Hey guys and gals, instead of posting 3 seperate threads I'll ask 'em all here..: 1) When is it time to lubricate my 6-ish month old HO Bach DCC ten wheeler ? She has traversed my 2 Mi.-ish long branch maybe 50-75 times. should I now get some mineral oil into the moving parts ? Or should I buy the old Labelle or other lube oil /Graphite ? Do I mess with motor shaft bearings ? 2) My road is a class B or even C .. I built it using the full sized main-line cork roadbed. I now regret this and wish I had used the lower profile, split-apart N scale cork method as trackage shouldn't be so high up like ,say, class A looking. It's a funky branch more down in the weeds in my mind..So, is there anyone who could recommend a technique scenic-wise to eventually make track look lower to groung without (ugh !) replacing all the cork ? My first thought is, when adding plaster for ground work, to run plaster up against cork ,say, half way up..Yet something tells me I'm going to have cracking-away problems eventually due to expansion and contraction in hot/cold L.A.... 3) Please read my 'Soldering near plastic T.O. ties Question ' in this catagory from the other day....Thanks much for the attention.................Mark
Question 1- Probably. It couldn't hurt, put it that way. If we assume it is reasonable 'seasoned' or broken-in, then now is the time to lube it. You can use Labelle's, and would be one of many thousands. Or, you could use the dregs in the last plastic bottle of Dexron III Mercon auto-transmission fluid. That is what I have been using on all my steamers for about seven years now. Question 2 - I would either cover the area near the tracks with a layer of underlay, glued into place and kept reasonably flat, and then covered with real screened soil or something else that you like to use that will resemble soil in scale, say a dyed sculptamold or spackle or joint filler, or ground goop layered into place. If the idea is to elevate the surrounding terrain to sink the industrial spur, then you have little choice for the sake of realism except to fill the space around the now-elevated rails. Question 3 - the best way to keep the plastic nearest your soldering efforts from melting is by using heat sinks. You need a metal object, say a hemostat or some other clamping metal that you can place on either side of the site to be soldered. Then, with your hot iron and a good sharp tip that is tinned already, craft your hairlike filament of wire and hold one end of it in place while you touch the tip to the one end currently held against the rail. Use the thinnest gauge of resin core solder you can find, probably at Radio Shack or whatever it is called this week. You touch the tip to the wire or rail and count "...two-three", and remove it promptly. If you are using non-copper wire, then you can get away with a light swipe of acid paste flux for better adhesion.
I agree with Crandell on #2, and personally recommend Sculptamold to lift the scenery level somewhat. It sticks very well to whatever you put it on, and has some bulk to make it easy to make a thicker layer. I plop it right on top of plywood or foam. Some compounds (some brands of spackle, or drywall mud) will shrink and crack if applied in a thick layer, and don't stick well. Sculptamold does have a somewhat odd finish, sort of like cottage cheese, but if you smooth it with a wet finger you can't see the surface by the time you apply paint and ground cover of some sort. George V.
