Kato SD45

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Anyone know where to find Kato SD45 shells? I have two or three that I want to paint for NYS&W. One is painted for GN, one for C&NW, and the third is EL (I may keep that one EL for interchange traffic). I’ve read that Kato yellow is a !@$*^#% to remove, so I’m looking for undec shells.

Thanks,

Adam

2

Did you try Kato ? http://www.katousa.com/ says sold out :frowning:

It is basically impossible to completely remove the paint from a Kato shell as the pigment stains the plastic. Pinesol, regular, straight up does a fair job, but even it will start to etch the plastic. It is your best bet for stripping, then shoot the shell with a primer compatible with your paint scheme. An air eraser is another alternative.

See also: http://www.hosam.com/

3

I tried Kato, but I couldn’t find any information other than to order the catalog. At one time, I remember saving a link to someone who had them, but like many things web-based, I cannot find them anymore.

I was going to try the Pinesol trick. I figured the yellow on the C&NW unit was workable, but that orange and green on the GN unit…

Thanks,

Adam

4

Now that I think about your comment about the pigment staining the plastic, I guess the main concern with paint removal is to avoid 79 layers of paint building up and covering the details. Once the coats of paint are opaque, the color of the plastic underneath shouldn’t matter, right?

So if I’m starting with plastic, and it’s yellow or orange, but I’m painting yellow and black over top, once the paint is opaquely covering the shell, it won’t matter if the plastic underneath is yellow, orange, gray, pink, etc.

Adam

5

Hi Adam;

Should be okay.

Pinesol: regular straight up only, make sure that you do not contaminate it with water. Use nitrile gloves, and rinse the gloves with Pinesol after you put them on. Immerse the shell complete for 15 - 20 minutes, remove, in sink scrub with tooth brush, rinse with warm water and dry. Drying is VERY VERY important. Repeat as needed.

On the Kato website, go to Parts, then search on SD45. A few pages down is the HO shell - Sold Out. They still have N scale shells though.

6

Try online at Internet Hobbies: www.internethobbies.com

7

Disregard they don’t have just shells. Sorry about that.

8

They come up on eBay from time to time, though often go for what I would consider too much money. I would try stripping the paint first and see what happens. I’ve used Scalecoat paint remover on Kato shells before with good results. The SD40 in my signature is one of those.

I have another shell that I sprayed some Castrol Super Clean on and it looks promising, though I haven’t really soaked it yet.

9

Thanks, guys! I’m in N-scale, so maybe I’m in luck. I’ll try Kato’s website again.

Adam

10

Okay, I’m at katousa.com, clicked on “Parts Department”, searched for “SD45”, and I get:

921300 SD45 Bodyshell, Undec, 1 ea SoldOut

N-Scale / Fits: SD45

I guess I’m out of luck? If only I had been 1 day earlier…

Adam