I finally replaced the journals and speed recorders (cable where prototypical) on all units, this was by far the most annoying and tedious work as it involved dremeling away the cast-in journal... As you can see I was able to get much closer to the truck so the new journals would sit flush.
Santiago
That is above and beyond! As you have found out, multiples of the same thing can get pretty boring! Nevertheless, well done.
thank you , John!
Interior installed and ready for wiring. Interior lights and panel gauges have a dedicated function button.
Awesome job Santiago
hey we got lenses!
re-done wiring and pickups for the unpowered A unit... The atlas ones were a draggggg lolz
Notice the bell!
And they look marvelous Santiago. Maestro master man!
What I need in the worst way are two sets of decals for 2 E-8s. Had some really old (pre zip code) Champs but the would not hold up well even using decal preservative. I have one store looking but if someone has them please let me know.
Thanks
Dick
not so proud of my wiring 
but hey it works!
I'm truly happy with the way the lighting came out!
The work displayed here is beyond amazing Santiago....great job.
Thank you, guys! All that's left is the pilots and they they'll be ready for some beauty shots.
I'm not adding the full Q grab treatment as I'll be modeling a 1949 Exposition Flyer and a pre innagural CZ train. I think the units look much nicer without the grabs and toe board.
SWEET!
Larry
You are just knocking it out of the park, Santiago
Thought it might be good to drop in a link of some of the masterful P&D F units from our friends at the A&O.
Those have been quite an inspiration, Erik!
Thanks, Larry and EBN!
Revisiting the pilots. I wasn't happy with the first ones, the contours were off and the bumper looked terrible. I'm adding the doors to the trailing unit as well as steam and air lines. Some progress below...
Notice how I thinned down the doors for a finer look, grabs with bolt details will be added too:
There is a steam line behind the open pilot, just hard to see
New pilot contour
Marvelous work
Love your work, I'm doing the same thing to a MTH PS1 NYC F3 but thank the Lord the paint scheme is a lot simpler for my feeble skills.
Santiago, your attention to detail is astonishing!!!!
Great work for little parts! 
Awesome!!!
jpv69
Great work, sir... an inspiration to us all. And, a joy to see the results, the skill in your work and the beautiful outcome.
Jesse
Fantast workmanship Santiago - thanks for sharing. Did you use commercial castings for the coupler covers or did you fabricate them yourself. It's a detail all my early 1950's PRR diesels should have - but don't.
oroc
Looks amazing Santiago! Nice work.
Santiago,
I added this link thinking you might find some excellent advice in it. The work performed by Bob over at the A&O is astronomical, frankly incredible.
http://forum.aorailroad.com/t/...-red-caboose-gp9s/79
Keep up the good work. Sometime I will start sharing my own work on equipment.
Thank you for sharing
Keystoned Ed posted:Fantast workmanship Santiago - thanks for sharing. Did you use commercial castings for the coupler covers or did you fabricate them yourself. It's a detail all my early 1950's PRR diesels should have - but don't.
oroc
Ed, Thank you! The coupler door is part PDP5141 Pilot Door (for part 5140) from P&D. It comes as one plastic part with two brass handles as add-ons. All I did was split into two and sanded for better look. It is meant to go inside the pilot as a closed door.
these guys right here are going to the paint shop tomoro! Then install, test and run!
great link, Erik. The idea of building a P&D F unit from the ground up is tempting, however the paint job on these Atlas F3 is what really saves them. It is beautifully rendered with razor sharp tampo printing, my Sunset F7's don't come even close in that regard.
I used the same grab w bolt detail technique in my RG F7's:
SANTIAGOP23 posted:great link, Erik. The idea of building a P&D F unit from the ground up is tempting, however the paint job on these Atlas F3 is what really saves them. It is beautifully rendered with razor sharp tampo printing, my Sunset F7's don't come even close in that regard.
The real trains were not that "sharp" as you state and most of the paint work on the real prototypes were imperfect. No mention to any of the effects of use and weather had on them. I suppose really it depends on your goals. My goals are a little different than some. I like to imitate reality as close as I can. I weather my models direct from prototype photos some guys just wing it. Just becase yours or my opinion may differ from someone else's; it doesn't mean it's wrong. It's just different.
I have built if I remember correctly I think 12 ABBA sets and a myriad of AB sets of P&D F's for customers back in the late 90's and 00's. Pat Mucci used to get so ticked at me, I was like a school boy always calling in waiting on parts.. fun times. I wish I could locate the photos of a GN ABBA set I bashed custom built modified and weathered. A dead on match to early 1960's photos of the model I was building supplied by the client. These models did very well at the March Meet contest in the late 90's I still have the trophy. I kind of wonder if I will ever see some of my work again. It's amazing once you sell it's, gone...
I highly admire the work of Bob of the A&O; he is one the worlds best custom builders today. His engineering skill coupled with his innovation is unmatched by anyone I've ever met or seen. On the custom sound systems he designs; you absolutely must hear the sound on his P&D A&O F's to believe it. Nothing I mean nothing even comes close... and I can say I've heard most of the sound used in models in my travels and involvement in the hobby. I am also an audiophile with my music...
One word on all of it: PROFOUND.
I actually found this picture a client took of his GN 1950's era set I custom built for him around 2000 on exhibit in his living room.
I just checked out this thread. I've seen other threads, containing your work; and, usually, it's quite impressive. The crew figure(s) pictured, to me, clash with the realism of the rail equipment shown. Google "Fireball XL5"; your cab crew figure's head, is out of proportion. The guy... needs some upper body development; especially, some pecs(chest). I appreciate your efforts, trying to duplicate real-life railway... Not meant to be a mean-spirited comment; just my candid opinion.
Rick
Rick B. posted:I just checked out this thread. I've seen other threads, containing your work; and, usually, it's quite impressive. The crew figure(s) pictured, to me, clash with the realism of the rail equipment shown. Google "Fireball XL5"; your cab crew figure's head, is out of proportion. The guy... needs some upper body development; especially, some pecs(chest). I appreciate your efforts, trying to duplicate real-life railway... Not meant to be a mean-spirited comment; just my candid opinion.
Rick
You're right, the atlas figure are hilarious anatomically! Thanks for pointing it out
12 plus sets?! That's insane to me, I'm so lazy I've messing w this aba set for over two years lolz
SANTIAGOP23 posted:great link, Erik. The idea of building a P&D F unit from the ground up is tempting, however the paint job on these Atlas F3 is what really saves them. It is beautifully rendered with razor sharp tampo printing, my Sunset F7's don't come even close in that regard.
Interesting, I do not own any Sunset diesels and did not realize that paint jobs are noticeably not as sharp as the Atlas products, I would have thought at the pricing difference they would be comparable in that respect, obviously different china factories.
WOW! Very Nice!
I don't know if this site has a "Best Of" category, but this thread would certainly more than qualify...
Mark in Oregon
hibar posted:SANTIAGOP23 posted:great link, Erik. The idea of building a P&D F unit from the ground up is tempting, however the paint job on these Atlas F3 is what really saves them. It is beautifully rendered with razor sharp tampo printing, my Sunset F7's don't come even close in that regard.
Interesting, I do not own any Sunset diesels and did not realize that paint jobs are noticeably not as sharp as the Atlas products, I would have thought at the pricing difference they would be comparable in that respect, obviously different china factories.
Yeah crazy how some manufacturers can be ahead in some aspects and behind in some others. Sunset still uses decals in their models for some reason. The amount of touch ups I had to do on my sunset rio grandes where more than I care to confess.
See, Sunset:
Atlas:
Look at the difference between the fake grills on the Atlas F3 and the Sunset E7... Sunset's looks almost hand painted!
Atlas:
Sunset:
SANTIAGOP23 posted:hibar posted:SANTIAGOP23 posted:great link, Erik. The idea of building a P&D F unit from the ground up is tempting, however the paint job on these Atlas F3 is what really saves them. It is beautifully rendered with razor sharp tampo printing, my Sunset F7's don't come even close in that regard.
Interesting, I do not own any Sunset diesels and did not realize that paint jobs are noticeably not as sharp as the Atlas products, I would have thought at the pricing difference they would be comparable in that respect, obviously different china factories.
Yeah crazy how some manufacturers can be ahead in some aspects and behind in some others. Sunset still uses decals in their models for some reason. The amount of touch ups I had to do on my sunset rio grandes where more than I care to confess.
The simple reason is cost. There is a reason Atlas requires 300 of each scheme to be done (that's minimum they require for custom schemes). It costs several thousands of dollars to set up the pad printing for the first unit of each scheme. And when you agree to 20 units as a minimum and 600 total units divided by 20 plus schemes you would be adding a minimum of $100/unit. The cost of several hours of labor in China for each unit is probably less than ~$50 per unit vs ~$200 for pad printing 20.
Actually the cost thing to worry about now is Trump's border tax. If that happens there will be a minimum 25% increase in the cost of all model trains imported from China; Sunset, Lionel, MTH, Athearn, Kato, whatever, which is still WAY cheaper than making them in the US.
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