06-04-2010, 07:14 AM
As usual, Madness occurs whenever i try to paint anything. I got Conrail 4465 mostly decaled and painted, but all sorts of nonsense occured. Long story short, the model is just fine, just needs a gloss coating the seal it in. the bad news is that once again, dust attacks. I probably should have just sealed it yesterday, but i've been holding out to make sure i have all the decals placed properly. Fortuneately, none of the dust is in the paint, its just formed on the model. A quick brushing should solve this, but i'm hoping i get it all.
Like my earlier C32-8 project, the E44s all had slightly different variations in placement of things, particularly with the warning stickers. For example, #4456 has all the markings, sand fills, fire-extinguishers, and other warnings. (and now that i know Champs has them i will be ordering more sets to cover my existing E44s and E33s).
On the other end of the spectrum, photos of #4457 have almost NONE of the warning stickers, either having been weathered away, or removed.
#4465 has an interesting mix of decals for it, as it still retained its PRR cab-sides (gold numbers and "Radio Equipped" decals) all the way until it went to Amtrak. before that, the only differences from the PRR paint was the PC and later CR patches. The problem is that no one appears to have a photo of this unit from the long hood, and few show the details of the paint job.
One intersting thing to note is that unlike the GG1s and other PRR electrics, ALL E44s were painted black, not brunswick green. This was PRR's decision, and i can't remember exactly why (may have been a cost thing). That said, it appears some E44s never got repainted or cleaned (only patched), all the way to the scrap yard.
THere is always good news though!
I tested my 4457 with the Tomar shoes at the club yesterday, and it ran perfectly, with no more hestiation. The other night, it did that weird humming-buzzing issue i may have mentioend a few months back, but this appears to be grealty reduced. It may have alwasy been a connectivity issue (the tracks i first tested on turned out to need more cleanign then i initially noticed). I might go for advice next week to my local hobby shop, but for now, i'm happy that it ran flawlessly for a full night at the club. I've already installed these shoes on my other two E44A models, and once i get DCC in them, i think they will run fine. This will please me since i really wanted to triple head these models during show season.
I don't have problems drilling holes (I just make sure i drill them straight). The hard part is getting the light in there. This is why i use Fiber Optics. Its annoying and ineffective to just wedge an LED in there, but you could definitely thread some scale thickness fiber Optic around that pillar. I mount the LEDs in a tube (don't glue, just make the tube long enough the the LED to sit inside without slipping out to easily), and on the other end i put a styrene plate. In the center of that plate (relative to the LED) i drill a few holes that are the diameter of the fiber optic, and thread them in so that the tips face the LED. I then glue with something that won't harm or eat the fiberoptic, and then i'm pretty much set.
A soldering iron, glass plate and a VERY sharp razor (you need the cleanest slice possible) should pretty much be all you need to form the fiber-optic into what you need.
To be honest though, i still think it would be worth it to do each car individually and just consist them. It can't hurt to have the extra flexibility, and its only two models (if you had a huge fleet, that would make sense). As far as sound goes, you let me know when you get MU sounds, that is interesting.
Like my earlier C32-8 project, the E44s all had slightly different variations in placement of things, particularly with the warning stickers. For example, #4456 has all the markings, sand fills, fire-extinguishers, and other warnings. (and now that i know Champs has them i will be ordering more sets to cover my existing E44s and E33s).
On the other end of the spectrum, photos of #4457 have almost NONE of the warning stickers, either having been weathered away, or removed.
#4465 has an interesting mix of decals for it, as it still retained its PRR cab-sides (gold numbers and "Radio Equipped" decals) all the way until it went to Amtrak. before that, the only differences from the PRR paint was the PC and later CR patches. The problem is that no one appears to have a photo of this unit from the long hood, and few show the details of the paint job.
One intersting thing to note is that unlike the GG1s and other PRR electrics, ALL E44s were painted black, not brunswick green. This was PRR's decision, and i can't remember exactly why (may have been a cost thing). That said, it appears some E44s never got repainted or cleaned (only patched), all the way to the scrap yard.
THere is always good news though!
I tested my 4457 with the Tomar shoes at the club yesterday, and it ran perfectly, with no more hestiation. The other night, it did that weird humming-buzzing issue i may have mentioend a few months back, but this appears to be grealty reduced. It may have alwasy been a connectivity issue (the tracks i first tested on turned out to need more cleanign then i initially noticed). I might go for advice next week to my local hobby shop, but for now, i'm happy that it ran flawlessly for a full night at the club. I've already installed these shoes on my other two E44A models, and once i get DCC in them, i think they will run fine. This will please me since i really wanted to triple head these models during show season.
ac_catenary Wrote:Cab: I run live catenary with DCC. Im thinking that im going motorize one and keep the other as trailer car and they will permantly be coupled, therfore I would need to put LED headlights and LED taillights on one end of each car all controlled by one decoder. Ive done this before to metroliner sets and a Kitbashed silverliner IV set. Its just a pain to drill the holes for the LEDS on IHP bodies and there is a monster pillar in the Silverliner IV to deal with when wiring. What would really be cool if I wire them for sound. I got a loksound in my acela in feburary and its addictive.. Not to mention slow speed performance and constant speed technology.
I don't have problems drilling holes (I just make sure i drill them straight). The hard part is getting the light in there. This is why i use Fiber Optics. Its annoying and ineffective to just wedge an LED in there, but you could definitely thread some scale thickness fiber Optic around that pillar. I mount the LEDs in a tube (don't glue, just make the tube long enough the the LED to sit inside without slipping out to easily), and on the other end i put a styrene plate. In the center of that plate (relative to the LED) i drill a few holes that are the diameter of the fiber optic, and thread them in so that the tips face the LED. I then glue with something that won't harm or eat the fiberoptic, and then i'm pretty much set.
A soldering iron, glass plate and a VERY sharp razor (you need the cleanest slice possible) should pretty much be all you need to form the fiber-optic into what you need.
To be honest though, i still think it would be worth it to do each car individually and just consist them. It can't hurt to have the extra flexibility, and its only two models (if you had a huge fleet, that would make sense). As far as sound goes, you let me know when you get MU sounds, that is interesting.
Modeling New Jersey Under the Wire 1978-1979.
![[Image: logosmall.png]](http://i543.photobucket.com/albums/gg445/CAB_IV/Model%20Trains%202013/logosmall.png)