mickoo
Western Thunderer
So back to the US for a short stint, well it's been chuntering along in the back ground, I should be doing the 47xx but after fighting one valance overlay this morning for three hours I decided that it had best be put to one side.....for it's own preservation!
Truck evolution, after much back and forth I've finally got a set of trucks to fit, (hobby) SLA printing is rarely 1+1=2, sometimes it's 1.83, others it's 2.04, it's witchcraft and that's all there is to know
On the left the original transom which I found out this week was the not the correct profile, the one on the right is correct.
The trucks are three part assemblies due to my printer restrictions, especially if the side are printed in the same orientation as above, I.E longitudinally, I've also not cleaned up the remains of the support nubs, the criteria here is three parts that fit together and then fit the MTH brick.
The downside to long parts placed diagonally across the print area is that the witchcraft changes, what works for the middle of the area often doesn't at the extreme edges, thus the front and rear horn guides have a small amount of sheer in them.
If that were the only issue then I'd be happy as the shear error is easily hidden with the pedestal, springs and bearings and the complete truck will show no visual errors. But it's not, sadly the end beams also have a small amount of (for want of a better word....trapezoidal) sheer as well, the rear is no problem as it gets blended with the transom; but the front might be obvious on curves when it swings out slightly.
The reason for printing across the tank is that it reduces the height of the print, which significantly reduces the print time; these sides varied between three and four hours a side depending on settings.
The printer will easily take them standing vertically and more, such that it is now possible to blend all three parts into one unit and print vertically, however the print time will be akin to 13-14 hours. If your going to do that then you really need to make sure it bloody well fits once printed, which explains why all the current prints (flaws accepted) are flat to ensure exactly just that.
A vertical print will resolve the shearing issues but will almost certainly create new ones, so it might take several attempts to get it perfect, good job I ordered more resin
At top of the photo are the previous test prints, each one a failure in some context, in fact one side on the left hand truck is also sub par but good enough to test the fitting to the MTH brick.
Having reached a point in the GEVO truck evolution where I can reasonably begin to think of other projects, it was time to open up some other boxes.
First up is an Atlas O SD35, an odd model in the EMD range, only 360 produced and all bar 29 ended up on the eastern side of the US. The SD35 was right in the middle of the horse power race in the mid 60's and was one of the last, if not the last development of the venerable 567 block, rated at 2500hp (edging it just ahead of the SD24) it was pushing the horsepower limits at the time.
Within a few years the 645 block became the standard and not until the SD40 did HP surpass the SD35.
The 29 units that headed west went to SP and to be blunt, SP ragged them hard, all were gone in 14 years, accident damage or simply worn out, several were refurbished, some with derated 645 blocks but at the end of the day, hard grueling pusher service and drag trains did them in.
Several/many worked in and around Cajon and Tehachapi, either as lead or more usually (especially on Tehachapi) as helpers either cut in or tail end. Toward the end many migrated to West Colton on 100+ car hump service or cross city transfer drags.
The model came as a bare bones undercorated example, no glazing or fixtures, perfect really, sadly though it was an eastern Railroad high (hook) nose variant and the SP were low nose.
Unlike MTH the footplate is part of the main chassis, it is the chassis, which makes remedial work a bit harder, though it is possible to chuck in a semi authentic frame with a little effort.
I had banked on having to make a whole new cab front as well as short nose, but was pleasantly surprised to find an almost complete cab front under the high hood nose.
The cab, long hood and tail end are all suitable for SP, SP did not fit any special light clusters to the rear of the SD35's, one unit did trial EMD designed snow covers (CN and CP took them for a lot of their EMD products though) over the engine intakes and I may well opt for that unit. The covers did and have seen use on on other SP and UP Spartan cab models, but not the SD35.
The SD35 also bucked the current trend of L shaped windscreens, kinda disappointing in that, but kinda glad as it's less work on the cab front.
I don't like the massively thick cab sides and fully intend to add an overlay here and open out the current openings to give a more flush finish look, like the GEVO. I do still have the old GP38 test cab and may well re-purpose that cab front overlay short term.
Short term I will draw up and print a new low nose with cut out for the SP light package and a new brow with number boards and headlight assembly.
For reference the Strathpac Vol 21 has 40+ pages of details and info, more than enough to make a half decent stab at modeling a SD35 in So Cal.
Truck evolution, after much back and forth I've finally got a set of trucks to fit, (hobby) SLA printing is rarely 1+1=2, sometimes it's 1.83, others it's 2.04, it's witchcraft and that's all there is to know
On the left the original transom which I found out this week was the not the correct profile, the one on the right is correct.
The trucks are three part assemblies due to my printer restrictions, especially if the side are printed in the same orientation as above, I.E longitudinally, I've also not cleaned up the remains of the support nubs, the criteria here is three parts that fit together and then fit the MTH brick.
The downside to long parts placed diagonally across the print area is that the witchcraft changes, what works for the middle of the area often doesn't at the extreme edges, thus the front and rear horn guides have a small amount of sheer in them.
If that were the only issue then I'd be happy as the shear error is easily hidden with the pedestal, springs and bearings and the complete truck will show no visual errors. But it's not, sadly the end beams also have a small amount of (for want of a better word....trapezoidal) sheer as well, the rear is no problem as it gets blended with the transom; but the front might be obvious on curves when it swings out slightly.
The reason for printing across the tank is that it reduces the height of the print, which significantly reduces the print time; these sides varied between three and four hours a side depending on settings.
The printer will easily take them standing vertically and more, such that it is now possible to blend all three parts into one unit and print vertically, however the print time will be akin to 13-14 hours. If your going to do that then you really need to make sure it bloody well fits once printed, which explains why all the current prints (flaws accepted) are flat to ensure exactly just that.
A vertical print will resolve the shearing issues but will almost certainly create new ones, so it might take several attempts to get it perfect, good job I ordered more resin
At top of the photo are the previous test prints, each one a failure in some context, in fact one side on the left hand truck is also sub par but good enough to test the fitting to the MTH brick.
Having reached a point in the GEVO truck evolution where I can reasonably begin to think of other projects, it was time to open up some other boxes.
First up is an Atlas O SD35, an odd model in the EMD range, only 360 produced and all bar 29 ended up on the eastern side of the US. The SD35 was right in the middle of the horse power race in the mid 60's and was one of the last, if not the last development of the venerable 567 block, rated at 2500hp (edging it just ahead of the SD24) it was pushing the horsepower limits at the time.
Within a few years the 645 block became the standard and not until the SD40 did HP surpass the SD35.
The 29 units that headed west went to SP and to be blunt, SP ragged them hard, all were gone in 14 years, accident damage or simply worn out, several were refurbished, some with derated 645 blocks but at the end of the day, hard grueling pusher service and drag trains did them in.
Several/many worked in and around Cajon and Tehachapi, either as lead or more usually (especially on Tehachapi) as helpers either cut in or tail end. Toward the end many migrated to West Colton on 100+ car hump service or cross city transfer drags.
The model came as a bare bones undercorated example, no glazing or fixtures, perfect really, sadly though it was an eastern Railroad high (hook) nose variant and the SP were low nose.
Unlike MTH the footplate is part of the main chassis, it is the chassis, which makes remedial work a bit harder, though it is possible to chuck in a semi authentic frame with a little effort.
I had banked on having to make a whole new cab front as well as short nose, but was pleasantly surprised to find an almost complete cab front under the high hood nose.
The cab, long hood and tail end are all suitable for SP, SP did not fit any special light clusters to the rear of the SD35's, one unit did trial EMD designed snow covers (CN and CP took them for a lot of their EMD products though) over the engine intakes and I may well opt for that unit. The covers did and have seen use on on other SP and UP Spartan cab models, but not the SD35.
The SD35 also bucked the current trend of L shaped windscreens, kinda disappointing in that, but kinda glad as it's less work on the cab front.
I don't like the massively thick cab sides and fully intend to add an overlay here and open out the current openings to give a more flush finish look, like the GEVO. I do still have the old GP38 test cab and may well re-purpose that cab front overlay short term.
Short term I will draw up and print a new low nose with cut out for the SP light package and a new brow with number boards and headlight assembly.
For reference the Strathpac Vol 21 has 40+ pages of details and info, more than enough to make a half decent stab at modeling a SD35 in So Cal.
Sorry I don't have a file for the 36" middle fan, but I'm a snob, I'm only interested in locos with 48" fans and above. 
Also I still need to work up the dynamic fans, as the bases are similar but different to the radiator fans. Guard rings and grilles are the same however.
