# An F3/F7/F9 Saga



## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

I had earlier bought a couple of trashed two-rail Atlas F9s with the idea of using them on a three-rail chassis to get rid of the pivoting pilot on such locos.
While rummaging around in boxes the other day I came across an MTH F3 which was surplus to requirements. With just a bit of filing and a new attachment arrangement I had myself a nice looking three-rail F9. 
















As good as that sounds, I suddenly realized that I had no use for any F9s and the shells were wrong to stretch into an FP9 had I wanted to do that! 
End of Act One.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Act Two.
While wondering what i could do with all the parts and pieces laying around I was thumbing through one of my favourite picture books and came across an F7 with the older chicken wire screening. Perfect!
So gathering together some roof parts and start waving the saw around deciding where to start cutting!
I tried popping out the fan assemblies hoping that I could just swap them over but they were slightly different sizes so I had to cut everything up and replace the fan roof unit. No dynamic braking so the fan was not needed for that, just a space for it in the roof. So everything was going fairly smoothly. An F9 shell donated its pilot so she was starting to look pretty good.
































































It was at about this time that I noticed something that had escaped me before or I had simply decided not to bother with when I did the FP7 conversion. Which leads us to Act Three!


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Act Three.
The fuel tank is exposed so a bit of work had to be done on the shell and tank casting.















The truck side frames are not quite right for an F7 so I decided to see if I could rectify that. Every loco that I have with that type of B truck is of the same design whether it be Lionel, Williams or MTH. Aha, I thought, I have those Atlas trucks, they shouldn't be that hard to adapt! And they would not have been had they been the same wheelbase! 
So after much trial and error and a pile of debris we have arrived at the paint shop with two decent looking F7 trucks aboard!








































To be continued.


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## seayakbill (Jan 16, 2016)

Great job on the shell, lots of work to accomplish your goal.

Bill


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## superwarp1 (Dec 13, 2016)

Nice work, looks like a project I started with some MTH F units


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## Guest (Sep 7, 2018)

Very nice job, Dano.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Wow, some real modeling there, nice job!


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## Spence (Oct 15, 2015)

Very detailed. Very nice. :thumbsup:


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Thank you all. It's actually raining today so it has slowed down the painting!


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

She now has her stripes. If it is nice tomorrow I can get the red sprayed and maybe finish off the black.















During ongoing research and assistance from other rail-fans I have found out that this loco was originally built as an F3 and then re-built later as an F7 hence some of the earlier model details.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

We have the red on today.


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2018)

Really nice work, Dano. :appl:


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

The roof back of the cab was black, not red....and the red was more orange/red, and the "white" strips were really CN lettering grey....

https://www.modeltrainforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=465574&stc=1&d=1536560797


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## papa3rail (Oct 8, 2016)

Nice work Dano,looks great:thumbsup:


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## PatKn (Jul 14, 2015)

Great job, Dano.


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

That is really nice. I love F units. The longer Es look cool, too, but with Fs, the proportions are just right, too me.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Old_Hobo said:


> The roof back of the cab was black, not red....and the red was more orange/red, and the "white" strips were really CN lettering grey....
> 
> https://www.modeltrainforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=465574&stc=1&d=1536560797


Stripes look pretty white to me, especially weathered. You're right about the roof.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Hah hah! I couldn't figure out what the problem with the red was until I realized you all were talking about the red primer, the roof wasn't yet painted. Also, if I ever go two-rail O scale I'll worry more about exact colour matching!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Don't take it to heart, I think you did a fantastic job!


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Dano said:


> Hah hah! I couldn't figure out what the problem with the red was until I realized you all were talking about the red primer, the roof wasn't yet painted. Also, if I ever go two-rail O scale I'll worry more about exact colour matching!


Actually, I am talking about the red on the nose....you said earlier "we have the red on today", so that must be paint on the nose and rear end....

And John, those stripes may "look" white, but according to CN's official colours, they are lettering grey....


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

I'll let this totally wrong paint set for a few days before I continue on, there will be lots of handling and more than a few touch-ups will be required.


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## Guest (Sep 11, 2018)

Even with the totally wrong paint it looks pretty darn good to me, Dano. :laugh: :smilie_daumenpos:


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Thanks Joe. Hobo is right about the colours of course. All I had to do was spray the white over the black and undercoat the red with yellow, but I didn't!


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Or, you could have used CN red/orange and CN lettering grey....that would've worked too....

But the black is very nice.....


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Getting there. I'll tackle the coupler mounting and pilot next before I re-install the grab-irons.


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## Volphin (Dec 7, 2015)

Excellent paint work and modeling! Your paint lines are crisp, colors vibrant and it is fitting your vision. This is going to be a fantastic addition to the fleet!


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Volphin said:


> Excellent paint work and modeling! Your paint lines are crisp, colors vibrant and it is fitting your vision. This is going to be a fantastic addition to the fleet!


Thanks. I got a little bit closer with some work on the pilot.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Going with this look for now.


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

Very cool project. I love the work on the roof. Intricate and nicely done.


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## papa3rail (Oct 8, 2016)

Correct paint or not that thing is looking good Dano.:thumbsup:


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

The paint looks great, and that lettering is very crisp, nice job!


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2018)

Whether the colors are correct or not it still looks great, Dano. To my way of thinking close but not quite right is a 3 rail O gauge tradition. I think you're doing a fabulous job.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Thanks guys, I'm all for tradition!


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Well since I have been putting extras on this I decided to modulate the colour a bit to the orange side to at least approximate the CNR red. The white will just have to get dirty!















I have a bit of front-end work around the nose light before I over-coat which will dull it down and smooth it out somewhat.


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## PatKn (Jul 14, 2015)

Looks great, Dano.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

I put on the numbers and a seal coat to smooth things out a bit. I have to do a bit of surgery on the nose and hunt up some ditch lights from somewhere.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I'd open up the number board slots and illuminate them.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> I'd open up the number board slots and illuminate them.


They are just taped over because I couldn't get the clear parts out!


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## laz57 (Sep 19, 2015)

I enjoyed watching the progress on this fine engine. Keep up the good work.:smilie_daumenpos:


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

I almost fired this across the room after a majorly stupid painting accident! I was able to get back to 95% and had to accept it, re-painting was not an option by that point. So here she be in all her glory...sort of. I have to make a rear door since I won't be using the diaphragm on her and I may make a jig to make grab irons for the rear end, we'll see. I put an orange filter over the red but my camera doesn't pick it up very well.


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## Wood (Jun 9, 2015)

Dano, I missed this thread of yours, so I started from the beginning. This is exceptional. Excellent body work, paint and lettering. I would sure love to know some of your technique. The engine looks terrific.


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## Wood (Jun 9, 2015)

Dano, I missed this thread, so I read it from the beginning. Excellent body, paint and lettering work. I sure wish you could share some of your technique. Exceptional results.


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## Guest (Sep 30, 2018)

The engine looks fabulous, Dano. I looked carefully at the photos and don't see the painting accident. You did an outstanding job.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

The secret of excellent results, crappy pictures! I was touching up some clear flat and reached over and grabbed the can for one last shot and it was BLACK! Most of it wiped off but the roof was wet so it had to be redone and everything melded together which I was about 95% successful at. (sigh)
Reconfiguring my train room today so I am going to tackle the rear door and grab irons when I'm finished. 
Thank you all for the plaudits!


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Wood said:


> Dano, I missed this thread, so I read it from the beginning. Excellent body, paint and lettering work. I sure wish you could share some of your technique. Exceptional results.


Thank you. I have no secret techniques. I will happily answer any questions.


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## Wood (Jun 9, 2015)

Dano said:


> Thank you. I have no secret techniques. I will happily answer any questions.


Here we go. I understand how to mask and spray for the black roof, the red nose and the white stipes.

It is the details that kill me. How did you do the lower yellow strip, the incredible CN logo on the front complete with breaks between the engine door, the engine numbers on the sides and the lighted nose engine numbers. Were they decals? If so where did you get the perfect CN logo decal. 

It is a remarkable job. You may say it's the pictures. However, my rule of thumb is an arm length. If it looks good from that distance, it's good enough for me.

Thank you for your help.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Okay, first off, I have a vinyl cutter that I use to cut lettering or a mask to paint the lettering. On this one I used the vinyl. The yellow strip is just trim tape. The number boards are printed and glued on with clear acrylic. There is some small lettering under the number that I would have to print on clear decalnpaper and put over a white patch but I don't usually bother with it. The hobby knife is used to trim out the door recesses etc. All is sealed with clear overcoats. Nothing magical, the computer graphics program is your best friend!


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## Wood (Jun 9, 2015)

Thanks Dano, I figured that. It is part of the hobby I haven't spent the time to develop my skills. Painting yes, lettering no. I will bookmark your thread and when I get ready I'll start working on this. Two more scenes to create on my layout and then I'd like to move on to modifying locomotives and detailing them. 

Good job on that engine. :appl::appl:


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Hey Wood, every time I think I should do more to my layout I invent a new loco project. I'm trying to keep up with Lee. No easy task!
Thanks again for the kudos.


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## Wood (Jun 9, 2015)

You're closing in with that Dano.  !!! Thanks again.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Nice work....but odd (maybe just to me) that the pilot would look so beat up, but the rest of the loco looks like it just came out of the paint shop....unless, of course, that was the effect you were going for.....

If so, you nailed it! :thumbsup:

Edited:

Found some interesting info about CN's re-built F7's, and in particular, #9171, the one you built:



> During 1972-73 30 F7A and 10 F7B were rebuilt at CN's Transcona, MB shops and emerged as 9150-9179 and 9190-9199 *(a notable exception is the 9171, which was built from GTW F3A 9013; it is now preserved at the Canadian Rwy Museum in St-Constant, QC and looking good). *Many of the remaining CN/GTW F3A and F7A not included in the rebuilding program either got scrapped or traded-in to EMD for GTW SD40 in the 5900 series.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Dano said:


> The number boards are printed and glued on with clear acrylic. There is some small lettering under the number that I would have to print on clear decal paper and put over a white patch but I don't usually bother with it.


I print number boards in reverse colors on plain white paper and then glue them to appropriate plastic sheet or the actual blank number board. Is that basically what you're doing, or is there something I'm missing? Your number boards look very sharp, so I'm just curious.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Hey John, about the number boards, I just print them out on white paper and glue them on. The small lettering I was referring to is under the body number and I don't have decals for it and it is too small for my cutter to handle.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Old_Hobo said:


> Nice work....but odd (maybe just to me) that the pilot would look so beat up, but the rest of the loco looks like it just came out of the paint shop....unless, of course, that was the effect you were going for.....
> 
> If so, you nailed it! :thumbsup:
> 
> ...


The body of this loco at the time my reference pic was taken was in pretty good nick but I just chose not to weather the body (there are some anomalies but the camera ignores them!) except for maybe the roof. I have to try some techniques on another shell to see if I like it before applying it to this one. I prefer the paint shop freshly washed look!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Dano said:


> Hey John, about the number boards, I just print them out on white paper and glue them on. The small lettering I was referring to is under the body number and I don't have decals for it and it is too small for my cutter to handle.


Sounds like my process. I try to glue them to the inside if possible, and if not, a couple coats of clearcoat on the number board before installation seals them.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

I did a bit to the back end to make it a bit more prototypical but not all the way to major surgery!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Nice little touch. You've lavished a lot of care on this one.


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> Nice little touch. You've lavished a lot of care on this one.


Heh, these projects tend to take on a life of their own! If I thought I could cut the door frame out and do it 'properly' without damaging anything I would but it is too late in the day for that. The problem is new reference pics keep showing up and the body shells tend to be rather generic. Next time I'll get it right...maybe!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Trying to make one exactly match the prototype wold be a tall order! However, this one is lookin' mighty good!


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Well time to clean off the bench, I am finally through tinkering with this one. I have tried to render a reasonable replica of the original (proto picture by Matthew Herson), came pretty close, at least recognizable. A little more careful sanding on the nose under the gloss and another shot of orange filter over the red would have helped but better left alone at this stage!


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

The mag picture refuses to appear right side up!


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)




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## Wood (Jun 9, 2015)

Great job Dano...


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## Jeff T (Dec 27, 2011)

Great work!!

All you need is the guy with his head out the window!!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I think Jeff is right, you're spot on but you don't have an engineer!


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## Guest (Oct 9, 2018)

Outstanding work, Dano. Looks just like the prototype.


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## PatKn (Jul 14, 2015)

Great job, Dano. 

Pat

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


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## Dano (Aug 26, 2012)

Jeff T said:


> Great work!!
> 
> All you need is the guy with his head out the window!!


Thanks everybody! 

It has the generic MTH crew aboard. I have a figure that would be good but he would be looking out the fireman's window.


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