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Heres my question:
Does anyone know if a Kato SD70MAC shell will fit an Athearn SD70 chassis/frame? Has anyone tried it? I need to know as I'm receieving a athearn chassis with walkways, but no shell. And I can find KATO sd70mac shells, but not athearn.
Well as many say If you can think of it some one has tried it. The thing is you CAN get the shells from Horizon Hobby, Athearn, what ever. They are great about getting parts for customers. All you do is A.) Call, or B.) Look at their parts list.
The SD70/M/I is shorter than an SD70MAC, so the shell won't fit right from either manufacturer. The coupler pockets will need to be extended out to clear the pilots.
Athearn and Kato use different style tabs to hold the shell on, you could cut the tabs off and glue the shell to the walkway and use the coupler pockets to hold the shell on.
Probably easier to look for an Athearn shell. Or order one.
Heres my question:
Does anyone know if a Kato SD70MAC shell will fit an Athearn SD70 chassis/frame? Has anyone tried it? I need to know as I'm receieving a athearn chassis with walkways, but no shell. And I can find KATO sd70mac shells, but not athearn.
Is this an Athearn Genesis chassis? Have you tested how it runs? Important questions as many of the Genesis chassis' trucks came bent and would not sit on the track with all wheels staying on the rails, with the result being the locos will not stay on the tracks, esp. on curves and turnouts. It was the metal frames of the truck and the best way I can describe it is the middle axle allowed the other two axles to rock up and down. Since these models have come out, I have read on other forums of people even getting new trucks from Athearn, and even those came bent. The newer runs supposedly have this defect corrected, but the SD70's sure have given a black eye to Athearn.
Attached is a crude drawing of the bend in the truck frame:
CJ-Yeah, its a genesis drive/frame/trucks. I dont have it in my posession just yet. I'm getting it in a trade from a guy I've known for about 2 years now. He got it from a friend of his who took the shell and tried to modify it for a sd70m-2, but was unsuccesful. It also comes without the light/dcc board, but my friend has assured me that he has rewired it and the drive functions great.
My next question would to be: If I could kitbash the Kato shell to fit on the existing athearn walkway to eliminate the problem of the shorter frame issue? Can I cut the Kato shell just at the walkway area? Does the kato shell come in 2 pieces, above the walkway, as does the Athearn? I'm asking this because I have no Kato sd70/m/i/mac units and dont know the configuration of the shells. I have seen the shells for sale at a few dealers and wondered about replacing the upper section of the athearn drive. Now I do have a RPP SD60 shell, and it is the same length as the sd70, and I thought about using it, but wanted a mac. Hmm, I do have a RPP SD90mac, and prob can replace the current athearn blue box drive thats in it with the genesis driveline.
I welcome any comments on this.
I'll let you know when I get the unit as to how I proceed.
I've got an IHC pacific? 4-8-2 in crescent colors, up on a shelf, road #4501. I shelved it, as the IHC locos have hardly any traction, but it does look good
I've modified the RPP SD90 chasis for a genesis drive, so it can be done. The SD90 is far too long for an SD70MAC though.
The Kato SD70MAC shell is several separate parts, cab, long hood, walkways etc. You may be able to get away with glueing the Kato cab and long hood to the athearn walkways, but the long hood may extend too far over the rear walkway and look odd.
I built a look alike SD70MAC from an SD70M. It may be easier to look for an SD70M/I shell and kit bash that to look like an SD70MAC. I can post some shots of what I did to mine if you are interested in trying that.
I've modified the RPP SD90 chasis for a genesis drive, so it can be done. The SD90 is far too long for an SD70MAC though.
The Kato SD70MAC shell is several separate parts, cab, long hood, walkways etc. You may be able to get away with glueing the Kato cab and long hood to the athearn walkways, but the long hood may extend too far over the rear walkway and look odd.
I built a look alike SD70MAC from an SD70M. It may be easier to look for an SD70M/I shell and kit bash that to look like an SD70MAC. I can post some shots of what I did to mine if you are interested in trying that.
Here are a couple shots of my kit bashed SD70MAC. I did this before Kato or Athearn did theirs, so the shorter frame length was a known trade off.
Pic 1: This side is more work than the other. I added the AC Inverter panels one behind the cab, the other close to the rear of the long hood. I also added the blower housing under the inertial filter and the raised walkway/blower duct along the side.
Pic 2: This side only needs the AC Inverter panels. If you kit bash using an SD75 shell, you'll have to remove the bulge on this side.
The main visual clue that this isn't long enough is the way the radiator screens end at the end of the long hood. On an SD70MAC there is a space between the radiator screens and the end of the hood. That may be the easiest place to shorten an SD70MAC shell to fit an SD70 chassis.
Well I got the sd70 chasis. It came with the walkways. It appears to have been a sd70m walkway. I took a RPP sd60 shell and carefully cut the walkways off it and fit it over the sd70 walkway. With a little more trimming, I think I can get it to fit real good. I have a handrail set, but havent tested the fit yet.
CP9302, yours look good. I'm gonna try the sd60 shell first, but might end up with a sd70/m/mac shell for it.
I'll let you know how it comes out.
Ok, heres what i did to it:
I took the RPP sd60 shell and cut off the walkways, cut to fit and it looks good!. But the dilemma is this, the front truck has a split axle.
So now, do I get a replacement truck? if I do, I might as well replace both of them, and thats $40 from Athearns website.
Or, do I gut the Genesis driveline and put it into my kitbashed SD60M (RPP shell on a Athearn SD40T-2 chassis) or SD90Mac (complete RPP shell and Chassis)?
Will the genesis driveline produce too much torque for the Athearn Blue Box sd40-2 trucks?
