Let's Get Involved - Accurascale Class 92

"Let's Get Involved" is back! Today we have an accessory-fitting guide for our Class 92 locomotive. But that's not all, we will also show you how simple it is to DCC sound fit your DCC ready locomotive.

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Our model comes highly detailed with lots of high fidelity parts, following this guide will show you how, with a few extra steps you can turn your model into the definitive Class 92 locomotive.

Prototype inspiration

92023 hauling the Caledonian Sleeper on an ECML diversion past Helpston signal box - Mike Wild

Since introduction in 1993, the fleet of 46 locomotives has been allocated to freight, however six of the class now operate the Caledonian Sleeper service between London and Scotland. This provides us with a multitude of possible scenarios to recreate on our layouts, for example in the above image we see 92023 heading south into the sun causing the driver to lower their blinds. Hauling Mk5 coaches results in the loco being fitted with dellner couplings, we can recreate these scenarios with the range of buffer beam/cab detailing components included in the box. We can also add a driver and second man using our driver packs (available here). 

First thing's first, we need to remove the body. 

Removing the body

Step 1

Locate the release clips on the underside of the body, there will be one each side of the bogie. 


  

Step 2

Using your fingers at the location of the body clips, pull the body sides outwards while also lifting the body upwards away from the chassis. 

Step 3 

With the body removed you're now able to easily gain access to the cab and fit a DCC decoder to the loco.

DCC/DCC Sound fitting

Step 4

For DCC or DCC Sound installation you will require either a 'Class 92 Lokpilot DCC Decoder' (available here) or a 'Class 92 DCC Sound Decoder'. 

Step 5

Locate and gently remove the blanking plate from the PCB, being careful not to bend any of the pins. 

Step 6

Next fit your DCC decoder by placing it onto the pins the blanking plate has just come from. The decoder has one pin hole missing, which marries up to the pins as shown in the picture below. Be careful not to bend the pins when replacing the decoder. 



The Class 92 comes preinstalled with an Accurathrash speaker, so at this point the DCC or DCC sound installation is complete. 

Adding Cab detail

Step 7

To add a driver and the windscreen blinds we must remove the cab first, turn the locomotive body over and remove by placing two thumbs near the body clips and pushing outwards while using your index finger to gently prize the cab from its housing.

Step 8

With the cab removed you're now free to add a driver. Our Class 92 crew packs are designed to fit perfectly into the drivers chair. However, if you wish, you can place a spot of superglue on the chair. 

Step 9

With the driver seated in the chair, next locate the Class 92 window blind sheet which is included with the locomotive. It's worth looking at prototype images such as the one at the top of this guide to see how you'd like the blinds to look. 

Step 10

Using a scalpel or scissors, cut out two blinds of choice. If this has left a white edge you can use a felt tip pen to colour in the sides.

Step 11

Holding a blind firmly with some tweezers, take a cocktail stick and apply a thin bead of glue to one edge of the blind.

Step 12

Now add the blind to the body and attach the glued edge to the top of the window before repeating the process for the second pane.

Adding external details

Step 13

Before we clip the body back onto the chassis and allowing the glue to dry we can turn our attention to the exterior details. Locate the bag of bits included with the locomotive and carefully lay them out to check all small parts are present. 

Step 14

Consideration should be made as to which type of glue is used at this point, superglue being permanent whereas PVA can be adjusted over time. Locate the holes for the air dam and apply your glue of choice. Note that if the air dam is attached it is not possible to fit the NEM coupling to haul stock. 

Step 15

A good combination is to have the buffer beam details at the front end of the locomotive and the NEM coupling at the back. The coupling is easily added by locating the correct hole on the chassis. Gluing it in is recommended if you plan on hauling larger trains.

Step 16

Next attach the pipework to the chassis and Air dam, its always worth having a test fit before adding glue. 

Step 17

There are two types of coupling that attach to the coupling hook (depending which locomotive you have depends which is in the box). These are easily attached although the hook can be removed from the buffer beam to allow better access for installation.  

Step 18

Some variants of the Class 92 have etched plates, add those to the body with a drop of glue. For best results try to line up with the bodyside plate exactly. 

This is a good point to check over the locomotive in case any detail parts have been knocked off with handling, which can be reattached with a drop of glue. You can then continue to reassemble your locomotive and you're ready to play.