I need to re-number some engines, how to get the old ones off without taking off the base paint. My GP9athern engine numbers are wrong and non-existent in real life.
John
Removing Athearn Lettering - YouTube
thank you
my old BB athearn locos lettering is painted on, micro-sol has done nothing so far but smear the paint somewhat, kind of making the thing look weathered, old crap paint I suppose.
I have a couple of old Athearn Geeps that are no longer functional, but I like to run them as either dummies or sound dummies, so they are just shells with decoders and lights. They are the black and orange Milwaukee Road colors, so I mask the lower half off, spray the top half with good black model paint and put the decals on there.
That's a good time for weathering the engine and you'd might as well do the trucks, too.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasley; that is what's going to happen GP9 -7 lights only
still have to renumber them.
I had my Athearn Geeps as a teenager, back in the 50s and 60s. I couldn't part with them. They're like old friends. Even as dummies, they live on and enhance my current layout, even decades after their mechanical demise.
I bought a Walthers GP9M, a rebuild of an old Geep. Just to be an anti-rivet-counter, I took an old Geep and numbered it the same as the one that became the GP9M. I smile when I run them in a consist.
I re-numbered using rubing alcohol to rub off the old number(s) or the back of a hobby knife. Some have used pencil erasers. Not sure if there's a secret formula, but it seems there are options.
There is a crap-shoot element to removing lettering or numbers while trying to preserve the base paint. I usually use isopropyl alcohol and it can work but there seems to be a "magic moment" where suddenly the base paint gives way.
My method is to use an artist's implement called a tortillon or tortillion, sometimes also knows as a Conte pencil or blending stump. Tightly wound shaft or stick of paper shaped like a pencil, with a sharp end. Paper is actually abrasive which is why paper cuts hurt so much, and which is why people who sew have dedicated sissors which they NEVER use to cut paper.
I get diluted isopropyl alcohol (90% and even 70% seems too strong) -- WalMart sells a 50% isopropyl that works for me -- and the sharp point on the tortillon allows you to focus on the letter(s) or number(s) at hand. I actually practised this on some junker freight cars, ideally of the same make as what you are working on. If you decide you need to dilute the WalMart isopropyl alcohol even more, use distilled water not tap water.
The nice thing is that rubbing with the tortillon makes the surface smooth enough that once the letters or numbers are gone, you are ready to decal at that place, no need to spray gloss medium as prep for the decal.
I went into this and other uses for the tortillon in my Frugal Modeler column in the NMRA Midwest Region Waybill for Summer 2019.
waybillsum19 (foxvalleydivision.org)
Dave Nelson
Dave; I'm going to try your method as nothing else has worked so far.
I am using an old body shell
Which roadname are you working with? Since the numbers are located on a raised portion of the cab, it may make sense to repaint the area if you can match the color and then apply the new decals. Are you also planning to add new number boards on the front of the loco?
Rich
Alton Junction
SP Gp9 GP35 Athearn old BB locos to correct the number to the proto ones also to do number boards
John Gray SP Gp9 GP35 Athearn old BB locos to correct the number to the proto ones also to do number boards