Hello again!
I’ve got an MTH AS-616 that I plan to rebuild because there are some gross inacuracies that just bug the heck out of me. Before I do anything though, I want to find out more about how I should do it before I wreck this engine.
The main issue is the smoke stack and turbocharger access hatch. MTh put the stack in the middle of the hood, instead of on the left quarter of the hood like it should be. They also had to move the moulding of the bolts for the turbo access hatch along with it to clear for the stack. It wouldn’t be so bad if they extended the panel molding sideways, as it curves over from the roof of the hood to the side of it, but they just moved the whole thing as it is, leaving a gap where it should touch the side of the hood. I was thinking of fixing it by cutting out the hatch and stack, cutting off the excess between the stack and the side, and reattaching the stack and access hatch in the hood with a new strip of plastic to fill in the gap in the middle.
What I need to know is what kind of plastic or resin does MTH use for their bodies, and what glues, paints, solvents, etc are compatable with it? What material should I use for the filling piece? What’s the best way to cut it, (saw or razor), and what color of paint will best match the color of the rest of the surrounding hood (SP Blackwidow black).
Another issue I want to fix are it’s trucks. This model has an atrocious ride quality and I wanted to find better trucks for it. The trucks it has are identical to the ones on Lionel’s old FM H-24-66 Trainmaster, and they hardly support the unit at all especially around curves. Does somebody make a modified version of this truck with all wheels flanged and powered, (or at least the outer axles) which uses the same motor and sideframe mountings? The way it rides now, with the 2 close axles powered (the center with a traction tire) and