It's (Almost) Plow Season.. Ann Arbor Railroad Snow Plow

[Ypsi]

Were coming up on the cold months and I had to get a project started this week in preparation for the cold long Michigan winter. So last week I picked up a Walthers Russle snow plow and got to work. When I got it, the plow was in a factory B&M paint scheme, as neat as it was it wouldn't do.



The next night I put it in the stripper a couple times and ended up with a nice yellow plastic for painting the classic Ann Arbor Railroad (DT&I) Orange.



Another round of stripping and cleaning resulted in a plow ready to paint



After letting it dry and sit overnight I started painting it this morning, first coat (my orange mix is sitting to the right):



And then after the 2/ 3rd coat



After letting it dry and getting some touch up done I put the plow back on its trucks, the paint is pretty glossy and my light throws it off a bit. I have some more touch up to do, but overall it is a decent paint job. I need to order decals to do the plow in the ferry and the fog paint scheme.



Still to come are adding detail parts including a new horn, headlight above the cab, some detail painting and possibly a little more touchup. And of course the decals which I will order tonight or tomorrow after I find the appropriate set on the web.

[ns8401]

Were coming up on the cold months and I had to get a project started this week in preparation for the cold long Michigan winter. So last week I picked up a Walthers Russle snow plow and got to work. When I got it, the plow was in a factory B&M paint scheme, as neat as it was it wouldn't do.



Still to come are adding detail parts including a new horn, headlight above the cab, some detail painting and possibly a little more touchup. And of course the decals which I will order tonight or tomorrow after I find the appropriate set on the web.

Seems a tad too orange, have you considered a black jack-o-lantern stencil on it somewhere near the door?

[Ypsi]

Needs to be flat coated still which may bring it down a bit in terms of brightness, but that's about the best mix we care to make (I could get super specific and try and bring it down a bit but the mix we currently use is easy) 1 part caboose red and 1 part refer yellow makes that shade of orange which is pretty close.

[ns8401]

Needs to be flat coated still which may bring it down a bit in terms of brightness, but that's about the best mix we care to make (I could get super specific and try and bring it down a bit but the mix we currently use is easy) 1 part caboose red and 1 part refer yellow makes that shade of orange which is pretty close.

I like it... as long as it came out nice and even etc. I still say I can get you that stencil...

[Saturnalia]

When it was stripped it looked a lot like the yellow plows around on CSX, and the one MQT inherited...yellow with a touch of rust!

[GrandTrunkFan]

Did you get the decals for this yet? I was thinking of trying this myself but not sure what to do for decals. I wonder how close the Microscale Ferry in Fog set in N scale is?

[Ypsi]

I hadn't thought of that yet, will have to try and get an n scale box car set now.. I can't believe I forgot, I feel like I somehow knew that is how it would need to be done. I know that the engine and caboose ferry and the fog decals are too big, so it's worth a shot. I will have to order those and then get some letters/ numbers to match the font.

[ns8401]

I hadn't thought of that yet, will have to try and get an n scale box car set now.. I can't believe I forgot, I feel like I somehow knew that is how it would need to be done. I know that the engine and caboose ferry and the fog decals are too big, so it's worth a shot. I will have to order those and then get some letters/ numbers to match the font.

You forgot about the decals?

[Ypsi]

No I want that far yet I was waiting to figure out what set to order, looking over the HO set I determined those would be too large, will have to try the N scale set.

[GrandTrunkFan]

No I want that far yet I was waiting to figure out what set to order, looking over the HO set I determined those would be too large, will have to try the N scale set.

That was my first thought, was N scale. I bet theyd be very very close to the right size

[Ypsi]

Got the plow finished up thanks to CRman5's decal skills. Looks good all cleared with the AA GP35's

[ConrailMan5]

Sometimes you do everything right and there still is silvering... it is frustrating.
Gonna have to weather it to match the GP35's though. One day when there is time....

[MagnumForce]

Any photos of the prototype?

[Ypsi]

They are few and far between, but I have a couple from when it was an AA plow (and one from when it took a spill for fun)

Here's a nice roster:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1429188

and it took a spill in 2011
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mackinacm ... 07241@N23/

The font is a littler different, but without looking super close no one should notice. It was use what we had or make decals.. in this case what we had was fine. The decal is a cut off "Ann Arbor Railroad System" ferry in the fog logo in N scale, it seems to fit well. Looking to get the headlight detail part sometime, but its not urgent. Also need to touch up the hand rails and such soon to yellow and such.

[GrandTrunkFan]

They are few and far between, but I have a couple from when it was an AA plow (and one from when it took a spill for fun)

Here's a nice roster:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1429188

and it took a spill in 2011
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mackinacm ... 07241@N23/

The font is a littler different, but without looking super close no one should notice. It was use what we had or make decals.. in this case what we had was fine. The decal is a cut off "Ann Arbor Railroad System" ferry in the fog logo in N scale, it seems to fit well. Looking to get the headlight detail part sometime, but its not urgent. Also need to touch up the hand rails and such soon to yellow and such.

Came out good, I think I need to start on mine