--- In BRHSlist@y..., binder5295@a... wrote:
> Fairly new to list, but an old CB&Q fan. The Atlas GP-40's may
have
> been covered before, but here goes. I finally got mine out and
> started detailing. Moved headlight to nose, moved horns to
radiator
> area, added radio antenna, cab sunshades, and speed recorder drive.
> What other features do I need to add/change to do one 600-series
and
> one 170-series uniits? Thanks in advance.
> Gary Binder
Gary:
I am in the process of creating a Q 620/630 series GP40 from the
unnumbered Atlas unit and here are some observations:
The 20 initial GP40's 170-189 were built by EMD in 12/66-1/67. As
such the Atlas models of unit 173 and 187 (which I also have) are
quite accurate, including the GP40 model plate and elliptical style
EMD builders plate.
Some general changes to make a more accurate model:
Of course, the Q did not use drop steps, which the Atlas units have.
I put the drop step in the down position and carefully razor sawed
off the drop step (you might want to put a little tape over the MU
box to protect it from saw nicks). Since the drop step plastic itself
is white, the sawed off portion looks very good and blends in with
the white frame strip on the pilot. The next and most difficult part
is removing the drop step chain from the front handrail and replacing
it with a solid brass rod. For now I have left the chain in place.
What I have done in the past with the slightly larger handrails (the
new scale handrails are great but a pain to work with) is to actually
drill a hole in the stanchion where the chain has been cut (use about
a #72-75 drill) and CA the new brass handrail piece in place. It
looks very nice when done right. You might, however, want to order an
extra handrail set from Atlas before doing this. Also on all units
you will want to install the heater box behind the cab, move the air
horns off the cab roof to the rear fan area, and add the firecracker
antenna (I still have to do the roof changes myself also).
Now for the 620/630 series:
CB&Q purchased GP40's 620-639 in 2/68. There were some unique aspects
to these units vs. the 170/180 series GP40's. First and easiest to
change is the builders plate. By this time EMD had gone to the
rectangular builders plate. I used Microscale's builders plate decals
and they fit perfectly over the older style EMD plate. Second, you
will need to apply the GP40 model plate to the unnumbered Atlas unit
since they didn't print the model plate on the unit. The GP40 model
plate is included in Mocroscale's Burlington Hood Units decal set,
which you will also need for the unit number. I chose to number my
unit 631 since the '6' and '31' could be created by using two decal
cuts instead of three individual numbers ('6', '3', and '1'). Refer
to photos such as those in Mike Spoor's Q books for placement. Note
that because the numbers are of different widths you will want to
look at both right and left hand photos for placement. You have now
completed the "easy" part of completing the prototype.
There are some major differences at this point between the 170 and
620 series GP40's. The first is the number boards. GP40's 620-639
were unique in that they were delivered from EMD with white number
boards with black letters. The standard for EMD units was black
number boards with white letters (black on white was standard for the
GE U-boats). You will want to use Microscale 87-904 Number Boards
decal sheet. These contain very nice white number boards since they
include a black border representing the rubber gasket around the
number board. The trick here is to use a slightly oversized number
board so the black gasket actually lays on the raised gasket molding
around the clear numberboards on the unnumbered GP40. Once the
numberboard decals have set (and you will probably want to apply
several coats of MicroSol or Solvaset to make sure the snug down
well), you can use MicroScale MC-4131 EMD Square Style Number Board
Numbers to actually number the number boards. Refer to prototype
photos for the spacing. You may want to coat the numberboard decal
itself with a gloss coat before applying the actual number decals (I
am just getting ready to number the number boards myself).
The second major difference in the 620/630 series GP40's has to do
with the white frame stripe. On the 170/180 series GP40's the white
frame stripe did NOT extend into the end-step wells. This is the way
Atlas painted all the GP40's (easier to do I would say), so the
numbered GP40's have the correct frame stripe. The 620/630 series
GP40's, however, had the frame stripe continue into the end-step
wells (basically an unbroken white frame stripe around the entire
unit). Therefore, to accurately model a 620/630 series GP40 will
require application of white striping in the step wells. I looked at
every 620/630 series GP40 picture I could find and they all had the
white stripe in the step wells. Although I haven't applied them yet,
I purchased white decal striping about the same width as the frame
sripe and plan on adding the frame stripe in the step wells using
decals rather than painting them on.
I hope this helps. If anyone else noted anything I missed or mis-
stated, your comments are most welcome.
Tom Mack
|