@coach joe posted:I've got a lot of projects in the works but no real work bench to work on. Here are a few that have been dragging on. Hopefully I'll get them done this year.
First up is an LIRR BEEP that I want to convert to USAF. I picked up two of these LIRR BEEPs when they were being cleared out. The idea was to repaint one of them and dress it up in USAF decals. Never had the heart to do the repaint so I started looking for donor shells. I bought a NOS Conrail one, thinking I could remove the lettering and decal it. Then along came this Kusan/Williams BEEP shell with PRR keystone stickers under the windows and white Pennsylvania above the fuel fill. Stickers peeled off and Mr. Clean Magic Eraser made short work of the lettering. The only issue is the handrails. I would love to use the metal RMT handrails instead of the plastic K/W handrails but Kusan/Williams has round holes and the RMT handrails have rectangular tabs. I need to figure that out before adding the decals.
Now I'm the rare bird that actually likes the GN Big Sky Blue paint scheme. I've got a MPC U36B and could never find any of the MTH engines that wear the BSB. I could never ring myself to splurge on any of the Lionel U33Cs. I found one of the U36B shells and fitted it on a Williams GP9. I had to alter the handrails but that's another story. I came across this GP7 shell. Found pictures of a prototype so I'm going to add the rooftop air tanks and the winterization hatch. I've got the decals and three possible donors for the chassis. Once I figure out which chassis I have to make a placard to attach to the hand rails for the road name.
Another BSB project. GN did have electrical operations. While they never had anything remotely close to the E60 I intend to dress this guy in a Fantasy Great Northern Big Sky Blue paint scheme. I've already peeled the red, white and blue stripe off. The repaint will be ambitious for me but I'm going to give it a shot. The Williams pantographs are a little sad but not in as bad shape as I remembered them to be. I would like to change them but finding these guys is impossible. I have one Atlas AEM 7 pantograph and would love to find another for this project.
Okay so it's time to tackle the BEEP shell. I wanted to use the new metal handrails instead of the plastic, especially the one broken end rail. As stated above the stanchions are flat, not round like the holes in the shell. I was thinking of trying to bend the flat tabs so they would fit into the round holes instead of elongating the holes to accept the rectangular tab. The ends of the handrails enter the last holes for each rail to lock the rails in place, however the diameter of the metal handrail is smaller than the plastic therefore it pops right out. I don't want to damage the stanchions only to have the project fail because the ends will not stay in place. Any ideas for a solution?
