Jeff MacDonald's Refined Sunset ATSF Warbonnet FT

Erik,

 

I've been told they were really nice & your photo lends credence to that fact.  Will you post more please.

 

Jay

Jeff and I had similar thoughts.  The grab irons are a nice touch.  Did he repaint the interior?  I know later F's were gray, but I don't know about the FT's. 

 

That's a wonderful shot of Jeff's FT.  The engine looks great!

  

Wow that's one sweet looking engine! Also a great photo's.

OK, I give up.  What were the modifications?

Really looks nice Erik and I'm happy to see the top outer edge of the pilot is lined up with the car body. On my E-7's, the pilot is mounted inside the car body lip and if you try to bring it out the trailing edge tapered points are too short and don't line up correctly. Having to modify an OMI E-6/7 pilot to fit. Looking very forward to the new F units.  

 

Butch

I'm happy to see the top outer edge of the pilot is line up with the car body.

I agree, it's something not as evident on the Santa Fe freight FT's, but really sticks out on the passenger units because of the silver pilots.

 

ecd15 - I can't quite tell everything that Jeff MacDonald changed, but here is what needed to be done.

 

The pilot contour needs to match the car body lip.

The coupler needs to be painted silver.

The interior needs to be the correct color which I assume to be gray.

The steps or ladders over the trucks need to be body mounted.

The grab irons on the front need to be painted yellow.

The grab irons near the cab door need to be painted red.

Sun visors 

Relocation of the interior light.  (I usually do this with LED mini chips)

 

Regarding the chrome headlight bezels,  I've seen the with just the lower headlight chrome.  Ideally, the bezel should be yellow where it meets the headlight door and chrome towards the outer edge.  I chose to use a mask and paint the whole thing chrome.  If I could pop the bezel out easily (which I couldn't), I would have done the chrome/yellow treatment. 

 

 

Something that really impresses me with Jeff MacDonald's engine is that the brightness of  the number boards has been adjusted to a level that they look great and can be read. 

 

I don't have my DCC set up yet, but this his how mine appear with DC.  i think I Photoshopped the side number boards so they weren't too bright for the picture. (It's been a while.)

 

 

 

 

Erik - Did I miss anything?

 Looks great! Here is a pick from the 3rd rail website for comparison. 3rd rail also posted pictures of almost all the FT's on their website: http://www.3rdrail.com//Diesel-SuperSale.html

 

Finished up the  Santa Fe units today. 

1] Painted the hand rails, red or yellow, Thanks for noting the red ones Marker.

2} Painted the cab interior grey, added visors.

3] body attached steps, just ask Sunset for them. 

4] "chromed" the headlight housing

5] painted couplers.

6] fine tuned the fit of the pilots, There were gaps.

7] Close connected the A and B units. Spent 3 hrs fabricating supports for the shorty kadee couplers and drilling holes in the frame. Then I find out that did`nt really close the separation much. Santa Fe experts[not me] will note they were delivered with couplers, not draw bars. Took the easy path and drilled the hole for the B unit drawbar post 0.200" forward. 

Hopefully Erik will post some pics tonight.   jeff

Jeff- truly the definitive refinement of the Sunset plastic Warbonnet ATSF FT.

Applaud

 

Matt,

That is Jeff's "High Plains Route" I've featured here on OGR before.


       

Excellent finishing touches on those FTs Jeff. They look great!

I really, really, really kick myself for missing that boat. :-(

Jeff - Great job!  I hope I get mine finished some day.  I really like the hand rails, they make a big difference.

 

Did you use a QSI Programer to turn down the lighting?  If so, did that solve the light bleed through on the side number boards or did you have to do something else?

 

Thanks

Beautiful.

The FTs are great models, and really stand out from other F units.

Great job.

Thanks,
Mario

Marker,  Call me a DCC chicken. I have the NCE stuff but have`nt hooked things up. I have certainly been studying it and will take the leap this year. Photos are taken with a Panasonic Lumix camera. No special effects. Wish it had a better depth of field, F8 on manual, but I can always call Erik over with his big Nikon. Which we all know what he is capable of!

Can`t wait to see the Key FTs in Chicago.  jeff