1. Prep - Remove the windshield wipers, snowplow, all handrails, antennas, beacon, air horn, exhaust stack, fuel tank, air tanks, air filters, handbrake chain and rear inboard sanding lines. If you can remove the small antenna in one piece you can reuse it – otherwise go with the DW part. Save wipers, handrails, small antenna, air tanks and sanding lines. Then separate the shell and walkway/pilots from the chassis. I use a liquid mask on all round cab windows, then use small squares of tape over the side cab windows.
2. Custom parts – there are three: large antenna ground plane, small antenna ground plane and low nose headlight. The large antenna rests on a scale 33” X 33” solid base,that can be replicated with styrene that is .125” tall and then sanded down to be slightly taller than the air conditioner. The stand for the small antenna is 24” deep X 27” wide X 16” tall on the angled part of the cab roof and 10” tall on the flat portion – and can be replicated with .015” styrene to match those measurements. For the nose headlight I created a base for the DW headlight that was .020” wider than the headlight on all four sides and made from a .060” piece of styrene so that I could recess it into the nose, while most of it projected out. Once mounted, drill holes for your light bulbs/LEDs/light tubes.
3. Sand front class lights down so they are almost even with the numberboard brow surface, then paint the slightly raised circles yellow. Remove top cab headlight and replace with a piece of .010” styrene shaped as a headlight blank.
4. For the metal area that the fuel tank attaches to remove everything from the rear hole back. I then hand painted the area on the bottom of frame that is now bare metal flat black – you do not have to paint most of the metal area the fuel tank attaches to – just a little bit of the joint between it and the horizontal frame.
5. Most of the parts can be painted before being applied to the model. Semi-gloss black – fuel tank, bell. Blue – Snow plow (w/grab irons added), horn, front pilot angled brace. Yellow – Air conditioner, blank headlight plate, DW headlight plate and mount, custom made antenna bases, rear class light blanks and right and left side walkway step. Silver – antennas, exhaust stack, spare knuckles.
6. Rear pilot -- Paint air hose knuckles aluminum. Paint horizontal area of grab irons above MU hoses yellow. Paint MU cable Real Red. Paint top half of the loops and bottom area of that section on the lift bar yellow.
7. Front pilot – using .030” styrene make an angled piece between bottom of anticlimber and pilot – it is 18” wide, length is probably 24” but I trimmed it by eye to fit -- remember to angle the ends that will attach to the model. Paint air hose knuckles aluminum. Paint MU cable Real Red. Paint top half of the loops and bottom area of that section on the lift bar yellow. Glue snowplow to shell then paint horizontal areas of grab irons yellow.
8. Trucks and Fuel Tank – On the conductor’s side front truck paint the speed recorder cable Real Red. While you have the red out paint the fuel fillers. Paint the fuel gauges white – paint the whole gauge, and then use a Fine Sharpie to draw around the gauge … this will put a little bit of black on the face of the gauge to make the white not so wide and give you a straight edge on it doing so. I then installed the fuel tank – the front edge is even with the first sill-mounted stanchion on the conductor’s side. I used Walthers Goo to attach the tank to the bottom of the metal fuel tank insert. I then attached the air tanks to the frame adjacent to the fuel tank, then the rear inboard sanding lines (with some super glue [I suggest you remount all sanding lines with super glue]). Then I installed the Atlas air filters, which I split apart to make two separate ones (with one shortened) and DA bell in the appropriate positions just ahead of the fuel tank. Wheel faces get painted roof brown or your favorite rusty brown wheel color. Above the center of each sideframe are springs/coils – which I painted black.
9. Roof – Moving from front to back: use putty to fill the hole left by removing the beacon then paint that yellow. You can leave the beacon supports, On cab roof mount the air conditioner, large ground plane (add large antenna), then EOT ground plane (add small antenna), then mount the Atlas cab sunshades. Add Leslie air horn on the engine hood and exhaust stack. Note that I found it easier to mount lighting by removing the radiator piece on the top of the unit – I used the original Atlas rear lighting piece but cut the numberboard portions off. Then attached an LED, which I covered with electrical tape, after the glue dried, to prevent light from shining back into the shell.
10. Rear Long Hood – I used small square pieces of .005” styrene to represent blanked class lights and installed them after carefully scraping away the square ridge around the class light areas. Gloss the area of the numberboards then apply the thin black gasket decal from Microscale set 87-527 – they have ones sized to fit the thinner Atlas numberboards.
11. Misc. – on walkway behind the cab on the left side there is a step up to the raised section, the horizontal surfaces of the walkway need to be yellow 6” either side of the step (so 6” on the flat surfaces extended either side of the step) plus the vertical surface the step attaches to. On the right side, there is a similar step with the same yellow paint requirement.
12. Now begin weathering – I first masked the grills on the sides of the hood and painted them Model Master Acrylic Flat Black. Then I masked the top of the radiator and used the same color there. Reinstall the handrails. I sprayed black as if it was the exhaust from the stack as it settles around the locomotive. Lastly I used a brush to paint the inside of the exhaust stack black in any areas that the airbrush missed.
14. Walkways were next with weathering powders – I used a mix of dark gray and black from AIM Products and included the steps as well. I sealed the powders with a light coat of dulling spray.
15. Next up, I started at the sideframes and fuel tank with Model Master Acrylic Grimy Black, then on the frame sill, stepwells and pilots. That was followed with a spray of their Roof Brown. Then the whole unit received a coat of Alclad II Lacquer Flat.
16. Note, I did weather the wheels, but the out edges rub against the sideframes (on all my B40-8s) and remove most of it.
17. I used Evergreen clear plastic rod to create light tubes for the front headlights – I tapered them together inside the shell and used one LED to light them. I used Microscale Krystal Kleer to create lenses.
