SD80MAC DCC, sound, and lights, questions

Model Railroader Electronics and DCC
1

Ok I picked up two undecorated DC SD80MACs I’m wanting to get DCC put in and also some detailing done.

I’m looking at Loksound decoders for it, I want the “full throttle” function.

I want the ditchlights to flash, front and back headlights directional, marker lights working, numberboards lit, and I’m adding gyralights to the nose of the units so having those fade on and off to simulate the oscillation would be nice.

I’m wanting at least two speakers one facing out each side of the hood and maybe a small one facing upwards.

Is this realistic/acheiveable?

I have a guy to do the install but I’d like to get a shopping list for the parts I need.

2

I’m not understanding this …

“I’m wanting at least two decoders one facing out each side of the hood and maybe a small one facing upwards.”

Mark.

3

I might be confused myself but what I was thinking was something like below.

Hood wall|<[○][○]>|hood wall

^ Speakers sitting horizontally

Two speakers back to back in the long hood.

P.s. I just reread the quote, I meant speakers my bad!

4

From my knowledg, the SD80MACs that I see out at Enola and Harrisburg don’t have gyralights. If they did, NS removed them like they did with the marker lights. I have only seen modern 80MACs with headlights, markerlights and ditchlights.

5

I’m painting them into my freelanced systems colors so I’m modeling them as the system ordered them with gyralights.

6

That’s 6 functions, unless you are putting ditch lights on the back as well. 6 functions is what the Loksound select is. If you need the extra 2, the Select 21MTC and an appropriate motherboard will get you 8 total functions.

–Randy

7

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Have you painted and decalled anything for you railroad yet?

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If not, you probably want to practice on something a lot less expensive than customized locomotives with customer decoder / speaker installations.

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I would suggest some Accurail freight cars first.

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-Kevin

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8

The guy that does the DCC installs at the club also does custom painting, I’m going to get him to do the work on this.

9

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I was under the impression you were going to paint some freight cars with canned spray paint and have some decals printed.

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Your paint scheme is simple enough that you should be able to handle it in-house.

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-Kevin

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10

Yes, I had painted a car myself, the problem was the light green I want to use is supposedly “satin” instead it came out in a bubbly gloss finish.

It ended up coming out “decent/acceptable” but I really wouldn’t want to do it to another car and it come out horrible.

Then again I might try Tamiya Paints because I was using Rustoleum, I could also see if Krylon has the colors, I couldn’t find them the other day I will try again though.

11

You want a glossy finish on your freight cars. That makes the custom decals work better.

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Use Testors Dullcote #1260 to finish the job.

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-Kevin

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12

ANd while I have used Rustoleum paint (and more often, the even cheaper ‘store brand’ at WalMart) for things like painting metal weights flat black, and car axles, etc, as the super cheap paint seems to have a very fine pigment, I have not attempted to paint an entire car body with paints like Rustoleum and Krylon - I don’t trust that it has fine enough pigments not to cover fine detail no matter how lightly you spray it.

–Randy

13

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The only spray cans I ever used that really were good enough for a final coat were the “Martin Senior” line of paints from NAPA.

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They had a metal needle valve and a smooth flat fan spray pattern.

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Of course… they were quite pricey.

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-Kevin

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14

Probably still cheaper than the little cans of “model paint” at least Testors - which at one point was at least $7 for that little spray bottle. Which is why I switched to the Walmart stuff for flat black, $1.99 for a BIG can compared to $7 for the tiny can of Testors. Even at twice the price, the big can is more than 3x the paint, so still a deal.

–Randy

15

The problem with the finish is that its bubbly too, the bubbles smoothed out a little but they still look a little funky.

16

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It sure sounds like you could use some practice with a spray can.

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Your club members can probably help you out with junker cars, or hit the 2/$1.00 junk at your next train show.

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Paint a few with Testors or Tamiya cans and get your technique down. Then you can apply these skills later to an airbrush.

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If your surface is craezed or bubbly, that is almost a guaranteed skill issue, and practice will solve that problem.

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Skills musty be developed. Nobody is born with these abilities, but some people do pick them up more quicky.

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-Kevin

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