(lots of them), and where I added to, or deviated from, the plans. The instructions say, for the main brass assemblies, cyano- acrylate (CA) or solder may be used. If you try one of these kits, I recommend using solder for the brass. The learning curve is a bit steep, but solder holds (and can be taken apart), whereas CA on brass has been known to release just when it shouldn’t. Remind me to tell you how I know. After reading the instructions’ extensive soldering suggestions, I used Tix flux, low-temperature solder (available from Walthers), and a 25-watt Radio Shack sol- dering iron. CA works better for white-metal castings; when us- ing CA, try methyl cyanoacrylate (from Loctite and others) as op- posed to ethyl cyanoacrylate, which works better for wood and fingers.
When you begin, removing the Bachmann shell (one screw, two tabs) shows why the original lights are not reusable. If your engine will be without a decoder and you need a light, you will only add one 1.5-volt bulb. A bit different with decoders, sound, or otherwise: on the 2-6-2 I replaced the kits single, 10-inch headlight hous- ing with 14-inch Wiseman Model Services cast brass lights, front and rear. (With no turntable or wye, B&B engines must run backwards half the time.) I then added 16-volt bulbs since the LC decoder requires 12 to 16 volts. The 0-6-0 got the two 10-inch white- metal headlights from the two kits and 12-volt warm- white LEDs. The LEDs were too bright, and the rear one some- times glowed, even when off. (SoundTraxx had
Brass Fret The kit comes as a brass etched kit. Each part must be cut from the fret, and the cab, roof, and saddle tank wrapper are supplied pre-formed.
Sub-
Assembly The majority of the brass kit construction consists of creating sub-assem- blies that will later be assembled into the com- pleted locomotive. Work- ing sub-assemblies allow access to all sides of the part for soldering and so forth.
Base
A nearly completed sub- assembly needs to be in- spected to ensure that it is square, solid, and the joints are smooth and strong.
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