I am thinking about adding hoses to the front and rear of several diesels in my Nscale lineup. I'm wondering, since many of the manufacturers model the hoses right into the front plow area, when you add some aftermarket hoses like those from BLMA, do you sand away or otherwise remove the existing hoses? The work area seems pretty small to sand down, but do-able with a steady hand. I'd like to add grab irons too and wondered just how hard it is to add them to Nscale diesels. Do you simply glue them on or drill into the body for a more proper mounting? Any info on "how-to's" in this area of modifications would be appreciated. I'd like to add them for more realism and better pictures - but I've never seen it done in Nscale (by that I mean actually seeing it first hand) - so I'm wondering just how hard it is?
Adding diesel hoses question
- Thread starter Herc Driver
- Start date
Well, I'm working in HO, but adding m.u. hoses to an N scale loco shouldn't be too difficult, as long as you use the proper-sized drill. If they're like the HO hoses, glue doesn't stick to the Delrin plastic, so a snug fit will help to keep them in place. If you really want to add wire grabirons, you should drill for them also. In HO, I use .012" wire, which scales out at just over 1", so for N scale, you could try .006" or .008" wire. The hole will be more of a problem than the wire, though, as a #80 bit, the smallest I've found at a hobbyshop, is .0135". I use a #79 bit for my grabs (mainly because my old pinvise wouldn't grip a #80), and regular c.a. holds them in place, although I do crimp over the wire where it protrudes through on the backside. There are smaller bits available, but you may have to hunt around for them. If you're going to the trouble of adding free-standing details, do take the time to remove the cast-on details first, unless you're absolutely certain that the new details will hide them completely. I'm including a picture, even though it's of HO locos, just because I've been wanting to post this picture for some time.
Wayne
Wayne
Thanks doc! Very nice picture too I might add. I am always impressed with the detailing on your engines. Thanks for the advice. On the Nscale diesels, the MU hoses are nothing more than small bumps on the plastic, but I worried that unless sanded down, they would affect the placement and "look" of the new hoses I wish to install. Since I'm always taking pretty extreme close-ups of the diesels, there'd be no way to hide the old so I thought removing them would be the only option. Other items like windshield wipers, lights and horns are easier to deal with...but those hoses are going to be a challange.
you can get most of the MU hoses off without sanding by using a chisel blade in an X-acto knife. With the blade held bevel side down, you can get most, if not all the molded in details off without damaging the model. I've done it many times and it works well.Herc Driver said:
Ahhhh...thanks for the tip! I wondered about the Xacto-fix, but thought I'd try it on my least expensive engine and work up from there.
Herc Driver said:
I used to use the older style Kato snow plow that did not have the hoses molded on. Later I used Sunrise Enterprises snow plows and recently I purchased the BLMA snow plows but I have not used them yet.
I never tried to remove the molded hoses since I have a hard time to remove them on a straight surface (Atlas models).
Grab irons on the snow plows are pretty easy to do. You can either use straight 15" or 18" BLMA grab irons and glue them on the back of the snow plow with CA glue or use Gold Medal Grab Iron photo etch sheet #56 (expensive method if you cannot use the other grab irons that come with that sheet). I use a triangle file to make two small groove in the back of the snow plow for each grab iron. Nothing too deep.
Herc Driver said:
I don't know if you were talking about the grab iron for the nose and rear of the locomotive or the BLMA hoses. Either way, only holes will work and keep the parts in place for the eternity.
You need #80 drills for your work. I use small wooden dowels
as a vice. I drill a hole in the top of the dowel, turn the drill around and glue it in with CA.
They will break, so get at least 10 drills.
Since the plastic is very thin, don't push the drills, just turn them. It will take time but the holes will not be punched out.
Great tips Roland - many thanks. I hope to start this project as soon as I can get to my not so local hobby shop that carries the necessary mod-parts. I'd like to improve the overall accuracy of my diesel collection.
myltlpny said:
This method works well, and will save you a lot of sanding. Make sure that the blade is sharp and that you use it, as noted, bevel-side down.
Wayne
I was working on a beginners detailing tutorial for the last few months and this topic reminded me to finally upload it.
Here is a link
http://usloki.tripod.com/detailing.htm
Here is a link
http://usloki.tripod.com/detailing.htm