01-07-2009, 06:09 PM
Wayne
Actually the two missing jewels are the ones facing in towards the headlight. As I was installing the jewels I did the easy ones first. Good thing I did as the ones missing jewels are the ones that do not show so easy. The good news is I tried your trick with the vacuum cleaner I had recovered the missing jewels. They will be installed later this evening.
I never thought about the paint and epoxy trick. I remember reading about it somewhere else as well. It actually may be better as the jewels can be hard to get at times and I find they shine to brightly with even a little bit of light making them look to new for a working locomotive. The fiber optic idea sound great as well. I have some here and will have to remember to try it on the next diesel I do.
Now that I have the first one done I can start thinking about rebuilding #2. As the picture below shows it needs a lot more work. The picture shows most of the parts for it including the four new drivers. The only thing I need to find for it is a headlight bracket.
Sadly the original owner tried to make a N-2 out of it and cut a section out of the left side running board. I have the small piece so I sould be able to reattach the front half of the running board and fix the gap. I also need to fix a few solder joints as well and reattach a number of small parts.
I have another oil tender for this one but I also made a trade for a J-4-e tender. It is very similar to the coal tenders the N-5-d class had before their conversion to oil. So the second one may get a coal tender.
I am also thinking of using the J-4-e tender for another project. A Bowser NYC K-11 conversion to a CNR pacific. The K-11 has the correct size drivers and the boiler and valve gear are a close match. Maybe a future kitbashing topic. :o
I also got some new black paint today. It is the new True Line Trains warm black. Polly Scale produces it for them. The warm black is supposed to be a near black designed for indoor viewing and to show details better under indoor lighting. I took my repaired N-5-d tender and used it for a test paint. I also added a decals and gave it a shot of Testors dullcote. It was a quick job to see how the warm black would look. I like it so it may just be the paint for the second N-5-d and the rest of my steam projects.
Wayne Reid
Actually the two missing jewels are the ones facing in towards the headlight. As I was installing the jewels I did the easy ones first. Good thing I did as the ones missing jewels are the ones that do not show so easy. The good news is I tried your trick with the vacuum cleaner I had recovered the missing jewels. They will be installed later this evening.
I never thought about the paint and epoxy trick. I remember reading about it somewhere else as well. It actually may be better as the jewels can be hard to get at times and I find they shine to brightly with even a little bit of light making them look to new for a working locomotive. The fiber optic idea sound great as well. I have some here and will have to remember to try it on the next diesel I do.
Now that I have the first one done I can start thinking about rebuilding #2. As the picture below shows it needs a lot more work. The picture shows most of the parts for it including the four new drivers. The only thing I need to find for it is a headlight bracket.
Sadly the original owner tried to make a N-2 out of it and cut a section out of the left side running board. I have the small piece so I sould be able to reattach the front half of the running board and fix the gap. I also need to fix a few solder joints as well and reattach a number of small parts.
I have another oil tender for this one but I also made a trade for a J-4-e tender. It is very similar to the coal tenders the N-5-d class had before their conversion to oil. So the second one may get a coal tender.
I am also thinking of using the J-4-e tender for another project. A Bowser NYC K-11 conversion to a CNR pacific. The K-11 has the correct size drivers and the boiler and valve gear are a close match. Maybe a future kitbashing topic. :o
I also got some new black paint today. It is the new True Line Trains warm black. Polly Scale produces it for them. The warm black is supposed to be a near black designed for indoor viewing and to show details better under indoor lighting. I took my repaired N-5-d tender and used it for a test paint. I also added a decals and gave it a shot of Testors dullcote. It was a quick job to see how the warm black would look. I like it so it may just be the paint for the second N-5-d and the rest of my steam projects.
Wayne Reid