I wanted to add the SP nose light assembly (mars light, etc.) to an already painted model in SP. Any thoughts/tips on the best way to do this without damaging the paint on the nose too much?
Thanks,
Use an xacto knife with a new blade and cut the initial hole area very carefully and somewhat smaller than the finished hole will end up. This way, you can open up the finished hole slowly and fit the new headlight assembly in tightly.
You will have to match the paint, but that usually is not too hard to get a good match.
Banger gives good advice … be careful since the shell tends to be pretty thick (0.040 to 0.060 thousands) and one slip of the blade can give new meaning to the “bloody nose” paint scheme!
If you intend to install working headlights, I recommend you drill out the casting with a #55 drill before you install it:
(click to see a larger image)
Minatronics 1.5v 30ma bulbs are a perfect fit at 1.2mm diameter, and much smaller than the typical smallest white LEDs you can get:
(click to see a larger image)
Here’s a photo of SP7444 (Kato SD45) all drilled and ready for installation of the bulbs in the nose and upper cab:
(click to see a larger image)
I “glue” the bulbs in place with clear silicone sealant. The silicone sealant allows you to get the bulbs out again later when they burn out. Under normal use and reasonable resistor values so they don’t burn too bright, the bulbs ought to last 5-10 years so you won’t need to change them often.
P.S. I cover the entire process of selecting the bulbs, the proper resistors, installing the bulbs, and programming the lighting functions in the decoder in the upcoming volume 3 of the Siskiyou Line series … due out in May. The above photos are from the video.