Customizing a cheap HO Life-Like locomotive.

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/m/mrr-layouts/2288297.aspx

Is or has anyone ever done this before? Its a cheap HO scale Life-Like GP38-2. I’ve shaved off the plastic moldings of the marker lights from the short hood, cut off the side window dividers and I sprayed it with a light coat of white primer so i can see all the details in the body. ( its actually a Santa-Fe warbonnet, fictionally numbered 3500.) I also shaved off the upside down headlight hoods to give it a clean look, And I replaced the old style couplers with some Life-Like knuckle couplers I had lying around. Next I,m going to remove the white primer, cause i came out crappy (any suggestions on how i should?) and sand all the rough surfaces smooth, then I’ll hit it with a light coat of grey primer. Please let me know what else you think I should do to it to make it more realistic, what road I should make it and if you’ve done anything like it yourself.

Thank you.

2

The old Life-Like GP38-2 is a genuine oldtimer now - the tooling dates to '76 or so. It was the very first plastic GP38-2 available in HO scale, predating the Athearn by a good ten years. And for the time period and price point it was produced in, it isn’t too horrible.

Originally, it used a Varney motor, basically a copy of the Pittman motor used in many a cast-metal steamer back in the day. It was mounted at an angle, driving the geared rear truck through a short driveshaft. This was changed to a “pancake” motor in the very early 80’s, and is still produced in this configuration.

High nose and low nose models are available, in both powered and dummy configurations.

Dimensionally, it isn’t a bad model. Most of the major dimensions are spot on. Details are where it falls flat. The fans are pretty crude, the rad grilles aren’t well done and the handrails - the less said about them, the better.

In the 70’s and 80’s, Life-Like made an attempt to be prototypical regarding road names and numbers . Nowadays, I think you can only get this engine in three or four road names, none of which are very well done and in the case of the Warbonnet units, totally whimsical at best.

All that said, if you want to do some detailing, have at it. You’re best off pitching the power chassis and replacing with an Athearn. But if you go that route, why not just get an old bluebox era Athearn model and pitch the entire Life-Like model? Basically, what you’ve suggested is a good start, one that can be done with any locomotive regardless of manufacturer. Fill in the pilots, add some MU hoses, bodymounted couplers, a plow, some cut levers, better handrails, better fans, wire grab irons, and some lift rings - prime, paint, decal. There you go - a model done by yourself and a true one-off custom.

3

If you model a particular railroad, search online for photos of GP38-2s.

You can find what details you can add.

Companies to check are Cannon and Co. - cabs, hoods, doors, radiator grills, fans, etc.

Detail Associates and Details West - all kinds of things, from plows to headlights to fuel tank fillers to horns, bells, speed recorders, etc.

But replacing the drive will make for the best results for a model overall.

4

I’m gonna stick with the Life-Like power, only because it isn’t that bad besides the noise. It starts off smoothly, runs great and even though its only front truck driven it can pull alot. I only wish i could get rid of or even muffle that noise it makes. As for the body, yes I am going to fill in the pilots, also I’m going to put patches where the marker lights used to be.

5

Throwing good money at bad is never a good idea. I would go and get an Athearn unit and have fun from there. David B

6

Or go with Atlas. I have couple Trainman GP38 and they run great and look great too… Could use a few small details but from a distance you cannot tell the few lacking detail parts.

7

Using this old engine might not be a bad idea. Better for a new person to practice detailing and painting on a low price engine. If he wants, most of the details can be reused on a better shell later. Or if the shell turns out well, he can mount it on another drive.

8

If the drive eventually fails, or the noise gets to be too much, consider removing the motor and gears and running the engine as a dummy.

I’ve got a dummy GP9, an ancient Athearn that was originally rubber-band drive. I gutted the insides, did some restorative work to the shell, added Kadees and handrails, and weathered it a bit. Then I put a Soundbug inside it. It’s now a nice complement to a Walthers Trainline GP-20 that came without sound.

9

When I first started back in the hobby some 30 years ago, I’d buy cheap locos at train shows to kitash and work on. Had a great time learning things, and didn’t mind cutting up or re-doing theses cheapos.

Here’s one of the extremes that I’ve done, with a $2.00 AHM dummy RS-3.

Lots of fun and not much cost!

10

Exactly. I’m just starting with this stuff, all I have is an HO Life-Like PRR 0-4-0, this HO Life-Like ATSF GP38-2, an old HO AHM B&O FM C-Liner, a Bachmann ATSF F7 N Scale, and an HO Bachmann ATSF GP30 with DCC I got last year. I have about 32 pieces of Life-Like Power Loc track[N], close to 125 pieces of AHM track, and 12 pieces of Bachmann N scale E-Z track. What I want to see is if anyone else has tackled a Life-Like like mine and if they were pleased with the outcome. I’m going to post a couple pictures of the body currently tonight. I’m not actually sure how old this one actually is, but if graftonterminalrr’s information is right then it’s newer than 1980 because it has a “pancake” motor. I might paint it to look like it’s an ex Conrail unit now owned by Norfolk Southern, but I’m going to paint the cab and short hood like an old CSX. The story will be that it was in a wreck and and the cab and hood needed replaced so they got one off of a scrapped CSX GP38-2. I got the idea from the images of when BNSF was turning their GP60B #347 into a cab unit, which is now BNSF GP60 #170. I’m going with Norfolk Southern because I’m from Pennsylvania and PA is NS’s territory.

11

Even if a loco doesn’t run, but you get a great buy on it, make the most of it by learning how to detail and weather it. I have done this on several locos like the plastic Big Boy in these photos (paid $8.00) and I keep learning better ways to acheive the results I want. As was mentioned, if you mess it up it isn’t a great loss and you can apply what you learned to the next one.

-Bob

12

I never had anything but bad luck with the standard line Life-Like locos. Usually the shell would end up on a Bachmann chassis. They had a drive that was marginally better but not by much. If I really liked the shell it would find it’s way onto an Athearn chassis.

13

Isnt the plastic on the old Life Like locomotives really fragile? IIRC they would crack and break very easily therfore making it harder to work on.

14

Yeah, That’s one thing I remember about them. It was hardly a step above bake-lite.

15

That may be a good idea if you are looking to run the thing. But is it always a good idea though?

Consider, you are a new comer to the hobby…you want to learn the detailing/weathering thing but the locos you see are really to good to muck around with.

Me? I would go the el cheapo route and learn the thing from there…leave the better ones for when you are confident enough to do the detailing better…

16

I just got done with stripping half of the shell. I used DOT 3 brake fluid to remove the white primer, the coat of ATSF grey and the coat of ATSF red, to reveal the BRIGHT yellow of the plastic underneath. All thats left on that side is a bit of red at the end of the long hood, a faded red Santa Fe text and a little bit of red in the grills and on the steps. As for the other side only the white primer, the red Santa Fe text, the number (3500) and a little bit of red near the bottom have been removed. I will put up more pics of the progress tonight. Also, anyone else who has a Bachmann ATSF GP30 with DCC, I want to know what your opinion on it is and if you’ve done anything to make it more realistic to what ATSF’s GP30s really looked like. ( Any pics of your latest project, simmilar project or your Bachmann ATSF GP30 will be greatly appreciated.)

Thank you.

17

It is now 4:00pm its been 19 hours since I put the shell back in the brake fluid for hopefully the last time. For me, scrubbing it takes about an hour to an hour and a half. So far I haven’t had any cracking or any problems with the body at all for that matter, but the only other thing I would like to do to it would be to replace the stock ladder rails (which are molded into the body) with better ones, and put number boards on it. Does anyone know what company sells the best version of these parts?

18

It looks great FARRELLAA. I just officially finished the body work I’m doing to the shell, and I’m pleased with myself (not to brag). Tomorrow is painting day, the color will be Model-Master’s French Blue, only because its the closest to Conrail Blue they had in a spray at the store.

-Jake

Pictures of the shell tonight will be up tommrow.