Parts List:
Athearn Genesis No. ATHG19134 F-unit cut levers
Detail Associates No. 1027 Ditch light with stand No. 2222 Eye bolts No. AH1608 Leslie A200 horns No. EX2401 F-unit exhaust stack
Details West No. 265 M.U. hoses ELHS Nose light (
www.erielackhs.org)
Hi-Tech Details No. HTD-6034 Locomotive air hoses
Intermountain Railway Company No. 44086 F-unit horizontal grilles (A-unit)
Microscale No. 87812 DL&W Lettering No. 87813 DL&W Freight Unit Stripes
The locomotive has received light weathering along the trucks and pilot. The brake hose is a Hi-tech Details rubber hose and is nearly unbreakable. It is mounted to the coupler draftgear box within the pilot. The body is mounted on the frame after that is done.
there is about a 99.9 percent chance that it won’t) it will take some maneu- vering to make the decal conform to the shape of the nose. I cut the nose decal into a few separate sections with verti- cal cuts. This allows the decal to match the nose more accurately and the cuts are barely noticeable. I have found that it is best to find a prototype photo of the engine I am modeling and to work from that. That photo will aid in the place- ment of the cab numbers and “radio” lettering.
The cab steps have stainless steel
kickplates above the step treads. I sim- ulated these with Polly Scale Flat Alu- minum. I also painted the classifica- tion lights on the nose with the Flat Aluminum. After the decals were ap- plied and the paint was dry I shot Polly Scale Semi-Gloss Clear over the entire model. This will seal the decals and prevent any damage from occurring. With the paint and decals done I could move forward and add the rest of the details. The grab rails were made from .010″ phosphor bronze wire. Phos- phor bronze wire is easy to work with but is more durable than brass wire and therefore an excellent choice for parts like this. I drilled No. 80 holes in the mounting locations next to each door and ladder. I used cyanoacrylate to attach the grab rails to the holes. There are two grab rails above the pi- lot on either side of the buffer plate. These are also bent from the phosphor bronze wire. It is tricky to get the cur- vature just right but with a little pa-
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
tience it can be done. The last grab irons are the two vertical grabs next to the nose door. The Bachmann model comes with these grab irons but they are too thick. I made my own from the phosphor bronze wire and used cyano- acrylate to attach them. The cyano- acrylate will fill in the slightly over- sized holes that are left from the oversized grab irons.
There is a small number plate locat- ed just below the headlight. This num- ber plate seemed to move around throughout the years.
As-delivered,
F7’s had them mounted at the very top of the nose door. When some units got the red nose light on the door, the num- ber plate was moved to the spot just below the headlight. Some F7’s lost the number plate completely. This is one of those times where a prototype photo will give all of the information you are looking for. I used a scrap piece of .010″ styrene sheet for the number plate. I eyeballed the size of it based on the photo I was using. Polly Scale CP Yel- low matches the color of the Microscale decals nicely. I added the reflectorized numbers and clear coated the decals. A little cyanoacrylate will hold the num- ber plate on the nose of the F7. I used Hi-Tech Details brake hoses on the F7. These hoses are rubber and will not break off of the model like most will tend to do over time. I drilled a small hole in a piece of .060″×.060″ styrene and used this to mount the brake hose to the side of the coupler draftgear box. The mounting nub on
Polly Scale CP Yellow Engine Black EL Gray Flat Aluminum Gloss Clear Grimy Black New Gravel Gray Rock Island Maroon Roof Brown
Semi-Gloss Clear Undercoat Light Gray
Testors Model Master Turn Signal Red
Tichy Train Group No. 1101 .010″ Phosphor bronze wire
Miscellaneous No. SP-31R-08 8 ohm High bass speaker (
www.litchfieldstation.com)
the brake hose is slipped into the hole in the styrene and attached with cyanoacrylate. The assembly is pretty robust and will hold up to years of han- dling. The last detail part to be added is the coupler cut lever on the pilot. I used the Athearn Genesis cut lever set. The set includes a few different styles of cut levers so I had some leftovers for future projects. I drilled holes in the pi- lot for the mounting pins and then used cyanoacrylate to attach the pins. I added Kadee No. 153 scale couplers
with the trip pins removed. These cou- plers have the scale look I like on all of my models. Installing them is simple and requires no modifications to the Bachmann coupler pockets at all. I air- brushed the pilot, trucks, fuel tank and couplers with a mix of Polly Scale En- gine Black, Grimy Black and Roof Brown. This mix simulates that road grime look nicely. A little rust colored
73
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100