ARR Creations Emerick's FP7

Harold Emerick's FP7

Here are the first pictures of the FP7s before I start to paint them. This has been a real challenge to get all the different details on the engine.

I started out with two Atlas FP7 units. I stripped the paint off, then cut the roof off the back end to make it smooth. I cut off the detail of the steam generator area and cut the Dynamic Brake Fan off. After taking off detail, I reshaped the roof in several areas. The Dynamic Brake fan area needed the roof flattened and larger to accommodate the large fan. Then I ground out the center of the first exhaust fan as the picture of the FP7 roof showed that the guts were removed and a round plate installed over it. I created a plate to cover the exhaust. I installed a 48 inch Dynamic Brake fan in the altered flattened roof. I then fit the double stacked winterization hatch on the end exhaust fan. I assembled the Heat Exchanger that Pat Durand provided me. One was assembled and the other I had to put together using the model he built. I then ground bottom to fit the curve of the roof and added a beacon, Nathan 5 Chime horn and electronic bell. Using brass wire, I bent it to create the pipes on the roof and then glued them in place. On the other side of the roof behind the Dynamic Fan I cut a small piece of styrene pipe and then in half applied with glue for shield. To the back of the loco just below the roof, I drilled a hole and glued the rear light in place. In the front, I added the hatch to the left of the nose light and created the MU connector, drilled hole and recessed it into the nose. I needed the shades for the windows so I modified a couple of GP Shades to fit the bill. The plows are the ones that are available through Roundhouse Hobbies. I took my Dremil and cut off the back detail and ground the center point down. I then glued MU hoses to plow and then to the rear of the Loco. The last step before painting, I drilled all the railing, grab iron etc. These will be added and hand painted after the locos are painted.

[5/11/06] Here is the next phase of the project. I painted the shells gray then reefer white Floquil. A tip from a custom modeler I met suggested painting the primer coat gray first them white so that the detail will not be lost in having to spray more white to cover the shell. Then I sprayed the shells with a clear coat. The next step will be masking off the nose and painting the nose red.

[7/25/06] After looking at lots of pictures of the nose , top and sides as well as consulting with some people, I have the shells ready to decal. To paint the nose red I took some old decals of the Bicentennial units, cut out the decal stripe that goes over the nose to get the right angle and distance so the red will be in the right place. I then masked off the area and painted Chinese Red Scalecoat II. The roof detail was masked off in the appropriate areas I then painted using Floquil Gold paint to make it look realistic. I used Model Master Exhaust Buffing Metalizer because the gold made it look fake. The Gray was then painted by hand after mixing up Harbor Mist Gray (Scalecoat II) and White to get the right color tones. I hand painted the railing and grab irons Reefer Yellow Scalecoat II. Lastly, I painted the number board black. Next up - decaling the engines!

[8/9/06] The last phase in kitbashing these twin locos was painting the grab irons,and hand rails yellow and decaling. You need the Microscale decal set with the Bicentennial decals, the microscale EMD data, Alaska RR diesel decal set and my revised Bicentennial decal set with the new emblems, new nose numbers and DOT emblem with the stars. After decaling I sprayed a couple coats of Semi gloss, then using the Detail Assoc F unit and E unit Air intake grilles glued them to the engines with special super glue. I redrilled the holes for the hand rails and grab irons.Then installed them onto the FP7s. After they were installed. I then touched up the paint. Lastly, I put the shells back onto the chassis.

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