Model Railroading > An F-unit for the IAIS

My LHS got the long-awaited nose lift rings in for my MILW F7A last week, allowing me to finish the detailing, fade, and weathering over the weekend. Pics are below.

The prototype came to the IAIS briefly for planned dinner train service, but moved on without those plans materializing.

Photo 1 - Darren Ferreter photo of the 88C on its way to the IAIS, 9/28/1988 at Fremont, NE on the CNW (used with permission).
Photo 2 - Mike Vana photo of the 88C on the IAIS at Bluffs Yard, 10/6/1988 (used with permission).
Photo 3 - Completed model. I replaced the forward-facing horn and added new cab roof grab irons, antenna w/conduit running between the windshields, cut levers, nose-top grab irons, platform beneath the engineer's window, number decals, nose lift rings, and MILW herald (the latter through the graciousness of John Greedy). Also modified the skirts and cut in a new nose-mounted MU connection next to the headlight, per the prototype. Milwaukee orange paint was touched up on the nose lift rings and platform supports using a custom mix of Floquil Signal Red and Reefer Yellow. Fading and weathering were done with oils.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

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Photo 4 - Roof view. I tried something new for me on this one and didn't mask the windshield when I sprayed the Dullcote. I then went back and cleared the wiper paths with 91% isopropyl alcohol to give the remainder of the windshields more of a dirty look.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

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Awesome!

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Joe, Awesome work on the F unit!

Mike DeBerg
Bloomington, IL

Man, great copy of the weathered real thing. Good work.

Nice job, Joe. I've been happy to see your work back here on TO!

-Ryan

Wow, excellent job Joe.

Thanks for posting.

Thomas G.

WOW!! amazing work sir.
D

Joe,

Beautifully done piece as usual.

Regards,
Russ

Absolutely Amazing Weathering!! Especially on top of the nose. You nailed it!

Much Kudos!! Geeze. Wish I could do even 6-8% as well! =)

Cheers,
Harry

Joe, as can be expected, the model looks great, but where exactly was this unit in 2005? This thing didn't honestly stick around on the property for seven years, did it?

- Jeff

Very convincing! Nice, nice work...

~ BZ

Thank you all for the very nice comments. It's not very often I get to use a factory-painted locomotive on the layout, and considering that I picked this one up for a little less than $40, it's been a lot of fun, and a fairly quick project, for not much money.

Jeff wrote:
> ...but where exactly was this unit in 2005? This thing didn't honestly stick around on the property
> for seven years, did it?

Not *exactly*. :-) But, I've got a thing for F-units running alongside 1960s-70s EMD power. The IAIS has the latter, but not the former. I kept buying F-units with the idea of doing a what-if IAIS A-B-A set, and then selling them again when my willpower returned. I figured it was cheaper to just build one to keep for a change and park it inside the Bluffs enginehouse, where it'd be available to run if the mood ever strikes. Since the MILW 88C was at least on the property - albeit 16 years too early - it was a good candidate. Kind of keeps my demons at bay. :-)

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

Great weathering! Wish i was that good at it! One thing that detracts it thought is the wheels need the treatment too.

6ET Wrote:
> One thing that detracts it thought is the wheels need the treatment too.

Yes, definitely. I'd been working on the layout for a year before these recent locomotive projects, and was just off my game for doing anything at the workbench. Just plain forgot...and now I noticed that my special rust brown has dried up. Time to make a trip to the LHS.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

Since it was a factory painted model, removing the dynamic brake fan would be difficult. Most Milwaukee F's had their fans removed and plated over, leaving a panel with a flat spot where the fan used to be.

Jim

AustralianTerrier Wrote:
> Since it was a factory painted model, removing the dynamic brake fan would be difficult. Most Milwaukee F's had
> their fans removed and plated over, leaving a panel with a flat spot where the fan used to be.

I've got 26 photos of the 88C dating back to 1957, but it wasn't until yesterday, when I was in the middle of fading this model, that I realized that somewhere between the pics taken in 1978 and those from 1986, the DB fan disappeared. Ugh. Earlier in the project, I also realized that the IM pilot doesn't match this particular prototype unit exactly, but given the model's purpose for me, I decided that I wasn't going to bother with it. I'll probably live with the fan too, unless I run out of other projects.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

When I first looked, I thought it was a prototype photo! The Kadee coupler gave it away.

If you didn't mention the DB fan, I wouldn't have known the difference.

Dennis

Thanks Dennis! I've always enjoyed granger road F's like those you've shared, so it was fun to finally model one.

Joe Atkinson
Council Bluffs, IA
www.iaisrailfans.org/../Sub4WestEnd

Man, this is so good that if I owned it I'd want to trade it on a new one!!