A friend gave me a couple of Rail Power Sd 9 shells that I would like to detail for NKP. This is my first diesel detail project and I was wondering what are the best places to get parts?
Steve
Wm K. Walthers. They have a big big catalog with good illustrations. You gotta pay for it, about $20, but it's worth it. They also have a fine website. Most reasonable hobby shops will have a copy of the big Walthers book on the counter.
Walthers is a distributer, they don't make the stuff themselves. If you need more info, search for the maker's website.
The SD9 is a widely used locomotive. Model Railroader and Rail Model Crafts,an have undoubtedly run SD9 detailing articles in the past. There are indexing websites that let you search for every article published in the model railroading magazines over the last 50 years. For that matter just Googling for "SD9" and "HO gauge" should point you to useful material. Detailing article usually list all the bits and pieces and where they came from.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
Not to be a wet blanket, but if you've never done this before maybe you should consider finding a ready to run on Ebay or elsewhere. There are some on Ebay right now in the $60 range. If you can find an undec, you would be ahead of the game.
The Walthers body shells are much better detailed than the RailPower item. And by the time you purchase a mechanism and all the detail parts (assuming you can find the parts you need), your cost will be more than the ready to go.
But if you are really anxious to forge ahead, then by all means have at it and have a good time.
Thanks for the concern but I've been modeling for about 45 years. Just have'nt done a diesel before.
Since you are confident in your modeling skills, seems to me you're looking at two major challenges, the first being what precise particular details would be found on an NKP SD9 and second, which of the commercial parts comes closest to filling that need.
The problem is, neither the paper or online versions of the Walthers catalog really does a great job of showing the part or describing exactly what it is and how it differs from similar but not exact counterparts. Nothing beats having the actual part in hand AND being educated enough about diesels and detailing to know what you are looking at.
For precise NKP information I would be surprised if MR has published much on how to detail an SD9 to look like a Nickle Plate prototype, although some of the old (and much missed) "Paint Shop" columns included detailing information.
RMC is a bit more likely to run that kind of article. Maybe the NKP Historical Society's bulletin has run something on the SDs so that you'd at least start with a nice selection of prototype photos. If you have been modeling NKP for 45 years perhaps the issue you seek is already on your shelf
A quick search using this website's index (found under "resources" in the upper right) shows a couple of articles that might be helpful.
First there was a multi part series of articles about EMD's early SDs, going railroad by railroad, in Model Railroading magazine by George Melvin. The NKP was in the August 1998 issue. Model Railroading, Mainline Modeler, Prototype Modeler, and Rail Model Journal, were more inclined to run a thorough and highly specialized article about diesel detailing for roads such as the Nickle Plate than was or is MR. (and one could argue, printing such specialized and narrow interest articles is why we speak of them in the past tense).
Often those articles included parts lists compiled by a genuine expert detailer which is what you really need.
Another article of potential interest and relevance was in Diesel Era magazine for November 1996. Again that is according to the index - I have not seen these issues myself. I suspect that would be more prototype photos and not modeling per se.
Be aware, as an earlier poster tried to warn you, that once you start laying out the money for diesel detail parts, you are likely to be talking about some serious money -- plastic can become as expensive as brass -- and that assumes the parts are actually available. That is why getting a more detailed version to start with might make some sense. But might be less fun.
Dave Nelson
Steve,
Consider joining the NKP Modelers' Yahoo Group. There are a lot of guys there who could help you out with all kinds of specifics for detailing your SD9 shells.
dlm
I'm a member of the Nickel Plate historical but in my firest search didn't find much.
Steve, have you concidered using Bing or Google to search for detailing articles?
danmerkel Steve, Consider joining the NKP Modelers' Yahoo Group. There are a lot of guys there who could help you out with all kinds of specifics for detailing your SD9 shells. dlm
Quite Correct, both Tony Koester and Jim Six are members of this group and Tony was especially helpful when I was doing my RS-36 model (still not finished).
The major thing to remember on NKP diesels, is no dynamic brakes and usually a high mounted bell or one cut into a notch on the nose.
Rick Jesionowski
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!