leestevenson
ONE TRACK MIND
I've gone square eyeballed on looking for how to videos filling holes or gaps with styrene. Anyone have a link they can share? Maybe some photos might be floating around too maybe?
Filling gaps/holes with styrene
- Thread starter leestevenson
- Start date
ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)
leestevenson
ONE TRACK MIND
I actually came across this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=089uQKCSZPY and at the 4:23 mark he shows the finished work of filling the hole creating the prototypical single rear headlight on a CP Rail AC4400CW. Since this is something I am interested in doing to mine to make them more accurate, I would like to know how to do this. Im also going to slightly topic jump while trying to find this out and ask where I would acquire the self steering trucks for an AC4400 to go ahead with such a project.
wright2626
Member
are you looking to just fill one of the existing light holes, use the other existing one, or are you going to fill both holes and make a new hole like it looks like he did on his locomotive?
leestevenson
ONE TRACK MIND
Is there a better way or just an easier way? I'm kind of interested in both, but end result I would like to be the right way. If that makes sense?
wright2626
Member
one way to do it would be to use some 1.2-1.4mm styrene rod and put it into the original light holes. leave it just a little long and glue it in using an epoxy, or something like tenax. when that dries and sets, trim and sand down the flat spot, then apply a little bit of filler to the outside. you can also use a thin strip of styrene, sand it to shape and then drill out your light hole. i would then use a brass or aluminum rod and put it into the hole where the light would go, but that can be overkill. the 1/2-1/4 mm styrene is close to the size for the athearn light holes. that would be closer to the right way. the easy way would be to fill in one of the light holes, probably the top hole, using the styrene rod, little sanding and a dab of filler if needed. there are other ways to do it, but that is the way that i would.
Cjcrescent
Master Mechanic
Wright2626 pretty much nailed it. The filler putty is, and I'm guessing, one of the Squadron products. I've used his method, back when I was modeling diesels, and it works. For some "fillings", I've also used my own concoction to fill in the holes.
The concoction was styrene dissolved into MEK, Acetone or regular styrene cement. It was mixed in a small paint jar, glue jar, anything that was clean. Pour in solvent until the jar was 1/2 full. Then place styrene pieces into the jar until full. Close the top, and let it work for 30-45 minutes. You can shake the jar every now and then to help speed the process.
This had the advantage of being able to pull a light mixture of styrene and glue, that can be applied with a brush, a little deeper in to the "gunk" has a little more styrene, and can be placed into larger areas, and then lastly, at the bottom of the jar, is a thicker layer, as the styrene particles do sink. It a "down and dirty" filler for when you run out of the regular brand you're used to using at 10:00 on a Saturday night, and the LHS owner just left for a vacation and the store is closed for that time!
The "brush" application would be used for light scratches and such on a smooth car side, extra holes for grabirons that are slightly out of alignment, or around a filled in hole, that is still visible because the putty wasn't soft enough to get into those fine areas. It should be applied in thin layers, no matter using the top, middle or bottom of the jar. It only takes a few minutes, depending on solvent used, the evaporation rate etc, to dry, and after another few minutes, can then be sanded. Sanding/filing is recommended between layers, to keep the filler build up around where it is applied to a manageable level. Since the filler is basically glue, it will stick to anyplace it's applied to, on purpose or not.
The concoction was styrene dissolved into MEK, Acetone or regular styrene cement. It was mixed in a small paint jar, glue jar, anything that was clean. Pour in solvent until the jar was 1/2 full. Then place styrene pieces into the jar until full. Close the top, and let it work for 30-45 minutes. You can shake the jar every now and then to help speed the process.
This had the advantage of being able to pull a light mixture of styrene and glue, that can be applied with a brush, a little deeper in to the "gunk" has a little more styrene, and can be placed into larger areas, and then lastly, at the bottom of the jar, is a thicker layer, as the styrene particles do sink. It a "down and dirty" filler for when you run out of the regular brand you're used to using at 10:00 on a Saturday night, and the LHS owner just left for a vacation and the store is closed for that time!
The "brush" application would be used for light scratches and such on a smooth car side, extra holes for grabirons that are slightly out of alignment, or around a filled in hole, that is still visible because the putty wasn't soft enough to get into those fine areas. It should be applied in thin layers, no matter using the top, middle or bottom of the jar. It only takes a few minutes, depending on solvent used, the evaporation rate etc, to dry, and after another few minutes, can then be sanded. Sanding/filing is recommended between layers, to keep the filler build up around where it is applied to a manageable level. Since the filler is basically glue, it will stick to anyplace it's applied to, on purpose or not.
leestevenson
ONE TRACK MIND
So, my understanding from this is that styrene has to be used in conjunction with a filler in type of application. If so then I'm set.
logandsawman
Northern Pacific history enthusiast
This may be a simpler method, having seen the part of the video you referred to:
Turn the shell on end and put some scotch tape over the hole, on the outside. Prop the shell up so the tape is down, sitting on a surface. From the inside, fill the hole with an amount of JB Weld epoxy to get the sought after thickness, say .05". Let it sit for 24 hours in this position, the epoxy will be slightly fluid for about 12 hours so if you turn it it will flow. Carefully drill a well centered hole after the cure time. To back up, make sure your opening is free of dirt and paint before filling.
The epoxy will be a hard plastic. This really works.
lasm
Turn the shell on end and put some scotch tape over the hole, on the outside. Prop the shell up so the tape is down, sitting on a surface. From the inside, fill the hole with an amount of JB Weld epoxy to get the sought after thickness, say .05". Let it sit for 24 hours in this position, the epoxy will be slightly fluid for about 12 hours so if you turn it it will flow. Carefully drill a well centered hole after the cure time. To back up, make sure your opening is free of dirt and paint before filling.
The epoxy will be a hard plastic. This really works.
lasm
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)