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Now that the frame, deck, nose and cab components are done I can turn my attention to building the long
hood. This task is fairly easy using sheet styrene and Cannon & Co. parts. If you follow the basic construction
techniques in my article "Building Hood Sides Using Strip and Sheet Styrene and Cannon & Co Parts", you
should not have a problem building your own hood sides. Please do not be intimidated by building your own
sides. I was for a long time until I just sat down and methodically built my first ones. I realized just how easy it
was. Give it a shot, you just might enjoy it.
The following photos are of the completed hood.
hood. This task is fairly easy using sheet styrene and Cannon & Co. parts. If you follow the basic construction
techniques in my article "Building Hood Sides Using Strip and Sheet Styrene and Cannon & Co Parts", you
should not have a problem building your own hood sides. Please do not be intimidated by building your own
sides. I was for a long time until I just sat down and methodically built my first ones. I realized just how easy it
was. Give it a shot, you just might enjoy it.
The following photos are of the completed hood.
The dynamic brake hatch is from an Athearn GP38-2. I wanted to use the Atlas DB hatch, but it turns out that
the Atlas hood is just a tad to wide. Not much, but when using an Atlas part on a scale width hood, the
difference is noticeable. The dynamic brake grills are made from cutting down the Athearn SD45T-2 grills.
the Atlas hood is just a tad to wide. Not much, but when using an Atlas part on a scale width hood, the
difference is noticeable. The dynamic brake grills are made from cutting down the Athearn SD45T-2 grills.
The horn bracket is made from 0.010" strip styrene. I cut the width as wide as the base of the horn. I then made
half cuts across the strip where the bends would be. I made a small jig that holds the shape of the bracket and
then applied liquid cement to the joints. This melted the scribe lines and made the piece solid again. Though
the bracket looks pretty delicate, it has some good strength to it. Brass would be better, but I did not have any
at the time and this bracket seems fairly stout.
half cuts across the strip where the bends would be. I made a small jig that holds the shape of the bracket and
then applied liquid cement to the joints. This melted the scribe lines and made the piece solid again. Though
the bracket looks pretty delicate, it has some good strength to it. Brass would be better, but I did not have any
at the time and this bracket seems fairly stout.
After looking at a few photos of the top of a few GP38-2's, I found there is a lap seam running down the center
of the DB hatch in front of and behind the fan hatch. I added this with a piece of 0.020" x 0.010" strip styrene
and then I sanded it thinner. You can not really see them in this photo, but the PAF boxes on GP/SD 38-2's
have small lifting tabs at each upper corner. Kato modeled this on their SD38-2 whaich I was very suprised to
see. I added these by using Sunrise Enterprises N-Scale lifting tabs. Not rings, but tabs.
of the DB hatch in front of and behind the fan hatch. I added this with a piece of 0.020" x 0.010" strip styrene
and then I sanded it thinner. You can not really see them in this photo, but the PAF boxes on GP/SD 38-2's
have small lifting tabs at each upper corner. Kato modeled this on their SD38-2 whaich I was very suprised to
see. I added these by using Sunrise Enterprises N-Scale lifting tabs. Not rings, but tabs.
