High Nose GP40 - Rescue Build - Part 2

I spent some time working on my newly acquired Athearn high nose (link) and I made a fair bit of progress.  The engines history has left it a bit worse for wear and the various glue-marks mean it will be a 'three footer' rather than a showstopper, but I am pleased with how it's turned out so far.

I am using the parts I have 'in stock' so I won't be spending any extra cash to finish this particular build.

I tackled the high nose end of the model first, the existing cannon nose is missing most of its detail parts and had the nose doors from the original Athearn low hood glued over the spaces where the Cannon doors should be.

I opted to retain the Athearn doors, but I trimmed them to fit the hole in the Cannon nose and mounted them flush.

The numberboards were pieces of Cannon plastic and had been glued too far back (the Cannon nose has a recess designed for a clear insert).

I prised off the old pieces and fashioned a suitable numberboard from plasticard.  The numberboards look a lot better after this fix.

The Athearn model has a dash 2 cab so I trimmed off the overhang at the rear to make it closer to a GP40 style cab.

The fans were drilled out using a step-drill to create the holes for the Cannon 1702 dish top fans, and the base sections were glued into postion.

 

I also added Cannon walkway tread around the frame and drilled the holes for grabirons.  I used Detail Associate grabs on both ends and lift rings on the roof.

The mu hoses are Athearn Genesis parts I had in my bits box, they were very easy to fit and I think they look slightly finer than the Details West whitemetal parts I usually use.

I'm pleased with the progress so far, the next step will be adding coupler lift bars to the short hood end, all-weather windows to the cab and adding body mounted coupler pockets.