I have two Bachmann SD45s - came with DCC encoders installed and they've been great performers for me since I bought them at least 10 years ago. I've been running them recently with my "Concrete Local", a fictitious short local train that makes its way from the Lehigh Valley over to either Hazleton or Wilkes Barre. There's another blog that details my experiences weathering the concrete hoppers that it pulls, and another entry starring this train's caboose - the first "blue" bit of rolling stock making an appearance on my layout. Anyway, you run an ultr-weathered set of rolling stock with virgin locomotives, it makes you think you ought to turn some attention to the locomotives. And so, I did.
As I said, I have two SD45s. These were big units back when they were produced, being one of EMDs first 2nd gen road locomotives touting six axles. The SD45s had a telltale blister on the long hood that makes them instantly recognizable, sloping upward toward the roof and differentiating them from the SD35 and SD40. The SD45s were a bit troublesome and even though they were more powerful than the SD40, railroads favored the SD40. The Erie Lackawanna had a bunch of SD45s and SDP45s and used both for freight. The Reading bought several handfuls. In modeling the rainbow years, I wanted some representation from each railroad, and when I saw each was available for something less than $60 with DCC, it was a no-brainer. I had to get one of each. Here they are factory fresh:
I attacked the EL unit first, and pictures follow:
Removed the shell, trucks, wheels, couplers and fuel tank. I attempted to remove the handrails, but some of them had areas in which glue had been used - abandoned trying to remove them.
Hit the trucks and wheels with a good dose of rust and some gray to take the shine off of the black plastic parts. I also hit the lower frame. My "rust" is simply a mix of brown and orange acrylic paint.
To age the look of the main carcass I decided to hit the whole thing with a dose of gray from my airbrush, but I did not want to screw up the window glass. Cut out a cardstock window cover for each window and covered up the number boards and light glass.
Sometimes I get the results I want with an airbrush, and then there are other times. Generally, results this time were too splotchy. Had to get some alcohol out and touch up before proceeding.
It was then time to do some brush work. I wanted a rusty, dusty, worn look, especially on the frame edges. I also painted the louvers and air intakes and exhaust areas with black.
Then I got the PanPastels out and did a heavy dusting of rust and grime, especially at any door joints or fastening points.
...here's the other side. This may look like alarming abuse, especially up close. However, the locomotives in 1976 Conrail were not pretty, and viewed from a distance, the weathering isn't as harsh.
....and here's the result after assembly, additional treatments with black, rust and gray PanPastels, and finally hitting the whole thing with Dullcote spray.
All well and good, and that made the Reading unit it was running with stick out like a sore thumb. For the Reading unit, I was never really happy with the green it had been painted with - I thought it was too deep. I also wanted to fade the yellow paint as well to make the locomotive look sunbleached. Researched a technique online using Tamiya X-21 base coat, which goes on
clear and dries to a white powder that you brush off.
... and here's the paint applied to the side of the locomotive - still wet.
... and here it is after drying and dusting it off (had the camera out of "closeup" mode). White tends to collect in crevices, and you can use that to your advantage. In general, the base coat makes it easy for future paint layers to "stick" to the plastic.
Here it is with an application of a rust wash. I tried to target the front and rear of the locomotive which ended up having a really nice affect. It also was in keeping with the prototype photo which I show below.
after the washes, I also hit the wheels and running gear and fuel tank with the base coat and the washes. It was then time to hit the reassembled model with PanPastels, and then Dullcote.
Then I started looking a the prototype photo a bit closer and noticed that it had a snowplow. Found one from Details West and ordered it. However, when I got it out of the package it didn't fit real well against the front of the locomotive. Bachmann's default configuration was plowless, and had running steps jutting out in front. To install the plow, I had to remove this material from the front bumper.
I made the first cut with a Dremel cut-off wheel. You can see how I've scored along the bottom edge of the step in the photo above.
I then removed the MU hoses and ground the step flush with the rest of the front bumper.
Next I used the Dremel with a drill bit and drilled two holes to accept the matching nubs on the back of the plow. I could then mount and seat the plow.
Then it was time to paint the plow (initally I figured it might have been yellow, but got rusted and dusted), weather it, install the MU hoses back into their holes (tricky, but eventually accomplished) and weather the plow.
and below is the finished product (for now). The other glaring problem with the Bachmann SD45 for Reading is that their SD45s never had the window cover - they preferred a gutter up on the sloped roof. I'm going to postpone that alteration for another time...
Here are both of them running together...
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