One of the trucks on my Bowser 70 ton 14-panel Erie Lackawanna Hopper broke where one of the arms attach where the screw holds the truck on the car. i tried model glue, cynoacrilic adhesve super glue, and elmers. I can buy a replacement but i have to get it online and my dad wont let me. It is a Bowser 70 ton AAR truck frame. Any ideas to fix it?[%-)]
Anyone?
The problem with this is the truck frame is made from Acetel (sometimes refered to as Celcon or Delrin) These plastics are next to imposible to glue back together. Do you have a local hobby shop you might be able to get to? Replacement trucks generaly run about $5.00/set. There is nothing special about the trucks that they use on their freight cars so most any replacment will work. If I had an extra (just used up my last ones on a resin kit) I would send it to you.
Dan Pikulski
You’ll be better off simply replacing it. Most trucks these days are cast out of acetal resin, which is very sturdy. Unfortunately when they DO break, there’s nothing that will glue it back together and have any strength…at least nothing like what’s needed for a truck like that.
Can you order via snail mail? Call Bowser/Stewart at 1-800-327-6126 or check the web site for ordering info.
Tape. Wrap the truck several times. Punch the hole for the truck screw hole through the tape with the mounting screw so as to not weaken the tape too much. Then repaint truck. Flat black should do fine. You cn do with the spray. For that size, an airbrush would be more hassle. If you wanted, you could weather the truck over the tape instead. You mifght want to paint the otro truck as well.
Sound dumb? Remember, the tap is going over the arms. The only side you’d see the tape fro is the bottom of the car. If the car is on the track, then that should be hard to see. I’d reccomend using Masking tape.
Haven’t thought of that…
Don’t. I just reread what you saw, you’d be tapping lengthwise. Here’s Plan B. Try wrapping it in masking tape around the “arms”, so that when looking from the side, you don’t see it for the truck sides. Drill the hole for the truck screw throough the tape. You might want to repaint the whole truck afterword. You might also try the superglue again before the tape. It may not hold, but one might help the other.
For those of you just joinging the show, I edited my above post when Nik posted in reponse. So I posted this.
If you can’t replace it perhaps you can weld it with a soldering iron.
Don’t laugh guys - this method often works. I have even used the end of a tie wrap as filler rod. It might take a bit of filing to make it look nice again but it should hold.