Athearn Challenger/UP Excursion Train?

Spookshow Jun 25, 2013

  1. James Norris

    James Norris TrainBoard Supporter

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    James,

    I got my Goo Gone form that magic auction site. Ii could not find it any ware in a shop over here!

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8oz-236ml...omeGarden_CLV_Cleaning_CA&hash=item35cc33353f

    I found putting it in a jam/pasta source jar worked well, then you can keep it sealed. It evaporates fast.

    As for using another product, most have chemicals in them and I don't know the reaction they might have with the FUD.

    Also please note. I leave the parts in the Goo Gone for about 24 hours. Then I wash again in warm soapy water and leave to dry for another 24 hours. The FUD Turns white and any wax that is left powders up. I them use a tooth brush to lightly scrub it off.

    Also, the FUD dissipate being strong is brittle, be careful when flexing the trucks to put in the wheels. (that's why the bolster is not in the centre).

    Also, if you have a miss hap and something snaps or brakes, super glue fixes it better than before. I use the Loctight gel super glue, great stuff.

    James
     
  2. James Norris

    James Norris TrainBoard Supporter

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    Shapeways just updated and said the first Jim & Joe have been shipped, who is it going to be?

    -James
     
  3. Xmtrman

    Xmtrman TrainBoard Member

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    I'm still showing as "In Production" so not me.

    Maybe Mark?
     
  4. Xmtrman

    Xmtrman TrainBoard Member

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    BTW, James, I assuming 36" wheelsets. Is that right?

    I'm going to get some on order.

    -Bob
     
  5. jamesdewarinireland

    jamesdewarinireland E-Mail Bounces

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    Thanks for the info. I just ordered the Goo Gone from the link given. Not worth the petrol
    on a fruitless chase around the shops.
     
  6. James Norris

    James Norris TrainBoard Supporter

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    Hi Bob, I think so. I have used the standard plastic ones that come with Microtrains stuff. Got lots knocking about.

    -James
     
  7. Spookshow

    Spookshow TrainBoard Member

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    Mine still shows "in production" (with an estimated ship date of 11/11)

    -Mark
     
  8. robert3985

    robert3985 TrainBoard Member

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    I use Bestine...available at Michael's...to remove the wax residue from FUD prints. Bestine was used in graphics/commercial illustration departments world wide to remove wax from paste-ups when graphics layouts were done with paper and knife rather than digitally. It does not affect FUD, but I've found I still need to take a small, fairly stiff brush to the print to get all the wax off. Just letting it soak doesn't do it.

    It's important to remember that if you don't get the wax off, your paint won't dry properly and flat paint will remain shiny. I'm not sure what gloss paint will do, but I don't want to find out. FUD goes completely opaque (frosty white) when the wax has been completely removed, so if any part of your print is even a little translucent, you know you haven't got the wax removed.

    Cheerio!
    Bob Gilmore
     
  9. Spookshow

    Spookshow TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for the advice, Bob. I've never dealt with FUD before, so that should prove helpful.

    Cheers,
    -Mark
     
  10. Xmtrman

    Xmtrman TrainBoard Member

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    Just received a tracking number from Shapeways!
     
  11. Spookshow

    Spookshow TrainBoard Member

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    Got mine in the mail today. Couldn't find any wheelsets (Micro-Trains or otherwise) that would stay in the trucks, and wound up breaking one of them trying to force the issue (note to self - FUD does not bend). At this point I think I'm just going to use Con-Cor trucks on mine.

    Cheers,
    -Mark
     
  12. Xmtrman

    Xmtrman TrainBoard Member

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    Got mine today, too. I just got a quick look before I had to get going to work.

    Mark, were the MTs' axles too short?

    Did you try any of the various flavors of Fox Valley?

    -Bob
     
  13. James Norris

    James Norris TrainBoard Supporter

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    I would like know how you all get on with the trucks, when I got my test print through they where too tight, and I did what Mark did (I feel your pain), but once cleaned up they super glue together very well. Any way, I strengthened the shape of the trucks in the model hoping this would prevent that from happening and widened them by 0.4 mm, these are the trucks you all have, maybe I over cooked it?

    Please let me know what wheel sets are working for you?

    -James
     
  14. Spookshow

    Spookshow TrainBoard Member

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    Everything I tried was too short. Unfortunately, I have many different options tossed into my "Big Pile O' Wheelsets" drawer, so I can't really provide any specific information on which ones didn't work. But suffice to say, none of them did :-(

    Cheers,
    -Mark
     
  15. Spookshow

    Spookshow TrainBoard Member

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    Mine were the opposite of "too tight". My mistake was trying to bend the sideframes in order to make the fit "less tight". D'oh!

    Cheers,
    -Mark
     
  16. Spookshow

    Spookshow TrainBoard Member

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    One other thing I noticed is that there seems to be some extra offshoots off of the "non-rounded" end of the chassis. Said offshoots interfere with how the chassis fits to the shell. As pictured below, one of said offshoots broke off along with some of the chassis when I forced it onto to shell -

    [​IMG]

    Maybe I did something wrong? I dunno, I thought I followed the instructions.

    Cheers,
    -Mark
     
  17. JDG

    JDG TrainBoard Member

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    Mine were scheduled to ship on the 11th but were still showing processing and in production yesterday. So I emailed them and they said they were having printing troubles with them now and didn't have a ship date for my 2 sets. So who knows.
     
  18. Noc

    Noc New Member

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    I just received mine today as well. These things are tiny. Very detailed, amazing work James, simply amazing.
     
  19. Xmtrman

    Xmtrman TrainBoard Member

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    James,

    What was the "as designed" axle length before/after you added the 0.4 mm?

    Some info I've found in the last couple days:

    Fox Valley makes 36" diameter wheelsets in 5 axle lengths ranging from .526" (13.36mm) to .576" (14.63mm). [ http://www.foxvalleymodels.com/metalwheels.html ]

    The middle values:
    .540" (13.716mm) MT
    .553" (14.046mm) Intermountain & some Atlas
    .563" (14.300mm) Con-Cor & Bachmann

    Since 13.716 was tight you added 0.4 so you should be somewhere less than 14.1 which is kind of no mans land.

    Since too tight is theoretically easier to fix than too loose, I'll try a .563" FV set and let you know...

    -Bob
     
  20. James Norris

    James Norris TrainBoard Supporter

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    Hi Mark, that's a shame! However the tabs are correct, but I can see from the photo the chassis is round the wrong way. The 'Notchs' or cut outs in the ends are to fit around the coupling mounts. The larger one on the left of the image below is for the rounded end of the tender. The tapered 'Notch' or cut out on the right is for the square end that you are showing in your picture.

    [​IMG]

    The two smaller air tank things on the underside of the chassis should be on the same side as the pump thing on thing on the side of the main body.

    [​IMG]

    The chassis has a gap all the way around it so it will fit into the main body without force, it will need gluing in once you have painted all the parts and added some weight.

    As I have said before this stuff fixes very well with super glue.

    -James
     

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