Kato Phase II SD70Ms

[Mark5]

Yes !  Aren't we all glad Atlas bought BLMA.

At the same time it's sad that Craig felt he needed to unload BLMA.

[peteski]

At the same time it's sad that Craig felt he needed to unload BLMA.

That's what I'm thinking too.  I hope his metal business cards venture is doing well.

[sundowner]

The effect is not very large, but I run long, heavy trains, and I worry that coupler height might be compromised when it's under load and not more rigidly supported.  Has anyone come across this and devised a solution?  I'm thinking of trying to remove a bit of walkway material ahead of the tab, but that material is also constraining a pin that secures the front handrail casting, so that's not an obvious solution.   I'll look into it though.

Aside from this, the swap is great.  The paint match with the revised-mech flared units is excellent.

I remove the open up the space on the walkway in front of the tab and it seems to better the situation a little bit, I am also going to used the suspension mech because the under frame is stiffer since it attach to the mech so it should flex less. I will see how it works when i renumber the loco. One thing is the front walkway piece will be loose until the cab is put on top of it. So far I am only doing one

[ntex]

It’s good to see the paint matches fairly well. Too bad someone at Kato needs a grammar class! 

[GaryHinshaw]

LOL, I noticed that too.  It's one of those times you wish the tiny lettering weren't so crisp.   

[peteski]

Just remove the "EE" and it will be "under warrant".    That is a big OOPS!

[Spades]

This is really great.  I'll definitely have to order a few more and revamp a bunch of my flared units.

Now, if only we could get Atlas (@Atlas Paul) to rerun the BLMA radiator fan and lift ring kits: BLMA66 and BLMA90, respectively...

Trainworx makes what you want. http://train-worx.com/page168.html#features1-yl

#310
EMD dash two fans
Eight blade and ten blade fans.
Five screens for Kato and five screens for Atlas.

#901
SD70ACe detail set and SD70M-2 conversion set.
Fits Kato SD70ACe
$14.95

or back in dark ages of n scale you could cut down DA brass radiator fans.

[nscaler711]

It’s good to see the paint matches fairly well. Too bad someone at Kato needs a grammar class! 

Thats odd, even considering in Japanese 保証 is Hosho, when translated it is still spelt with a Y at the end of Warranty...

However, there is this: https://grammarist.com/spelling/warrantee-warranty/
I would guess that the decal maybe correct in that way that UP was given a Warranty so that they become a warrantee... 

[GaryHinshaw]

Trainworx makes what you want. http://train-worx.com/page168.html#features1-yl
...
or back in dark ages of n scale you could cut down DA brass radiator fans.

Alas not.  The 70M fans are 53" prototypes while the -2 fans are 44" and the 70ACe/70M-2 are 58" (and a somewhat different style).  Thanks for the suggestion though.  Not sure I know what a DA brass radiator fan is.  (Detail Associates?)  I suspect we're returning to the days of having to draw up our own etchings.  At least Atlas is keeping the grab irons in production.

[davefoxx]

@GaryHinshaw,

I can’t tell how thick that frame is there, but can you carve a recess so that the tab will have a shoulder to engage?

DFF

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks @davefoxx , that's what I was thinking I'd try.  Though having just spent a few days drawing parts for my new Photon printer, I'm thinking I'll just design a replacement piece for that bit of the under-frame.  When you have a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.