Building the Sharknose

Hi Jack
Had a good look at this again and the trouble is we have no proper PRR drawings for the antenna, so all I can do is look at pictures and judge their height next to things like windows and grills. They should be a little shorter than the grills but they should be a fraction higher than the horns, they should only just be the highest thing on the loco, clearing the raised engine access hatch and exhaust. The 16mm ones do this, perhaps 15mm might be better but the next size down is 12mm! 8 or 10mm one's are way too small in my opinion.
Of course this is just my take on it and great pictures and/or drawings usually turn up right after finishing the model! :D

Glad folks seem to be enjoying this build, as soon as the decals get here I will be doing the paint work and that tricky 5 stripe mask up job!:nail:

Cheers
Rob (not Ron) :D
 
Hi all
Well I have done a bit more on the Shark build as the decals got here from the States so I could match up some yellow paint with them to do the stripes. They are great quality and well worth the money if you can find a set as they are out of production! I snipped out a number 5 to put on a dark background to see how opaque they were and get the paint match correct.

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I modified the rear of the loco to represent the PRR type as they had a backing up light positioned above the door instead of to the side of it like on NYC loco's, it has a nice metal conduit pipe going to it as well. I simple sliced off the molded lamp with a razor saw and superglued it in its new spot, then drilled it out to take a lense I found. I used a bit of 0.7mm wire to do the conduit and also put in the extra two small conectors either side of the rear.

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I did the airbrushing today of the yellow for the stripes and got a decent coat of paint on. After a few days I will do all the masking and get some home mixed Brunswick green on to her, I will be glueing in the antenna rails too before painting and also drilling for the horn and the side steps when they get here.

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I will probably leave the side handrails until afterwards, making and painting them seperately as it makes the masking much easier without them in the way!
Cheers
Rob
 
Rob, I got two sets of these decals also. But I'm also doing the 5 strip version. I found the following site that sells pinstripe reverse tape in different sizes and number of stripes where you would paint the body first and then put the tape on, paint over the tape and remove same as you do a car. They also sell an imitation gold paint enamel that matches perfect to the decals. You can spray or brush. The tape has 1/16th inch gaps and stripes so the width works out to 9/16th of an inch same as the 5 stripes on the Aristo FA units and the USA F3 units and their GG1's. My order came last week and the color is a perfect match. If you want I can send you a sample of each the tape and paint. Jack

Tape F-21 + F-26
http://www.finessepinstriping.com/striper_order.asp

PAINT C-5
http://www.finessepinstriping.com/paint_order.asp
 
Hi all
Well I did the monster masking job, cutting all the long strips of masking by hand and then putting them on the loco, I used the wonderfull Tamiya masking as always!
I mixed up some Brunswick but it just didn't go right, I was too tired to do a good job and although it looked ok colour wise, I just wasn't happy with the finish on it, plus I wanted it to have just a shade more green in it.
I took some scotchbright pad and gently dealt with the issue's on it's surface after it had a couple of days to harden off properly.
I have now just repainted it in a new mix of paint and I'm very happy with how she looks :D I will get some pictures posted tomorrow when it's dry.

Now....question???? I know over here we paint our radiator fans on the roof, normaly red but sometimes yellow or white, but do the guys in the USA paint theirs?? if so what colour???
Any pointers would be fantastic.
Cheers
Rob
 
Hi all.
Well the sun is out and so is the Shark :bigsmile: It took these today to show the finish so far, with the mixed Brunswick paint and silver highlights on window frames and steps. Next is the decals and then a bit more detail painting followed by a coat of satin varnish, this will bring the green down a shade or two and give it a darker feel.
I hope folks think it looks ok so far?, it has taken a while to cut all the masking and apply it, but the end result was worth it I think?

Cheers
Rob

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WOW!
 
Stunning. I've got two to build here, and I know they're never going to look that good...
Jonathan
RDE
 
[h3]Rob, reference the PRR Radiator and Fan Painting:[/h3] Mr Elden J Gatwood on the PRR modelling forum came up trumps.
[h3]Doddy; The entire outside of the freight shark was painted DGLE, except trucks and u/f features. The fans beneath the mesh or slatted screening were not really painted by the PRR, but appear to have been a medium grey, maybe originally silver color of the treated steel fan blade material. I am not sure where you would see this. Beneath the outer screen, the radiators themselves were also bare steel. All screening and slatted covers should be DGLE.[/h3] [h3]The interior cab color was a medium/light grey, at least on the photos I have seen. Yours Elden Gatwood[/h3]
 
3Valve said:
I think Neil may have fainted :rolf::rolf:
Click to expand...

Mm, always loved sharks, the NH was an alco road so there's none on my HO line, but the NYC gets a look in too, and I think they had some. Off to look in my NYC books!

The painted model just looks superb, a credit to all concerned.
 
epic build thread, well worth the 5 stars:thumbup:
 
Hi all
Well I'm amazed at the response so far, thanks :)
Yesterday I got the decals put on one side and the logo on the nose too. they come in long correctly spaced strips, but that is for the FA1 unit, so you have to cut them all out individualy and space them a little further apart, I put them 21mm apart to get them to look like this. If you fit the small virtical grill that goes behind the cab doors and under the side logo then this alters the spacing of the letters again!
I used a bit of decal softener too which helps settle them down and hide the carrier film.

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I also made up the horn from one of the horns in the kit and some others I had spare from the KM ML4000 kits.

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The Shark kit comes with two standard ones as it is basically an NYC shark. You can get model horns from several suppliers if you need a different type. I soldered it up and sprayed it along with the brass cab steps in etch primer ready for colour and fitting to the loco.
Cheers
Rob
 
FANTASTIC work Rob :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
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