Hi, I recently purchased a kato HO Conrail SD80MAC. As I am not a big fan of Kato locomotives (since I only have one other in my collection) I got it because I wanted a Conrail SD80MAC. Anyway, I was putting on the supplied grab irons and accidently put too much glue on one grab iron instead of gently soaking it up with tissue as I normally do, I was not thinking clearly obviously and brushed my thumb over it to wipe it off. This smeared the beautiful blue and white paint on the right side cab nose. Any suggestions on how to correct this? Thanks.
Perch some pigeoms on the edge of the hood. Smear paint downwards.
Dave
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
There is a superglue remover.
Love those Katos. Never tried this but it seems plausable.
http://www.ehow.com/how_6383150_remove-super-glue-off-plastic.html
Jim
When you say smeared I take that to mean that the problem is more than just a deposit of unwelcome ACC on the surface, but perhaps actual damage to the paint from a solvent based type glue. The damage is likely to take the form of both dissolved plastic and paint from that grab iron and damage to the paint, and perhaps also the plastic, of the cab itself. It may seem like raising the white flag prematurely but you may want to explore if Kato can sell a new cab painted Conrail. Failing that, this is going to call for careful work that may never achieve the result you hope for. Find a way to lay the engine in such a way that more parts won't be damaged as you work on it. Maybe it is possible to separate just the part that needs attention?
I would then take blue masking tape in small pieces and to the extent possible, create a sort of frame around the damaged area so that anything you do won't make things worse nearby. If the problem is primarily dissolved plastic and paint from the grab iron resting on the surface of the painted surface of the cab it may be possible to very gently scrape away at it with something that is mildly abrasive. I have sometimes had success with a tortillion -- a sort of pencil shaped thing made entirely of tightly rolled paper and available at artist supply shops -- to mildly scrape away at flaws on painted plastic. It is painstaking work because the paper is not truly an abrasive but it has certain abrasive qualities. Perhaps a tiny amount of a powder would aid in the abrasion. Ajax and the like might be too abrasive. Baking soda or baking powder perhaps? After all it whitens teeth! If the problem is actual damage into the surface of the cab plastic then -- having masked off the area as described above -- think about what products would work on the surface the way tack cloth works on a mild scratch on a shiny car surface. Indeed I wonder if a small bit of a tack cloth, perhaps secured to a small dowell that ends in a flat bottom, could be carefully scraped on the damaged area. A few strokes or wipes, inspect the area and wet it down with distilled water to help remove what you've scraped, then dried with soft cotton, then a few more scrapes or rubs, same procedure repeatedly. It may be that the affected area will always be visible to your eye. With luck it will be no more than a slight blemish. On a similar problem on a boxcar red boxcar, I found that applying reddish weathering powders over the damaged area helped lessen the visibility of the damage. There are both blue and white weathering powders out there and consider what they might be able to do. That could be the final treatment or step.
Dave Nelson
Yes there is. It is acetone, the active ingredient in nail polish remover. It is also a lacquer solvent, so be careful that it doesn't smear the paint job worse than it is.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
dstarr Yes there is. It is acetone, the active ingredient in nail polish remover. It is also a lacquer solvent, so be careful that it doesn't smear the paint job worse than it is.
My experience with acetone for lettering removal teolls me you need to be very quick, using a minimal amount. My experience with using it to remove CA indicates prolonged soaking is usually required for best effect. I wouldn't recommend using acetone here.
The suggestion to try Kato for parts is a good one. They're quick and reasonably priced, hopefully can supply a Conrail lettered one.
Edit: No painted cabs. I see N scale shells for $12 and HO for $40, but they are unpainted.
Lots of painted snowplows if you need to get ready for winter weather though.'
https://www.katousa.com/parts-catalog/information.html
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
tortillion? Wow, I can't believe it took forty years to find out what those are called. We used them back in the stone age when we did drafting on paper, but I don't recall anybody ever actually knowing the real name of them.
As others have said....It is important to know what kind of glue You used. A smear is a smear, no matter what you try to remove the glue with, the paint will still be damaged. Think more on the lines of a patch paint and the whole nose weathered to camouflage the goof.
Take Care!
Frank
If the glue just smeared the paint and there is no big glob of glue to worry about, just paint over the smeared paint area with some rust colored paint. This will simulate pealing paint and a rusty part of the handrail where something hit it. Not all locomotives have flawless paint jobs all the time.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.