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2011-08-11

Elgin, Joliet & Eastern SD38-2s, #659 and 660


"The quality of Efram's work is exceptional.  I'm extremely pleased with the final product - the units look absolutely fantastic.  What was especially nice was the level of communication during the process - he kept me fully informed with regular updates on the progress of the job as well as making sure the work was done according to my specifications.  I look forward to working with Efram again!"- Dave A.

These two units represent work done for a client, Dave.  He has been gracious enough to allow them to be displayed on my blog.  Both units are beautiful recreations made by Kato, in HO scale. They came factory painted in the "as-deliverd" J-Ball scheme, sans chevrons and frame stripes.




The antennae and strobe lights adorning the roof were scratch built from styrene and wire.  The ditch lights are castings by Kaslo Shops, sitting atop of small planks made from styrene. 

Details West "weed cutter" ploughs help decorate the pilot faces.  The only other detail that did not come with the Kato model were the Cal-Scale train line hoses. 

The Kato stanchions were cut away from the stock handrails, drilled out with a #76 bit and had hand-bent, phosphor-bronze wire threaded through. Not only is this closer to scale, it is also much more resilient when being handled.

 Microscale decals were used to add the chevrons, frame striping and data to the units.  Unit #659 represents a unit in "transition," whilst #660 represents and updated paint job.  When studying prototype photos, it became apparent that the frame striping wasn't installed at the same time as the chevrons.  #660 sports the simplified white frame stripes.
Truck sand lines were formed from stripped, single-stranded electrical wire.  The unit was weathered with chalks and dry-brushed acrylic paints.

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