Arrrrgggggh! We had a blizzard here in St Louis today - I have 12" of snow on my driveway right now. So, I decided to stay in today and try to finish off another of those kits that has been sitting around partially completed for some time - this a nice looking Branchline Green Bay & Western WRX reefer. These used to be seen on the SLSF from time to time. The car was going together well - looking good. I came to the step calling for mounting the wooden roofwalk on to the roof of the car, this after I completed the delicate assembly and installation of the four ice hatches with all their hardware. The GB&W reefer was looking really nice - in its attractive gray and red oxide color with the red GB&W herald. Then, suddenly, I committed a kiddie mistake - the kind I used to make years ago when assembling model airplanes! I had my finger pressing down on the roofwalk while I was securing it at a high spot with Tenex liquid solvent from underneath the roof. AArrrggggh!, you guessed it - the Tenex bled through the roofwalk mounting lug and flowed up and under my finger tip - the roofwalk now has a FBI quality fingerprint on it. Arrrggghhhh! Got to think better than that! Thought I had learned not to do stupid things like that years ago. I'm trying to salvage the mess now by refinishing the roofwalk. I think it will come out OK, but even so, the model will not look as good as I had hoped. STUPID! Thanks. I had to get that off my chest. Ken
Ken, I just envy your position of having a snow day to work on models! I had one in 1994 when I first moved to Columbia: 19" of snow and stuck in my tiny apartment for 2 days with nothing but some kits and modeling tools! Of course...last year when we had a 15" snow day, I spent my time extricating children from drifts in the back yard...and wouldn't trade that for the world either.
We've all left a fingerprint or two on models. We've all also discovered that X-Acto knife blade should be sharp and, as a result, to keep bandaids at the work bench. Another 6" of snow here in Michigan - that puts our winter total @ 60". Gotta get a snow blower B4 next winter. Doug
FYI, the GBW WRX reefer model looks like it will survive; I'm not sure about the modeler! I had to remove the roofwalk, sand it smooth to remove the fingerprint, and then place it back on the roof. I then had to paint the car roof. Fortunately, Poly-Scale red oxide was a pretty close match. I applied the paint with a Microbrush. I've been using Microbrushes for several months now with great results - I can't remember the last time I used a regular brush. Have any others tried them? Great for water-based paints; no good for solvent-based paints. Well, I feel better. Thanks for letting me "vent". While building a model, as well as with most things in life, you gotta think at least one step ahead. Ken
Ken--Are Microbrushes those little swab (Q-tip) looking things? Somebody gave me some of those, but I haven't ever gotten around to using them--They look like a great idea! Tom
Tom - Yes, you have it correct. The Microbrush is essentially a tiny little Q-tip made of synthetic fiber. I use both the regular size for general painting, and the "superfine" size for tight and detail work. I love them - but have only used them with water-based paints, like Poly-Scale, ModelMaster Acryl, Accu-paint, etc. Works great. I have not tried to use them on solvent-based paints like Floquil, Scalecoat or Scalecoat II. I've always liked to add tiny detail accents to models. These things make that easier. Plus, they cost little. A pack of ten of them is only $1.59 at my "LHS". I keep a bottle on the work bench full of water - put the microbrushes in there after each use (different ones for different colors). Each one is good for about 5-8 uses, depending on the area you use it on. When they start to lose bits of fiber, time for a new one. For example - on the GBW WRX reefer I have been moaning about - I used a regular size Microbrush to paint the roof. Beautiful thin coat resulted, no brush marks, uniform coverage. It's fun to watch the paint go on so thin, yet cover the area nicely. Ken
I left a fingerprint on a model just last weekend-- $!><?&** Heljan grain elevator silos. At least I only caught a hot soldering iron that I knocked off the workbench once...learned to wear gloves and/or let it hit the floor. Ouch.
Chris' 3rd Law of XActo Blades: one will always drop the brand-new blade in holder point-down onto one's bare leg while wearing shorts at the workbench. Didn't quite need stitches but it took that one a while to heal. I figure a scale finger print on the paint job's no worse that stencilling "F" on the back end of an O/W repowered RS-2! (see Marre & Sommers p. 80)
I am glad to see that I am not the only one who makes these mistakes! I will have to admit, however, that I have tried to catch a soldering iron several times. But it only took once with the Xacto knife. The other day I even glued my index finger to my thumb with super glue. That was a real treat! BTW, Ken what is the secret with using Tenex? I have tried to use it, but have not had any success. Snow? Yes, we had over 2 inches in Fort Worth. Jerome Fort Worth, Texas
Jerome - Tenax 7R is my preferred solvent cement, though I also use several others. Tenax is very volatile, so it sets up quickly, holds strong, and does minimal damage to the surrounding plastic (unless you have your finger right there on the work!) The key is using only as little as is needed to bond the parts. I use a small engineering drafting ink pen that is part of my set of drafting tools I bought while a student at MSM in Rolla many moons ago. You can easily adjust the gap between the points to control the amount of Tenax that flows on to the work. I knew there was a reason they made me, a chemical engineer, take that engineering drawing course down at MSM my freshman year - my future HO model railroading hobby! In fact, I started into HO railroading the summer after my freshman year at MSM - that would have been 1961. I always was a modeller (aircraft, ships & cars mainly), loved, with my dad, to watch trains, and was a model railroad fan from my earlier Lionel train layout days. But being right next to the Frisco in Rolla led me very quickly into beginning to model the good old SLSF in HO. Ken
I too, have been finger-printed, but no more! The most important thing is flow control and I recently discovered "Touch-N-Flow". It is a glass pipette with a micro-sized stainless tube embedded in one end. It will allow you to place styrene or CA glue in the tiniest of places with the utmost control!
I have one of those but for some reason I have trouble using it with Tenax 7R. I use a small draftsmens set ink pen that I obtained during my freshman year at MSM - needed it for the engineering drawing course. It works great ..... when I remember to keep my fingers clear. Ken
I agree with Keith (didn't know you were in KC until a few mins ago) about the "Touch'n'Flow" applicator, really a glass pipette. These are great when new but not so great when they are clogged up. Fantastic control over Tenax (MEK) but, with me, they seem to have a short life span with me (about 25 HO cars). Little devils are about $6-7 so if anyone knows where to get these things in bulk, put me on the list to buy some. I have not tried other solvent type solutions in my pipette since I have gallon of MEK. The trick with these pipettes is to "flow" a tiny drop of MEK into the seam of the two pieces of plastic you are joining together. This is a quickly learned skill and will make your models look as good as the "built-up" models. It is also very fast. My assembly time compares favorably with some of my competitive buds here in KC. As Steve Priest once said, "It'll change your life" and he was right. I have assembled about 700 (no kidding) Intermountain, Red Caboose, P2K, etc cars in the last 8-10 years. The only problem is that kits are getting more difficult to find. Frisco Faster Freight!!!!!! Rick
I'll have to try the thing again with Tenax! As I recall, my problem was in getting just that one little drop of solvent to flow on to the model where I wanted it. I usually let too much flow out as I recall. Tenax has very low viscosity, so it flows very easily. Obviously, I must have had bad finger control on the pipette. Coordination and I have never been friends! The problem Rick mentions about the thing having a short life could be from some heavier impurities in the solvent forming a varnish-like deposit inside the tube. I have noticed such a buildup on my drafting pen from solvent cements like the one Plastruct sells, which for me fouls up the pen quickly. The only reason I keep it around is that it is a slower dry as it is less volatile. I've noticed much less of this problem with Tenax (which is what I usually use) and the Ambroid solvent product. Rick - Have you ever tried some straight acetone in the pipette to try to clean it out rather than buying a new one? Ken
No on the acetone but I will get some at Home Depot in the next day or two. I have about a dozen pipettes in a box at home. This may be just the thing. I may have enought pipettes to last me a lifetime. Thanks. Frisco Faster Freight! Rick
Acetone itself is not a bad solvent cement. Not quite as fast as Tenax (mainly MEK - methyl ethyl ketone). Acetone is methyl methyl ketone. I think the old Testor's solvent cement was largely acetone. I'm told in an emergency, acetone will also act as a solvent for "super glue" on the skin. Try to limit acetone contact with skin, however. Ken
Suggestion to clean out the pipette: Buy a desoldering bulb from Radio Shack and open the white plastic end to fit the end of the pipette. This will allow you to force solvent back and forth through the tips. Desoldering Bulb Model: 64-2086
