| First, the flash on all the resin items needs to be carefully removed, and the rear door needs to be filed flush with the body. Thin sheet plastic cut the same size as the now non-existent rear door should be glued onto the shell over the filed area. This is because the prototype has no window on this door, unlike the IHP shell. The engine, dynamic brake and internal filter grills will have to be carefully cut out so the S&S etched pieces will fit. Since the shell has the longer F45 main grills (the ones farthest to the rear of the loco), and the S&S metal castings are the shorter, F40PH variant, the ends of the original grills will have to be sanded down flush with the body. Next, lay the new S&S grills over over the original molded-in grills, and mark the perimiter of the new grill on the shell with a pencil. Start grinding the old grills out. Check the fit of the new grills often, makng sure not to cut off too much resin. Leave a bit of plastic as a gluing surface. When you get to the dynamic brakes, grind out the plastic just like the engine grills. The supplied S&S piece is too long, so snip part of it off with hobby dykes. Cut the resin out the same way for the internal filters. In this case, the S&S grills are too short, so you will have to add some extra grill from the 2nd package. Next, Grind out the front headlights and install the Details West #177 "Pyle" headlight. This casting will improve the look of the locomotive's front end dramaticly. The triangular windows foward of the cab's side windows have to be removed. File them down and superglue a thin sheet of Evergreen .015" or .010" styrene over it to mimic the prototype's steel plating in this area. See Figure #1. Figure #1 - Side window plate-out Drill two holes with a #78 drill bit for the Utah Pacfic cab mirriors part #77. Note: Don't EVER glue anything resin with Testor's type glue. Drill #78 holes for the cab sunshades and glue them in with Zap-a-gap CA glue. I then drilled all the holes for the grab handles, and sanded down the molded in grab irons and drilled holes for the new A-Line ones. I also added the ditch lights at this time. Add the handle stanchions and handrails for the front and back now. Add the winshield wipers too. Drill all the holes to install Micro Lights on the shell. Now I added the MU receptacles on the "pilots". Grind the Details West plow to look like the Tri-Rail ones. Install the plow, then the MU cables, Cal Scale air hoses, and the Details West coupler buffer plate, grinding off the locating pins and filing the back down and supergluing it to the pilots. Drill holes with a #78 drill bit for the coupler lift bar and for the grab irons. (Shown in diagram) Grind down red area. Finished pilot. (shown without plow) Red dots are where holes should be drilled. Install the Plano light beacon mount to the roof. Grind down the bottom of the rear pilot around 1 1/2 mm. Primer the model with Testors Primer #1237. After the primer drys for a week or two, paint the model Testors Gloss White #1245. Mask off the top after it dries for a few weeks, and then paint the top Testors Green #1224. After that dries, paint the pilots Testors Gloss Black #1247. Paint the MU covers red and yellow. Finished pilot. Refer to this picture for MU cover colors. Paint the Details West "Prime" AC with Testors primer, and install on roof. I put some styrene in the dip in the center so I could add the Zap-A-Gap in the middle to eleminate any of that white stuff destroying the green paint on the roof. (Refer to Plano beacon bracket picture for placement, AC is gray rectangle on roof) I also primered and painted the Cal Scale K5 horn. I mounted the horns in this position: The 3 bells face foward. The horn was primered with the the Testors primer mentioned before, and the black paint used is Testors Gloss Black #1247. |
| Tri-Rail F40PHL-2 Modeling |
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