I am posting this by request, because of some of the recent discussions regarding the new
Life-Like Proto 2000 series GP38-2. This is _not_ that model. It's not even a 1985 Athearn.
It's actually made from the Life-Like toy line GP38-2 shell, built around 1982.
|
The basic shell was very accurate for a toy line model - dimensions were correct, and the
major spotting features where there. The model's shortcomings were some very crude parts that
were molded on to the body, thick plastic handrails, open pilots, and a cheap drive mechanism.
|
|
This is my own version of what I call a "Lafayette Drive". At the 1981 division show, there
was a guy from Lafayette IN selling scratchbuilt shells on Atlas drives, except the frames
were made from Plastruct L-girder beams. I used the same idea, with trucks and motor from
the then state-of-the-art Atlas/Roco GP38, and the plastic fuel tank from the Life-Like model.
|
|
Number of Cannon parts on this model? Zero. There was no Cannon cab, nothing. The cab is
Life-Like's molded one-piece cab. I replaced the fans with the Detail Associates solid
flat tops, which were not bad 22 years ago. The radiators are spliced together from Athearn
SD45 radiators.
|
|
When I removed the huge handrails, I had a lot of holes to fill in the walkway. Once this was
done, I drilled new holes and used Athearn stanchions, and bent my own brass wire railings. I did
some crude modification to the Atlas trucks to make them look like Blomberg-Ms, removing the outer
brake shoes and right side cylinder, and adding the strut. I made the rubber center spring by
cutting off the leaf spring with a pair of side cutters!
|
|
The shell was primed with Floquil primer gray, and then painted with Scalecoat Cornell Red.
The decals are Herald King. Finished model is weighted with a bunch of pennies inside! Runs
like a classic Atlas. I had plans to do at least two more models using this shell - a DT&I, and
a Southern. With Cannon parts it could have been even better - but the model was made obsolete
by the Athearn release a few years later, long before
any Cannon parts were available. This model took me several weeks to complete, and
I was able to make a second LV GP38-2 in about two evenings with the Athearn model. Oh well!
|
| Back to My Models |
|
