Introducing Northern Pacific U33C repaints for the VRC U30C series; one set for the VRC E-Store ATSF U28CG, and one set for the U30C Chessie version available at the Steam Store. Links the required models are provided below:
General Electric U28CG Santa Fe add-on pack (scroll down to @ middle of page): http://vrailcreations.net/
Chessie System U30C: http://store.steampowered.com/app/37695 ... oco_AddOn/
I began the U33C project using the U28CG ATSF freight model (engine 2) as the base, since it had the closest feature-set to the NP prototype; primarily the presence of some form of nose lamp (Pyle gyra-light). Additionally, the number boards featured the correct black background, rather than the white background found on the other two ATSF models. Unfornutately, the cab numbers are set too high on the cab-sides for NP practices, so they were alpha'd-out in favor of painted-on numbers. Of course this led to the next dilema, being that the number boards remained auto-numbered and there is no dscv file in two of the loco folders (weathered versions) to specify individual numbers. Therefore, achieving a match to the painted-on cab numbers requires placing the loco on the tracks (in scenario builder) until the correct number appears on the number boards, then deleting the previous attempts. Sometimes it works on the first try, and sometimes it takes the whole series. Fortunately, the NP only had 10 of these beasts before the BN merger (Nos. 3300-3309), so playing "U-boat Roulette" in the scenario builder is a rather fast process. I thought of attaching a slot-machine sound file that would play when the number board matches the cab number, but I supposed it wouldn't be very prototypical. Which by the way, the NP U-boat fleet consisted of the U25C (x30), U28C (x12), and U33C (x10); they did not own any U30C's. In fact, I was originally going to paint an NP U28C, but the hood configuration of the VRC U30 series is a closer visual match to the NP's U33's.
While I was painting the U28CG, the Steam Store had the 2018 March Madness sale. I had been thinking of using the Chessie U30C for quite some time, but steered away due to the Adirondack trucks featured in it's promotional screenshots. Although the great thing about the Chessie version is that not only are the number boards black, but it displays the cab numbers at a similar location to the NP units; and the numbering sequence even begins at 3300 just like the NP prototype. Upon further investigation, I discovered that only the clean version of the Chessie U30C features the Adirondack trucks and the weathered version has the trucks which are a closer match to the NP units. So that settled it; I would paint a second version for the Chessie unit, for those who prefer a more ready-to-run repaint. After the download, I only had to knock off a couple numbers from the dscv file to make a perfect match for the complete NP roster. Plus, there would be no games in the scenario builder, and folks should not have any numbering mis-matches running in quick-drive either. The down-side is there is no nose lamp, and although I modified and shrunk the cab-side numbers to more closely match the NP versions, the process left a wider space between the numbers than what I would have liked. The numbers are also just a bit thicker than the NP versions, but I left them this way due to the increased gap; although not exactly prototypical, it makes the gap not so noticeable.
And speaking of rivet-counting, it was actually required for this project; well, "nut and bolt counting" anyway. VRC went the extra-mile to model individual nuts and bolts, which require identifying and painting to match their location on the model. There is so much detail in fact, that the major paint components (hood, cab, chassis) span three different texture files; and that's not counting the horns and steps. So that's a big reason why the time dedicated to these repaints is well over the 200 hour mark; I can only imagine the man-hours invested by the VRC Team on the original model; it must be staggering. For example, that red pin-stripe along the loco's sides spans several panels on two different texture sheets and requires varying the width by as much as one pixel in some cases to get a close match with adjacent panels.
During painting, only a few double-mapped textures were discovered, which I'm sure is the result of the model never being intended to wear an NP paintjob: the right-rear side door bottom lift-ring (black) is shared with the rear deck door (yellow), and the left-front cab door hinges and striker-plate (yellow) are shared to the right-rear cab door (black). Fortunately, these pieces are not very big, and not many folks would run a U-boat backwards in order for them to be noticeable. Also, the red pinstripe around the rear hood was omitted due to severe stretching of the texture mapping across the top end of the hood; fortunately, on most photos, it's difficult to discern any red stripe at all in this particular location. Here are some examples taken while finalizing the paintwork and weathering...
Enjoy!
