how do you get foam off a brass engine without destroying the engine?
Mike
Are you talking about packaging foam that has stuck to the boiler, or something else?
Personally, if the engine is unpainted, but lacquered, I’d use a plastic scraper and just continue to worry the foam until it seems to be gone. If the brass is bare, you have a couple of options: use acetone with a Q-tip. Outdoors would be great. Failing that, a plastic scraper, but somewhat harder than a spatula. Use jeweler’s rouge to buff up any marks afterwards.
unpainted brass sd-7 off ebay had the foam packing stuck to it. Was going cheap so I was going to bid on it and clean it up. But I did win another one so tips will still be useful if this one comes stuck with stuff.
Then it’s not to bad, because you won’t ruin a custom paint job.
I picked up a brass engine that had been stored for a while and foam had deteriorated and damaged the paint. I used some alcohol to clean it up and it removed the paint in the process. No big deal, just paint the pilot black (as it was) and we’re back in business…
Another brass, custom painted engine I picked up was wrapped in plastic film (like Saran wrap) before being placed in the foam packaging. Now I know why.
I’ve had this problem with a couple of pieces of rolling stock. I bought it to run, not shine like brass, so it got painted with no issues. The red foam I encountered discolored what I believe was the fairly standard lacquer finish that is applied to brass to prevent corrosion by the pigment – or whatever it is – causing the finish to take it up.
I haven’t heard of a way to take this discoloration off. Most likely, you’d have to strip the entire model to eliminate it. But this is only a problem if you want it to look like new, bright brass again.
Well the eventual idea was to paint it. But I had to get off a lot of stuck on foam. It looked like packers#1 freight house he posts on wpf. The one i won I will have to see if it needs any cleaning before I paint it. It only had a pick from one side. Thanks for the replys.
Mike
I’ve had foam packing attack a few brass items over the years, I used it an the excuse to paint it right away, rather than squirrel it away (then forget about it)[:D]
I just did the normal brass prep, cleaned the brass, removed the laquer and re-attached any loose parts. I use Scalecoat stripper to remove that blasted gold laquer and a vinegar bath to “etch” the brass.
Now, mind you, I have only done two HO brass steam locomotives, so I’m by no means an expert on steam locomotives. I am always on the prowl for brass diesels in O scale that have fallen apart, or otherwise distressed. For my money, these are the most fun part of the hobby. Taking a sow’s ear, and making a silk purse from it.
I’ve had it happen a few times with some used brass I’ve bought. Since they’re going to be primed and painted anyway, whatever discoloration the foam wreaked on the brass finish was a non-issue. I separated the chassis from the mechanism, and using a VERY soft toothbrush and liquid detergent, gave the loco a warm bath, scrubbing the foam away. After that, I dried it and did the usual painting. But do the scrubbing very carefully, as older Korean brass likes to lose parts for some strange reason (older Japanese brass seem to be soldered much better). As far as the mechanism itself, a dry medium-soft brush and some toothpicks always seem to get out what foam has attached itself.
Tom [:)]
Thanks twhite. The sd-9 was real bad around the trucks. It looked like it had foam growing on it like a chia pet. The sd-7 looked pretty good. I plan on painting it. As this is my very first brass train engine how do I prep for the paint. Someone mentioned stripping the laquer and etching in vinegar. I want this to come out real nice without having to send it to someone to paint for me because I cannot afford to do that.
As soon as I get it I will post pics of it. Thanks in advance for the painting tips.
Mike
Stripping the laquer is a nessessary step, as this stuff was put on to hide sloppy solder joints, and to protect the brass from corrosion.
The builders, for the most part, didn’t etch the brass prior to slapping on the gold laquer making it a not so good base layer for paint.
For the most part, much of the brass that was produced was never painted, they were “investments” that if lucky, were mantle queens, if they weren’t lucky, they lived in a box (surrounded by that gawdaweful foam) until the owner realized they were not the investments that they thought.
Now as far as painting, strip off the laquer, scalecoat stripper works wonders on this, wash with hot water and dish soap (don’t use the stuff that has a moisturizer in it. Octagon, that nearly HazMat caustic works great) and let air dry.
Inspect the base brass, make sure there’s no “exfoilation” corrosion. This is a tell-tale bubbling of the brass. Clean off any corrosion, I’ve used a fine grade of steel wool, and wash again.
As for the vinegar bath, get a glass (NOT metal) pan, a yard sale cake pan works best, and is cheap, and completly cover the items to be painted in white vinegar. Allow them to soak for 6-12 hours. When this is done, rinse the unit off in clean water, and re-soak for 15-30 minutes in a bath of baking soda and water. This will neutralize
Mike–
tsgtbob just covered the stripping, priming and painting VERY thoroughly. Go with what he says, you’ll have a really HANDSOME pair of brass diesels.
Tom [:)]
Here’s a few views of an older brass GP-35 in O scale I re-did
The tape on the fuel tank is holding it on, during mockup of the rebuild. I cleaned off any corrosion with a scotchbrite wheel in an air die grinder, smaller areas got hit with steel wool, followed by a good thouough cleaning.
This is what it looked like almost finished.
I glazed the windows with scraps of plastic packaging, replaced the Weaver made Alco trucks with a set from Adams and Sons, and installed an All-Nation drive.
The WM F unit in the background is an example of light colors and priming. Under the white, is an automotive grey primer. The unit is an old Atlas/Roco F-9. (Before the rest of the rabid WM fans jump me, I know that the WM never had F-9s from the factory. Internally, all the Wild Mary’s Fs were F-9 specs. I use what I got![:D])
Anyway.
I chose the lightest tone of primer to keep from having to lay too many layers of paint on the lighter areas of the F unit.