I was able to photograph Brent’s tender and vista dome this afternoon. This serves to establish a starting point and documents how the cars looked when I got them.
The purpose of these repairs is not to restore the train cars to like new condition. Rather it is to bring them back up to a respectable level of presentation, consistent with the other trains in Brent’s collection.
Here is the worst part of the vista dome. The paint is completely gone from the upper corner. I have no idea how or why this happened. Some oxidation is evident on the truck.
Another small spot missing paint on the same side.
Scratches on the roof
Trucks and wheels need cleaning and re-bluing
The tender has a hole that needs filling. It appears the object seen inside the hole did the damage, perhaps in a fall.
Side view of the tender
Top view showing paint loss
This side view shows parts of 2 letters gone. They need to be re-painted to look like stamping.
Donor shell with latex caulk in same relative position as hole. When the caulk is dry, it will act
This is real interesting, its like being in an observation deck watching surgery being performed? (never done that either) Very well documented process. I’m impressed.
Could be alkaline battery but looks more like rusty water from a heating system pipe that leaked. I think that alkaline battery may have damged the plastic shell too.
Here are a few photos of the tender shell. The mold was put in place and a slurry of plastic and liquid model cement was poured into the damaged area. I made the liquified plastic have the consistency of thick pancake batter so it wouldn’t bleed out of the mold. Basically, once it was poured, it stayed where it landed. If all goes well, the end result will be a near perfect replacement for the broken area.
I’ll let this harden for a day or two before removing the mold. Hopefully the molded plastic part for the tender will not shrink.
The vista dome’s wheels were covered with crud. I seriously doubt if anyone ever cleaned their train’s wheels in the post war era. So the first step was to clean them with a wire wheel in a Dremel tool. They came out shiny, almost chrome-like. No more crud. I also cleaned up the pickup roller while I was at it.
The next step was to re-blacken the wheels. I used an inxepensive gun blueing liquid applied with a cotton swab.
The bluing is cosmetic only, Kurt. But removing all that crud before the blueing process will help the car track better, reduce derailments, and promote much better electrical contact.
Hey Jim, I’m impressed. I’ve seen the pictures of the repair you did to the step on you 2046W tender. I suspect this one will look as nice, hopefully no shrinkage so you don’t have to do any touch ups/fill ins!
When you’re done here I have an original 2671W shell neeeding a step. [:-^] (I really try to stay away from these but how else to convey what’s in the thought bubble). Maybe you can start a little cottage industry here!
I pulled the mold away today and saw a few imperfections that needed filling. I used super glue for that chore. The tender is now ready for paint. Photos soon.
You can’t blame a guy for trying! Actually, I have a friend locally that has done step repair like yours. I’m going to try to connect with him for advice and instruction and try it myself. Can’t hurt, how else will I learn. Besides, what harm can I do, the shell is damaged already. The painting can be tricky especially if you’re re-doing a small spot and you don’t have a feathering technique to speak of. BTW, I have a can of Krylon semi-flat black, are you up to explaining how to do the feathering? You can e-mail me if you wish. Let me know.
Mike, the easiest way to repair that step is with the step from a donor shell. Make your cuts along seams so they won’t be seen, or at least not nearly as evident. Over cut the donor shell’s step slightly and sand it down to size. If you cut it too short, you’re screwed. Undercut the damaged area and sand it square. Use plastic model glue, not super glue. The model glue will actually weld the plastic together and the shell will once again be a monolithic piece. An area this small can be painted with a brush as mine was. Good luck with that repair.
