Back into the hobby again after 20 years alot has changed I just bought a RTR Athearn locomotive (sd45) it is beautiful detailed and runs great but it also came with alot of extra goodies how do you find out where to install these extra detailing partstheir is no directions ?
here is what the description of the engine said.
PROTOTYPE SPECIFIC DETAILS THAT MAYBE APPLICABE TO THIS MODEL: Headlights. Air Horn. Truck sideframes. Grilles. Bell. Fans. Fuel tank. Battery access doors. Electrical cabinet/Air filter box. Mirrors. Sunshades. Antenna.
I don’t know if these are the parts in the bag or not ! [:)]
The exploded view in the instructions should show where the pieces attach. As to if they need to be attached, or in the case of multiple choices, which one to attach, you’ll need to find a photo of the prototype.
Some of the things, like fans and louvers, are already part of the shell and not seperate pieces. Horns and antennas are common things where there will be more than one supplied that you will have to attach. Also in the bag are probably the couplers and MU hoses.
It means that parts are there, or might be there, to make the engine “road specific”. Some roads had big fuel tanks, others didn’t. Some had bells mounted differently than others. A lot of modelers build scale versions of VERY specific locos. Find a prototype road you admire or are going to model and use the parts you’ve got to mimic the real McCoy. If you aren’t going to model a prototype but would rather free-lance you need to think about how you’d option your loco if it was real. For example, winterization hatches and snow plow pilots probably wouldn’t be required in say Florida. A little on line research, starting with this site, will yield a vast array of ideas.
You could have probably use them in Florida a week or so ago. LOL Its kind of nice to see Texas get more snow then us in New England.
Now getting back to the original post. A picture is worth a thousand detail parts. Exchange or add details to match the details. One good thing about diesels is that details changed little over time. Some steamers got new looks as class repairs were done.