Big Blue has inspired some purchases

[TMo]

The package arrived from Bowser this afternoon...  The biggest (and most expensive) item by far was the RS3 Hammerhead shell that looks great right out of the shrink wrap.  There's something elegant about the RS2's and 3's - classic lines and rounded edges...  The paint job is really nice - looks like they used a faded red on the body and then were patches were applied, hit it with a more virgin Cornell red.  Eventually I'll weather it a bit more...  No light boards sent with this one (as opposed to the M620 that I worked on most recently), so a simple LED bulb on the front and rear is going to suffice once I work on putting in a decoder which is going to be conveniently mounted under the short hood.

   

The other detail parts (grabs, coupler bars, horns, fuel fillers, lift rings, 3-axle wipers for the C628's, etc.) all seem to be present, so I can get back to detailing the three D&H locomotives at a minimum.

   

Since the Roundhous RS3 chassis was sitting on my desk anyway, I thought I'd check the fit, which was a little less than ideal.  I need to get the Dremel out and shave some metal off each coupler mount and about 1/16" off of the front and rear chassis faces to drop in to the shell.  Seems doable.


   

A lot more on my plate now!

[TMo]

Had a few minutes available - got the Dremel out and shaved off the end of the coupler "tongue" and cut into the front and rear faces of the shell to get the shell to fit over the chassis. Success.... initially in getting it to fit from front to rear. Getting the shell fully seated on the chassis was another story.

Got my mechanic's rule out and the inside edge to inside edge of the Bowser shell was 0.72"... The chassis dimension for seating the shell (or the inside edge to inside edge dimension of the Roundhouse shell) was 0.75". It looks like I'll need to carefully shave 0.03" (0.015" on each side) of chassis material (which includes the portions of the frame that hold the trucks). Again, it's doable and part of the joy of kitbashing.... The other option would be to cut the plastic shell, but I'd be dangerously close to going through portions of the shell.

[hillyard999]

I'm guessing that using a file would be the way to go, less chance of overdoing it.
I'm remembering my "feeler gauge" I use to gauge the gap on spark plugs, which I think is 0.030.
0.015 is not a lot of difference in a gap, but a lot of filing.

good luck!
: )