How I do GP7 numberboards

[coosvalley]

If you've ever tried to get Atlas GP7 number boards to sit flush in the shell after painting, you'll know they just won't.  I also do not like when they are illuminated as brightly as the headlights, I prefer they not be lit at all.  I solved these issues by making up small styrene "plugs" to cover the original ones. It is tedious, especially if you're doing 3 locos like I was, but I love the results. I purposely made extras, in case I dropped any or otherwise messed them up. Anywho, here's the photos:

[Sokramiketes]

Nice, numberboards always look better when clean and flush. 

You can always tint the white numbers a bit toward toward yellow (and a bit splotchy) to simulate light behind without lighting them.  I agree they should be pretty dully lit in this era. 

[peteski]

Good idea, but I was also thinking why not just cut off the stock clear number boards from the rest of the light conduit? Use a thin razor saw.  That way they already have the exact shape needed and can be glued in flush with the outside of the shell. Of course they can be painted too.  As a bonus, if they are painted with a thin layer of white paint with the numbers applied as a decal, they can be illuminated.

I haven't actually tried doing this - it is just an idea which I might follow up on someday.

[coosvalley]

Good idea, but I was also thinking why not just cut off the stock clear number boards from the rest of the light conduit? Use a thin razor saw.  That way they already have the exact shape needed and can be glued in flush with the outside of the shell. Of course they can be painted too.  As a bonus, if they are painted with a thin layer of white paint with the numbers applied as a decal, they can be illuminated.

I haven't actually tried doing this - it is just an idea which I might follow up on someday.

I have tried this, separating them from the rest of the headlight. Part of MY issue is that I paint the inside black, so these bright yellow engines dont "glow" from the inside, and the boards rest against the inside of the shell, which now has an extra layer of paint, so they still wouldn't sit flush. Trimming them more might work, but at that point you're still trimming plastic, so either way it's tedious, fiddly work. Styrene is cheap, and losing the headlight parts was a concern. Losing a tiny piece of styrene is not a huge concern. 3d printing these would also work, so there's plenty of ways to skin this cat, this is just the way I chose.

[Sokramiketes]

Good idea, but I was also thinking why not just cut off the stock clear number boards from the rest of the light conduit? Use a thin razor saw.  That way they already have the exact shape needed and can be glued in flush with the outside of the shell. Of course they can be painted too.  As a bonus, if they are painted with a thin layer of white paint with the numbers applied as a decal, they can be illuminated.

I haven't actually tried doing this - it is just an idea which I might follow up on someday.

There's usually a pretty big gap, given the mold angle needed.  One of the masters of this was Rich Yourstone, would would make them fit well and then overlay with a nice piece of acetate.  *chef kiss*

[peteski]

Making the new plugs was "tedious". I proposed cutting off just the clear piece of the molding which fits in the number board opening. That way it can be positioned anywhere in the opening (as in flush with the outside) and glued from the inside.  That piece already has the proper shape (rounded corners) to fit in the opening.

[Olivani]

I know exactly what you meant Pete. I do it on the old Kato SD40 and SD45 like that and it works perfectly.

[coosvalley]

One of the masters of this was Rich Yourstone, would would make them fit well and then overlay with a nice piece of acetate.  *chef kiss*

Would you be able to show me a picture of this? I had considered using a clear overlay, since I'm basically doing this anyway, except with white styrene, so I'd love to see how it looks.

[peteski]

Hm, the thinnest clear material I know of (other than Saran Wrap) is 0.005" or 0.8" thick in 1:1 scale.  I bit thick but it might look ok on the model. I would think that just a couple coats of Glosscote would also give them number boards that "glass look" of freshly washed number board glass. 

[wm3798]

A method I've used is to simply print your number board (in N scale, I used 4 pt. font) reversed out of a black text box onto an Avery label.  Trim it, stick it on the number board, then carefully blacken the edges with a fine point sharpie.  Once the ink cures, I brush a couple of coats of gloss mod podge over it to seal it and give a a bit of shine.

This allows the light to filter through the numbers as God intended, and relieves me of the pain of fiddling with individual decal digits.



Lee

[Sokramiketes]

Making the new plugs was "tedious". I proposed cutting off just the clear piece of the molding which fits in the number board opening. That way it can be positioned anywhere in the opening (as in flush with the outside) and glued from the inside.  That piece already has the proper shape (rounded corners) to fit in the opening.

Draft angle of the shell is applied from the outside.  Then the draft angle for the plastic clear insert is from the inside.  So you get two draft angles worth of gap at the front of the opening. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I've used packing tape to achieve the glass look over laser printed numbers. It looks better than nothing but was nothing compared to @ryourstone . I hope that guy's doing well.