Cleaning Postwar F3 Shells. Help Needed

[Cheese]

Hello,

I recently purchased the 2343's I told y'all about, however I bought a differnt pair since I had enough money for it. It was $300. The Powered unit had battery damage in the Battery housing and on the outside of it. There is none on the shells.

That I am having repaired by an expert. The Shell on the lead unit has a small balck mark that looks as though it was burned on one side. The silver has some "dirt stains" if they could be called that that won't come off.

The dummy unit shell is okay, but it too has the "dirt stains". The nose decal is falking, but that is also going to be fixed by someone else.

Can anyone help me with this?

Cheese

[Jumijo]

Cheese,

I recently bought some old Lionel post war silver painted passenger cars that were filthy. I cleaned them with turtle wax automotive polishing compound (the kind that's safe for clear coats). I used a damp rag to apply the compound, then another damp rag to wipe it off. I used Q-tips to clean the hard to reach areas. I fould that plenty of water on those swabs helped remove any left over compound. But where your trains have decals, care should be taken not to get them wet. The paint on my passenger cars is now very smooth and shiny.

As for the flaking of the decals - here's what I would try. I'd first try to soften the decal by wetting it with a decal solvent (Microsol or Microset). When the decal flattens and sits back down on the shell, I'd set it with a solution of water and white glue (approx. 60/40). The solution will dry invisible and should hold the decal on the shell. I've never tried this, so don't blame me if something goes wrong. I'd recommend trying a very small section first to see how it all works out.

Please keep us posted on your progress.  

Jim 

[mpzpw3]

Be aware that those "dirt stains that won't come off" may be where the silver paint has worn off, exposing the color of the plastic. Most of these engines were molded in black plastic, and the black shows through with age and wear, and does in some instances, look brown, or dirty. More scrubbing will probably remove more paint. These engines are difficult to clean. Even soapy water removes some of the striping. Try using warm water and a soft cloth at first, then work up to more harsher methods.

[Jumijo]

mpzpw3 is offering some sound advice. Proceed with extreme caution. What worked for me and my silver cars might not work for you and those F3s.

Jim 

[philo426]

Do what I did.I stripped off the old paint,washed the shell,gave it 3-4 coats of Tamiya Chrome silver,prepared and cut out the masks for the Warbonnet,sprayed 3-4 coats of Model Master guards red,removed the mask and did any touch-up,let the shell dry for 3 days ,coat the shell with 2-3 lights coats of Future,let the Future dry for 3 days,apply the Microscale war-bonnet decals(don't forget to first paint the stripe under the nose Tamiya flat yellow),let the decals dry for 2 days and finish with a final coat of Future.The shell will now look great(but will not have collector value).

[Cheese]

Thanks Y'all, The feloow repairing my F3's told me that stuff wouldn't come off. He told me he'd take care of what could be cleaned as well. I'll post the prgress as I get updates from the fellow doing the job Cheese

[Cheese]

Update:

Today I went to pick up my F3's from the man and they work fine. Now I need passenger cars.

Cheese

[Jumijo]

How do the shells look?

[Cheese]

Well,

The shells have not been touched. I decided at the last moment that even though I plan to keep these and never sell them, that as little as possible should be done tothe shells.

Actually, I never mined the dirty spots bbecause they aren't that noticable unless you look for them. However, there is a big black, what looks like a burn, mark on one of the shells I wouldn't mind gone. And on the dummy unit the Decal is cracked very badly, which if you are wondering what it looks like its cracked like dried mud.

I wanted that replaced, but he refused to do it, so I plan on sending it away to have that done.

The frame had battery damage and so did the horn bracket, but the frame as worked on the the bracket and battery hole cover was replaced. It was repainted and smoothed and looks very nice. I was going to buy a new frame but I most likely will not.

Really, the inards needed more work because on motor was not powering one of the trucks due to a broken wire. He replaced the brushes and rollers and did some other things.

Cheese