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Shrinking Tri-ang model to HO scale???

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  • Member since
    September 2017
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Shrinking Tri-ang model to HO scale???
Posted by Safety Valve on Monday, May 20, 2019 6:25 PM

Hello,  I am wanting to try something out that is possibly new, I haven't reallly talked about this at all, but I am itching to try it out! Big Smile I want to shrink the plastic of a Tri-ang Railways 3F that I own to HO scale, I noticed the last time I put the 3F Jinty in Rubbing Alcahol it shrunk the plastic of the model ever so slightly after about an Hour so it didn't fit on the original chassis too well, I was originally attempting to get the paint off of it, however I didn't have any luck I was thinking if this experiment was successful I could possibly put an MDC Roundhouse 0-6-0 HO chassis underneath, I'm wondering if anyone has tried this before and if so what are your thoughs???? 

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Monday, May 20, 2019 6:28 PM

Are you actually suggesting using chemicals to shrink an oversized model to HO scale?

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If you find a way to make this work, let me know. There are plenty of 1:64 and 1:72 models I would love to put to use on my layout.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

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Posted by BATMAN on Monday, May 20, 2019 6:37 PM

Okay, where is the hidden camera.

Brent

"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."

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Posted by IRONROOSTER on Monday, May 20, 2019 6:52 PM

Are you sure it didn't just warp from softening by the alcohol?

Paul

If you're having fun, you're doing it the right way.
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Posted by mbinsewi on Monday, May 20, 2019 7:29 PM

I'm sure all your going to get is a lot of distortion.  Knock yourself out, let us know how it works.

Maybe 90% works better than 70%  ?  Who knows!

Mike.

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Posted by xdford on Monday, May 20, 2019 7:35 PM

I do not know how old your model is but Tri-ang models tended to be moulded in their colours of plastic. So your rubbing alcohol literally with no paint to attack may be attacking the plastic instead.

I am not a chemical engineer but the rubbing alcohol may well be attacking the colourant of the plastic causing the apparent shrinkage.

The older Jinty's were more than likely oversize compared to the original. Have you had a look at the Bachmann/Mainline version which is also a very nice model. I would imagine that a 3F would look very small in HO which is why Tri-ang mixed OO and HO sized models to avoid the size disparity.

A Jinty was my very first electric loco at age 9 - it did many probably hundreds if not thousands of actual miles!

Good Luck with whatever you do and I am quite prepared to be contradicted on my ideas as to what is happening!

Cheers from Australia

 

Trevor

 

A taste of Canada in Australia  http://xdford.freeasphost.net/stag01.html

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Posted by chutton01 on Tuesday, May 21, 2019 8:38 AM

I  have not read of shrinking the actual original model down using alcohol, but I have certainly read of shrinking molds/castings to get parts in a desired scale (often done in the 1/87 vehicle community to create hard to find  HO scale vehicles from more common 1/64 models) - this thread on the Atlas Resuce forum should give some idea.

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Posted by mbinsewi on Tuesday, May 21, 2019 9:10 AM

chutton01
HO scale vehicles from more common 1/64 models)

Now that is an interesting thread.  I didn't read through it all, but he made a mold of the 1:64 model, and then was able to shrink the mold for 1:87.

Wow, interesting.  I'll have to read the complete thread.

Mike.

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Posted by stokesda on Tuesday, May 21, 2019 5:55 PM

mbinsewi

 

 
chutton01
HO scale vehicles from more common 1/64 models)

 

Now that is an interesting thread.  I didn't read through it all, but he made a mold of the 1:64 model, and then was able to shrink the mold for 1:87.

Wow, interesting.  I'll have to read the complete thread.

Mike.

 

 

This is something discussed from time to time on Ken Patterson's "What's Neat" videos on YouTube. In one of the latest ones (the one where they interview Hal Miller of MR fame, actually), Mike Budde has some of these cars to show off and he touches on the topic a bit.

Dan Stokes

My other car is a tunnel motor

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