I have an Athearn kit set of Baltimore and Ohio F7's and all the corresponding passenger cars. Being kits, they are bare bones in terms of detail. I got them when I was about 14 or 15 and as long as they ran, I didn't care. Now that I am grown up and have a place to work on them, I want to spruce them up, add detail and such. Can anyone point me in the right direction on how to add things to make them look better? Thanks.
JeremyDavis I have an Athearn kit set of Baltimore and Ohio F7's and all the corresponding passenger cars. Being kits, they are bare bones in terms of detail. I got them when I was about 14 or 15 and as long as they ran, I didn't care. Now that I am grown up and have a place to work on them, I want to spruce them up, add detail and such. Can anyone point me in the right direction on how to add things to make them look better? Thanks.
Sure, I do the following to my Athearn passenger cars:
Cal Scale makes brake sets, generators and steam traps which are esily added to detail the underbody.
The couplers can be body mounted for better looks and performance.
American Limited makes nice diaphragms, and, if you body mout the couplers you can close couple them at nearly scale distances, making the diaphragms touch and work.
The cast on grab irons can be replaced with wire. Interiors can be added, inside vestibule walls can be made from styrene.
Although not the greatest picture, here is a photo of a detailed Athearn car.
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/themes/trc/common/viewimage.aspx?img=http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/af147/carrollhome/DSC00009.jpg&w=1024&h=768
Although they are not models of specific prototypes, they do follow the features and details of most heavyweight cars pretty well. And very similar cars can be found to most of them. Of the Athearn heavyweight cars only the diner and Pullman have no close prototype.
Plans of similar cars published in magazines and books can help you with detail placement. Carstens has a plan book of just heavyweight and wood cars.
Walthers sells a diesel dress up kit for those locos which gives you grab irons and window glass. American Limited sells a diaphragm kit that also includes a close coupling system for those locos.
And if your curves are sharp, less than 36" in my view, they look and run better than 80' or 85' cars.
Sheldon
If you can find IHC interiors, thay can be cut down and kitbashed to fit Athearn passenger cars.
First, remove the steel weights and fill the center tank with lead to bring the car up to NMRA standards
The IHC interior kit will have to be cut narrower and shorter to fit the car
Installed, they look like this
This is my set of Athearn MEC passenger cars; 2 coaches and a diner
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch