Re-working an EMD SW1 in H0...

This Walthers Mainline SW1 arrived here last year when I managed to pick it up for a bargain price of just £45! Yes, that's right, under £50 for a second hand model in superb condition...

A bath in IPA and the Southern Pacific livery came off neatly, revealing the older Roco tooling still produces a neat model. The grab irons are missing, but moulded dimples locate the drill bit neatly. I decided to model my own creation rather than a specific prototype but with a heavy dose of the Ballard Terminal's 98. To that end off came the exhaust stack too, replaced with a Details Associates Milwaukee Road spark arrestor (2105). On the cab, I just added a small Nathan horn facing the back of the switcher, to complement the horn on the front of the cab (a Cal-scale Nathan K2 190-612). 

On the hood the bell was replace with a Details West EMD example (BE-128) and the door handles and hood handrail mounts were carved off and holes drilled (0.4mm) for Keyser Valley replacement parts from their SW1 and EMD switcher detail parts. The front radiator was chain drilled out, and the edges smoothed, and the replacement shutters fitted inside, and the mesh and frame on the outside. A pair of rad fans will be fitted later after painting. Grab irons are from Cal-scale (190-534) and actually for an Atlas Trainman GP, but fit perfectly here with a few spare.

I also added door handles to the front and rear doors made from 0.4mm brass wire with a handle filed flat on it. The exhaust was also supported by two 0.4mm brass rods, as per the prototype. This was fitted by plugging the hole left in the shell, and drilling a small 0.9mm brass rod in the base of the stack, and a matching hole drilled in the plug. The last piece to add were the fragile window sun-visors, another part from Keyser Valley Models.

The result is ready for primer (and some more work on the chassis) but is a world away from the donor model. In just an hour or so of modelling bench time I've turned a body first designed 20 odd years ago into one that would pass muster, if not exceed the detail level of today's' 'Museum Quality' models. There is a great deal of enjoyment in these transformations, and in time I look forward to finishing this model off with some custom decals. For now, I hope it has shown you the art of the possible, especially in the raw. For those in the UK, TMR Distributing in Canada does excellent mail order service. Until next time, more soon...

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