One of my earliest US outline models was the BL2. As the first model issued by Lifelike in their Proto2000 range I ended up buying a copy as it came in pre-decorated Chesapeake and Ohio livery, this being my main modelling road. On purchasing the C&OHS book on the BL2 model I came to look at the model with new eyes and discovered that there were many differences between the model and a C&O prototype. (I learnt that the model was based on the Western Maryland prototype that has been preserved at the B&O museum in Baltimore) At about this time I also started to realise that every railroad had their own specifications for their locos even if it was only a change to the horns or the marker lights.
So faced with these differences, what was I going to do about it? This is where the after market spares and detail parts manufacturers come to the aid of the diesel modeller. I made a list of the major differences between a C&O prototype and the model and tried to work out how to 'fix' them. I decided from the first to retain the pre-painted wave livery as it was such an attractive scheme so I decided (using information from the C&OHS book) to model engine number 84 which went to the scrap heap still having the 'full' wave livery. The other main differences were in the position of the number boards (front and rear), the bell, the skirt above the fuel tank and the axle box covers.
The rear number boards were fabricated from styrene and stuck on the body (not totally successfully, to be honest), the front boards were made from boards intended for a steam loco while the bell was meant for an early diesel switcher, I believe. These details alone start to make the model look 'C&O' as they were very distinctive in the photographs I studied. The slots in the fuel tank skirt were cut using the photographs as a guide, the width, length and position being estimated. The bogie side frames got the usual wire air pipe lines added but had more extensive surgery to add the combination of square and sloped axle box covers that were, again, so distinctive. Thanks to Detail Associates for these parts which make these sort of conversions contemplatable in the first place. A touch up of the paint (actually a respray of the blue which was very weak on the model) and I had a diesel model that looked pretty much like the prototype, firing my desire for other conversions / detailing projects to come.