Model Railroading > ARZC 4002 Converted from Milwaukee Road SD45

Thought I'd do a show and tell of a little project I've been working on for about 6 months and recently completed.
My Dad has a HO layout modelled on SoCal/Arizone style scenery and we recently thought we'd convert a Proto 2000 Milwaukee Road SD45 that rarely sees any run time into something more appropriate to the layout, namely an Arizona and California SD40-2 (ex-SP SD45). 

We picked ARZC 4002 as the loco to convert to as it's light package etc was going to be the easiest to model, so a quite lengthy list of modifications then ensued, as follows!:

1. Attach cab roof air con unit
2. Make and attach hood end light cluster blanking plate
3. Paint truck side frames
4. Fill and sand front and rear class lights and hood end number boards
5. Attach mu cable stands, front and rear
6. Attach front ditch lights
7. Make and attach electrical cabinet
8. Make and attach engineers side window sill
9. Fill and sand various hood holes
10. Drill holes and attach hood end lifting rings
11. Drill sight glass hole and install sight glass
12. Drill front pilot diagonal holes
13. Drill holes and attach grab irons to snowplow
14. Drill roof horn hole and attach horn
15. Drill coupler cut lever holes and attach, front and rear
16. Drill firecracker antenna hole and attach
17. Drill sinclair antenna hole and attach
18. Attach nose top disc
19. Drill holes and attach hood pilot grab irons
20. Attach underframe bell
21. Attach mu cables and brake hoses to pilots
22. Make and attach cabside vents
23. Paint fuel tank and underframe parts
24. Prime, paint and attach snowplow
25. Paint main loco body (green), then mask and apply cream details
26. Attach and paint handrails
27. Attach and paint cab sunshades
28. Attach cab mirrors
29. Print and apply number board numbers
30. Apply all decals
31. Apply satin/matt lacquer to all painted parts

It's certainly not perfect and there's no weathering applied yet but I'm quite happy with the results and it'll hopefully see more run time now! I've attached some photos to show some of the stages involved, including a stock photo of the initial model as i forgot to take one before starting work.

1. Initial model's appearance
2. Class light filling, new plow, cab air con unit, mu stands and ditch lights attached
3. Green paint applied

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/25 15:14 by exhaustED.

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4. Cream paint applied
5. Some yellow paint details etc
6. Decals appled

 

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7. More decals applied
8. Handrails applied
9 and 10. Body and chassis united with all details applied!

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Hood end.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/28/25 11:38 by exhaustED.

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11 etc On the layout.

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Last couple...

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Great work and shots...

JG

Awesome job!

Very nice thanks for sharing
Dave

Impressive work.

Great work !  Here are some shots of the prototype taken at Castle Hot Springs 05-13-2021.

Steve

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Thanks very much for the kind words guys, much appreciated!

Looks nice

NIce work!  What brand and color of paints did you use?

sp8192 Wrote:
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> NIce work!  What brand and color of paints did
> you use?

Good question.... I used RAL colors from a web-based aerosol can supplier I've used before. I wanted to replicate the slightly faded green that the ARZC's locos have gradually ended up with so I guessed at RAL 6016 (turquoise green) for the shade of green and RAL 9001 (cream) for the cream. They seemed like a very good match when i tested them so i went with those.
Both were a satin finish so I then finished with matt or satin lacquer to take the gloss level down to what i felt was appropriate.