Southern F3 in tuxedo black

[supagav]

Hi,

I made a little more progress this afternoon.

I got the headlight drilled out for the new reflector and lens. The old air horns were removed and the holes filled and sanded, ready for the new radio antenna and 5 chime horn. I also blanked off the grills with some thin sheet styrene as per the Southern prototype. I`m not entirely sure why these are like this, but I know it was done when the Southern rebuilt and upgraded many of these units in their Spencer Shops. I also made a cover for the MU socket on the nose too.

PS: The headlight still looks a little rough but I`m going to wait till the unit is re-painted before I fit the new light.





Thanks,
G

 

[supagav]

Hi,

Another quick update on progress with the F3A.

I`m still plodding on with all the body work at the moment but I feel it`s finally starting to get there! I cut off the previous raised sand filler hatches as the Southern seemed to have recessed versions on these F units. From looking through the prototype photos there seem to be some with square openings and some with round, so for ease of drilling I decided to try and copy one of the round types. Again it`s not 100% accurate as the prototype used a slightly different type of filler cap, but hey, it`s close enough for me!

It captures the essence and that`s what I`m after:







(The second hole below the filler on the cab side was a bit of a mistake! I drilled these holes first but they just looked way too low! They didn`t line up with the rear fillers and effect was lost, so it was out with the body putty and start again! That old saying: measure three times and cut once is so appropriate with the benefit of hindsight!)

I also added some more detail to the areas where I blanked off the chicken wire style grills. Some more thin strip styrene to finish off the edges and some light rivet detail to blend them in with the existing body work:





Hopefully I should get all the bodywork done soon that I can move on a little with thing. I`m fairly pleased though as it is starting to look like it has some weight and body behind it. The next steps will be fit a new radio antenna and 5 chime air horn, and hopefully that should complete the bodywork. Then time for some paint!

Thanks again for keeping up,
G

 

[supagav]

Another quick update...

I finished all the rivet detail on the side of the body where the blanking plates were added over the existing grills. I also took the plunge and added grab irons to the side of the cab and on the top of the nose, as well as a small step plate that was beneath the cab window. These grabs are only present on some of the Southern F units but after flicking through a lot of prototype photos I thought it would be nice to model one that has this distinct feature. I guess they were the to allow the quick and easy cleaning of the cab windows:





Here is a prototype photo to show what I`m talking about. You can see the grabs that were added and the step plate to allow someone to cross from the main ladder and climb up on to the nose. You can also see the round sand filler hatch I mentioned previously:



I also added a small piece beside the first window to represent the hinge, as on these units the first port hole could open whilst the second was fixed closed:





Thanks,
G

 

[daveyb]

good stuff gav,,, soon be paint shop time eh.....

 

[Richie]

Great work Gav looking really nice

 

[nicebutdim]

Looking really good

 

[Riograndad]

Oh yessssssssssssssssss,nuffin else to say

 

[supagav]

Thanks folks for the kind words!

A little more progress to report today.

I tidied up the body filler around the new grab irons and added a little detail to represent where they welded (?) to the body. I also fitted a new 5 chime air horn and a radio antenna on the cab roof as per the prototype. The horn is a white metal part from Ozark, and is a model of the Nathan M5 type that was used by the Southern on these units. The firecracker radio antenna is originally from a USA Trains SD40, but like a lot of the bits and bobs here it was sourced as a spare part from the helpful folk at Charles Ro, the guys behind USA Trains:









I can feel I`m almost there with this so I`m hoping to push on and get the loco repainted soon!

Thanks again,
G

 

[supagav]

Hi,

Apologies for the lack of updates on this thread, things seem to have been moving pretty slowly of late.

I think I`ve finally got all the body work finished on this, with latest addition of a water filler hatch on rear panel on each side, as well as a little bit more work around the wire grills. After this I`m going to start masking things off and preparing to get some black paint on to the loco:













Thanks again for following all the progress,
Gavin

 

[garrymartin]

Wow! I cannot wait to see this in service on your line 8)

 

[supagav]

Hi,

Just another quick update on progress...

After a little more sanding and neating things up, I managed to get some black paint on to the F-unit at last!

It`s still a little rough as I need to repaint some of the new pieces which were added over the white sections of the body, but it should start to show where things are headed. A wee bit more work on the paint and then I can get some decals made up.

I still need to do a little more work to the chassis and the underbody, with a few more details such as all the air hoses etc, but it finally feels like I am getting somewhere with this project!







Thanks again for following,
G

 

[daveyb]

turned out nice gav,,, is it getting a brother,,,,

 

[supagav]

Thanks!

It's getting there... I'm currently getting some decals drawn up so hopefully those should arrive soon and I can finish up all the body work.

It will be definitely be getting a brother, soon! We have two B-units sitting waiting to be be detailed so I think one of those will be in the same black paint scheme as this loco. One of our B-units has sound as well as DCC as we want it to be a bit of an all rounder and be paired up with different locos. The Southern Railway were quite unusual in that they mixed and matched their b-units in with all sorts of other loco consists, and not just solely behind EMD units as other roads seem to do. You often find photos of Alco RS3s with a couple of EMD b-units behind, so we thought it would be a neat feature to have the two different types of prime mover noises going at the same time! The unit has the horn and bell disabled so that it is only the engine noise and the brakes, etc.

The other B-unit will probably just have a DCC chip for now and that can be paired up with our existing Southern F unit which is still in the older green livery.

Thanks again,
G

 

[beavercreek]

Oooooh yes, now that is coooool. Well done Gav

 

[supagav]

Thanks Mike!

The only slight problem with the paint so far is the trim strip. On the real thing it should be a metallic gold colour but the trim on the model at the moment is just too yellow! It shouldn't be a major problem to go over it in a suitable gold colour, it's just the masking that takes a bit of time! I was thinking to just leave it and weather it down, but now I'm beginning to think that if I've gone this far already it seems a shame not to get it right. Ah the perils of being an obsessive perfectionist... I really need to get out more...

Thanks,G

 

[Dtsteam]

No you don't, you need to stay in and work on your engine.
I don't share your obsessive search for perfection, but I sure as hell admire it and enjoy your excellent build logs.
People want to know what G scale is all about : big american diesels rammed with detail and sound are one of the things its about.
Keep up the search for perfection

 

[3Valve]

Jeez Gav, that's ace mate. Lovely sharp crisp paint-job.

 

[PhilP]

Gav,
Could you give a little detail about masking-up when you go over the yellow/gold line please?
I have a model I bought which needs something like doing, and am new to 'proper' model painting.
Many thanks,
Phil Partridge.

 

[supagav]

Hi Phil,

I'll remember to take some photos as I go to show more what I'm doing, although I must warn you that I'm far from being an expert!

The one thing I have learned though is to avoid rushing things, the slower and more careful you are the better the end results tend to be. Personally I sometimes have no patience and just want to rush on, but little things like taking time, letting paint cure, etc really do make a difference.

Thanks,
G

 

[supagav]

Phil,

Here are some progress photos as promised. I`m using Tamiya masking tape as I had it handy but I don`t think it really makes any difference. I`m just carefully following the lines to allow me to paint only the gold strip and not touch the surrounding paintwork:









I must stress though that this is a little bit of a cowboy approach!

The problem with painting over paint that is already there is that always the risk that you can end up with too much paint on the model. It could obscure some fine detail or have some unevenness where the paint lines join, particularly here with a fine strip across the middle of the body. The really pro approach would be to strip it back and paint from fresh on plastic with a light undercoat, working from the lightest coat first to the darkest last. I`m being a bit lazy here and seeing as I will weather this loco in the end too, it will not be noticeable. Just something to think about. The hard bit will be the curves on the nose hence why I left those till last!!!

Again the more time you can take getting things straight and true the better the end results. Just one point to watch out on, make sure you get the tape right into all the nooks, cracks and ribs as the paint will find its way under, especially from a can or airbrush.

Hope this helps?

If you have any more questions please just ask!

Thanks,
G