STMA GP-9 Chop nose.

[Devon_Sinsley]

Lifting rings installed.

A big thank you to Dan Gilchrist for the front 48" fan. One of the many 3D print files he makes available on thingiverse. When the STMA took these over from the Milwaukee and refurbished them they traded the front and rear dual 36" fans and installed single 48". And every one of them is different. Dan has a couple versions so I will be able to have different fans on each loco.

They also always leave the winterization hatches over the rear fan. Why I don’t know. Guess it doesn’t get hot enough in N. Idaho to take them off. But I have never seen any of the three geeps without them. So I designed and printed a winterization hatch, eliminating the need for a rear fan. With the white styrene its pretty glaring through the screen that it’s missing. But once it’s painted all the same color it won’t be all that noticeable.

[Devon_Sinsley]

Another important detail, the safety strobe

strobe for STMA GP9 build

[Devon_Sinsley]

So here is some progress on the Geep. Louvers and hinges are on the doors. New grab irons installed, this are Cliff Jennings design that I scaled down to 1:29 and printed. Still to be done before I can paint the shell: Needs the front and rear “marker” lights ( I have no idea what they are really called but the little lights on the upper part of the nose on the bevels). It still needs a vent on the chopped cab nose for the bathroom, its much smaller on the prototype than what comes with the stock GP9 so I am making my own smaller ones. And then I am making number board to go on the front and back. The prototype did away with the lighted number boards and have instead painted one. So I make a blank that will fit inside the existing holes in the rear and I will have to cut in new holes on the front top of the cab to fit my number boards. But once that is done (should be able to print them this evening) then I believe I will be ready for paint.

[Devon_Sinsley]

So the thread on unfinished projects has me thinking a lot about my GP9. It is getting very very close to paint.

It has been discussed already but as a refresher and primer to my next question, painting these as close to prototypical is a challenge. The popular model paint companies for some reason in their Railroad lines of paints didn’t think to include perfect color matches for the STMA. . . . There was an old file on the internet that listed color recipes for matching various lines and included STMA. But all of the colors are from discontinued paint. Now I did do the homework and cross referenced and came up with colors that I could use in the recipe to make it work. But then someone somewhere on here mentioned draining spray paint cans and using the paint in an air brush. This got me thinking. And while looking at pictures of STMA on the internet came across an Ebay listing for a slide that has the locos in very fresh paint. One problem with modeling them today is their paint is 43 years old. It is not exactly “fresh” and my desire is to paint them as new and unweathered.

I took that picture and used paint to pull samples and make solid color chips and then drug those back over photo until I got a solid color that most closely blended with a majority of the photo to give me a best “guess” average color value. I came up with a red and a blue. I was then going to attempt to drain spray paint cans and start formulating a recipe. But much to my pleasure two stock Rustolem colors are what I would consider close enough without the need to mix. The red is “Colonial Red” and the blue is “Midnight Blue”. The red is a bit lighter in color but honestly looks closer to me. Especially when I am used to seeing a more faded color over the last 40 years. Its close enough that I think I can use these stock colors and be very satisfied with the results. I also found a stock Windows font “Accidental Presidency” that is a very close match to the font used for the lettering. I can only see one tiny variation in the M. The V at the top of the M is deeper in the font than on the prototype. Certainly not enough for me to be concerned. So I should be able to make paint masks or decals pretty easy.

Thoughts?

[Shane_Stewart]

Devon,

On the conductor’s side of the winter hatch, there is a summer/winter setting. Vertical = summer and horizontal = winter

[Devon_Sinsley]

Sorry, but I have to call BS. I have chased these trains summer, winter, fall, and spring for 20÷ years and I assure you they never switched color schemes. The red has NEVER been on top. It has always been on the bottom. So until someone can prove otherwise the winterization hatches have never been red.

Edited to say what the heck are you referring to… after being confused by the color I then realized you are talking about some sort of.setting on the hatch itself. And that has me intrigued. Because one question I have always had is why they leave the winterization hatches on in summer.

With your post now i wonder if there is some set of louvers that can be open or closed in these hatches that allows them to be open or.closed.

[Shane_Stewart]

I think it’s just a damper that switches between exhaust and recycle.

[Devon_Sinsley]

I have to apologize Shane. I totally misread your post. I had been talking color and all.of a sudden. You post a red winterizatuon hatch and I totally went into a rage (not really) and saw red. . . But thanks for the post. That makes perfect sense.and completely answers my question and makes perfect sense especially on a railroad where they could easily see winter 6+ months pit of the year. And since they are bolted on it makes perfect sense that they are permenat and then can be controlled depending on need.

So an apology and a thank you.

[Devon_Sinsley]

And just for the record I am not kidding about 6+ months of winter. We saw our first snow at the end of October. It began to stick at the first of November. There has been constant snow on my lawn for over 5 months now and it is snowing today. So we are on track for 6 months of winter this year. My daughter went snow boarding before thanks giving and will be skiing well after Easter this year.

[Shane_Stewart]

It’s my fault for being late to the party. I was reading your earlier observation.

I’m afraid I can’t help you with colours. I am looking forward to seeing it finished.

[JRad (Jon Radder)]

@Devon_Sinsley

So we are on track for 6 months of winter

I’m so sorry. Here, winter forgot us. Two accumulating snowfalls, neither more than 4 inches and they both melted the next day. This is not normal for my part of the world.

[Devon_Sinsley]

Now that’s almost comical. I am planning my first back country hike. And was thinking mid June. Way things are going I am not sure the road will be passable until late June early July. Not unless something drastically changes. By March we usually are seeing the beginning of run off. But the lakes are still frozen.

[Bruce_Chandler]

@Devon_Sinsley

Now that’s almost comical. I am planning my first back country hike. And was thinking mid June. Way things are going I am not sure the road will be passable until late June early July. Not unless something drastically changes. By March we usually are seeing the beginning of run off. But the lakes are still frozen.

I believe you!
While the rest of the US thinks that June is summer…this is a shot at Glacier Park on June 21 (more than a few years ago! ). We bought souvenir sweatshirts to stay warm (it was HOT in NY when we left!)

[smcgill (Sean McGillicuddy)]

We had one plowable storm …

We awoke with some snow on the ground....

[Devon_Sinsley]

One of the bad parts of this is we did have a teaser a couple weeks ago where it warmed up to the 50s. And we all thought spring had sprung. But we are back below freezing. Today in most of the flat lands we can see the grass and most of the snow is gone and it is a nice but cold sunny day. There is very little snow remaining down low, only in shady spots.