Motive power comes to Los Robles

There's not a lot of info on FUS diesels on line but enough to create a nice model.  I had a few extra Bachmann S4s in SP and since I was narrowing the focus on my PE plans...they became available.  FUS didn't use Alco S4s but did have a pair of S6s.  I'm less concerned about being a purist and more about getting things moving so this fudge is acceptable for me.  I know there are some conversions out there and when things are settled a bit more, may look that direction for a proper Alco S6.  I stripped the SP Tiger Stripes off and repainted using Tamyia acrylic paint pre weathered.  Decals I drew up on Corell and printed on my Alps and then did a final weathering using some oils and acrylics.  When you are weathering something you are putting decals on I find it best to pre weather the car as much as you can before adding the markings.  Unless you trim right up to the image you run the risk of the clear carrier boarders being picked out by the application of paint over them.  In this case, I trimmed the black lines up to the color, weathered the whole car, a final coat of gloss clear and applied the numbers and the FUS logo.  That was then sealed again using gloss coat with a final flat coat to finish. Then I did a very light overspray of very thin tan acrylic paint to blend making sure not to accent decal boarders.  Its a few extra steps, but the end result is rewarding.

I still need to paint the interior part of the shell black, remove the side windows and make sun shades for the cab windows.  The railing should really be orange with black fixtures, so I ordered some of the right color from Bachmann that will be applied later.  The engineering plastic used here will not allow paint to stick, but if pressed you can use something like the Pactra or Testers paint made for the inside of Lucite clear RC race cars.  That stuff sticks to anything and remains flexable.  Acrylics, Lacquers and even enamels will get brittle with time and any flexing will flake the paint off.  This paint, when applied as directed with an even coat encapsulates the part and flexes with it.  I have a couple of locos Ive used this on, especially the white safety railing for steps and ladders with no chipping at all.