SAFETY AND PRODUCT INFORMATION
- Some products contain small parts which can be swallowed and are a choking hazard for children.
- These models are not toys and not for children under 14.
- Dust from sanding, sawing, grinding, filing, cutting etc. is an inhalation hazard.
- We do remove products from their manufacturing sprues as we finish them before packaging, but always wear safety glasses when working on MAC Rail Products.
- CA Glue is the preferred adhesive for installing solar panel kits.
- 3D printed items are High Resolution Resin or PLA Plastic.
- Items intended for decals have been coated in semi-gloss coat.
MAC-801 / MAC-802 CSXT "top" solar panel install
TOOLS FOR INSTALL:
- Safety glasses (cutting)
- Mask (sanding)
- CA Glue
- MAC-801 or MAC-802 kit
- Hobby Knife
- Ruler
- Sanding Stick / Sandpaper
- Silver Permanent Marker
MAC-901 and MAC-902 kits come with pre-cut styrene that should fit snug on the end of the 40' Athearn RTR Ballast Cars.
Line up the styrene piece to the INSIDE of the molded on corner bracket as shown in photo. Once you are comfortable with the fit go ahead and glue in place. This support piece will be what the back part of the solar panel bracket will rest on. In this photo you can see the styren
Once installed I like to keep things simple and use a silver permanent marker to color the piece of styrene. It dries rather quick allowing you to complete mutiple kits during an afternoon at the workbench. If you prefer to paint with brush, go for it.
Styrene piece now in aluminum color. As most of this support is not visible once solar panel installed on top, you can use further weathering to blend and age components depending on desired look.
Taking the decals supplied with your MAC-901 or MAC-902 you can go ahead and install following your preferred decal application method. The solar panel structure is coated in semi-gloss making it decal ready. The center grove in the panel lines up with the white line separating the sides of the solar panel.
Once decal applied you can then install onto railcar. Using the car side sill as reference
MAC-809 HERZOG "TOP" SOLAR PANEL INSTALL
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TOOLS FOR INSTALL:
- Safety glasses
- CA Glue
- MAC-809 kit
- Hobby Knife
- Ruler
- Sanding Stick / Sandpaper
The underside of the Herzog "Top" solar panel is very delicate and care should be taken when installing. The large rectangle section allows for a solid surface when gluing to railcar no matter which orientation you choose based on prototype.
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Depending on your preference you can add decals to solar panel structure before or after installation. The aluminum painted structure has a semi-gloss coat making it ready for decals using your preferred method.
Using a toothpick apply CA to the corner of the car. The panel does not rest on the top of the side sill, but does sit right on top of the end sill.
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Place solar panel structure either parallel or perpendicular to railcar based on prototype you are modeling. If modeling parallel the rectangle portion on underside of solar panel structure rests right on top of end sill. The panel is parallel and flush with side sill but does not rest on it.
If installing perpendicular, solar panel is centered on the end sill. The solar panel structure is kept to
MAC-821 HERZOG "LONG" BALLAST DOOR INSTALL
TOOLS FOR INSTALL:
- Safety glasses (cutting)
- Mask (sanding)
- CA Glue
- MAC-821 kit
- Hobby Knife
- Ruler
- Sprue flush type cutter tool
- Sanding Stick / Sandpaper
- Athearn RTR Thrall Ballast Hopper
Start by turning car upside down on work surface and cutting out the 2nd and 9th underbody ribs. Using the cutter, take small bites at the plastic until the area is flush with underside of car (Left side
Use a your preferrred sanding method to clean off the surface ensuring you have a level area to install the ballast door.
From the package the four ballast doors are painted in a red primer to closely match the brown "HERZOG" scheme offered by Athearn. As you are installing the gates, pay careful attention that the levers are facing inwards and towards the car center. (I did it right on the left side and wrong on the right side).... But they are all facing inwards so that is a plus!
Apply CA to bottom of gates which is not painted with a toothpick and press into place.
Once CA has dried you can then proceed to weather the gates blending them into the car to match desired level of weathering. In this example I used Pan Pastels to weather the doors and "dust" the car.
MAC-840 HOSPITAL "WRECK" FLAT INSTALLATION TIPS
The photos provided below are intended to show how I built my freelanced version of a QUAX "Red Streak" type hospital flatcar. Alot of these hospital flats that haul wrecked railcars have been cascaded from other service such as pipe flats, autoracks, or intermodal service so they all have a unique story making no two cars alike.
My base for the model was capturing hospital flats that have deck pedestals permanently on the railcar and do not require wood cribbing. Our MAC-840 kits provides two pedestals and a tool box making your focus on the actual car build / modification itself.
AAR Open Top Loading Rules are open to public. This specific figure 55-A can be found at https://my.aar.org/OTLR/Documents/Section%203/Section
I started with a Walthers 89' flat and ended up cutting it down to a 75' flat which operates better around my 28-30" radius curves. I removed the length from the car center keeping the distancing from truck center to end sill longer which gives a larger car appearance.
I decided to also make a removable deck so I could model railcar loaded or empty depending on where it was in the car cycle.
For installing the chains to the deck I used a small drilling jig to keep the holes consistent. A larger A-Line chain was cut in half and the smaller tie down chain threaded through before gluing the half chain piece to deck to represent a "D" ring.
Closeup of solid mounted pedestal and tool box that rests to the outside. The other pedestal is on a track system that allows it to slide and adjust to the length of railcar being hauled.
Closeup of testing out the wrecked car placed on the center of the pedestal.