Being new to the hobby I want to be able to work on my locos and rolling stock instead of sending it out for repairs when needed. I have been purchasing and assembling kits to gain experience. Until last week all the kits I’ve assembled have been of rolling stock. Some are simple and others are more complex which is what I expected.
Friday I received an order I placed for Athearn F7 A and B units. They were advertised as “Kits” so I expected to have to put both locos completely together. Coming from a background in the radio control car hobby, where purchasing a kit meant you put everything together except for the motor, I was expecting a bunch of small parts I would have to assemble. Instead, I was surprised to find that the mechanical parts of the locos were completely assembled. All that was left was to glue some plastic parts to the trucks and shells. I actually thought I would be assembling the trucks and universal joints as well as mounting the motor and connecting the wiring. What a disappointment!
To top it off, I found that the Athearn kits did not come with windows or interiors. Those items need to be purchased separately!
The hard part isn’t putting them together, it’s taking them apart. Every now and then you’ll see a thread asking how to get the shell off of a particular locomotive.
The basics are pretty simple - just a motor, a linkage to the trucks and some gears. Once you figure out how to take them apart, it’s all pretty obvious.
If you enjoy kit-building and kit-bashing, you’ll probably have more fun with structures.
Dad did not help but,would check on my progress and either smile and nod his head or smile and shake his head…
Fast forward to today…My oldest Grandson is a modeler and he wanted a Athearn Chessie GP40-2…I got him one with a twist…
I disassemble the unit and put the parts in a small plastic bags …I put the frame,motor and drive drain in one box and the shell and handrails in another box…Like my Dad I did not help him and he put the engine together by following the instruction sheet.
I suggest you disassemble a Athearn drive and put it back together its rather easy and straight forward.
Now the good news is every quality diesel locomotive drive is BASED on that simple Athearn drive but has improvements.
Athearn Blue Box Locomotives in the early 80’s were mostly assembled except for the windows, grab irons and light fixtures. You were expected to paint the number boards etc yourself. Of course they would get disassembled and re-assembled eventually. At 20 dollars at the time for a powered unit it was a bargin.
Back then all wheel pickup, flywheels and can motor was what you wanted to get away from the poor quality engines such as Tyco of the day. (I thought brass was expensive back then, boy look at em now.)
Today’s locomotives are quite detailed, I like to get RTR units such as BLI as to put em in the lube rack and onto the track without much hassle. If there is a problem with the units that is beyond my ability to remedy they get sent in to repair at the factory. In some cases, they get replaced.
Sometimes RTR becomes a kit. For example a Atlas RTR Caboose undecorated must be disassembled, painted, decaled and re-assembled. For me, these fall apart, and fall together in a few minutes.
Older kits sometimes just have a block of wood with smaller wood trim and paper sides for you to carve, paint, detail (Using lost wax detail parts) and everything before it was considered “Finished” Some kits are possible to build “Board by board”
Virtually all bull-nosed diesel engines (F’s, E’s)come this way. The the other engines (hooded types) usually require you to assemble and install the handrails. The only line of engines currently requiiring complete assembly are the Bowser Steam locomotives and traction cars Roundhouse use to make a few locomotive kits but I do not know if they are still available. I attended the Train Show in Philadelphia on the last day. I recall seeing a company that offered resin kits of trolleys and subway or commutor cars. These bodies required some work since the openings had to be cleaned out prior to installation of the door castings. I do not recall the name of the company but recall it was located in a nearly Philadelphia suburb.
The Bowser bodies are essentially a single metal casting that has to have the flash filed off.
I understand this. This is how many of us got started. Working first with a simple plastic kit, like an Athearn and then moving up to “craftsman” type wooden kits and newer styrene kits. Its a good way to start!
[quote user=“Bill54”]
Friday I received an order I placed for Athearn F7 A and B units. They were advertised as “Kits” so I expected to have to put both locos completely together. Coming from a background in the radio control car hobby, where purchasing a kit meant you put everything together except for the motor, I was expecting a bunch of small parts I would have to assemble. Instead, I was surprised to find that the mechanical parts of the locos were completely assembled. All that was left was to glue some plastic parts to the trucks and shells. I actually thought I would be assembling the trucks and universal joints as well as mounting the motor and connecting the wiring. What a disappointment!
To top it off, I found that the Athearn kits did not come with windows or interiors.
if you want to build steam locos there are the kits from Bowser mentioned above , and MDC / Roundhouse . MDC / Roundhouse kits are pretty much only avaialable in hobby shops as old stock , or on ebay , as the company was purchased by Horizon a couple of years ago and now only seems to release assembled loco models.
i’m not aware of any other diesel kits than the Athearn , which as you noticed , are pretty much shake the box . it seems much of the hobby is going this way , several companies are even offering assembled structures
Yep, Athearn “blue box” kits are pretty much ready-to-complete. Not much assembly is required, and blue-boxes are usually minimal on the details so you can add your own to detail after a specific prototype. The trend actually has been moving towards “Ready-to-run” with no assembly at all required.
If you like to “assemble” locomotives, you can do a superdetailing project to model after a specific real-life engine. Stuff such as beacons, sunshades, grab irons, lift rings, plows, MU hoses, simulated air and sand line plumbing, etc. are usually not present in the Blue Box kits because they are prototype specific (details vary from engine to engine in real life). So grab an undecorated Athearn blue-box locomotive, buy those detail parts made by companies like Details West, Detail Associates, Smokey Valley, etc., and go to work. This is not merely assembling a kit in the rote “insert tab a into slot b” sort of job like a regular model kit-- You will have to drill holes, cut and file plastic, sand things smooth, scratchbuild detail mounting solutions, paint and decal.
So if you are up to the challenge, you can actually spend quite a lot of time and effort dressing up a locomotive, and turn it from a toy-like thing into a museum-quality model.
The good thing about Athearn blue-box locos is that they are built like tanks and are very easy to maintain. As Brakie says, don’t be afraid to take it apart and see how it works. Give it a lube every year and keep it clean, and it will last you darn near forever. I have an Athearn blue-box GP38-2 that was purchased in 1988 and it works as good today as the day I bought it.
I appreciate everyone’s response. I’ll check out the manufacturer’s you’ve suggested.
I have several Bachmann and Proto 2000 locos that are RTR. When I found the Athearn BB Kits I assumed they needed to be completely assembled. We all know what assumed means.[] However, this is my first Athearn BB loco and I am pleased with how smooth it runs.
I did take the Athearn mechanism’s apart to see how they are assembled and to make sure they were lubed. There’s not much to them. I took the A unit apart and had it back together in about 15 minutes.
While I’m on the subject, I need to change the numbers on a Western Maryland F7 A unit. Is there a manufacturer that sells number decals?
If you are looking for involved kits, I suggest Funaro resin kits, http://www.fandckits.com/ Depending on the kits complexity, and your skill level and drive, they can take several days, to several weeks to assemble and paint.
If you like assembly kits and steam try a Roundhouse Shay in 2 or 3 truck types and either standard gauge or narrow 3ft. These are many parts and they are complicated and take some time to get the running gear aligned. I’ve done two and they run fine. I have a 2 truck torn down to install a decoder just to complicate things. Have fun. TARP
If you’re looking for a more challenging rolling stock kit. Check into Intermountain or Proto 2000 unassembled ones. I really enjoy the P2K PS2 covered hopper, Mather stock car(single or double deck) and tank car. Basically any Intermountain “kit” will afford the same challenge. With the advent of all the RTR (ready to run) equipment, highly detailed and many times very acurate stck is available out of the box. This has spoiled many of us, myself included. Apparently this is not your preference. You can, however, learn about super detailing your locos and rolling stock and even a basic Athearn caboose kit can be altered to a highly detailed representation of your prototype by adding all the proper brake rigging, laser etched steps, end platforms, ladders and roof walks. Of coarse the cheap looking molded on parts get shaved off and replaced w/ wire or castings. As far as loco “kits” there’s only just a few out there as mentioned. I wouldn’t recommend disassembling any of the newer engines just for a learning experience. These pieces run perfectly out of the box and it is very rare that there should be a need to dissassemble them. Actually if it “aint” broke you could break it.
I have a Bowser LIte Mike 2-8-2 and a Challenger on back order. I am about 85% completed with a Hobbytown RS-3. If you like kits (with lots and lots of small parts) then check out Bowser for Steam and Hobbytown for Diesels. Lots of fun assembling and all made of metal. Terry
I checked out Champs and they have exactly what I’m looking for. I appreciate the information. Too bad they are eventually going to close. Looks like they have / had a large selection to choose from. They still have a lot of decals for WM.
Wife allows me to buy a few now and then from Champs. They go into the bank safe deposit where it’s temp (Humidity) controlled until Im ready for em.
I have been spoiled by RTR rolling stock partly because most days my nerves dont support holding a 2 scale foot brake wheel “jest this far” from the paint brush. I write it off as a casulty of trucking but there are kits out there that literally fall together. Kato Covered Hoppers come to mind. I think those are limited runs and the set I had were so well made in parts I did not need glue for em. I did make a profit on selling that set off so it is a rare celebration.
For some strange reason I found structures easier than rolling stock. Just remind me to get the durn corner holders from the store one of these days =) That is one reason I stay away from kits of rolling stock that are just “Sides” perhaps one day I will try them once I find a corner holder precise and strong enough to hold until the glue dries.
Its something I’ve been saying for a while, and lamenting, the passing of the mass produced kit. A few years ago (and bear in mind I’ve only been doing US outline HO for about 6 years) nearly every freight car was a kit, and RTR was the exception - now its the other way round. How do you expect the kids to learn anything when it rolls straight out of a box onto the track ? Where’s the satisfaction in saying I built that, and a fews years later sayoing I built that then I rebuilt it because my skills had increased? Granted in freight cars there are still plenty of resin kits about, but generally for more specialist prototypes.
To teach yourself (or the kids) you’d have do like Brakie here - neat idea btw Brakie!
On the locomotive front mechs have been a bit more built for a while, mechanical skills take a bit more learning and the demand for built and running mechs has always been higher. I have put together many British kits and scratch built (with varying degrees of success), as well as some Roundhouse which (IMHO) are crude but robust - the devil is getting them to work well. This is where you learn you skills.
However even Roundhouse has now stopped producing kits which only really leaves Bowser.
] However, this is my first Athearn BB loco and I am pleased with how smooth it runs.