Metra roll call!!!!

Hi guys, I missed out on all the Metra F40PH premier releases, sadly. I have an E8 Metra that's really sharp. I painted my own bilevels into the RTA paint scheme. Then I got to thinking, why not just paint my own F40PH? So I was able to get a few older railking f40ph to practice my painting. 

My commuter railroad has slowly built up it's fleet. So far, it has secured a few F40PH's: 1 CSX, 3 McDonalds (1 functional PS2, 2 dead/dummies). This has provided me A LOT of practice. Also, Metra used to have a couple of F7A (305, 308) for work train purposes, so I was able to secure a railking F-unit with a bad 5V board, but thanks to GGG, I was able to install a used one. 

I'm still getting the hang of air brushing. My only successful airbrushing piece was METX 308 F-unit. The other's I tried, but the airbrush kept giving me fits.

Luckily, I found a shade of powder blue I liked for my RTA F40PH "city of evanston".

The other units are rattle can as well. Practice, practice, practice!

So below is what I've painted so far:

REPAINTED ROLLING STOCK:

RTA Pullman Bi-level coach and cab. (Formerly Amtrak Bilevels)

#1: Donor F40PH - CSX 9993 - repainted to METX #100 40th Anniversary Heritage

#2: METX #308 - work unit - F-unit (former Santa Fe #16)

#3 F40PH - RTA #128 "City of Evanston" (Formerly McDonalds #414)

Nice job!

Don't forget that Metra also has a few F40C's that are basically a SD40-2 with a cowl over it.

Looking really nice!

Yeah, just keeping myself busy till a premier f40ph pops up somewhere... might as well practice and attempt to model stuff that MTH hasn't done.

the F40C is tempting, actually got paint recommendations from member "tunnelmotor" who did a F40C scratch build a few years back.

645 posted:

Casey Jones2 posted:

Don't forget that Metra also has a few F40C's that are basically a SD40-2 with a cowl over it.

There were only (15) F40C's and only 611 and 614 remain on the Metra roster today but both have been stored out of service for a few years now. The other (13) F40C's were sold off and later scrapped. So it's not a "few" but a 'couple' F40C's still in existence today.

But Metra did have plans to rebuild them...that fell thru and now they're stored but still may be rebuilt. 

From the Metra website...

"While there is a possibility that the F40Cs may finally see their day in the shop at the tail end of the MP36 rehabilitation project, there are currently no active plans for their restoration. Until then, they will remain at the Western Avenue railyard."

My dictionary defines Few as 1, 2, 3 or a handful.  

Beautiful!!

So here is my latest F40PH repaint: Took a really beaten up McDonald's F40PH, repainted into Metra's rehab paint scheme. 

There’s one more still rusting away at NRE in Dixmore, IL. So that’s three. Check out the IHB NW2 next to it!

This engine looks great. Longtime commuter on the UP-NW line - I've travelled more than 650,000 miles on Metra.

jerrymouse25 posted:

So here is my latest F40PH repaint: Took a really beaten up McDonald's F40PH, repainted into Metra's rehab paint scheme. 

Jerry, really nice work on the new Metra scheme.

Question, how did you do the fade (blue to silver/white on the bottom)? Airbrush or is this a decal set?

If decal can you post the source?

Thanks.

Charlie

This long-time METRA commuter fully approves! I really like how you captured the "fade" on the rehabbed unit.

Doug Murphy posted:

This engine looks great. Longtime commuter on the UP-NW line - I've travelled more than 650,000 miles on Metra.

Thanks Doug, JayJay, and Charlie for your feedback!

Charlie, my go-to for decals has been Matt from:

circuscitydecals.com

He has many Metra sets in HO that he can resize for O. He also did a custom set for my early gen "RTA" paint scheme.

Re: fade from blue to silver.. rattle can (I still can't figure out airbrush clogs) I used the testors French blue over rustoleum silver. Then back masked- went back over to feather the silver to my liking

trial and error -

What I've learned from this beat up McDonald unit I am applying for my next donor McDonalds f40ph (currently in paint).

Hopefully I can improve on this one in preparation for a F59PHI which I have read Metra has recently acquired from Amtrak.

Also might also try my hands at doing a F40C following the path of member tunnelmotor.

Great job! I live near both the Metra Heritage Corridor and the BNSF Metra line, so I see a lot of Metra trains. Your repaints look spot on.

Nothing wrong with rattle cans. I used Krylon rattle cans to do up an entire Golden State consist. But I had a much simpler paint scheme. It takes practice but you can get a decent result with rattle cans if you're patient. 

Charlie posted:

jerrymouse25 posted:

So here is my latest F40PH repaint: Took a really beaten up McDonald's F40PH, repainted into Metra's rehab paint scheme. 

Jerry, really nice work on the new Metra scheme.

Question, how did you do the fade (blue to silver/white on the bottom)? Airbrush or is this a decal set?

If decal can you post the source?

Thanks.

Charlie

I go to Matt for my Metra decals.

circuscitydecals.com

Thank you very much for the information Jerry. The fade is hard to do and I think you did a pretty good job based on the photos you posted here.

Charlie

Jerry, that fade paint job looks spot on!!! I was hoping MTH would make one but you beat them to it!!!

Ok- my second go around was much better in my eyes and the process was more "streamlined" this go around. 

That's really impressive paint and decal work. Way beyond my skills in that department.

BNSF-Matt posted:

That's really impressive paint and decal work. Way beyond my skills in that department.

Thanks! Just got in my very own version of an Amtrak F59phi second hand... haven't seen any pics of this into in Metra colors to go off of but assuming it will be similar to the MP36 paint scheme?

Wow! You have mastered the look.