After spending several hours first trying to decipher Walthers instructions on where various eyebolts and handrails go on a heavyweight passenger car. Then actually trying to accomplish that tedius task and losing a few pieces in the process (and they aren’t steel so don’t try to wave a magnet along the floor to pick them up!). I’ve come to teh conclusion that they definately don’t pay the Chinese workers enough to put all the litttle details on today’s extremely detailed models! Also, I understand that #80 drill bit equals a press fit, but #79 gives just a little more room and that gap filling CA will make up for the slightly larger hole!
Oddly enough, I was going to post something similar. I finally decided to install grab on an Amtrak baggage car. It didn’t go too well. The drill bit slipped and went right through a door. [oops] I thought I was in the right place, but it was too late and the damaged was done. All well.
Thats why investing in a very powerful lighted magnifying glasses that mounted to your work bench and some really good tweezers. Some times a little bit of what ever it takes to steady the hands always helps too. I know exactly how you feel…lol
Boy, those detail parts to be installed by the user are one of the very few things I don´t like at all. They usually slip out of the grip of the tweezers, orbit into the sky and send me down on my knees in a futile attempt to find them. Do I love that!
No I don´t really mind adding detail to a loco that costs $ 100, but adding those parts to a loco, that had cost me $ 800, eats me up. That´s what they do in Germany - unbelievable!
Yup, got both of those, however, some additional types of tweezers might help too. My eyes have been getting worse over the last few years and I finally had to get reading glasses as I’m farsighted. The hobby got very frustrating in 2007 until I realized that I couldn’t see anyting up close. Glasses and the magnifying light help, but after 2 hours or so, the eyes still get tired. As far as the steady hands, not sure what will help that situation.
I believe Walthers user installed grab irons makes you appreciate all the work that goes into the making such detailed rail cars. I haven’t had a pleasure to see a $800 loco that I had to install grab irons yet, and hopefully I will never have too. But back to the grab irons, I don’t mind installing them, but then again I’m far from retirement age. The only problem I have is with steps on the end of the cars because they have to be painted and very hard to install since they are flat wire instead of the round one used for the rest of grab irons.
I applaud the fact the Walthers installs grab irons on the UP City cars, but I appreciate the fact of how hard it is to install them and it explains the fact why Walthers increased the price yet again. Frankly, if Walthers pre drilled all the holes and allowed me to install grab irons for a lower price per car, I’d take that - in the end I think I do a better job of installing grab irons that when it’s done from the factory by either Walther or Rapido.
Yeah, those “Time Saver” kits from Proto 2K are a real hoot…I butchered a couple of them before swearing off (at) them. There should be a law against casting impossibly fragile parts. I did a little better on my second attempt, but the models are borderline 3’ models - they don’t look fresh from the wrapper - more like fresh from the flat at the train show. broken stirrups and grab irons…I’ll stick with BB’s and the like
Along the same vein are the Gunderson Twin Stack kits from A-line. The effectiveness of the instructions varies from adequate to horrible. The drill templates conflict with the dimensioned references, there are no perspective views so some parts’ location is a mystery. I ended up spending time researching photos of the prototypes or other HO models to supplement the missing info.
But the finished product is very good looking when the optional super detail kit is applied. And the articulation joint execution in both design and materials is so far superior to Athearn’s damage prone approach.
However, next time, I will fork over the money for the fully assembled version.
I agree, installing those Walthers grab irons are a humbling experience to say the least. I’m going to try the bigger drill trick you mentioned. The premium that you pay to have the irons are very reasonable IMHO. I’d much rather spend my time weathering or operating.
Twenty years ago I’d have said, “Oh, suck it up and DRILL!” But not anymore. I’ve got the Walthers cars both with grab-irons installed (UP “City” cars) and without (everything else), and at my age I can’t tell the difference, LOL! So any Walthers cars I buy with those little teeny thingamajigs in a plastic envelope waiting to be ‘added’ just stay in the plastic envelope. Sure saves me a lot of #80 drills, by golly. [:-^]
You just need to know the tricks. The tank cars (non-Timesaver) are particularly devious, until you learn to outsmart the instructions. The first one I put away in frustration after getting down to just enough grabs left to build the car (luckily the give you extras) assuming I didn’t break another one. A couple months later I bought another one and gave it a shot - furst thing I did was stop followign the instructiosn exactly. I installed the tiny grabs BEFORE assembling the tank halves. I also drilled all the holes through to the inside of the tank so I could apply glue on the inside and not mar the outside. And at the end, when you are supposed to install the tank saddles and then attach the tank tot he underframe - forget it, the saddles can be tilted into positon AFTER the tank is attached to the underframe. Got it down to under 2 hours a car byt he second one, and since I didn;t break any more grabs I had enough to go back and finish the one I put away earlier.
OK You drill the hole, Put the slow dry CA in the hole with a needle, Grab the last grab with the pointy tweezers, Then click! What happened? The last grab just shot to Neverland!!! What do you do now?
1.Quickly look for the grab you know you will never see again?
2.Bend a new one fast before the CA dries?
3.Put everything back in the box and turn on the tube with a couple of cold ones to ease your pain?
After doing 1 for about 5 minutes I try 2 until I realize I can’t get the bends right and end up doing 3.
That’s just me though. That little click noise the tweezers make when shooting something has got to be the most hated noise in this hobby.
And everytime I hear it, I can feel the blood pressure rising and my teeth grinding!
Update, got everything put on tonight, fresh eyes help. Had bend a few more pieces myself and raid my stash of eyebolts though. Just got done painting everything and I’m satisfied. This weekend the weathering station gets set up and she’ll get just a wee bit cause I do like to keep the varnish fairly clean.
Although I have not had the drill bit malfunction mentioned above I have had the unfortunate situation described when you hear the tweezers go click over a carpeted area. I also tie flies for … fun(???) and have had to go to great lengths to locate the errant # 22 midge hook dropped on the floor. Hate to step on it with bare feet or worse, have my wife step on it in bare feet. [:O] [xx(]
