North Shore Line 409 - Part 7 Fixing a Pilot and a Missing Drawing

Before starting the cutting out of the 2 window panel on the side of the car, as work progresses with the conversion, often I'm involved with other parts of the model. One such item turned out to be a repair of a pilot which had been cut into during some of the work. Of course, always be careful when working with power tools. Most errors can be corrected - while others cannot be repaired!

The pilot was cut on a bottom horizontal piece. To repair the cut a small, short piece of  flat brass was soldered onto the pilot. A piece of small, brass wire could also be used. In the photo taken after the repair was completed, the "V" shaped cut can be seen. Fine, pointed tweezers were used to hold the small piece of brass in place while the soldering was being done.

The pilot is being held upside down for better viewing. The repair is to the right of the pilot.

Speaking of soldering, always use a soldering iron, gun, torch with sufficient heat to melt the solder. Heat the items to be soldered together until the solder actually melts (looks shiny or glossy) and then rapidly withdraw the source of the heat. Do not move the parts during cooling!

Too many modelers use a source of heat which is too small for the work being done. This provides a "cold solder joint" which will break apart given enough time. Using a source of too little heat can cause the entire piece of work being over heated in a attempt to melt the solder. Doing this can ruin paint, cause glued joints to fail, and melt plastic parts.

One last comment about soldering - always keep a small bowel or cup of water handy. If the piece of work gets too hot and starts to deform dunk it in the water. If you touch something hot, dunk your fingers.

The other part of this post is my drawing of measurements used in cutting a window into the cars bulkheads. It should have been included in the post on revising the bulkheads for the model. The drawing on the left side is for the bulkheads.

On the right hand side of the drawing are some dimensions you will find handy for other items in converting the model. I tend to write down important data as work on the model is being done.

The 1st labeled "Roof Matt" is the dimensions of the styrene strip pieces to be used in the roof matt.

The 2nd is the height of the stud used to hold the lighting strip in place which was cut off inside the roof. The last is the thickness of the models walls. This last piece of information will come-up again in the next post.

Finally if you didn't understand my comments about the mounting of the trolley poles for the 409 - either on the 2-56 screw or the hole in the roof with a drop in trolley pole - when the posts are completed for the conversion of the 415 into the 409, a set of post on trolley poles will be done.

The next post will definitely be the cutting of the model's walls to start the inserting of new windows into the side.

Cheers,
Ed