In the RIP Track Rescue project, shown on the Projects page, I showed two unserviceable PFM V&T 4-6-0 locomotives that were to be bashed into one good running locomotive. In this case value was added and what had been a basket case model became a smooth running addition to the roster. (Still waiting for it’s turn in the paint shop.)
At that time the fate of the heavily painted parts missing donor locomotive had not been decided. With the success of the first rebuild, a decision was made to rebuild the remaining mess in the hopes of producing a locomotive that runs as well as the RIP Track Rescue project.
Not all of us are in a financial position to shell out the “big bucks” some of the brass models are commanding. However, there are a lot of models on the market that have been “abused” by less informed/skilled individuals. These can be restored and value returned/increased by taking time to undo some of the abuses inflected by others. For a few hours and a bit of patience you can end up with a very nice model for a fraction of the cost of buying one in pristine condition that had not gone through the abuse. Besides returning value to the model, you’ll have the self satisfaction of bringing one back from the dead.
(Click on an image for a larger version.)
At that time the fate of the heavily painted parts missing donor locomotive had not been decided. With the success of the first rebuild, a decision was made to rebuild the remaining mess in the hopes of producing a locomotive that runs as well as the RIP Track Rescue project.
Not all of us are in a financial position to shell out the “big bucks” some of the brass models are commanding. However, there are a lot of models on the market that have been “abused” by less informed/skilled individuals. These can be restored and value returned/increased by taking time to undo some of the abuses inflected by others. For a few hours and a bit of patience you can end up with a very nice model for a fraction of the cost of buying one in pristine condition that had not gone through the abuse. Besides returning value to the model, you’ll have the self satisfaction of bringing one back from the dead.
(Click on an image for a larger version.)
To begin this project the donor locomotive, shown here before it donated parts, was completely disassembled and all brass components sent to the paint stripping tank. A two day bath in my usual Pine Sol solution and a bit of scrubbing did nothing to the paint. Days three and four were spent in a bath of brake fluid. This did lift what I found was the last of three coats of paint. At that point I noted that someone had attempted to scrape off the underlayment of paint with a sharp tool. There were scrape marks in the paint down to the brass.
Despite the best efforts of the brake fluid it could not permeate the bottom layers of paint so a few days later the locomotive was soaked in a bath of Lacquer thinner. This finally started to loosen the last two coats of paint. Final scrubbing in a bath of Pine Sol removed the remaining remnants of paint. About an hour spent with a rotary wire brush chucked into my little Dremel cleaned up the snags of paint and removed some of the tarnish. Again by taking a bit of time value was added to a rather useless locomotive. Watch for further developments which will be featured in the Projects page as this is a work in progress and I am scouring the shops for components on hand to satisfactorily complete the project.
Now back to the shops!
CWRailman
Now back to the shops!
CWRailman
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