Next I use 400 grit sandpaper and sand smooth the tank of any strap and mold lines. When all traces of the straps have been sanded away, I used 600 grit and sanded the tank smooth.

Now, I take and cut about a scale foot length of .020x.020 strip styrene. I divided that into 4 pieces. I placed a light drop of liquid cement on the top edge of the supports and set the strip styrene across the edges, making sure they were flush to the front of the supports. These are part of the support brackets and are welded to the side sill. Allow these too dry at least an hour before trimming the edges flush to the main support.

To replace the straps, I cut 4 pieces of .010x.040 strip styrene to about 3 scale ft. each. While I was at it, I cut 4 pieces of .010 brass rod about a 1\2 scale ft.long. These will represent the threaded rod that are welded to the straps that secure the tanks in place. I then drilled a .080 hole through the center of the tank supports directly behind the styrene bars for these rods.



Next I set the straps in place with a dab of CA at the bottom of the tank where the straps are bolted together. I let these dry for at least an hour. After that hour has passed, I gently formed the straps around the tank. Now you have to do one strap at a time for the next step. I take liquid cement and apply it to the inside of the strap and form the strap around the tank.



There will be excess strap at the top, use this as a guide to make sure the strap is straight up to the support. I lightly added more liquid cement to the outer edges of the strap to make a good bond. I held my strap in place until it formed to the tank contour. Next I found something to keep the strap in place on the bench while bonding. I repeated this for the 2nd tank, and when that strap was in place, I cemented the second strap to the first tank and then finished up the second tank. I let these set up overnight to dry thoroughly. The following day, I trimmed up the straps with a flush cutter, I just eye balled the distance between the support and the top of the strap. I then sent a piece of pre-cut .010 rod down through the hole in the support. I used CA to glue it to the support and to the back inside center of the strap.





Next, to finish the tank area, I added fuel fillers from Cannon. I located where the fillers needed to be according to the prototype pictures. I set the air tanks in place to aid in the filler location and pre-drilled holes on each side. I then removed the tanks and finished drilling the holes. I test fitted the fillers and tanks to make sure all was peachy. I removed the tanks and used CA to glue the fillers in place. Next, I placed the tanks back on the frame so I can fit the air lines. I used bits and pieces of DW piping from various left overs.

Truck frames


The last thing I did was to add a small detail to the truck side frames. The one detail I decided not to do was remove the molded on sand lines. They would more than likely look like the original ones when done. So the only thing I added to the trucks was the air-line to the brake cylinder.



This is a very simple addition using .015 brass rod and bent according to the prototype picture. I Drilled a centered #77 hole into the side of the brake cylinder and used CA to glue the lines in place.



With that little detail done, I took the trucks apart and cleaned them up. I prepped the housings and side frames for painting using a grit blaster. I cleaned the wheel faces off with alcohol and weathered them.

I painted the trucks a weathered black that I mixed up. I didn’t paint the frame or glue the air tanks down. The frame will be handled while test fitting the bodies for clearance in the front, and I will be adding body tabs to replace the Stewart tabs that hold the body to the frame. So there’s no sense in messing up a paint job or breaking parts off the air tanks.

There will be some minor additions to the fuel tank area when all handling done. I will add a couple drain lines using brass rod and drilling into the flywheel covers. That stuff can be picked up by looking at photos. Other than that, I’ll be moving on to the body.

Body


Below are the pics of two of the shells I have cut up for this bash. As I stated in the beginning, I’m using the early Proto SW shell and the earlier Stewart model with the Kato motors.




I was lucky to get at least one Baldwin undercoated. The others I had to strip the paint off. But, can’t complain for what little I paid for these models at the train meets. Plus I was left with some Proto power chassis’ and body parts for future projects.

After washing the bodies and letting them dry, I was ready to make my first modifications. First, I sliced away the front radiator screen and sanded the area smooth. I’m replacing this with the DA#2709 radiator frame. Next, I remove the upper portion of the radiator cooling screen. I drilled holes all around the inside of the frame and cut out the screen. I then cleaned off any remaining screen frame. I filed all edging smooth.

Now I’m going to modify the rear hood of the SW. But first, I’m going to describe some minor changes I made compared to the prototype mods done by EMD.

If I followed the prototype, I would have left the back end of the hood alone, other than removing the hood slope. Unlike the prototype, I couldn't widen the rear of the SW hood to match the width of the Baldwin as it was. Unfortunately, I’m not working with sheet metal. The hood of the Baldwin is .830 OD and the SW hood is .787 OD. This is a difference of .043. Trying to spread each side of the SW hood by .0215, add to the fact that the SW hood is only .040 thick, creates some stress with the risk of cracking or deforming the hood angles to the point of breakage. I noticed this was happening on #1. But if I lengthen the Baldwin hood by 1 scale ft. and removed 1 scale ft. from the SW hood, I didn't have much to widen, therefore leaving little risk of damage to the SW. The difference there was at 1 scale foot back on the SW, it measured .800, with a difference of .030 and only spreading the sides by .015, made it allot easier without the higher risk. But no matter what, In order to meet the width of the Baldwin hood, I had to score the inside of the SW hood at the angled corners and gently spread them to match. But looking at the models, the mod didn't make a big difference in appearance.

So the cuts were made as follows, on the SW, I cut 1 scale ft. from the rear of the hood to the last door, leaving enough material on to sand the end of the hood true to the doors. I used masking tape across the hood to help keep my cuts as straight as possible.

On the VO, I cut a scale 8 ¼ scale ft. from the back of the hood, again leaving a little extra for sanding true on the front. I then removed the molded on grab irons and trued up the cut end of the VO hood and brought it to a length of 8 scale ft.


Moving back to the SW, and using masking tape as a guide, I carefully cut away the slope. I left some excess plastic on to gently file and sand the area’s flat. I will build this area back up with styrene once I bond both body sections together. The image below shows a section I cut off from another project I had lying around.



Next, I scored the inside corners of the SW hood and gently pulled them open one at a time. I matched it up the best I could to the Baldwin hood even though the SW end hasn't been trued up yet. I also cut away the body mount tabs flush on the SW and sand them smooth.

Before bonding the hoods together, the SW hood has to be raised .080. Adding height to the hood isn't that complicated. I cut 2 pieces of .040 x .080 strip styrene to about 26 scale ft. and 1 piece at 6 1/4 scale ft. I true up 1 end of each of the 26 foot sections. I then took .060 ¼ round and trued up one end then cut a small 1 inch section off the length. I used liquid cement to bond it to one of the trued up ends of the 26 footers. I used a glass plate to make sure my end surfaces were flush to each other.

These need to bond thoroughly overnight before trimming them up. So after a night of drying, the ¼ round can be trimmed and sanded flush. Now I use liquid cement to glue these sections to the long hood of the SW. The cement will give me enough time to make the adjustments needed. The edge of rail needs to be flush to the outside of the bottom of the hood. The corners have to match up also.



When both sides are cemented in place, take the 6 ft. section and trim it up to fit in between the corners. Don’t forget to true up the ends for a clean fit. When the section is fitted correctly, glue that in place also. Leave this dry overnight to get a strong bond.