GP for general purpose…
This Walthers ex-Lifelike GP38-2 doesn’t know what it started. Purchased shortly after the F7s and Budd in this latest Canadian adventure the intention was to recreate not only my Dad’s Athearn blue box GP38-2 from childhood but also the examples he saw at Sutherland Yard, Saskatoon in the late 1990s…
So a model heavily drenched in sentimentality… but actually working on her, reminding myself about the difference between an EMD and GMD built example, remembering the scratch-building and kit bashing I did as a teenager and of the very personal model that results has been already, deeply rewarding.
This isn’t just a make over, it’s almost like I’m modelling myself.
She sits here with promise. Unfinished, plenty more to look forward to, showing a little of what I hope to achieve. This isn’t just a make over, it’s almost like I’m modelling myself. Each step, each decision a window on my soul and to those who have learnt to read my models, it will tell them everything. To others, I hope, it shows a passion for the prototype, for the memory of the man and model who inspired it and for the craft and art of model-making.
Until next time, more soon…
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Morning James,
ReplyDeleteThere's something that looks inherently right about the GP38-2. Proportionately it just works. The SD40-2 looks a little stretched in comparison, I think the same about my other favourite US loco the F Unit, I always preferred them to the longer E units. It's a personal opinion though! This loco will be something special when it's done. Superb.
Have a good weekend. Take care.
I think I agree Tom, although my favourite is the GP30. Short and stylish… looking at my Rio Grande example right now, it is every bit as purposeful but somehow more low slung, heavy looking.
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