In 1994 Conrail worked with Nike in presenting a Nike advertisement during the Boston Marathon. It involved painting a GP15-1 with the JUST DO IT. slogan and parking it near where the runners were going to be running. According to a Conrail employee magazine, the unit 1621 was chosen because it had just been painted, but not yet had graphics applied. The unit was sent to Boston, where Nike had a sign company put the slogans on. The 1621 wore this special paint scheme for less than 72 hours, perhaps less than 48. Here are the only 2 pics I can find of the unit.



According to the article the slogan JUST DO IT. was placed on the sides, the fireman's side can be seen in the photos. Judging from items such as grilles, blower housing, etc. I did some calculations and came up with a height of about 42 inches for the slogan. The article also states that the swoosh was placed on the ends of the hood, fuel tank, and roof. If one looks carefully the end of the swoosh can be seen on the nose of the unit, just above the class light. One could surmise that the rear swoosh held a similar, if not exactly the same, position. There is a swoosh below the number, barely visible in the photo. The fuel tank swooshes were likely centered on the tank. Using the nose measurements I am using a 5 foot length for the swooshes. The roof, not being visible in the photos, is unknown. My best guess is a swoosh on top of the cab. I don't know if I will model that or not.

Here is what I am starting with, a Walthers Proto 1000 GP15-1, CR version.



Because the unit only wore this scheme for a few hours, it was shiny and new the entire life of the scheme. For a nice bright blue paint I primed the unit in white.



And a nice topcoat of scalecoat Conrail Blue.



Next installment will be on Wednesday or Thursday, I have a shift tomorrow at work. I need to let the paint set a couple days anyway so I can mask for the black areas.

Wow and might I add wow. I've been wanting to do this project but lack of the photo stopped me, it's awesome your doing this!

Even better Tom, I will have several extra sets of decals, and have been planning from the beginning to send a couple of sets to you and GEC... and any other Conrail freaks on the board. I screwed up the swoosh count when I sent in the order for custom decals, so it will take 2 sets to do one unit. Also, it will take a set of standard Conrail decals to finish the unit, in order to get numbers, frame stripes, etc.

Photos soon of the decals.

Also, Tom, what detail parts do you use for cab signal boxes and air horns? I need to order both, and perhaps red jewels for the class lights as well.

Dave

Puddlejumper Wrote:Also, Tom, what detail parts do you use for cab signal boxes and air horns? I need to order both, and perhaps red jewels for the class lights as well.

Dave

I use Details West.

Automatic Train Control Box (#170) It's the two strap

Leslie RSL-3L-R Horn (#190) 3 chime

Don't know about the jewels, I don't use them

Dave ...Good research and neat project ! If it helps, the class light lenses were nearly-clear uncolored plastic molded with a circular (Fresnel) pattern over the bulb cavity...usually the color-filter was unseen unless lit. Earlier markers used a metal bezel and a glass Fresnel lens, which was often individually replaced with the newer units due to age or damage. Bob C.

Thanks for your input Bob. I realize the lights would not be colored when unlit, but on my CR locos I have a tendency to put a dab of red paint on the markers just to emphasize them. The reasoning is their use as markers was somewhat unique to CR by the 90's. Perhaps I should use clear jewels instead of red. That would emphasize that the markers are there and usable, without the incorrect when unlit red hue.

If you want red, MV Products offer small lenses (5 1/2") for class lights - they also have green, white, yellow and, I think, blue.

Here's the white lenses in both the class light castings and the number boards:


My preference for class lights on diesels is to use a .025" strand of fibre optic. Cut a short piece, then hold one end near (without touching) a heat source, such as a soldering iron. It will deform into a mushroom-shaped lense - the amount of heat determines the size. Drill a suitable-size hole in the body shell, countersink it with a larger bit, then install the lense. If you use working lights in your locos (I don't), you can use longer strands and actually light the lenses.
Here are the fibre optic class lights, in the green stripe above the number boards:


Wayne

Thanks for the input doctorwayne. Looking at your fine models I realized I made an error... I painted the unit before I drilled for grabs and lift rings. This means I will have to handle the unit quite a bit more than I was hoping, I hope I don't destroy the paint or make any mistakes drilling.

Now I need to order lift rings, grabs, and #80 drills.

I've made that mistake a few times before, and found several techniques to not mess the paint up. For handling, hold it where your going to paint over, like the pilot noses or the walkways which will be painted black later, and holding it from the inside.

Otherwise, you can coat it now with a Krylon Acrylic Gloss Coat, then dull it later

For drilling I use the 'center punch' method, what I do is use a small small scratch awl (very fine point) and position it over the 'nub' where most manufacturers have the detail molded on and gently press in a tiny bit to make a center mark to drill into, just don't press too hard

Tom, thanks for the tip! The center punch should have been obvious to me (i do it when drilling holes on full size projects) but for some reason it never occurred to me to do that when drilling for grabs. And that solves my fear of having grabs that are crooked or don't line up due to bad drilling. Now to place an order. Again. >sigh<

Progress report on the Nike geep... I got the holes drilled for grabs and lift eyes... except I did miss one grab on the rear of the long hood. No worries, I will get it done after all the decals dry. Decals...? Oh yeah, here is a photo...
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I did decide to place a swoosh on the cab roof. This brings the swoosh count to 7. The printer only put 2 swooshes per decal set, I asked for 4 per set. So it would have taken 2 sets to do one unit, but now it takes 4 sets. Good thing I have plenty of extras.
As mentioned before, the location of the swoosh on the roof is at best a rough guess. The one on the battery box and the one on the nose are known and correct. The one on the long hood end is, again, a best guess. Such are the compromises one makes when no photos can be found of your subject.






Will post more photos after I decal the engineer's side.

Also, at this point I am satisfied that the decals are correct to the best of my ability. I am ready to send off decals to those of that are interested. I have enough for 5 folks. GEC, Tom, and Mike are already getting sets. Anybody else interested? PM Me, these are free to you.

Excellent job so far

Tom, Mike, your decals will be out in the A.M.

If or when you decide to build this loco I would really enjoy seeing your finished locos posted to this thread.