P5se Camelback’s EOY Challenge

[P5se Camelback]

After sitting in Lacquer Thinner overnight, a soft brass brush, a handful of Q-Tips and a pair of Nitrile gloves removed almost all but the most stubborn bits of paint, and those came off with some coaxing with a soft brass brush in a Dremel tool. Those areas looked so good, the whole casting got the treatment.

The wheel sets are presenting a bit more resistance to being stripped of their paint. Since I’m still not totally sure of the material used for the axles, I am not soaking them, but rather “painting” the lacquer thinner on and scrubbing with a Q-Tip. I tried the magnet trick, but even after stripping one wheel to find it to be brass, the magnet was still attracted to it … (?) Checking for resistance with a multi-meter revealed no help … or even any reading … (?) I’m confused … but proceeding as if the lacquer thinner will destroy irreplaceable parts.

The results of the day’s travail are illustrated by the following …











So … my worst fears have been confirmed … under the horrendous paint is a low-quality vintage die cast nightmare, surface-wise for sure and to some extent, detail-wise. What initially appeared to be a moonlit walk on the beach is starting to look more like a blind date with Alfred E. Newman’s sister! I think I have my work cut out for me here!

The surface of the casting will never pass muster as it is … properly applied paint will not hide that hideous surface of the casting. It will have to be primed and worked over with some Squadron Green Putty. A few of the cast-on details will also need to be “fixed” or totally replaced. But what the hey! I am now being reminded why this thing has been sitting in a box for forty-five years … it’s going to require a some work (and a couple of modeling skills I didn’t even know existed back when I was a teenager!)

Tomorrow there will necessarily be a road trip … up I-75 for and hour and a half or so to the “LHS” in Sarasota to get a few items … a tube of Squadron Green Putty (the people at the local RC helicopter-oriented hobby shop never heard of it,) a Cal-Scale brake set and some much needed paint. I’m sure I’ll find a few other things that I “need,” too … I haven’t actually been in a model railroad hobby shop in a couple years, so … I’d better take my credit card with me!

[cn nutbar]

I haven’t actually been in a model railroad hobby shop in a couple years, so … I’d better take my credit card with me![/quote]

Hello biL---You might get lucky and find a couple of brass Camelbacks for an early Christmas present

[P5se Camelback]

Ah ... I wish!

Brass purchases have been curtailed "for the duration." Recent medical expenses have dictated that all non-essential-to-maintaining-life monetary outlays be scrutinized for "verifiable proof of need." Yeah, I have no wife to nag me, so I have to be tough and closely regulate myself! (This C. diff. colitus infection is finally responding to the latest prescribed medication - the last resort - more expensive by weight than gold - the "Big Gun" of all anti-biotics, Vancocin.) At this point, I'll spend every penny I have to be rid of this nastiest of all nasty infections ever known to man. I wouldn't even wish this on an enemy ... well ... maybe ...

The bucks to be spent on this EOY project are only being spent because I couldn't find any of the needed brake parts on my "cast-off parts bin" nor in my box of N.O.S detailing parts - brake parts, yes, but not ones from the proper era! I had thought of using automotive bondo to repair the surface of the casting, but then thought better of it. Squadron Green Putty is by far the better choice.

I'm actually looking forward to making the casting a beautiful, smooth-surfaced base on which to add some brake parts and a few formed wire air lines and a railing, and then coat the whole thing with some atomized pigment, a faded version of Reading Green.

But now I must get back stripping paint from wheel sets ... it's a tedious job, but no one else has come along and volunteered to do it, so ...

[rrinker]

They would appear to be brass wheels with steel axles. One wheel on each axle is probably insulated at the axle. The question is - what is the insulating material? This is where my concern would be using solvents. No need to worry about shorts, oh no - if the solvent reacts with the insulator, the wheel will just fall off.

--Randy

[Gary S]

Alright! Progress!

On the axles, how about a Dremel with one of those buffer wheels? But be careful with that too, they will remove plastic if you get too vigorous.

Enjoy your trip to hobby shop! Hope they have everything you need, and that some more photos will be added to this thread in short time.

[Sumpter250]

In the case of the multitude of small pits and crevasses, Squadron putty, thinned with Testors liquid plastic cement ( or an equivalent solvent (( which I haven't found yet , )) ) will "flow" into the small spots, and will sand off easier and smoother, than straight putty. It may take more than one application, but it should do the job.
For larger gaps/holes/imperfections I have come to appreciate Apoxie Sculpt, a two part mixed( equal parts of A and B) putty, which may take a bit to harden, but can be carved, filed, and even machined.

[ocalicreek]

What a neat little project, biL. Looking forward to more.

Ooh, Shiny!

Galen

[doctorwayne]

Wow, never seen that kit before...It's a little before my time, but now I need to keep my eye open for one for my self.. good luck on it.

Unless age has made me hallucinate more, I believe Walthers had the scale test cars available, not all that long ago.

Edit: OK I couldn't find them on the Walthers site, but I do remember seeing them as recent ( last ten years ) kits, and or RTR.

You're correct, Pete: Walthers offered scale test cars a while back.

About 35 years ago, I decided that I needed some scale test cars, and built four of them using MDC four-wheel passenger trucks as the "foundation". A little sheet styrene, some wire and couplers, plus a couple ounces of lead for each and they were set to roll.


Wayne

[P5se Camelback]

Whoa! Doctorwayne!

Those little puppies are beautious! In all the time I've spent studying Fo-Toes of your layout and modelwork, I don't know how I never noticed them before!

I like 'em!

Hopefully, this ancient kit can be transformed into a decent-looking example of a scale test car ... we'll have to wait and see.

I made the trip the 87 miles up the interstate to my "LHS" and bought a few things ... a couple badger paint jars to replace the couple dozen that my former wife assumed, when she was packing the house to move (I had gone on ahead to start the new job) was a box of little cleaned out, empty little glass jars that I was obsessively saving and packed them into the trash can, a few bottles of Floquil paint, a couple sheets of decals (for my GP39-2,) two sets of AB brake gear, and that kind of stuff. Then I climbed back into Horace, the Dodge pick-up truck for the 2-plus hour drive back home, hitting the Rush Hour traffic just as I got to the south side of Sarasota ... swell. I'm thinking I'll visit that shop and the helpful guys that work there maybe two, possibly three times a year ... it is a bit of a trip for this old guy who most weeks only puts about 8 to 10 miles on his vehicle.

I am a bit concerned about sourcing the correct decals and receiving them in time to complete this project by the deadline ... of the next challenge! I'm not having any luck locating proper decals for this model. I may have to cobble something together from several other sheets - a word here, a couple letters there, a number or two over here. I guess I should have looked into that before I jumped into the pool! But ... what the hey! We'll give it the old college try!!

[Gary S]

So did you get any more of the paint off the axles? And I can vouch for S-2-fiddy's trick of squadron putty mixed with Testor's glue. Makes it more creamy and easier to put a nice smooth layer on.

[Sumpter250]

I made the trip the 87 miles up the interstate to my "LHS" and bought a few things ... Then I climbed back into Horace, the Dodge pick-up truck for the 2-plus hour drive back home ... it is a bit of a trip for this old guy who most weeks only puts about 8 to 10 miles on his vehicle.
I am a bit concerned about sourcing the correct decals and receiving them in time to complete this project by the deadline I may have to cobble something together from several other sheets - a word here, a couple letters there, a number or two over here.

The miles I put on the car when I was in Field Service, make even 87 miles look like a short trip these days.

If you can find dry transfers with the right font, and sizes:::: Prime the car with the letter color, apply the dry transfers, shoot the carbody color, and use masking tape to remove the dry transfer lettering.
What's left is the lettering....in the color you wanted in the first place.
The numbers on this loco were done that way:
   

[P5se Camelback]

The next step in the resurrection of a 45 year old Zamac casting is to address the surface of the casting. Modern-day castings are downright jewel-like in comparison to some of the small run castings produced by “cottage industry” kit producers of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s! The surface of this particular one is no exception!

Taking the advice of Gary, "the Bridgemiester" and Ess Two Fiddy, "Master Boat Builder," I grabbed one of the four inch square pieces of 1/8” tempered glass in my Kennedy Box (I have no recollection of how I acquired the six of them!) and used it a mixing surface on which to mix Squadron Green Putty and generic plastic model cement. It mixes to the consistency of butter cream icing (for those of you who have ever piped a bunch of decorations onto a birthday cake for your four-year-old daugghter’s birthday party, thereby saving the few bucks not spent at the bakery.) A whittled-down popsicle stick makes a great spreading applicator … and if you whittle it thin enough at the end you can spread the putty into some pretty small areas.





After the initial application of the putty “icing,” the clean up was easy. A fresh industrial single-edge razor blade scraped the putty off the popsicle stick (while it was still soft) and the choice of glass as a mixing surface proved to be a good one, as the putty-cement mixture came up with one pass of the blade.



I allowed the putty-cement application a couple hours to dry/cure and used that time to sketch up concepts for a photo diorama, to be built as a test bed for learning about using 2” foam for developing land mass and trying out some scenery techniques. Never having gotten to the scenery stage on any of my previous layouts, I look forward to this adventure! Plus, when it’s done I’ll have a nice scene in which to photograph some of my motive power and rolling stock models to post on the WPF thread!

A couple jeweler’s files and rifflers were used to take down the first application of the putty mixture.



At least one more application will be needed … this next “skinning” will be mixed a bit thinner to allow for more accurate control of both the amount applied, the thickness of the application and owing to the thinner consistency, permitting it to be applied into some rather awkward locations. The mixing of putty-to-cement is proving to be one of those “try it, modify it, try it again” types of processes, much like finding the paint/thinner mixture you like when atomizing pigment!

The next step is another application of the putty/cement and initial preparation for the brake system details as well as fabricating the railing. I'm still unable to source proper decals … but I haven’t yet given up!

Until the next installment …

[Gary S]

Lookin' good. What color does the print on the decals need to be? Have you considered doing your own?

I need to get some of those glass squares.

[P5se Camelback]

Depending on what era I decide to place this thing in, prior to (I think it was 1968) it would be white lettering on black paint. After that, the Scale Test Cars got repainted in the Reading Green as seen on GP38-2's and GP39-2's with yellow lettering.

I have been "talking" with a guy on the "Reading Modeler" forum who built a very nice N scale version of the same unit that I am basing my model on, #91210. He generated his own artwork and had a friend with an ALPS printer produce the decals for him. He has since moved across the country. There is a possibility that he may enlarge the artwork to HO scale and either have another fellow on that forum produce them or possibly send the artwork to me and I would then contract with Rail Graphics to produce a small run of both white and yellow sheets. We'll just have to see what he wants to do ... it's his artwork.

But happily, there is a (somewhat) remote possiblity that I may have decals before the end of the year, but I'm not holding my breath! That's not a healthy thing for me to do!

[Sumpter250]

There is a possibility that he may enlarge the artwork to HO scale and either have another fellow on that forum produce them or possibly send the artwork to me and I would then contract with Rail Graphics to produce a small run of both white and yellow sheets. We'll just have to see what he wants to do ... it's his artwork.

Unless things have changed, Rail Graphics wants sharp Black on White artwork at 2X decal size. If you send a color sample they might be able to match it. They did my Cindys Harbor ( modern ) decals in Green and Yellow, that I used on these BL20-2's.