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Superliner Observation car build


rbrown7713
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Wow those cars look great! I love the finish too. Great work here. I follow as much as I can. I have made small molds with varying success. It's an investment I think to make molds as big as you are making. I'm always tight on cash. So I have to find ways to make stuff cheap. The molds that you make, probably pay for them self fast when creating multiple cars or engines.

I have so much stuff, that I don't have room for more. I wished we had moved into a bigger property. I am blessed with what I already have. So I just dabble in smaller ways now. I had dreams of several different long trains built like an Army train for example.

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On 6/3/2020 at 11:05 AM, rbrown7713 said:

I am changing my paint for the Superliner cars.   I tried Ace hardware chrome spray can to better represent polished stainless, Mirrored Silver.  Note the reflective results. Bob

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Wow Bob that does look great! 

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Thanks Chuck, this paint is what I have been waiting for. All of the silver paint that I have tried, and I believe that I have tried all of them, finally a silver paint that dries in 25 minutes, not sticky like all of the others.  Some of them were sticky 2 months after spraying.  Also, when I spray this paint, I just keep laying it on until I get the sheen that I want.  I make sure that I spray it on a horizontal position, so no runs.  Yep, I like it. Bob.

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Bob, I understand about searching for paint! I spent quite some time and $$$ looking for of all things Amtrak Heritage Blue. And not Alkyd based as like you state, takes days for it to dry which rules out most Rustoleum crap. I like synthetic enamels or lacquers as those set up about instantly. Only "real" Amtrak Heritage blue I found was made by Rapido and price was like $23.00 for 3 ounces before shipping...and it's water based acrylic. I finally found the color but by then I lost interest in that project, sold it off and have since moved on. 

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Yes, I remember seeing the Superliners cars that Rooster built 1:29, 3 guys were sitting at a show and how shiny the car was.  I think he used sticky foil and that is what I wanted my Superliners to look like and now they will. Bob.

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The work goes on.  I am now pouring the 120 window frames for the 4 cars and cutting the glass for them, and then installing them,  so I will be doing this for the next weeks, tedious, I hate it. Bob.

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Here is where I am now.  I have installed one side of windows on one car, so seven sides to go.  Then the interior, couplers, construction of the trucks, the handrails, decals, and then to the rails.  Should be a good looking train with the two P42's and seven cars. Bob.

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Hi Bob:

I was out of commission for a few month with a broken backbone (I should have known better than to go canyoning at my age) then they discovered I had a myeloma too so I spent 3 month in the hospital with chemio and the works, but then it was luck as otherwise I would have never known before it was too late.I am getting over it just now.

As you know I don't do contemporary modeling, concentrating on the age of steam. But boy those superliners (which I rode to Arizona 4 years ago) are a real chef d'oeuvre! You are a master at making and designing molds, and as a set designer I even saw professional boat building industry mold makers do their work but you beat them all. It is very fine work and a labor of love.

What I wanted to talk to you about is a word of warning about running Fine Art models engines:

I got an opportunity to find a PRR M1a (in a Paris hobby shop too!) in passenger livery. I had considerable trouble with the power pick ups first, they could not stand up to sustained running with overheating (and resoldering the leads) so I replaced them with homemade phosphor bronze ones. Then it was the brake gear that would short out, needing very fine adjustment as it is solid brass.

 Then it developped a bind which I need to attend to shortly, by taking out all the drivers and checking the quartering, as this seems to create excessive wear of the main gear. I also gutted out all the electronic as it had been badly corroded from leaking batteries. Cleaned out all of this and the brass work in the tender as this loco had been stored in a humid place. I may remotor the engine completly, or convert it to live steam. However the loco is very sturdily built it apears that all the soldering was done in silver soldering and stands up to quite a lot of handling.

By the way I have moved to southern France and am currently building a new layout with 6 meter 50 minimum radius curves. I will try to post photos soon if I can figure out how to do it.

Best to all,

Simon

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Simon, I hope that you are going recover fully and you are able to enjoy our hobby as I do.  Wow, that is quite a compliment and will try to live up to it.  I do the best I can and love this hobby.  I have seen your work with metal and I think your skills far surpass mine, as I only work with plastic.  I could do better, but my feeling is that I have to budget my time and weigh the amount of detail that I put into a model with the time to complete.  I have purchased a FAM T1 and 3 FAM Broadway limited PRR PS passenger cars, boy are they beautiful, and after hearing the sound system in it, I will probably  install PS3 with batteries. I will be copying the PS passenger cars in plastic to have an 8 car consist. I already have the molds.  I am not a collector, so I will be running this engine.  I guess I am in for a culture shock when I open this thing up.  Sounds like a real challenge.  Stand by as I will probably have many questions for you and thanks for the heads up on some of the mechanicals of these engines. Bob.

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