That's why they were discontinued? I always wondered, I thought perhaps it was the cost of painting elaborate paint schemes.  I'm a sucka for those reefers, about 1/5 of my rolling stock is made up of them. It breaks up the monotony of box car red I don't think they were as common up here, north of 49.

brad

Any true Canuck will know the Ian and Sylvia classic  Greeting from Alberta's greatest resource...Saskatchewan.

brad

The mounting pad for the old motor looks  like a Mantua product as does the generic plastic cab.

brad

Your best bet is to look through magazines and books on scenery. The scenery book by Dave Frary is probably one of the best around giving you step by step procedures to build very easy and realistic landscapes for your RR.

brad

It would be a good start to an empire

brad

AAAAWWW LD303 ruined our fun. Did you have to let him in on it so soon???


They used them to haul hopper cars full of large plastic army men and die cast military vehicles to use as decoys in Iraq, so you could duplicate the prototype by using toys found at home.   

brad

Bob,

I think Rich has the answer. I used it when I built a lot of military kits, so I kept using it. For filling casting flaws in metal parts you might use "spot putty" for autobody work. It is used for filling small scratches and knicks before finall primer and paint. It is quite inexpensive. I've never tried it on plastic though.

One thing I forgot to mention is that after I aplly the putty I give it a drop of Ambroind plastic weld to give it some extra tooth to adhere to the plastic. I think it already has a type of adhesive in it to melt the plastic but I always give it a little shot to be sure. Again I let it cure  overnight before sanding.

brad

I noticed that he is the "former electrical chairman" I doubt that there is a suitcase connector anywhere in NASA They do not provide a weather proof seal and if the small fold over clip holding the thing shut should come undone the wires can come out and ...................

I forgot to mention that when soldering the feeder to the bus, strip about a 1/4 inch of  insulation off the bus, then strip about 1 inch from the feeder. Twist the feeder around the bus good and tight and then solder. It is a very good joint and you don't need 3 hands to hold the two wires, a soldering iron and the solder.

brad

For gouges and scratches I use Squadron  Green Putty, For small holes, I heat a piece of parts sprue from a kit and stretch it to for a tapered piece. I then stick it in the hole and cut it off so a bit of the plug sticks out from either side. Then I put it in the hole and apply some Ambroid plastic weld and let it cure, usually over night. Then I trim it as close as I can with a razor blade or knife and sand it smooth. For large holes I cut a piece of styrene to fit and glue that in place with Ambroid, then sand and fill any imperfections with green putty.

brad

SteamGene,

   I'd have to tell you to solder. It makes a very positive connection with no chance of corrosion or oxidation affecting the conductivity of the wire, which could lead to signal degredation on large DCC layouts. I HATE suitcase connectors and cringe everytime I crawl under the dash of a car to see an alarm, stereo, or remote start hacked into a vehicle using them. While I agree they are easy(?) to use, cutting a feed wire and stripping the bus somewhere else to make a connection isn't that hard. Soldering is a very easy thing to learn with some wire and a roll of solder, my Dad taught me when I was 10. I have a very ggod pair of crimp connectors for work (they are expensive to buy) and use them a lot in areas subject to vibration/flex but i solder all critical circuits no matter where they are.

Just my opinion, brad

When I ran older Mantua open frame motors I would polish the comutator with 2000 grit paper for wet sanding automotive paint. I cut a small stip and placed it in between the brush and the comutator and spun the motor by hand apllying GENTLE presure to the brush.

I also tried, as an experiment , gluing thin strips of plastic in between the pickups on the comutator and CAREFULLY shaving them down flush with the brass and then polished with 2000. I also aded shims to take out some of the endplay in the motor.

I didn't have an amp meter on the track, but, the motor seemed to run much better with these modifications. I read about them in an old MR (I think) the reasoning was to give the brushes a smooth uninterupted surface to travel on and reduce wear. I noticed a marked reduction in sparking on the motor, but wether this was from the polishing or the added plastic spacers I can't say for sure.  Just thought I'd put this out there.

brad

NO,

I'd rather see a 2-6-0. 2-6-2, 4-6-2, high drivered 4-4-2 anything but ANOTHER Mikado, there's enough of them already.

brad

Quote from: HOplasserem80c on March 11, 2007, 12:20:18 AM
what is so rare about it? can you post a picture

It's a very rare ATLAS chassised Tyco engine. Only a few were ever produced and they are very hard to come by. They look exactly like a regular Tyco engine except for the side frames.

brad

LOL I have a tool like that, but it's for people who insist on runnning Tyco and Model power on the club layout at train shows and grinding everything to a halt every 2 minutes.

Hi Craig,

Usually all the effects for mirkiness (sp?) sence of depth, etc. are painted on the bottom before any "water" is poured. For deep water the base is painted a deep blue of black and for shallower water painted an earth tone that is suitable to your layout. By blending the 2 colours around the edges you can simulate a shallow edge dropping off into deeper water. Using an airbrush gives a nice blended transition, but this can also be acomplished by dragging one colour into the other while they are both wet. As far s creating mirkiness now, you might, if you have access to an airbrush, fog the surface but don't cover completely, with paint, perhaps a tan of light green to muddy it up. I've never used EZ water so I don't know what paint, acrylic or oil, would be compatable.

Good luck, may be some one else can give a better idea.

brad

Do you have Dave Frary's book on scenery? It's "the  bible" as far as I'm concerened.