Would anyone have any advice or pointers for the installation of number boards on a legacy ( not DCC) Kato F7? i've got hte frames modified and a decoder installed and got a MARS light going and it runs great. But it could sure use something besides those big blank splotches of yellow (UP) where the boards should be. The F3's have a lit board and it's ok. Can this( has this) been done with any measure of success? Or am I stuck with trying to find some decals to fit, which is ok too. I"m thinking that that if one is VERY careful he could cut out the shell enough to get some lit boards in there. Any advice is welcome. Doug Harrington
I'm still trying to figure out how you ended up with a Kato F7 for UP without numberboards.... I thought every Kato-painted UP shell had one. I know they had plenty of shell versions though.
The oldies (Rapido era) had no #'s in the boards, just blank boards which look pretty awful. I have a GN shell set in the same boat. F3's too! BUT, you could either decal the numbers in there (microscale's set even includes the black board background) or you could drill/file it out, and backlight it. You can use microscale crystal clear to make the "glass"/light tube, or even a clear viscous glue. The newer shells do have the backlit numberboards, but they're not exactly swappable. The shells are, I believe, so maybe it's easier to get new shells?
I guess I have just the opposite feeling, I like the old shell numberboards. Unless you're going to completely redo the lighting system (which I did on mine a long time ago with Richmond Controls) so much light pours out of numberboards that it looks very toylike. This is the original Kato shell with a lot of mods on it; mars light on top, main headlight on the bottom. Numberboards are Microscale. They did a series where the numbers were WHITE, and a series where the numbers were CLEAR against black, you can hardly spot it on the decal sheet. If you aren't backlit at all you want the white. Either that or paint the numberboards white under the numbers and apply the clear.
I wouldn't mind new shells-but a search has determined the F7 in UP to be un-obtainium--plenty of F3's though. They are interchangeable, you just have to swap the clear porthole piece with the mounting slots. One is thinner than the other. I've changed the trucks to the newer lower friction type as well, and unimates. Would you have a number for the Micr0scale decal set? Since the shell is kinda precious, I think I'll just go with the decals. The fear is trying to carve out the hole in the number board and gaffing it up. The only other thing I may do is remove the inner pillow block from the drive shaft to reduce friction and noise and smooth it out.
Hi, Doug, I did similar to what Randgust stated above, on my F7 (freight), I didn't light the number boards.... since I don't do night operation it's not noticeable to me that the numberboards aren't lit. The following are early attempts, using Microscale decals and numbers applied individually, works OK: As far as making numberboards, here's my preferred way to do it these days, I don't use decals anymore, instead, I found way to print the numberboards on adhesive paper as shown on my web page here: http://home.comcast.net/~atsf_arizona_2/Easy_N_Scale_Locomotive_Numberboards.html You might like doing the method in the web site above for your UP F7 numberboards. As you can see by the following, with a little practice this can work pretty good, feel free to give it a try: Hope that helps.
John S- What a fantastic tutorial! I know it took longer to prepare it than it will take to execute a set of numbers for my F7! It is spot on for what I need to do. Many thanks to you and to those that took the time and thought to respond. Doug HarriNgtoN
