General Discussion (Model Railroader)

Hello

fairly new to US modelling and living some miles away I need some basic help please! I have bought an Athearn SW7 (the model appears to date from the late 90s) in NS livery which I want to upgrade and repaint to IC/ICG in early 80s mode.

1st question - how do I get the body off the chassis!?

2nd question - any advice on removing the NS logos?

3rd question - any advice on generally improving the model?

 thanks a million

Phil

PhilM:

2nd question - any advice on removing the NS logos?

You say ICG and I jump to the white/orange. if so, I'd just go and strip the whole engine. Get yourself a rubbermaid container just deep enough to lay a car on it;s side, and two bottles of 91%isopropyl alchol, drop the engine in without the chassis, fasten the lid, go to work, come home after 8hrs or what have you, scrub the engine with an old toothbrush (DO NOT return said toothbrush to the bathroom...) wash with soap and water throughly, paint the thing, and upgrade. The Isopropyl can sit int he tub until the next timne you want to strip a model

If you are referring to ather the balck AT&T logo, or the Green Diamond, then I've had good luck with battery-powered erasers. (Not just for geeks!) SOme models, you can apply micro-set or solvaset to the lettering, and apply a piece of tape. teh freed lettering will stick to the tape, and leave the engine. But I believe the way Athearn does/did they're lettering, that doesn't work here.

PhilM:

1st question - how do I get the body off the chassis!?

If it's like the ones I have just insert a the tip of a flat blade screwdriver between the bottom of the shell and the fuel tank and give it a gentle twist while at the same time pulling down gently on the trucks. The same should come free. Repeat with other side. The chassis should come out in your hand. 

PhilM:

Hello

1st question - how do I get the body off the chassis!?

2nd question - any advice on removing the NS logos?

3rd question - any advice on generally improving the model?

 thanks a million

Phil

Take a look.  The shell is probably secured to the drive with a couple of plastic lugs that fit into slots in the chassis.  With a small screwdriver you can ease the lugs over and the shell pops off.  Check the couplers.  If the couplers go thru holes in the shell, then you may have to pop the couplers  off too.

Sounds like you plan to strip and repaint the shell.  In which case, the new paint will cover the NS markings.  Put on a coat of real primer under the top coats,  The primer is very opaque and will cover any traces of the previous logos.  I like auto primer in rattle cans from the auto parts store.  Use paint or DullCote to kill the plastic gleam on trucks and wheels.

   Athearn drives can be improved by disassembly  of the gear towers on the trucks and wiping each tooth of each gear with a pipe cleaner.  This will pick up invisible bits of plastic flash that have been sticking to the gears which makes them run rough and noisy.  Check the wheel gauge while you have things apart.  Remove any flash from the Ujoints and other moving parts. 

   The headlamp will look better if the bulb doesn't show thru the cab windows.  Either relocation of the lamp or the addition of light pipes (tubes rolled from white paper) to guide the light to headlamp lens.  

 http://www.mcor-nmra.org/Publications/Articles/Athearn_TuneUp.html

this site should tell you all you need to know about improving your athearn locomotive.

i did a couple and added a bit of weight to help them pull better.  if yours has the frame mounted couplers, i would suggest you go to body mounts.  i cut the tabs off the ends of the frame and fabricated mine from sheet styrene and used a Kadee number 5 draft gear box.

the others have given you some good advice about stripping and painting.  i suggest you go to the fallen flags site and look at the IC engines there.  you can see what date the photos were taken and detail your engine to suit from one you like. the exhaust deflectors are a neat touch and common to many IC switchers and geeps.

i am a green diamond era fan myself but to each his own.

i use a pair of these little critters for tranfer work on my layout and they run pretty darn good for a cheap loco.   i must admit the Kato's are still my favorite, probably because i could never get an athearn to run as soothly as they do or pull as much regardless of how much tinkering i did.

next project is to make a cow and calf unit by blocking off the steps on the "b" unit and modifying the hand rails. athearn made a "calf" without the cab but it still had steps on that end which should not have been there.

grizlump

 I had a pair that worked together for over 15-20 years. They are bulletproof. They may have received a bit of plastic compatible oil and that was it.

One thing that might help you improve your loco is the motor on the chassis. It has been a long time for me so bear with me.

If you have a motor that has flat sides and looks bronze you are in good shape with this motor.

If you have a large soup can that is black metal, you probably have a older motor that might be replaced with the newer can style motor.

My two cents, They may apply or not.

Those old Athearns will go on forever. I have a pair of 20-year-old F units, and they still run like new. Anyway, to strip the paint, I'd use either Easy-Off oven cleaner or Castrol Super Clean (now sold as Super Clean). Either will take off paint quickly, but if you're not careful...you can get some nasty chemical burns. I use latex gloves and/or metal tongs when working with this stuff.

Take the shell off the engine, put it in a plastic bag and then spray Easy-Off over it. "SC" works pretty much the same way--submerge the shell, and wait. Most of the paint should come off easily, if not, the rest can be removed by scrubbing with an old toothbrush under running water.