If you've already built one of my
kits then the battery electric will be well within your capabilities; if
not then it's a good introduction to resin kits, being just about as
simple as one can get. The process is best broken down into three
stages, preparing the castings, assembly, paint and finishing.
There
are three components, the one piece body moulding and a pair of
buffer/couplers. Taking the body moulding the first step is to open out
the front and rear cab windows. I find the easiest way is to scribe
round the opening with a sewing needle held in pin vice following the
inner edge of the window frame. Once half to three quarters of the way
through, the centre can be popped out with moderate pressure.
Next
up are the cab openings. I found that a fresh blade in the craft knife
worked best here, making several light cuts, letting the sides of the
opening guide the blade. (On one of my test builds I left the openings
blank and afer painting fabricated weather curtains and stuck them in
the recess.)
Now
it's time to remove the unwanted skirt from the bottom of the body;
here I've marked the cut line in black marker pen. Note that the
horizontal cuts under the battery boxes follow the lower support member not the base of the battery box. Again multiple light passes with a sharp craft knife is the way to go.
Time
to tidy up the cuts, I find emery sticks work well, better than files,
in removing any ragged edges left by the cutting. Also remove flash from
the couplers and superglue into place on the ends, there is a
registration lip moulded into the draw beam to locate them. Hopefully
your kit will be free from air bubbles on visible surfaces. If any have
sneaked through quality control or have been exposed during the trimming
and cutting operations they can be simply filled with a paste made from
mixing a small amount of talcum powder with superglue applied with the
tip of a craft knife.
The
Kato chassis requires trimming back at each end to fit. One cut at each
end, square across the chassis and in line with the outer edge of the
metal block with the large screw head gives a snug push fit into the
body moulding.
As the Kato chassis becomes part of the visible model the appearance is much improved if it's painted to match the body colour.
Here's my completed test build, painted weathered and ready to roll.
