Not all of my locos are entirely hand-painted. I have a few factory-painted units kicking around too. This loco is one of those 'limited editions' that hit the hobby store shelves in the early 1990s. It sold for a whopping $142 Canadian, but I wasn't dumb enough to pay that much money for a plastic model. Instead I waited around for another used ALCO to pop up, and this one said 'buy me'. But after I got my hands on it, it was no longer a collector's item. The major problem I find with the Atlas ALCO switchers is the cab. There is not enough overhang on the sides, and the front door on the fireman's side only goes halfway up the cab. I filed down the old door and made a new one out of sheet styrene and glued it on overtop, then I filed grooves about 2mm thick along the top of the cab side windows and glued in strips of sheet styrene to create more overhang on the cab roof. I also changed the road number from 7015 to 7020. I wasn't impressed with the size and style of numbers that Atlas used on its CP S-2s and S-4s. The real 7020 still exists. It is stored in the CP John Street roundhouse in Toronto for eventual display. I gave the model some light weathering to look like it's been around, and for the coup de grace I added an attractive young lady engineer. The only detail parts I added were a Miniatures by Eric ALCO switcher horn and radio antenna. The Athearn 40' steel box car is also factory-painted, but it was originally lettered for the Chicago & Northwestern. I took the eraser tip of a pencil and carefully removed all the old lettering and then replaced it with C-D-S decal set HO-19 CP 40' Steel box-stepped lettering. After brushing on a coat of Gunze Sangyo clear matte and letting the car dry for a couple days I then dusted it with Testor's rust paint. Any freight car that I decorate (or re-decorate) can expect a heavy weathering job.
Model:
Atlas
Detail Parts:
Miniatures
by Eric H27 ALCO Switcher Horn
Miniatures
by Eric A1 CNR, CPR Diesel Radio Antenna
Decals
(for numbers on cab):
C-D-S Lettering
HO-296 CP diesel switcher - script lettering, c. 1965
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