Norfolk & Western GP18 Project

[supagav]

Hi folks,

A quick update on progress with the GP18.

I finally received a few bits and bobs in the post so I could push on a little bit with the geep. The first was a selection of plastic rivets from the Tichy Train Group. These aren`t necessarily a specific scale but are offered in various sizes to suit the project, so I ordered a selection of packs from 0.02" up to 0.05". I ended up using 0.03" as these seemed like the closest match to the detail that is already on the loco.

They come in little packs with the rivets attached to a sprue. For these I use a 0.5mm drill and pin vice to make a wee pilot to locate the rivet. Using a pair of good quality modellers tweezers, I just dipped them in a drop of superglue and popped them in the holes:





Here are a few shots of the pilots showing the new rivet detail and the new brass step I made (I also did the MU cables too):

 

[supagav]

Some more shots of the roof too, showing the new rivet detail:







I was a little heavy handed and over enthusiastic with the file and sandpaper when I was cutting and installing the fans and sadly had removed quite a lot of the finer detail that was there already, hence the need to do this on the roof too. The nice benefit is that these new rivets are fractionally more pronounced than the existing ones so I`m hoping they`ll show up better under the paint, without looking over scale.

Thanks again for keeping up! G

 

[3Valve]

I hope you're counting those rivets as you pop em in mate.

 

[beavercreek]

one, two, three, four......fifty six, fifty seven.....A-A-A-TI-I-ISH-O-O-O...oh darn it, I have lost where I was.....one. two. three, four.....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Excellent work Gav!

 

[supagav]

Thanks guys!

Mike that is exactly right, I must have lost so many of them as they flew about the room!

I'm getting there though with this at last, I can feel the end is in sight...

 

[Richie]

looking very nice Gav

 

[supagav]

Hi,

Just another quick progress update on the geep.

I got some primer and paint on it at last so I thought I`d share a few pictures. There are still some more details to finish such as a nose mounted bell, the spark arrestors on the exhaust stacks, horns plus a few other little bit like handrails etc, but I think I`m finally getting somewhere with this!













The colour matching was quite hard as it was a challenge to find the right paint. The USAT stock colour is not quite right as all the colour photos I have seem to have a hint of purple in the blue. Also many N&W locos seem to fade and change colour as they age so again it was difficult to find a good colour photo to work from. I`m also going to weather this a little too so I`m sure, as with all my bashes, that weathering will help hide many of my mistakes and blemishes!

Thanks again for keeping up with progress, G

 

[garrymartin]

She looks superb, I think you have the colour spot on! looking forward to pictures of her out on the track with your marvellously weathered stock

 

[3Valve]

Excellent work mate.

 

[Richie]

Looks fantastic Gav a job well done

 

[supagav]

Hi,

Another quick update on the GP18.

I finally finished off the last of the all the detail work today with the nose mounted bell. I used a small brass bell casting which I believe came from a pack of parts made by Billing Boats. The rest was made with styrene square section cut to shape, some brass wire and a few of those Titchy Train rivets to finish it off:











Some custom decals are ordered for this loco so hopefully they should arrive in a week or two as I really want to finish this loco off before our summer open day at the end of June.

Thanks again for keeping up!

 

[beavercreek]

Well done Gav
It will look the dogies' when the decals are on.
You will be a proud runner on the open day!

 

[Rod Fearnley]

Super job Gav. Are you going to weather it ????

 

[KandNWLR]

Respect. And that´s not even beginning to count the rivets

 

[supagav]

Thanks for the kind words guys, much appreciated!

Rod, I will definitely be weathering this one!

It will only be getting a fairly light treatment though as this paint scheme would only be about 4 or 5 years old I think for the period we are modelling. The Nickle Plate was absorbed into the N&W in the early sixties I believe, so whilst this loco is a wee bit older, it was re-painted by the N&W so I don't think that the paint work wouldn't be too weather beaten yet!

I have a good colour article in Classic Trains showing a sister unit in N&W colours and they seem to some slight fading of the paint work and general muddiness, but that's about it so I'm going to try and follow these as best I can!

 

[soo4513]

Gav

The loco looks great, nice work

Colin

 

[supagav]

Finally...

I have something to post about and proper update on the GP18!

I gave the loco a few coats of gloss varnish before beginning work on the decals at last. I was a little bit hesitant as I don`t have much experience with this, but I decided I`d just take my time and try and go slowly. All the advice I had read was to do a little and let it dry properly before moving on. This didn`t sit too well with my limited patience and attention span but I thought I`d give it a go. I`m quite happy, its not perfect but its good enough for me! Plus when I weather it down any slight blemishes really won`t show.

All that`s left is just to let the final decals all cure fully before I can put a few layers of matt varnish on and finish off the weathering.

PS: the masking tape over the windows and lights are just to protect them from the spray varnish.













Thanks again for following,
G

 

[Richie]

Fantastic looking graphics Gavin

 

[supagav]

Cheers Richie,

I hope to able to get the varnish on soon then I can complete a little light weathering. I'm almost there with this so it will be nice to finally finish it off and put it out into service!

 

[GANDYDANCER]

Great looking Loco , Congratulations on a fantastic piece of work; the color looks spot on.