MoPac U30C #2993

[Deleted]

Today I finished the build portion of this model. It is now ready for paint, decal and weathering. I'll get started on that at the beginning of April. Tonight I will put a coat of primer gray on the handrails and paint the cab interior suede gray.



Brian

[Tom]

Beautiful. Who's stanchions did you use?

[Deleted]

Utah Pacific. But the center deck end stanchions are the original Atlas. I had my son in law cast the deck end stanchions and hand rails in dental steel. I then cut the stanchion off, filed the head of the stanchion down around the handrail and then added a Utah Pacific stanchion so it would match all the others. I had to split the stanchion head and spread it apart. Insert the handrail and then squeeze the stanchion head back around. Then solder it back together.

Brian

[djh4d]

Looks good. Can't wait to see the finished pics.

-Dave

[roadkill]

Did you do what I *think* you did to the cab front? i've always thought that Atlas's U Series cab windshields had a "squinty" look to them, and it looks like you used a High Tech details windshield section to fix the problem. Looks great! Also, could you post some pics of the radiator screens and tell us what you used?

[onequiknova]

I love the way you attach the handrails to the side of the cab. I need to try that. The dental steel sounds intriguing. What kind of mold material is used for that?

[Deleted]

Mar 22, 2015 15:40:47 GMT -8 roadkill said:

Did you do what I *think* you did to the cab front? i've always thought that Atlas's U Series cab windshields had a "squinty" look to them, and it looks like you used a High Tech details windshield section to fix the problem. Looks great! Also, could you post some pics of the radiator screens and tell us what you used?

Roger,

To build the cab, I used a B23-7 high hood cab and yes spliced in a Hi-Tech windshield portion. I also spliced in the Hi-Tech sides. The Atlas engineer and door windows were good size, but the windshield was not. I wanted a thinner looking side wall at the window so that is why I used the Hi-Tech sides.

John,

My son in law owns his own dental technician lab. Whatever I want cast he will do as long as it will fit his flask. The molding process is a "lost-part" process. Meaning the part gets melted out. So what he does is mount the part on a wax tree. Puts it at the bottom of his flask and then fills it with a what looks like a white mud slurry. This dries around the part and then he bakes it out at like 1200 degrees. Once the mold cavity is evacuated of all of the plastic part, then he puts it in his spin caster and melts some dental metal and spins it up.

The great thing about dental metal. It does not shrink. otherwise if you make a tooth out of it and it shrinks, it will not fit the mouth it is intended for. The metal is REALLY hard too. For my next U30C though I am going to have the center stanchions photo etched. This way I can solder the handrails to it all and make a much more robust deck end handrail assembly. You see, you cannot solder to the dental steel.

To do the flats at the ends for attaching to the cab, there is a key element and that is to NOT squeeze the brass to much. If you do, it severely weakens the joint between the flat and the round portion. I use a small machinist vise. I know the feel of how much I need to squeeze the brass. Then I cut the length to size and use a fine diamond file to reshape the ends and width. Let the diamond file do the work. No need for any pressure to be applied. As long as you do not weaken the joint, the diamond file will glide over the material and remove it very nicely without bending the flat at the joint. Oh yes. Also remember the vise will create a flat side and an indented side. The jaw of the vise that is moving is going to make the indented side. This is the side you want facing out from the cab. You want the flat side up against the cab.

Brian

[Deleted]

Roger,

Here are some radiator pictures. The grill is Aber S-02 photo etched mesh. Very hard stuff to find. It is within a smidgen of being dead on for screen size and pattern. It is so close it would be a waste of time and money to get your own etched. Again, the problem is finding it. The pattern size is a PERFECT match for having the long runners of the grill at the frame opening.



What you are seeing here is the core I had 3D printed. No, there is no core lines. In scale they would be so small that you could not see them. I did have them in my 3D drawing, but they just did not print out. When I do them for my U23B, I am going to make the core lines just a tad larger so there is at least something to represent the core.



Here is what it looks like with the cores painted, weathered and installed with the Aber mesh over it. I did the cores in a silver gray because this model represents a very old locomotive that has seen its share of service. By this time the paint would be gone and most likely they have been serviced over the years. This unit has never been repainted. So there would be no over spray in them either.

You know, Atlas could easily redesign their U-Boats and add this detail. The core could either be an insert or part of the shell and then add a photo etch mesh over it.

Brian

[roadkill]

Thanks so much for the radiator pics, Brian, much appreciated. You work goes to show how much we could use a "Cannon & Co." for GE parts. Hi Tech started out OK but just seemed to fizzle out. I've been building a Penn Central ph1 U33C slowly but surely that could use radiator grilles and cores that look that nice. Sigh...

[kentuckysouthernrwy]

I must add to the comments that your photography is well done, too. Nice clear and sharp.

[JohnJ]

Looks promising so far; I'll be watching this one with interest. When I was a kid in the late 1970s, I made weekly bike trips to the MoPac yard in Memphis, and it was always a nice surprise to see a U30C in residence. I decided I needed to model one, and of course at that time the Athearn GE was pretty much the only HO choice, at least in my price range. While Athearn made a U30C, I had a U33C on hand and wasn't discriminating enough to care much about the differences.

Despite the wrong model choice and use of Testor's spray paint that wasn't a perfect match, the result wasn't completely horrible. Unfortunately, the model had a warped truck and I took it back to the hobby shop for a fix. I didn't pick it up for a few weeks, and it sat in their display case. MoPac was a popular road in Memphis, and I'm not aware of any commercial MoPac models being on the market at that time.

When I finally picked it up, the shop proprietor told me he could have sold my model many times over. I guess I missed a golden custom painting opportunity. I might have made some real money!

[Spikre]

1st U30Cs ever seen here were D&H units in Pittston PA.
visiting an uncles parents,thought living that close to the
engine service area was great,they really didn't care what
sort of locos were there.
interesting sort of Culture Shock for a big eyed teen.
and at the time didn't know that D&H had Defected to GE,
thought they were still all Alco.
a month or so later was a pic or 2 of them in Trains or Railroad,
and the Defection became noted in the Press.
later EL got not only U33Cs,but U36Cs,and those EL-NJDOT U34CHs,
so saw plenty of Big GEs besides the EL U25B fleet.
Spikre

[Spikre]

Brian,
started getting X2200SOUTH during 1972.
it seemed that almost every issue for awhile the MoP
U30C fleet was getting New Numbers.
what was the reasoning behind that ?
Spikre

[Deleted]

Maybe someone can verify or correct me. Originally delivered in 9xx series numbers. Then changed to single/double digit or what I was told are called point numbers or something like that. I do not know why they were changed to this single/double digit number. I know the 3xxx series was HP numbers and then the change to the 2xxx series was to make room for the SD40-2's.

Brian