Chop-noseing an Athearn blue box loco

[Noah Hofrichter]

Gang,

As many of you know, I am an avid fan of the WSOR. There roster included(they sold most of them) quite a few low nose units, mainly GP7 and 9's. I like Athearn blue box kits, and I plan on chopping a few of there high nose models down. Any advice on the simplest way to do this? I Also wonder, are the Athearn cabs on high nose units like the short nose ones, where the cab can come off by itself? I figure then the easiest way is to by a low nose version cab from Athearn, cut the nose down, and add the new cab. Am I correct that this is a good way to do this? Any other advice for a first time chop-noser?

Noah

[Anonymous]

Your plan sounds good. thats probably the easiest way to do that to an athearn blue box.
before you cut the nose make sure you are sure that were you are cutting it is going to be the right hight.
I chopped an old cheap LL GP38-2 it wasnt that hard but I used my grandfathers band saw to cut the long hood also to make it a slug.

[Anonymous]

You have the right idea Noah. The cab does come off on the Athearn GP7/9
Although Athearn doesn't make the right low nose cab.
I have a Model Power low nose GP9 that looks almost identical to the Athearn except for the low nose and open pilots. It does fit the Athearn chassis.
I saw an article on chopping an Athearn SD9 using the cab front from a Tyco GP20. That may be an option.

[Morpar]

I am in the midst of putting a Tyco GP20 nose on an Athearn SD9, and my advice is DON"T USE THE TYCO NOSE!!!! In addition to the fact that the Tyco nose is scale width and the Athearn is not, the Tyco nose is not as long as the Athearn was, so the steps stick out past the nose. BIG problem!! You also have to remove the nose clear down to the walkways, then rebuild it all. If I were doing this project again, I would remove a section from the short hood and build a windshield and frame from styrene strip on the cab. I have heard that the Athearn GP35 numberboard is a seperately available part and can be added to the cab and used for the numberboards, but I can't confirm that. If there is any good use for the Tyco shell, it would be to only use the cab front, or maybe the whole cab, on the Athearn shell. Good luck and keep us informed.

[Anonymous]

Noah
If you MUST use the overly wide Athearn shell (great for practice!) try this. I scratch build my front windsheilds, but I hear DesPlaines Hobbies had windsheild castings for 'chop nose" applications. Check back in the old posts. This way you can use the Athearn Cab with the proper roof contour, not the later model "spartan" cab. Use a Razor saw to cut the hood with, and after getting it the right height and glued back on, use some squadron putty to seal the slight gaps.
Also check your prototype carefully to see in the top of the nose is level or slightly slanted. Depending on who chop nosed them, they could be different.
As I said before. Athearn shells are great to practice on. Once you feel confident , then get a P2k unit or even an old Front Range unit.
[image]http://users.adelphia.net/~wmry1407/gp9200.jpg[/image]
Remember, the hardest part is the 1st cut!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

The GP35 number boards are part of the separate roof casting . I guess you could cut them off and build your own wind shields. You would then need to contour the top of the GP35 number boards to match the rounded GP9 roof.
An easy way to do the window area on the cab front is, after you chop the nose fill in the opening in the cab front with a piece of clear plastic. then when it's time to paint , cut out pieces of masking tape the shape of the front windshields, install them in position and paint the model. After you are done decaling and clearing remove the tape. I used this method on an old Tyco C630 I chopped.
It's the 5th photo in this link.
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=6370

[Noah Hofrichter]

Thanks guys for all the advice, I really apreciate it. I've got more confidence to try this now.

Noah