I was reading a old post from a few years ago and they were using B.B’s. How would you add them? As far as glue or whats the best way. Is there any other ways for added weght. Thanks guys
Robby,
You can use either CA (cyanoacrylate) or rubber cement. CA is stronger than rubber cement but rubber cement will fill in any inconsistencies in surfaces - i.e. curves, voids, etc. FYI: If CA gets really cold, it will lose its adhesion and pop off.
Most kits will have you add the weight on top of the inside frame. There are manufactured weights that you can buy that are scored in 1/2 oz. incriments. You can also use large hex nuts (Branchline uses these in their boxcar kits) or lead shot.
Tom
There are many different ways to add weight to your rolling stock. The method you choose may well vary according to the particular car and the situation you are faced with. Things that I have used include BB’s put into all the recesses in the bottom of an IHC passenger car and held in place with dilute white glue. Pennies hot glued into the the bottom of a covered hopper, auto wheel balancing weights stuck to the floor of a box car. Commercially purchased strip weights for placement in a flat car. The adding of a load to an open hopper or gondola. The key is finding a place to add weight that is low in the car and can be hidden.
An important factor for added weight is proper balance and I find BBs are hard to control for even distribution of weight. Where BBs are handy is if you have a car that is impossible to get into – such as a craftsman kit of a caboose that I built without even thinking about weight until it was too late :(. A small hole for BBs (or the small round sinkers that fishermen use) is the only practical solution there.
Sheet weights are my preferred choice. I saw the steel weights from scrapped kits. Sheet lead is available at some swap meets but be careful with lead, wash your hands thoroughly after touching it. I paint all lead with thick paint to avoid contact. Drapery weights are popular with some modelers, and old car balancing weights can often be had for the asking at tire centers, although they too are not flat.
Some person figured out years ago that weights you buy are almost always more expensive than just using the pennies as the weights!
Double sided tape is one way to add weight if glue or cement is problematic. Remember that Walthers Goo over time can distort plastic.
Hardest of all to add weight to are flat cars of course. Yes you can add a load but that means bringing tractors to the tractor factory which makes no sense. Other options: very fine solder wrapped around the axels, bits of lead inside the frame, etc. The Adair Shops weights can replace what the factory supplied. This is where I use sheet lead – I replace the factory steel weight with the same size in lead. Often you still come up short of NMRA weighting standards, which for HO are 1 oz plus 1/2 oz per inch of length.
Tan
For box cars & cabooses I use large machine nuts glued to the floor of the car. Depending on how much weight I need…can use up to 3/4" size. For cars like covered hoppers I fill the “chutes” inside with lead bird shot & use a mixture of white glue, water, & a few drops of dish washing liquid ( like you would for ballast) to hold it in place. For gondolas & flat cars I use the bird shot method, except I turn the car upside down & add the weight to the underside of the frame in the “pockets” formed by the body , center & cross beams, & bolsters. Always use caution when using lead, wash hands thoroughly after working with the lead.
Another trick…I have a wooden rule that is marked in ounces (at 1 inch increments) according to the MNRA recommended practice. No need to convert inches into ounces…just hold the rule up to the car & you know immediately how much it should weigh.
I went a tire supply store (one that supplies things to retail locations and such) and they have lead weights in 1/2 oz. increments that have doublesided tape on the back. they come in 30lb. boxes (the actual box is only like 6in.x 4in. x2 in) I have not run out for quite some time and these allow you to easily stick on wieghts with very little hassle. No tools needed for seperating the 1/2 oz. segments. its a nice premeasure way to add wieght.
About $0.10/ounce. Stacks of pennies do raise the center of gravity in some enclosed cars, and they’re not very useful for open cars, but a roll fits nicely in a tanker.
Yes, because acetone is its primary (only?) solvent. But one can avoid the distortion by using Goo as a true contact cement – apply some Goo to the weight (say, a stack of pennies), place the weight on the plastic (say, boxcar floor) for a few seconds to transfer some Goo, lift the weight off the plastic about a half inch or so for about a minute, then attach the weight to the plastic. Lifting the Goo’ed weight creates little strings of Goo snot between the weight and plastic; air circulating between those strings and over the exposed Goo on the plastic and weight surfaces permits most of the acetone to evaporate, and the snot sticks readily to itself when pressed back together.
I’ve used that method for weighting IMWX/IM/RC/Tichy plastics since about 1990 and blue box and other plastic kits in the '60s through '80s, and the models remain distortion-free with weights firmly attached.
That’s how I add weight to my covered hoppers. I usually use small fishing weights. Dribble on the white glue, and they’ll stay put.
You may want to think about using 1/2" nuts…I have use these on ultra light cars and found they work quite well…Of course I have read where some modelers uses pennies for weight…
Is “Goo snot” the technical term?
/writes that one down
Yes, but only in the string form. Resting as a puddle on your workbench or lap, the correct term is “Goo phlegm”.
I prefer the stick on automotive wheel weights ( because I get them from work,cheap!) but here’s a little hint from the cost concious amoung you. A pound of pennies is cheaper than a pound of lead![2c]
Modeling terms “Goo snot” is appropiate, The heavy duty 3M automotive weatherstripping is “Gorrilla Snot”
I have found pennies and white glue work well in a boxcar. I spread the pennies on the floor and cover them with glue. This is for a car with non-operating doors. For hoppers with a removable load, I put in the pennies loose - they nestle in above the hopper doors.
Enjoy
Paul
Yeah but,Goo works if its use correctly…But it does look like-never mind.[}:)]
OT: Somehow that reminds me of an old television ad and how we “modified” on the playground. It was for Chiffon margerine. The ad slogan was “If you think it’s butter, but it’s not, it’s Chiffon!”
Our version: “If you think it’s butter, but it’s snot, it’s Chiffon.”
That was amazingly funny to us fourth graders …
Dave Nelson
A friend of mine introduced me to “Alene’s Tacky Glue” years ago. It’s like Elmer’s but much thicker so it doesn’t run all over the place and for glueing dissimilar materials like pennies to the plastic floor of a box car, it works great. It doesn’t attack plastic but holds tight. I use it to glue people into the seats of my passenger cars and if I ever want to remove them, they pull off without any damage to the seats. A 4oz. bottle of Alene’s is around 79 cents on sale at Michael’s, Joanne’s and other craft stores.
I use pennies to weight my reefers, boxcars and other enclosed rolling stock. For open hoppers, I glue enough lead shot in the bottom to get the car up to proper weight and then when the Tacky Glue has set, I pour in diluted Elmer’s glue over the lead shot and sprinkle on some fake “coal”. Thus, my empty hoppers are at proper weight and nobody seems to notice the residual coal sitting in the bottom of the hoppers. I use coal “loads” and when you remove them, the car looks empty.
Hope this helps.
Mondo
On the topic of adhesives to use for weights, I’d like to add yet another use for latex acrylic caulk!
i use 5/16 washers, this way inside box cars or cattle cars u can adjust the amount of wieght and also balance them, try to put them ontop of the truck area inside, i still have to find a weight for empty and uncovered hoppers and i always use CA to glue em on
Adair shops sells thin weights that are designed for specific freight cars by manufacturer. A-line also sells weights. I have used the A-Line weights but not the Adair weights. The A-line weights have a peel and stick adhesive on them which makes it fairly easy to add. Another option is to use weights from any “scrapped” cars.