Western Maryland - GP35 - Project...

After not being able to source another HO Scale - Western Maryland - GP35 in their Circus scheme, I decided to have a go at making my own.

The donor shell is an Athearn - GP35 RTR, that was painted for Conrail.

I stripped the paint back to the bare Athearn - light grey undecorated shell with 100% Isopropyl Alcohol with a nylon brush attachment using a Dremel tool with a flexible extension shaft.

I then sprayed the shell with SMS - White Surfacer and sanded any imperfections that showed up.

Then two coats of SMS - Gloss White as the base colour.

After this had dried for 12 hours I masked the transition line between the red & white.  I then back sprayed the masking line to prevent bleeding of the red.

Then it was another two coats of SMS - Gloss - Signal Red to finish.

 

This was my first attempt at doing a locomotive, with masking, and I’m pretty happy with the result.  The SMS paint is just a dream to work with, I just have to keep practicing and sharpen my airbrushing skills...

Next steps, black rooftops on the long hood & short hood nose.  Then decals...