CANNOT find how to get this thing off !!! 3# sledge is next attempt, unless you have a better option. GRRR !!!
The shell and the handrail platform are separate. Remove the shell, then you can see how the handrail platform comes out. There are clips in the very front nose and the back of the shell that clip into the handrail platform. HTH.
If it's an original Kato RS-3, I think I recall that you must stick an X-acto knife blade under the cab side (and above the frame), then lift to free that side of the cab. Then you must do the other side the same. With the cab off, you'll see tabs on the tabs on the body shell. It's ridiculous, almost assuring something gets damaged.
The shell and walkways ARE separate parts. I use a method that has worked on every non-steam loco I've ever owned. I have a small piece of 3/8 square wood stock about 4 inches long.......... I place the loco with the pilot on one end on the block, then I lift/tilt the loco up and drop it on the block (the opposite end of the loco stays on the ground). Since the chassis is much heavier than the shell, when the shell stops when it hits the block, the chassis continues to move and pops free of the shell. Sometimes it takes a couple of drops for success. When the first end pops free, switch ends. Once both ends are free you can pull the chassis out. I know it sounds sort of violent, but I've never broken anything in over 30 years, and it has always worked.
To expand on MRLdave's great advice. Here is Mike Fifer's technique -- pretty much the same. (This is just for the visual aspect of the technique) Thanks, Wolf
If I remember correctly, there are "clips" on the ends of the shell on the RS-3 so that method won't work for those. Doug
In follow up to my above post on Kato's Atlas RS-3, I found an old shell to take a picture of and it shows why the cab must be removed beforehand. Not one of Kato's better ideas.
The method still works..........but you need to start on the long hood end. There is a fairly large dimple on the cab end, but only 2 small dimples on the other end. The dimples are right above the end of the truck near the fuel tank. The others are right in the middle of the cab window.....so if you prefer the tooth pick method, that's where you need to use them. I dug out my old RS3 and removed the shell using both methods. I had forgotten about the open pilot on the old RS3s, so they are a little weak in that area (in terms of the dropping) so the toothpick method is probably a little safer, especially if you are just learning how to do it. The toothpick method isn't easy either since the older models have a lip on the chassis that makes getting the toothpicks in more difficult. Sort of makes it a 3 handed job.
FINALLY got this thing apart !!! Used a little of each technic to do it. Wellll, except the 3# sledge... it was nearby, though !!! CAN'T BELIEVE nothing broke !!! Some pieces bent to shapes that defied all laws of physics. Horrified as cab shot across room and cat went after it !!! Left with VERY tiny bit of marring, not feline induced. It's N scale. I do realize Atlas/Kato stuffed alot of "good" into small space. I found scratches inside shell. Shell got hung up on counter-sunk screws holding chassis halves together. Obviously where most of my binding came from. I appreciate all input from TB on this puzzle. Diesels SHOULD NOT be this difficult !!! Thanks to TB, my BN will soon have an Alco switcher !!!
I just want to give a shout out and a thank you to this thread. This thread was so helpful and kept me from losing my sanity (at least for the moment). I have been planning to model a couple Interstate Railroad RS-3s for a while and started working on them in June. I'd done an L&N RS-3 about 10 years ago and for whatever reason had no trouble getting the shell off the chassis back then. So when I started this project in June, I couldn't get anything to budge. I did two in IRR and one in L&N (I'd painted the shell years ago and finally got around to putting it on an eBay purchase I made recently). The three shells all behaved differently. As Run8Racing said, it was a combo of all the technics. Interstate Railroad RS-3s #38 and 37 by bierbass posted Sep 3, 2023 at 2:49 PM Interstate RS-3 project by bierbass posted Sep 3, 2023 at 2:51 PM
