Custom Building, Paint, and Weathering Services?

[pmpexpress]

It's too bad that SD18 shell requires making your own handrails instead of using an Atlas SD24 walkway, cab and nose.  That would make the project that much more difficult.  Is the NSN kit (I had forgotten about that one!) the same way or does it use a Kato walkway?

The NSN kits use a Kato U30C cab and walkway.

[mkearns]

It's too bad that SD18 shell requires making your own handrails instead of using an Atlas SD24 walkway, cab and nose.  That would make the project that much more difficult.

Good points I hadn’t considered. I’ve never attempted anything like this but I did know about the resin and now printed SD-18 shells.

So you would go about it an entirely different way? Would you mind sharing more?

[chessie system fan]

Having a separate hood, walkway, and cab is the best way to go, IMO.  It's easier to paint that way. Using stock walkways and cabs allows you to use stock walkways and window glass.  Here's a GP15T I designed a few years ago.  Only the long hood needed replacing. I added the bumps on the inside of the shell so that it snaps into place just like the original Atlas hood.



BTW, I noticed that the resin shell has a correct square roof section behind the cab but the 3D shell doesn't. The 3D shell doesn't have any walkway tread, either.

[dem34]

Story of CMR products in general IG. Pretty close but they always have some quirky issue.
Like the Laser Cut T Trak modules that don't go together unless you manually chamfer corners with a rasp and expect you to sink hammered Tee Nuts into 1/8" thick basswood.