UPDATING THE U-25B'S SANTA FE FREIGHT COLORS
By Thomas Frankini
SELDOM DO I put an "out of the box" model on my layout. Instead I look at each locomotive, rolling stock, or structure model with an eye toward improving its appearance. Adding some weathering here or a detail there seems to make a big difference.
Recently I acquired a pair of ARISTO-CRAFT U-25B locomotives. I already had their FA and FB in Santa Fe's silver and red "Warbonnet" passenger scheme so I wanted to decorate the new engines in the similar 1980s yellow and blue freight pattern. ARISTO-CRAFT's locomotives come in the earlier 1960s yellow and blue scheme so I had some work to do. (Incidentally, according to Kalmbach's Diesel Spotter's Guide, Santa Fe had only one U-25B on its roster, a rebuild.)
The conversion is easy. I disassembled one model and borrowed a few HO scale engines with the same paint scheme to use for reference. The hard part was approximating and masking the curved yellow area directly behind the cab because it varied slightly from model to model. I had to use a little guesswork in laying out the curve and eventually settled on making it esthetically pleasing.
I used Badger Accuflex #16034 Santa Fe Blue and Testor's #1214 Gloss Yellow to paint my locomotive. If you use an airbrush, substitute Accuflex #16033 Santa Fe Yellow for the Testors; it is almost an exact match and the difference between the two colors is almost impossible to distinguish once you spray the painted parts with Testor's Dullcote.
I also detailed the cab and moved the engineer to the proper position. A disassembled the trucks and lightly sprayed the sideframes with HWI Aluminum. The cab numbers are dry transfers.
The only real problem was recreating the Santa Fe freight nose emblem. I was unable to find a commercial decal or transfer and the cost of custom decals seemed too high. The solution? I made my own. I drew a reasonable facsimile on a piece of decal paper and colored it with a fine tip felt marker. I also made up some stripes. Then I lightly coated the decal paper with HWI Wood Lacquer and applied the emblem and the stripes to the yellow nose. Although they are imperfect, the decals do create the effect I wanted.
All in all I am happy with my model-even though some members of my model railroad club still think my U-boats came right "out of the box". Oh, well.
