FM Diesels from the AC & Y - a painting project

[Rollin]

Some of the most interesting and unusual diesels that were built during the transition era were the Fairbanks Morse units acquired by the Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad. This was a regional hauler with many interchanges in northern Ohio. They painted these units in a bright yellow, which was very eye-catching. I've always wished I had some HO models of these, but my budget never included brass, and these prototypes have only been made by a few commercial companies. I've studied what was available, and found some deals on eBay, so now I am starting a project...

Here are some prototype photos



This is ACY 208, an FM H16-44, which started service in 1957.





This is ACY 505, an FM H20-44, the very last one built by Fairbanks Morse. It is preserved in Galveston TX


The photos are from the book "Akron, Canton & Youngstown and Akron & Barberton Belt in Color. Author Robert E Lucas and the AC&Y Historical Society.

[Rollin]

Robert Lucas wrote about his layout of the AC&Y for "Model Railroad Planning 2019" and the photos for the article show models of some of his locomotives. The manufacturers are not listed. The AC&Y had a total of 18 F-M locos, built between 1949 and 1957. Number 200 was an H15-44, 1500 hp. The rest of the 200 sequence were 1600 hp. Nos. 500-508 were the H20-44, which had 2000 hp.

More details can be found at the website of the AC&Y Historical Society    acyhs.org

[Rollin]

So here are my eBay purchases: I found an H16-44 by Spectrum







and then a shell for the H20-44. The same seller also offered decals.





This shell will fit a Walthers H10-44 model. I managed to get one on eBay with DCC and Sound

[ACL1504]

Rollin,

Very interesting. Looks like a fun project and I will be following along.

Tom

[jerryrbeach]

Rollin,

Count me in on this.  Looks like an interesting project.

[Rollin]

Let's take a look at this shell I have acquired. It's not injection molded, they call it a casting and I'm not sure exactly how it is made, but it looks very nice. Window openings have a thin layer of material in them which I removed with a sharp exacto blade.



There are some minor flaws in the casting:



I patched these with body putty, let it dry overnight, then gently sanded the patches smooth

[ReadingBob]

This looks like fun.  I'll be keeping an eye on this one as well.   

[jbvb]

You should ask the vendor to be sure, but the H-20-44 shell is likely to be polyurethane casting resin.  If so, the material will likely soften at about 150F and be dissolved by Acetone. It won't respond to styrene solvent cements, so most people working with it use epoxy or ACC as glue.

[Rollin]

Thanks for the info, James.  I definitely won't be baking my paint job.  I'm actually working on both of these at the same time, but will try not to jump around in the thread to avoid confusion.

I washed the casting in soapy water and let it dry before painting. Since the casting is translucent, I wanted to spray the inside with black, but because the finish coat is yellow, I avoided darker grey as a primer. I mixed up some old Poly Scale and made a light tan for a primer.

My next picture is further along in the process. Tan primer over all, then masked it off and sprayed the roof and skirts with a faded black (Engine black mixed with a little grey).



One of the tips I have copied from other modelers is the masking process: I put pieces of masking tape on a glass plate, then cut small chunks with an Exacto blade or razor blade. I wrapped the edges of a glass in (blue) masking tape, it's just a scrap I salvaged from an old picture frame.




Cutting small pieces of masking gives me a sharp, straight edge and the small pieces are much easier to align and burnish down to the model. Also I had some rolls of metallic striping and I use this as an edge in crucial areas. For example, it's easy to align masking tape to the corner between the body panels and the walkways. For the sharp edge over the top of the front hood, this narrow flexible striping is easier to use in following the curve, and conforms to the body quite well.

[Rollin]

Time for an update. The conventional wisdom on painting is always to start with the lightest colors and work to the darker, black usually last. But this Spectrum loco was already black, so I decided to try just stripping the lettering and leave the black.



Removed the handrails and took off the cab, then using 90% alcohol and a cotton swab, I took off the yellow lettering.
Then after washing the shell thoroughly I lightly oversprayed with a faded black, just a little less glossy than the original.

The next day I masked off the black sills and roof, then used the tan again as a primer.

After this had dried, I sprayed with Model Master dark yellow.

I'm pretty happy with the result

[postalkarl]

Hey Rollin:

Before I started building structure kits many years ago I did lots & lots of custom paint for the hobby shop I worked in. Mostly Reading RR, Lehigh Valley, New York Central and lots of freight and passenger cars.

Looks like what you are doing here is right on. Nice lines between colors. I'll be following along.

Karl

[Rollin]

Thanks Karl

Both of the locos looked pretty good when I removed the masking tape. Here's the other one:



You can see I've added the fan blades on top.

Then I got them ready for decals by spraying with Mr Super Clear Gloss. Also I emphasized some of the louvers and grills with a faint wash of black. Worked real slow, doing just one side of the model at a time, and it went well until the last of the Akron Canton & Youngstown banners. It's long and narrow, about 1/8" x 2" and it rolled up on me like a cigar. Kept trying to make it lie flat, with no luck. Finally I cut it in 3 pieces so I could get it to relax and stick.






Can you tell which of these was the troublemaker?
Also, the paint seems to match real well to the yellow of the decal.