So finally after some weeks I find the time to tell about the hassles I went through modelling the two GP9s of the POTB.

3771 started out as a Pennsy GP9 II, 101 was in the colors of Western Pacific. Both are P2k models. After stripping the shells I added the Farr airfilters and filled in the class lights on 101. I also drilled the holes for 101’s snow plow.

After that both shells were painted with Alclad white primer.

To make room for decoders and an iPhone 6 replacement speaker I ground of the ballast weights.

Now for the paint jobs – 3771

Let's start with 3771, as I did back then. I thought the scheme with the stripes would be more easy to do than the cow pattern. My initial idea for both engines was to paint them black and put on the stripes/cow spots as white water decals. Boy, was I wrong. So I had to strip the clack paint off again. But – no biggie since I also noticed that 3771 had no rear numberboards, so I had to fill and sand it anyway.

After that I painted it masking of the stripes with Tamiya masking tape.

After that, all was straight forward. I hit it with two coats of Vallejo Model Air black, and added custom printed decals after a gloss coat. Unfortunately, I don’t have any further photos until 3771 was finished.

And now it’s time for some Moo – 101

101 was painted twice, too. The first time I masked the cow spots with liquid masking film:

Another thing I'll never do again, since it tourned out like this:

Back into the paint stripper. Also, the liquid film got into all possible holes and cracks and was a real mess to get rid of.

In the mean time, I got hold of a cutting plotter, and within a lot of time spent waiting for rrpictures to load and fiddling about in Illustrator I had a complete masking set for 101:

The need for retouching with a fine brush was very low.

Like with 3771, this is were my pictorial documentary has to end. But the next steps were decaling and weathering with oil colors.

If you missed my first post, you can find the pictures of the finished engines here.