I forgot to mention.... the SD45 has a new idea on the pilot steps.
Most traditional locos have the pilot steps molded as solid, and the
mold pulls apart from the side. Recently Atlas and Proto 2000 have
taken to molding see-thru steps, and to do this they have to pull the
mold apart top-to-bottom because of the pins for the see-thru holes.
This means the steps can't overlap each other, which they should - so
models like the P2K GP7/9 and GP30, and Atlas GP38, 40, and SD35 have
these see-thru but too-shallow steps. A big pain to replace them
because none of the aftermarket etchings are a good fit, and the
backside of the step well has unwanted notches.
What Life-Like has done with the SD45 is mold the top and bottom step
in place, which are far enough apart that they don't overlap each
other... and they made the middle step a separate piece that slides in
place. So they have solved the problem of having both see-thru steps
and the correct dimension and overhang. The steps are still a bit
thick, no way around that in styrene - but because of the correct
orientation, should be easier to replace with the etched ones.
This has been mentioned before, but Life-Like apparently made an
attempt to model the washout drain holes which are below the inertial
screens. On the prototype these holes are about 1/2" in diameter, or
about a #80 drill in HO scale. Life-Like did the holes at something
closer to 3" HO scale. They look like mounting holes for some phantom
part that isn't there. They need to be plugged and redrilled, they
are waaaaaaay too big. http://www.gp30.com/emdholes
Andy
-----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.duckcreek.org - Pre-Interstate Urban Archaeology
-----------------------------------------------------------