I usually pass by those boxes of old diesel shells that sit under a vendors table at a swap meet, but lately, as I get into renovating diesels I have, I am wondering if I am not missing a good and CHEAP source of parts and pieces for my projects? Does anyone use this stuff for their rebuilds? Cedarwoodron
Yo! I use anything from parts of shells to the entire shell. It may be a plain Jane Athearn BB shell or a dressed out Proto 2000 shell. I don’t quibble when it comes to parts. I try to make use of what I have.
I like to target post 1990s diesel bodies that have detailing, such as scrap P2K E-units or Geeps as they’re a decent source of body parts for my current P2K fleet. Because they’re a bit “fragile”, sometimes frustrated modelers damage them and then decide to sell them.
With older shells, such as Athearn BB, Bachman, or IHC carbody F-units, I like to snag carbody shells as they’re excellent airbrush paint test subjects. For me, it’s worth having test shells (like the BB FP45 shell below) as on several occasions before I started airbrushing a model, I’d find that my mix would be a tad too thick, too thin, or my air pressure needed adjusting.
You can not only salvage diesel parts from the shells, but somebody several years ago showed the use of fans, grills, etc as detailing parts on structures.
That’s what I was referring to - harvesting details, cutting sections for splicing (of related models) etc instead of adding up dozens of dollars for a few new detail parts at retail, bought online generally. It would allow me more “what if…” options in my shell restorations of various units, to either bring them closer to prototype or just make them more interestingly detailed. Cedarwoodron
One diesel shell that is actually pretty decent for it’s time period was the old Tyco EMD GP20 produced back in the 70s. Before BLI introduced their GP20, the Tyco shell was sought after by modelers since there were no other plastic HO versions on the market. There was even an article in a Model Railroader issue (1980s) in which a modeler performed a beautiful job of stripping, detailing, and refinishing one into the Union Pacific scheme. By the time he finished, the unit looked like a detailed Overland Brass model.
Years back I “hopped one up” for my wife’s cousin who had me freelance it into the Amtrak scheme. He uses it as his Amtrak passenger car switcher.
Perhaps others did it too but it was the late Art Curren, of kitbashing fame, that would raid shells for various detailing parts for his structures.
Dave Nelson