I recently obtained a bunch of these in Amtrak paint, which i doubt is very prototypical at all, i would like to repaint them, has anybody had any experience with stripping these? even thought theyre cheapies, id still rather not turn them into sticky blobs of goop. Ive read that 91% isopropyl alcohol is a good paint remover, but ive also read that we cant get that here in australia. im thinking of trying oven cleaner. Also, does anyone know which microtrains trucks would work under these? I guessed #1018 and have a pair coming to see if they will work.
I assume these are heavyweights and not the "shorty" lightweights? Prototypes for N scale passenger cars part 1 If you can't get 91% can you at least get 70% Isopryl? Scalecoat and Chameleon make paint remover that is supposed to be safe for plastics - can you get either of them there? www.walthers.com -- search page
Yup, the heavyweights. Imnot sure if i can get 70% or what. i will have to look into it and the scalecoat and cameleon ones. maybe hte LHS has them.
Yes, that is correct, it is bad stuff for sure. I was just trying to think of something that would be available. Now I'm wondering about all those brake jobs I did when I was young and fearless.
Another option is Easy-off oven cleaner. I havn't ran across a plastic yet that is affected by it. Just coat it on and wait a while, then scrub it off. Be carefull because the stuff is nasty, but it washes easily with soap and water.
Brake fluid works for me. If you aren't sure put a drop somewhere out of view. Wait about five minutes then wipe it off. If the plastic hasn't been affected then brake fluid should be OK. Scalecoat makes washaway which is re-useable. Pine Sol has been used by some with success. Just be sure any residual deposits are cleaned before painting.
Model Power Blunder I confess I bought a bunch of these and I know better. Model Power just hasn't gotten it...they could have produced an excellent heavy weight if they had paid attention to these cars. A little Q&A goes along way. The trucks and wheelsets are the worst ever. The axles on the wheels are warped and wobble down the track. My plan was to turn these cars into Santa Fe, MOW. dorm and bunk cars. I painted them straight out of the box, as most of the cars are outside braced. I didn't bother with stripping the paint off. Every time I've done that the plastic dries out turning brittle. I then purchased some InterMounain 33" wheel sets and replaced the plastic wobblies. I wish I had ordered the 36" wheels. As long as the original truck isn't sprung it will hold the wheels in place and run smooth. I have some older cars in my collection painted in the Santa Fe, pullman green with a black roof. They aren't correct for Santa Fe as they never had any outside braced passenger cars. Until... someone makes a correct Santa Fe heavyweight I will make do. These will need new MT passenger trucks as the old ones are sprung. The benefit is the MT passenger trucks will improve the appearance and performance of these wrecks. I attached two pictures below to illustrate what I've done with these cast off's. The first pic's are of the ATSF, MOW, kitchen, dorm and bunk cars. The second pic., shows off the work trains with the cranes and a commute in the background... with the Model Power, ATSF, Heavyweight cars on the tail end. My two cents.
Details are missing! For the most part they are correct. Window arrangements may be off on some cars IE., the dinner and the combine. However, they left off one important detail...the steps to the cars. My N scale population has filed lawsuit after lawsuit due to the injuries sustained while stepping off these cars. Grin! When Rivarossi first put these cars out many of us jumped up and down for joy. On further inspection of the cars, I discovered the lack of steps. I called and talked to someone from Rivarossi ponting out the deficiency. The answer I got was they didn't have room for the steps and the wheel swing... when going around tight radius curves. Everyone was building N scale with the 9" radius curves. Gosh, you've got to wonder what any of us was thinking and why we'd consider it? Most of us had worked with HO, having had tight radius curves and wanted to get away from the unrealistic operations. I suggested moving the trucks back a 1/4 of an inch. I tried that and it doesn't look right. So, here we are and where we are, we sure enough is. Huuunh?
Steps we don't need no freaking steps. LOL And then body mount the couplers...right? So, where do you get your steps?
The Model Power cars are the old Lima, (thats Lima of Italy, not Ohio), models that have been around for 30 years or so, I got some when I started in N scale in the early seventies. I believe the combine and coach are reasonable models of PRR cars, but thing have come a long way since then, I don't know what MP are thinking by still producing them, I guess its cheaper and easier that designing something new. I'm also looking forward to MTL's heavyweights and hoping they're produced in enough variety and quantity to keep us all happy.
I'm not sure they're available anymore, but I've used Detail Associates #8420 passenger car steps for these cars. (All I really need now is underbody air conditioning equipment.) As far as the trucks go (which apparently isn't very far with the Model Power trucks!) the only solution I know of is rebuilding the mounting area, but this was for PRR type trucks once manufactured by East Wind, now American Limited. But I'm sure MTL makes trucks or coupler replacements for these cars without all the bother.
i was thinking about the steps. i will have to try track some down to add... or when i eventually build a layout again, ill build passenger stations with raised platforms. haha. i think i might just go with painting right over the top of the existing paint, if they dont turn out so great it wont matter too much, ill probably weather them heavily and say theyre in their last days hauling commuters or some such. i dont know if im going to try get some spray cans or get myself an air brush yet, probably the air brush. since without a layout ill just be working on locos and cars, and an airbrush will be handy. obviously these cars arent going to be masterpieces, but hopefuly with some mtl trucks theyll be ok, i did notice theyre quite bumpy when i ran them back and forth on a piece of old flextrack. i wasnt surprised.
Thank you! That is wild. Now I can have those freaking steps. One problem solved. Now to contact the railroads insurance agent and see if he will reduce the liability insurance once the steps are in. haha hee haw Thanks for the comeback! Before I forget. UP Steve, I believe you are right about painting over them and switching out the old trucks to the new MT trucks. When I painted my cars I noticed the outside bracing no longer stood out as bad as before. Those model power, passenger cars are wild and need to be replaced.
