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As a retired industrial mechanic silicone adhesive was and still is a staple in my supply cabinet, readily available and cheap, as little as $2 from many places. That being said I have to also say I have very little experience as a modeler, that is why I asked you.
I swim in both ends of the price scale pool, I love my Lionel Legacy locomotives, but I also love my Bachmann DCC locomotives as well. I have both HO and O. I have even have a few N scale pieces, a Bachmann ready to run set, a model power DC locomotive and 2 Kato Locomotives.
Quality is important to me, but value is a higher priority, second only to my wants which is the highest priority for me. If it will fit into my budget that is.
As always thanks for sharing your wisdom with me.
Sherrel why don't you like silicone? Like I said to Jim I have very little experience as a modeler and I would not want to find out I should not be using something the hard way, enlighten me please.
LOUIS. Good to see you around. I probably should not have said anything.. First of all, I am not familiar with the glue that Jim is using, but Goo will stick together any two pieces of anything. It sort of acts like contact cement in a way.
I once had a glass company .. The workers I had were always grabbing a tube of silicon for replacing a pane of glass rather than glazing it properly. Then they would manage to smear it everywhere .. What a nightmare to clean up. I've just hated it ever sense then.
Sherrel I know what you mean, I made the mistake of using silicone adhesive for caulk on a ceramic tile shower, the stuff turned black and fought me every step as I tried to remove it!
Is the other stuff called "goo" is that the brand name? I will look for that, thank you!
Sherrel and Louis, Woodland Scenics Foam Tack Glue is the same stuff as Eileen's, not sure how to spell the name, available at Michaels and other art supply outlets. As stated before, I like to keep it simple. I began model railroading about eleven years ago and the guy at the hobby shop said WS Foam Tack Glue would work. I've used it ever since. I'm know familiar with and really know how to use it.
I let the chassis and deck dry for 26 hours and when I picked up the deck frame the WS Foam Tack Glue HELD JUST FINE. I thought it would, but I feel after handling for awhile I will pick up the loco and be left with the deck and cabin in my hand. So, I figured out a way to add some insurance. Remember the desk draw that has everything in it? I knew I would need a L-shaped piece of plastic or metal. Looking in the drawer I found an old HO Atlas railroad tie. I cut it and CA glued it on the bottom of the frame and now I have more security. Check it out. Jim
Almost finished with the Dunkirk project. Now I'm at the roof. It comes standard with nice piece of plastic, but I covered it with my left over construction paper so it would have a 'tarpaper' look. I like the construction paper because it is cheap and weathers nicely. I will cut a couple of grooves in this roof so it will look like overlapping sheets.
The underside gets a coat of paint and will be weathered to simulate dust and black soot. Also, I did an experiment for you. Notice the third and last panels down. Some white from the plastic roof is showing. This was covered with brown paint just a minute before the photo was taken. The manufacturer says to wash all parts for better paint adhesion. This proves they are correct in that I did NOT wash this piece just to see what happens. Jim
I glued the boiler and engine housing parts today. I put the chassis on my test track and after gluing each part I ran the loco back and forth to check for binding. It came out good and here is a photo for you. The water tank on the left will not be glued in until the cab is attached.
Note some additions to the top of the boiler. The larger addition is for the stack. The smaller for the whistle. I just added these on my own from the junk drawer. Jim
Great to see you are feeling better, Jim. Cool loco. I am building the same kit, but the enclosed cab version. I am going to try using some tiny rare earth magnets to hold my body onto the frame. I would like it removable in case of a problem. 1/16" x 1/32" magnet will hold .2 lbs so 4 should be plenty to hold it in place. The roof on the Dunkirk is styrene. It likes to peel even after you wash it, but if you give it a quick sand with really fine sandpaper you won't have any problems with peeling. Good luck with your project. Ron
Ron got me off my duff and I finished the Class A Dunkirk. I was fun, not too hard, and I think it came out great. It is DC as I have zero skills to make it DCC. It creeps along which is nice. Jim
Great looking little loco, Jim. They are fun to build and they don't break the bank, either. Mine has DCC but I haven't been able to get it working yet. I am useless when it comes to programing DCC. I will take it to my friend to look at it.
Since I started using DCC, I've converted four locomotives, not counting the ones that just needed a decoder. So far I have one that works correctly. I test them every step of the way. Something about the last step...
Sherrel, This is On30. In real life these locos where only about 27 feet long. To do that in On30 we have to use an HO chassis. See, all cleared up! Jim
Update: Almost August and I've run out of projects. I planned on starting the new (last) layout in Sept. or October. I've decided to begin just after Labor Day, so maybe 6 weeks? Summer is a slow time for modeling hobbies anyway. I'm going camping over Labor Day weekend so I will be ready to go.
This time around I will build upon a 4'x6' table top. HO and On30. You should be wondering how this is going to work out. Most of us have seen our share of 'table tops' and were probably not really impressed. You know my standards so this layout may be a bit above the ordinary.
Lastly, health is good. No side effects from the operations so I'm back playing softball as of last Monday. Off to a game in a few minutes. Thanks, Jim
