gregind
New Member
Hello all,
I am new to this forum and to the hobby in general. After much personal debate I have decided that I prefer HO scale but N comes a close second so I have begun working on as much as I can. Without a large space to devote to a layout at this time I have instead decided to work on as many small peices of my eventual layout as I can. That being said I need some help with my first project.
I am not new to working with plastics, as a some-what experienced 1/24th scale modeler I can say with some certinty that I know how to do certain things with plastics, anyway a friend of mine walking through a flea market picked up a model loco for $5 and gave it to me. Not expecting much I was surprised when I discovered that the engine was a Athearn BB kit that had seen better days. I hooked it up to my small electronics bench to see if the motor would turn. It didn't at first, I cant say I was surprised, but not giving up is my specialty so I isolated the trucks and attempted to power the motor only. It worked! Yeah for me and actually to tell the truth aside from being a bit noisy it ran real well.
I decided that someone must have tried to rebuild the trucks(or just took them apart for fun) and forget an insulator somewhere. I already found replacements for $16.00 dollars and decided at this point it was worth it to try and get the loco running figuring it to be a good distraction till I get room for a layout.
Knowing that I can now get the engine operational I turned to my favorite activity: detailing. First of all the loco is an F7(incase I forgot to mention it). The body was in pretty bad shape when I got it and since I saw that Athearn sold a replacement for about $8 I decided I couldn't make it worse. I first drilled out the running lights in front and the number board so I could light them with an led. Well to make a long story short(too late, lol) I discovered serious problems with the body and also that the front end was not exactly correct. Its not totally noticable but to someone like me it is enough. I discovoered that this was that way they were molded by athearn!
I was wondering if anyone knew somewhere I could get a modification or a new body that fits the Athearn chassis that is correct to begin with?
Also if I end up having to mod the athearn body where I could get the detail pieces like: handrails, hand holds, the side vents near the top, better radiator fans, and better headlights!! The head lights, hand rails, and vents are top priority.
Thanks for hanging in there for the question!
Can't wait to read the responses and be nice I'm new!
I am new to this forum and to the hobby in general. After much personal debate I have decided that I prefer HO scale but N comes a close second so I have begun working on as much as I can. Without a large space to devote to a layout at this time I have instead decided to work on as many small peices of my eventual layout as I can. That being said I need some help with my first project.
I am not new to working with plastics, as a some-what experienced 1/24th scale modeler I can say with some certinty that I know how to do certain things with plastics, anyway a friend of mine walking through a flea market picked up a model loco for $5 and gave it to me. Not expecting much I was surprised when I discovered that the engine was a Athearn BB kit that had seen better days. I hooked it up to my small electronics bench to see if the motor would turn. It didn't at first, I cant say I was surprised, but not giving up is my specialty so I isolated the trucks and attempted to power the motor only. It worked! Yeah for me and actually to tell the truth aside from being a bit noisy it ran real well.
I decided that someone must have tried to rebuild the trucks(or just took them apart for fun) and forget an insulator somewhere. I already found replacements for $16.00 dollars and decided at this point it was worth it to try and get the loco running figuring it to be a good distraction till I get room for a layout.
Knowing that I can now get the engine operational I turned to my favorite activity: detailing. First of all the loco is an F7(incase I forgot to mention it). The body was in pretty bad shape when I got it and since I saw that Athearn sold a replacement for about $8 I decided I couldn't make it worse. I first drilled out the running lights in front and the number board so I could light them with an led. Well to make a long story short(too late, lol) I discovered serious problems with the body and also that the front end was not exactly correct. Its not totally noticable but to someone like me it is enough. I discovoered that this was that way they were molded by athearn!
I was wondering if anyone knew somewhere I could get a modification or a new body that fits the Athearn chassis that is correct to begin with?
Also if I end up having to mod the athearn body where I could get the detail pieces like: handrails, hand holds, the side vents near the top, better radiator fans, and better headlights!! The head lights, hand rails, and vents are top priority.
Thanks for hanging in there for the question!
Can't wait to read the responses and be nice I'm new!