you are still working on yours years later. Is your list of projects in a box getting smaller yet? Paint ‘er up and get ‘em running.

Progress

  Final painting prior to the start of the rainy season here on the West Coast.  I used TLT warm black on the M420 and a mix of Vallejo black, dark grey and black grey on the GP9u.  These units are now in the decal queue behind my fleet of boxcars and the F7Au.

Marc Simpson

Re: Progress

Marc, 

Both look great. It's amazing how orange CN's red-orange looks until the decals start to go on.

I'll bet you don't have many projects left now.

Mike

You have no idea

Mike, you have no idea how many are still lurking in Rubbermaid containers in the basement.  Everytime I open one up I find a new project that was "finished except for the painting" years ago.  The M420 has been ready to paint for at least a decade, the GP9u for about the same.  I've got an Atlas FP9Au that was "finished except for the paint" in 1993, still needs to be painted.

Marc Simpson

Both units look good

Superb. And very interesting

Superb. And very interesting to watch the progress.

Finally! Getting around to decalling

I finally have gotten around to doing some decalling on the GP9 and have started prepping my M420.  I figure I should finish them before Rapido comes out with the M420.  My grand plans about installing my helix have been stymied by an apparent basement water issue that needs to be addressed before that project can move forward.  Might as well do more catching up on the project backlog.  

Marc Simpson

Walthers did it to me

Marc,

Back about 1999,  here in OKC.,  I built a Dolese Bros. Concrete co. sand hopper.  Than a Few years back Walthers comes out w/one.

so I know how you feel about Rapido Trains coming out with a great model.

So much for ONE of a kind on my layout!

Great looking units I see so far of your C.N. R.R.

Boudreaux,  Bayou Crest Express R.R.

Got to find a Swamp Thing for my swamp!!

One side done

The GP9u is done on the engineers side.  Onto the conductors side next.

Marc Simpson

Fixing things on the fly

I was looking at prototype photos of 4005 and noted that I had used the wrong battery box on the conductors side of the unit when I assembled it.  Of course this was after I had started decalling the model.  What to do?

Micro surgery.  I chiseled off the louvers and door and used 600 grit sandpaper to smooth the surface.  I managed to avoid damaging the stripes.  I painted the repaired area - and hopefully matched the paint.  There will be a stripe over the redone area so that should mask any paint mismatch.  

Marc Simpson

Getting the M420 done before Rapido does

I've had my model of 3543 ready to paint since about 2006 or so.  Since the announcement of the impending M420 model from Rapido Trains I figure I should get this one done beforehand.  It was painted last fall, and I got the decalling underway while the paint dried on the GP9u.  Ever forward we advance.

Marc Simpson

Out Zenking Mr. Zenk

Back in the 1980's when I first started reading Model Railroader, Bob Zenk was publishing some amazing diesel detailing articles. I always thought that his techniques were ahead of their time.

Fast forward to today as I try and finish some long dormant projects.

I started building my GP9RM shortly after Kaslo Shops released it, and it went into a storage box as moves, kids and work came into the fore.

Nice looking engines

Any idea how that Belt Railway of Chicago Alco end up in The Pas, Canada?

BRC in northern Manitoba

2/3 of the BRC fleet at The Pas Manitoba, April 2000

@Hans: In the late 1990's after Omnitrax took over the CN lines north of The Pas they started buying up CN M420 after they were retired by CN.  They ended up with at least 17 M420 by late 1999.  The Belt Railway of Chicago retired their C424 fleet and Omnitrax picked up the entire fleet and moved it to The Pas.  Out of the C424 fleet only the 604 ever operated, the rest were stored and never turned a wheel while there.  The majority of the fleet of MLW and Alco locomotives was either sold off or scrapped by 2003.  A few M420 are still in The Pas but the C424 are long gone.  It was a great place to railfan in the late 1990's/early 2000's.

Marc Simpson

Advances and setbacks

 I tried putting Vallejo gloss down only where the decals would be applied on the engineers side, with this result.  This is the technique suggested by Vallejo.  It is faster than airbrushing the entire locomotive, but that seems to be the only advantage.  

The rear of the long hood had a lot of numbering, just in case you couldn't figure out the locomotive number.

The window gaskets on the M420 are quite prominent, so I used a sharpie marker to make them.  A few more touchups and it will be done.  Getting the CN noodle to settle over the door was easier than I expected.  

 The conductors side of the locomotive has a battery box and steps that complicate applying the decal.  Instead of freehanding it I cut a paper mask to determine where to trim the decal.  It worked quite well and I'll go this route for future complicated decalling areas.  That said I think I'll be masking the CN stripes on future projects.  That seems like an easier route than decalling them.    

 End result on conductors side.  the mask worked perfectly and the stripes are done.  On this side of the locomotive I airbrushed a gloss coat on the entire side of the locomotive.  When I have dull coated the engine I'll see if there is any noticeable difference between the two sides.  

I've had some advances and some setbacks in the GP9RM and M420 projects.  The M420 has almost all the decalling completed. In the process of working on the GP9RM I dropped the shell and shattered the front pilot, so I have put that on the shelf again until either I figure out how to put the pilot back together or I take up Kaslo Shops generous offer to replace the pilot.  I'm just ticked off enough about the pilot to let it stew a bit longer until I'm ready to face it again.  

Next up will be assembling the drivetrain for the M420.  

Marc Simpson