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Body Mods
Prototyping after Erie F7 no. 711. Need to fill in headlight, cut out number boards, drill out
marker lights, scrape off horns and replace, photo-etched pattern for side
grills, drill holes
for grab irons, cut out door ways for diaphragms, remove some unnecessary
roof details (steam generator).
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Stuff:
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Close Coupling
All my original units came equipped with MT
couplers. These couplers create a little too much distance between
the units, so I made my own draw bars from a flat piece of brass. I
gauged the draw bar length on the pitches of the roofs, which in turn
limits the turning radius of the units. My feeling is, the closer,
the better.
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Bar Mods:
I used a flat piece of brass with a hole large
enough to accommodate the mounting post of the coupler assembly on
the MT F7 trucks.
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Test Fit:
Test fit of the trucks together.
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Fuel Tank
The fuel tanks on the dummy units seems a little high off the track.
I glued on 0.06 inch styrene and rounded the corners.
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Fuel Tanks
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Diaphragms
In order to hide the wires between units, I thought of a
method of how to create a semi-realistic diaphragm which would allow the
units to turn freely without causing derailments. The concept uses a
piece of black latex, which is extremely flexible.
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Body Cuts:
The doors on all units need to be cut out to allow
our latex diaphragm to pass through.
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Create a Wedge:
Cut a small piece of styrene that will fit into the
doorway. Drill two small holes and
secure two brass pins in it.
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Drill Holes:
Drill two small holes upwards into the door
frames. These will be used to secure the latex
diaphragms. I'm only securing the diaphragms onto one unit so
that the shells will be easier to take on and off.
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Test fit:
First lay the latex around the wedge to poke two
small holes in it. Then place the wedge into its location in
the door frame. File and adjust the wedge as necessary.
The square top of the wedge should also help shape the tope of the
diaphragm.
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Tweaking:
Place two units together and cut a mark for the
bottom of the diaphragm. Take the assembly apart to make
straight cuts. I find it easiest to press straight down on the
latex with an xacto knife, otherwise you might get raged
edges. Once cut, put it back together for a test fit. I
don't feel the need to create a floor to the diaphragm, since it
should mostly be blocked by the brass draw bars.
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Head Lights & Number Boards
I'm using SMT golden white LEDs to power the headlight (singular
since I removed one headlight to match Erie specs). I also used
white surface mount LEDs for the number boards, which are tied into an
extra function on the decoder. Another possible addition is to light
up the marker lights with the last function output.
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Number Boards:
I cut out some of the shell to use the surface
mount LEDs. Then decaled the loco number on it.
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Head Light:
wiring to come.
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Side Grills
I found some HO metal etched roof walks at a local hobby
shop, and these should work nicely. The package has many extra parts
and was a little expensive, so if you know of a better item, please
contact me.
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Side Grills
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Grab Irons
Addition detail was added by creating grab irons using
brass rod.
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Right Side:
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Left Side:
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Front:
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Window Wipers
Window wipers were created from some brass rod. This idea
was posted and shared on the Z_Scale egroup.
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Build It:
For the wiper arm, cut this size brass rod to this
length. For the wiper blade, cut this size brass rod to this
length. Glue them together at this angle.
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Front View:
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Brake Hoses
Brake hoses were created using brass wire and
painted. Adding an extra thick layer of silver paint creates the
effect the the hose has a coupler greater than the size of the hose
iteself.
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Front View:
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Horns
The molded horns are a little large and unrealistic to
me, so these get scrapped off and replace with N scale Kato 1 chime N
scale horns. This new horns are slightly oversized, but much more
realistic. I also have Sunrise Enterprises Single Chime horn, part
no. N-702, and although they are slightly smaller, the Kato versions
matched the prototype.
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Top View:
Kato N scale Single Chime Horns.
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Lift Rings
I used Sunrise Enterprises N scale photo etched lift
rings, part no. N-3000.
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Top View:
Will be installed soon.
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Decals
I printed these decals as a test on my Alps MD-5000
printer. I need to clean up the artwork a little further and print
some more.
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Erie Decals:
Winged logo for the front of the F7.
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