Back when I heard it was going away I searched for some and found a gentleman still with a stock. So I ordered enough that I figured would last my modeling life. I then made sure the caps were tight and dipped the caps in melted wax to give them an air tight seal. So far the stock is holding up after over five years. Just unsealed and opened a new bottle this morning.
After some clean-up they are ready for the paint shop. 000_0188-2 by John Moore posted Apr 11, 2018 at 8:19 PM Also found a way to adapt the Bandai side frames that were for other trucks to fit these Bandai trucks. 000_0189-3 by John Moore posted Apr 11, 2018 at 8:19 PM The bottom chute is just below the side door constructed out of two pieces of 1/8 inch angle. 000_0190-4 by John Moore posted Apr 11, 2018 at 8:19 PM
Working on detailing a Milwaukee Road RSC-2 (Kato). Still much to do but I think I have a good start.
Last night all the cars got a single coat of flat white primer. Still a little tacky but when you are in a maritime area that is to be expected. When I came in after a day of working outside I went to the basement to get them and was greeted with only three of the four cars. After a search I found the missing car by the furnace undamaged where the feline left it after playing trains. Next up is to apply a gloss coat for decaling and once it is dry then install ladders and brake wheels. Fought with the wheel sets long enough And decided to go with the inside bearing truck idea. 000_0192-1 by John Moore posted Apr 12, 2018 at 8:07 PM
I have all ten cars more or less assembled. Still need roof details and hand rails on most of them. And of course paint and decals for the 1942 paint scheme. All but the two baggage & express cars are lighted and the "Beaver Tail" observation car will have a red mars light circuit added. The cars all have working American Limited diaphragms. The prototypes had full width diaphragms but I do not want to go there. I wish I could find another Milwaukee Road E-6 to go with the one I have instead of using two E-7s. The E-7s were delivered right after the war and the cars were repainted soon after that.
We have only one month to complete our Japanese diorama. Still a lot of work to do. The rocks are in place, the rails have been painted, and my wife has built the temple on the left.
It seems that I heard at some point in the past that Ambroid pro weld and others are actually MEK. Anyone know? I don't know chemicals and such.
All right, I've done some testing with the mini-magnets. Here's the permalink to the original post. First things first. The test setup I made, and the tests themselves are pretty Mickey Mouse. I make up for that by being a really crappy photographer, so please be kind. If something isn't clear (like the photos), just ask and I'll try to explain. I used a piece of leftover foam to pin the track down with T-pins. Basically, it was an Atlas turnout with the switch machine removed, with a piece of straight track at each end. Here are two shots of the points in either direction. The magnets are strong enough that without one on either side, the points will return to the magnet-side. There was enough plastic tie on the one side to attach a magnet (with CA), but I had to glue a small piece of styrene to the other end of the tie, and then glued another magnet to that. IMG_20180414_150442711_HDR by Rocket Jones posted Apr 14, 2018 at 4:27 PM IMG_20180414_150427522 by Rocket Jones posted Apr 14, 2018 at 4:27 PM By adjusting the pins on either side of the magnets, I was able to get positive positioning of the points with just a finger flick. IMG_20180414_150527297 by Rocket Jones posted Apr 14, 2018 at 4:27 PM IMG_20180414_150519830 by Rocket Jones posted Apr 14, 2018 at 4:27 PM I ran some rolling stock through the switch in each direction quite a few times, and had zero problems. Downside: I'll reiterate that these things are tiny! I'm going to have to really look hard at whether or not I'll replace the Caboose throws on my Weaver Junction. Before laying track, these might be the way to go if you prefer manual turnouts. Upside: By "burying" a finishing nailhead into the scenery on either side of the turnout, and a little paint and weathering (and maybe a grass tuft or small bush), these will become essentially invisible.
A set of Santa Fe Super Chief/Excursion train replacement trucks. Also a set of lighting units for the UP excursion water cars. Know I saw a video of installing lighting kits. Gotta find it now! Edit: Found video. Water tender lighting installed!
Some older plastic cements may have had MEK, but Pro Weld used Methylene Chloride. Not so toxic, but still nasty stuff.
Gotta stop by local Hobby Town. Need to get new bottle(s) of both Plastruct Plastic Weld and Ambroid Pro Weld Use both and like the results I get from both as well. Agree with Hemi - Nasty stuff! Wicked odors!
After letting the hops cars sit for awhile until the cobwebs cleared from my thinking processes I finally came up with my truck mounting and coupler solution. Any use of MT trucks was hindered by the need for higher truck bolsters. I ended up mounting the MT conversions for use of their truck pin by installing them upside down. That resulted resulted in more clearance for the trucks in the Bandai underframe I used. My existing stock of truck mounted MT couplers did not have the length I needed so they were cut off and I mounted MT 1015 couplers. Photo shows cars in various stages of before and after. 000_0196-1 by John Moore posted Apr 16, 2018 at 12:02 PM The cars get lettered the same as the boxcar since I have black Turtle Creek lettering and green turtle emblems.
Finished the trucks and couplers and gloss coated the cars. Now starting to decal, and went to the printer for the Hops Service. 000_0197-2 by John Moore posted Apr 16, 2018 at 7:46 PM
I made a little progress on one of my Jordan Spreaders. This one is getting modernized, so I built the compressor today.
Newest UP passenger set arrived today. In process of swearing, as I TRY to get antenna supports installed on observation car! Rebuilt the original, damaged Diner, since the set I just recieved, had the Diner apparently swapped out! Got a Dome instead of Diner. Having a heck of a time with detail parts! Still have trouble seeing things up close, even with a lighted magnifier! It's possible, but it's a challenge yet! Hoping it'll get a little better as time goes. Will have a set of Digitrax DCC decoders next, when I get to Denver to pick them up. I got the call, that my DCC decoders for my Rio Grande SW1200's are in. Maybe Wednesday. How fun!
