Rock Island 8 40B 4023 from an Atlas model
finished shots:
This model started out as an undecorated Atlas Dash 8 40B. Obviously, Rock Island never had any
GP38-2's in this scheme and this is a fantasy model. We theorized that had the Rock Island survived they may have picked some of these units up in the late 1980's to replace some of their aging uboat fleet. Also, the bankruptcy blue era was over
and the Rock Island reverted back to the yellow and red scheme. Of course, if this is all hypothetical.
Various details like a new horn, spare knuckles, antennas and such were added to
give the model a prototypical feel. The frame and weight were modified for operating ditchlights which are Details West castings.
After a thorough abrasive blasting, everything was washed and dried. Paint consisted of Floquil primer, Scalecoat II white, custom mixed RI yellow from part Floquil UP armor yellow and Scalecoat II reefer yellow. The red is Scalecoat II
CP bright red that has been tinted a little more. The gray is Scalecoat II NYC dark gray. The walkways are painted antiskid black, which is a mix of Floquil engine black, grimy black and primer mixed until it looked right. The grilles were masked and backfilled with Floquil grimy black. The decals are a combination of Microscale and the clearcoat is part Testor's glosscoat and part Testors Dullcoat.
© Copyright 2007 Kelley Duford
Last Updated 6/24/2007