Okay, I tested the Testors Glosscote brush on clear finish on a scrap piece of painted styrene and it worked fine, well almost. It did not produce a really glossy finish even after applying two rather thick coats. I thought the stuff was supposed to give you a really shiny finish. Have I done something wrong?
The Glosscote was shipped during cold weather but we picked up off of the doorstep as soon as the delivery driver rang the bell. The bottle wasn't very cold so I don't think it had been frozen. However, the Glosscote is very slightly cloudy in the bottle. Does that indicate a problem?
Thanks,
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Dave,
I'm wondering if there's an assumption here that it's the gloss that ensures the proper surface for best adhesion of the decal. I'm not terribly versed in this stuff other than having applied them to unprepared surfaces, but could we falsely be assuming that the gloss itself is the (only) verifier of the flatest possible or most adequate surface?
As I think that you already have on hand other decals by this same maker, test them out with the stuff retrieved from your doorstep. Maybe the failure to "gloss-up" is due to some odd but irrelevant factor.
Boy, talk about burning the midnight oil! Bless you, buddy.
John
Attuvian1I'm wondering if there's an assumption here that it's the gloss that ensures the proper surface for best adhesion of the decal. I'm not terribly versed in this stuff other than having applied them to unprepared surfaces, but could we falsely be assuming that the gloss itself is the (only) verifier of the flatest possible or most adequate surface?
Hi John,
That's a good question! Do I really need the gloss coat to apply the decals so that there is no silvering from trapped micro air bubbles?
I do recall a discussion some time ago about using gloss clear coat to prepare the surface before applying a decal to ensure that there were no air bubbles trapped beneath the decal. IIRC, they also recommended applying another coat of gloss medium overtop of the decal to help hide the edges of the decal film before finishing with a coat of Dullcote to eliminate the unnatural glossy finish. I can't recall the author. I hope that doctorwayne will chime in. He is an absolute expert on applying decals!! (I rather suspect he was the author of the article but I could be wrong).
Cheers!!
You can easily thin liquid electrical tape for application, with a suitable solvent (naphtha or toluene are mentioned in this context; use all due precautions and see what the manufacturer might advise). Periodic careful stepwise addition of solvent if you observe the stock beginning to thicken can extend the useful life fairly dramatically...
A different approach would be to approximate the approach used on those ancient transistor radio boards with spumoni-colored spots of green and pink lacquer. I found that a bit of styrene sprue dissolved in cement makes a nifty adhesive insulating coat, as does collodion if you can afford it.
OvermodYou can easily thin liquid electrical tape for application, with a suitable solvent (naphtha or toluene are mentioned in this context;
Hi Overmod,
Thanks for that information. For now the liquid tape is the perfect consistency. We shall see how long it lasts.
I figured I was due for another disaster and sure enough it happened.
I was trying to apply the custom name decals and the letters started to break up and come off of the carrier film.
I have tried to correct the problem by adding a couple of coats of liquid decal film. It is still drying so I won't be able to tell if it worked until tomorrow.
I contacted Josh Muma at Bedlam Creations and he suspects the the carrier film is defective. I'm going to test one of the decals from the first set I ordered from him (that were too large) to see if they have the same problem. If so, I will find another source (likely Bill Brillinger).
Collective groans from all your buddies, Dave. We got your back.
I tried to apply the Bedlam Creations decals tonight but I ran into a problem. I had trimmed all the decals right to the edge of the lettering before starting to apply them the first time. Unfortunately the liquid decal film soaked into the edges of the decals and locked them in place so they won't release from the paper. I did manage to get one line to release and it went on quite nicely, but I removed it because it probably won't match the replacement decals exactly. If I had added the liquid decal film to the whole sheet and then cut out the decals I don't think there would have been any problems.
I will say that the lettering is very crisp and consistent.
I'll order a new set of decals from Bill Brillinger.
Attuvian1 Collective groans from all your buddies, Dave. We got your back.
Mike
Last Friday I sent Bill Brillinger a request for a quote for the name decals. He responded within a few minutes! This afternoon he sent me a proof that needed only minor adjustments. He will mail the decals within a couple of days. How is that for service?!?
In contrast, Bedlam Creations kept me waiting for close to a month, not once but three times.
I wish I had started with Bill. The decals would have been on several weeks ago.
By the way, if you only want a small number of decals with plain lettering, I suggest that you email Bill directly instead of using his website estimator.
billy@pdc.ca
Further to getting the decals from Bill Brillinger, he mentioned to me that the font that I had chosen was too modern for 1900 when the plow was built. He asked if I had any side views of the prototype so I sent him what I had. His proof is an exact match to the original lettering. He said they will be in the mail on Wednesday morning.
What great service!
I put the coal load in the tender tonight, and I think it looks pretty good IMHO:
Here is what I used for the coal. I believe it is intended for floral arrangements but it sure looks good as HO scale coal. I got it at a Dollar store years ago:
I used liquid decal film to glue the coal in place instead of fiddling with diluted glue. It seems to have worked very well.
Pardon the glass of wine in the background.
I got the brass brake cylinder from Precision Scale today so I decided to install it. I cleaned the mold lines off and soldered a 'C' shaped piece of brass to it that will serve as a mounting platform. Unfortunately, when I attempted to CA the cylinder in place, the CA would not set up. I started a thread in the General Discussion forum to get advice about what I was doing wrong and the consensus is that the air is too dry in my workshop so I'm going to buy some accelerator to see if that solves the problem.
I just bought a NOS Bachmann Spectrum 4-6-0 from eBay for what I think is a reasonable price. It has DCC but no sound which is fine because I only plan on having sound in one of the two locomotives.
I will re-letter it for Canadian Pacific. I'm not going to worry if CP didn't actually have locomotives of this type, or whether it is too new for the year 1900.
The seller claims that it has never been run. I'm not sure how old the model is:
I bought a couple of those 10 Wheelers from Bachmann, but the tender you have is different from the ones which came with mine...
I thought them to be a little too old-fashioned for my late '30s era, so changed the slide valves to piston valves using some styrene....
...the more I looked at them, the less I liked them, so I removed the the cabs and boilers from both locos, then replaced them with cast metal MDC boilers and plastic cabs from Bachmann Consolidations...
i wasn't too crazy about the tenders, either, as they were considerably wider than the cab...I sliced the tenders in half lengthwise, then rubbed them over sandpaper until the width was acceptable, then sawed-off the rear of both tenders to shorten them...again rubbing the bodyshells over sandpaper, then cementing the back-ends onto the narrowed body shells...
...then removed the cast-in-place pile of "coal"...
I also added a few more details to both locos...
...then slapped-on some paint and lettering and put them in-service...
Wayne
hon30critter I put the coal load in the tender tonight, and I think it looks pretty good IMHO:
Pretty good Schmood
That looks ABSOLUTLY CHOICE Dave! The tender and the coal load both
TF
doctorwaynei wasn't too crazy about the tenders, either, as they were considerably wider than the cab...I sliced the tenders in half lengthwise, then rubbed them over sandpaper until the width was acceptable, then sawed-off the rear of both tenders to shorten them...again rubbing the bodyshells over sandpaper, then cementing the back-ends onto the narrowed body shells...
Hi Wayne,
Thanks for showing me how to reduce the size of the tenders. I thought that the tender that comes with the 4-6-0 looked rather large. I'm guessing that the tenders for the pusher locomotives would not have been that large because they weren't running on long hauls. Having a lighter tender would seem to make sense because the locomotive wouldn't be using up as much power to haul the tender so the power could be used for pushing the plow.
I like the details that you added to the 10 wheelers. They are quite handsome.
Track fiddlerThat looks ABSOLUTLY CHOICE Dave! The tender and the coal load both
Hi TF,
Thanks for the compliment! The coal load is a bit high in a couple of places so one of the hatches won't close completely. I'm going to leave it that way because the video of the Cumbres and Toltec tender which I modeled it from had one of the hatches riding up on the coal after the tender was filled. Very prototypical!
I have arch bar trucks on order from Bowser. I didn't have any early trucks on hand.
You ain't done yet, LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hon30critter I have arch bar trucks on order from Bowser.
I have arch bar trucks on order from Bowser.
It seems as if you have ordered a ton of stuff along the way.
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrainDave, I am going to be real interested on how much this snow plow eventually costs you when all is said and done.
Hi Rich,
I'm afraid to add it all up!
Calculating the cost can be done a couple of ways. If I was to include the cost of all the material that I had on hand, plus the stuff that I couldn't use like the defective decals, plus the parts I had to buy, the cost would be fairly high (+- $1100 Cdn including the two pusher locomotives). If I add up only what I had to buy specifically for the plow (excluding the locomotives), I don't think the cost would be more than $350 Cdn. Don't quote me on that! Keep in mind that shipping to Canada is a significant part of that figure!
I had most of the materials already on hand including the styrene sheets and strips, the 0.025" copper for the rotary blades and the brass stock for building the drive system. I also had the motor. I also had a Loksound V5 decoder for the front pusher engine. The plow and the rear engine will not have sound. The rear engine has DCC but I might swap it out for a Loksound Pilot so that the programming process is the same for all three units. I had the rivet decals and decoder wire and connectors on hand as well.
I had to buy a non sound decoder for the plow (I later found out that I already had one in stock), several brass and styrene detail parts, and an Accurail box car from which I stole the frame (that turned out to be a waste of money. I could have easily built the frame). I also had to buy the gears, bearings and thrust washers for the drive system. I bought power pickups from NWSL but I could have made those myself too. I had to order custom name decals but I'm not including the first set that were defective in the $350 cost estimate.
I could have done without some of the brass detail parts but I decided that I wanted lots of details.
I think that the cost calculations point out the benefit of having an inventory of scratchbuilding materials on hand. Over the years I have purchased several drawers full of styrene and brass sheets and strips, decoder wire, phosphor bronze wire, electronic components, details, couplers, metal wheel sets, and trucks (although I had to buy the arch bar trucks). If it's not on the last credit card bill, I don't worry about it. Obviously, if you were starting with nothing, this would be an expensive project.
Some of you may think that I am crazy for spending that much money for a single project. However, for me, that investment has given me many hours of enjoyable hobby work. Even the setbacks were enjoyable in a sense, that is once they were corrected! By way of comparison, how much would it have cost for the two of us to go to a Raptors game in Toronto? By the time you add in the gas, parking, refreshments and decent tickets, the cost would be well over $350. I get far more pleasure out of the hobby!
Merry Christmas!
hon30critter Some of you may think that I am crazy for spending that much money for a single project.
Some of you may think that I am crazy for spending that much money for a single project.
richhotrain I would be tempted to start a thread inquiring about what single project, model railroading or otherwise, caused each of us to spend a ton of money. We would all have a story to tell.
I'd agree! And Dave is right. I've spent lots of money on things that I've gotten nowhere near the enjoyment as something on the layout.
York1 John
I tested the bond made with the new bottle of CA (Loctite #406) and it is quite solid. Now I can install the rest of the brake details and then get the bottom painted.
Once the paint is dry I will be able to turn the plow right side up. Then I can attach the final details in the interior and install the snow curtains.
Just to make more work for myself, I'm going to add about 1/4" to the height of the steam dome. Currently the top of the dome sits flush with roof and I don't like how it looks. Extending the dome will be a PITA because it is made out of brass. Hopefully I won't destroy the boiler while I am cutting the brass.
I hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas!
The thread has just gone over 40,000 views!! Whoopee!!
hon30critter I tested the bond made with the new bottle of CA (Loctite #406) and it is quite solid.
I tested the bond made with the new bottle of CA (Loctite #406) and it is quite solid.
hon30critter The thread has just gone over 40,000 views!! Whoopee!!
40,000 views over 11 months works out to 120 views per day. Pity us 120 poor souls who check in daily to see if you are ever going to finish that little sucker.
richhotrainPity us 120 poor souls who check in daily to see if you are ever going to finish that little sucker.
I hadn't done the math. One hundred and twenty views per day is pretty amazing.
I know that this project has been taking a long time, but the plow is getting close to completion. I admit that I'm only spending an hour or so on it each day, if that. I'm in no hurry. This is not a race.
There isn't much left to do. I need to finish installing the brake system. Then I can install the boiler (after the steam dome is adjusted), and then the engines and cupola. I have to apply the decals and Dulcote them (I'm still waiting for the second set of decals. They should be here soon). After that I just have to install the shell and touch up the paint. There will no doubt be a bunch of little things that have to be seen to as well.
I have to finish the underside before I can install the boiler, engines and the shell because I was sure that the topside details like the whistles would get damaged when the plow was sitting upside down. My foam cradle turned into dust several years ago.
There have been some recent delays while I waited for detail parts like the brass Westinghouse K type brake cylinder and other brake bits from Precision Scale. I had tried using Tichy plastic cylinders but the details were way too fragile for my clumsy shaking hands. I managed to break the valve details off of two of the Tichy units.
Like I said, I'm in no hurry.
On your next project you should ask for parts donations, many of us have brass parts just sitting in boxes that were gotten when you buy something in lots to get a certain part or stuff gets thrown in or from projects that were abandoned.
rrebellOn your next project you should ask for parts donations
Hi rrebell,
I don't mind getting donations that are volunteered, but I'm quite reluctant to ask for freebies. That's just me.
I apologize for the lack of new information. I have been sitting on my butt doing nothing for the last few days. I promise to get back at it soon.