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WM #62 F7A from Highliners Kit - White Metal and Etched Body Details
It has been a while since I last updated the section on this project. Finally,
some more progress! Click on any of the images below to see a larger version.
Draft Gear - Front
The piece that made me set this project aside for so long was the Details West
front draft gear casting. It didn't fit well and also required messing around
with two part epoxy to install it. Once the model went in my wall of shame, it
was quite a while before I decided to pull it back out and work on it again.
 Front Draft Gear Photo taken by Pete Brown on March 6, 2005In this photo you can also see that I drilled the class light holes unevenly. I
used the template, but I think the problem actually stems from uneven placement
of the numberboards themselves. I'll pay more attention to this on the next
model, as this is very visible from a straight front-on shot.
 Filed Away Photo taken by Pete Brown on March 6, 2005Back to the task at hand. Installing the front draft gear box in the Highliner
shell required several modifications:
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Cutting off the top detail of the draft gear box. The fit of the Athearn frame
made it difficult to impossible to keep that in place. However, since I later
filed the frame itself, it may have been possible to keep that in place.
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Cutting the pins off of the casting and filing them smooth. I filed those sides
so they would snugly fit the smooth curve of the inside of the pilot.
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Filing down of the back of the draft gear casting. Yes, the Cyanopoxy held
while I filed the heck out of the back of that piece. Amazing that stuff.
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Filing the front of the Athearn Genesis frame. I filed it until I just started
to get into the locating pin in the coupler attachment area. The filing is
rough, but gets the job done. I'll paint it back later. I highly recommend you
do this filing early on while you have the motor and trucks off of the frame.
 Filed Frame Photo taken by Pete Brown on March 6, 2005In the end, this was probably one of the most difficult pieces to install and
fit on the body. It is definitely visible from the front of the locomotive
right now. We'll see how it looks once everything is painted up, and determine
if the effort is worth it.
Draft Gear and Backup Light - Rear
 Rear Draft Gear Photo taken by Pete Brown on March 6, 2005The rear draft gear is much easier to install. Like the front draft gear, you
need to test it it with the coupler boxes in place before committing to a final
position. Also like the front draft gear, I used Cyanopoxy to install the
piece.
The Highliner shell is pretty thin, so you need to add a couple small styrene
shims to the back in order to provide enough thickness to drill the pin holes.
This is all covered in the Details West instructions.
 Rear End Details Photo taken by Pete Brown on March 6, 2005The other main detail on the rear of the body is the backup light.
Again, I used a Details West casting, and installed it using Cyanopoxy. You'll
also notice the small piece of .012" wire attached to the light. That's a bit
thick, so if you have any .008" wire hanging around, I'd use that instead. The
smallest I had available at the time was the .012", which scales out too large,
but actually looks almost right when compared to the photos.
Anyway, that represents the electrical connection that is visible in some rear
photos of WM F units. Simply drill an appropriately sized hole in the body, and
a small dimple in the casting, bend the wire, place it through the body hole,
then cut to length to reach the dimple on the light. Use Cyanopoxy to fix
everything together and then snip the excess wire off from the inside of the
body.
Pilot Steps
 Pilot Step on Etch-Mate Photo taken by Pete Brown on March 6, 2005The pilot steps are tiny fiddly little etchings that look far more difficult to
assemble than they are. If you follow the directions, and have appropriate
tools, you will do fine. Just make sure you bend up the version that is
appropriate for your pilot. If you want to practice, use one of the other
unused steps (there is one set for the passenger pilot and one for the freight
pilot). Also make sure you bend both a left and a right step. I can see how it
could be very easy to accidentally flip one over backwards and end up with
two left steps!
 Etch Mate and Etchings Photo taken by Pete Brown on March 6, 2005I found two tools indespensible when bending these pieces: a set of flat (not
serrated) jawed needle nose pliers, and the Etch Mate my wife got me for
Christmas. The Etch Mate was only used for one bend, but it was one that would
not have been easy to do using the pliers.
The Etch Mate is expensive, and you won't use it for every bend you do, but I
have found it to definitely be a useful addition to my tool set.
Etched Side Panels
 Side Panel Etchings Photo taken by Pete Brown on March 6, 2005Finally, I installed the side panel etchings on both sides of the body. Before
installing, try to press out the slight curve introduced by the stress of
etching the metal on one side. Then hold the piece up to the body so you know
where you put the glue. You'll want to get the ends of the metal glues down
well, as they tend to curve up a bit.
I used Cyanopoxy without the spray this time. I imagine regular CA would have
worked well in this instance as well.
Workbench
Until next time, I leave you with a photo of my messy workbench :-)
 Messy Workbench Photo taken by Pete Brown on March 6, 2005
If you find the information on this page useful or interesting, please take a
moment to sign my guestbook.
Thanks!
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