New Athearn box car paint coming off.

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Diesel-Electric

Diesel-Electric

Member
Hello there,


I received 3 brand-new box cars 2 days ago, ordered online from MTS. Two of which Athearn and other Trainman. One of the Athearns, 50' box car in Patrick Industries colors:

http://www.athearn.com/ProdInfo/LargeImages/ATH96907.jpg

When I took this car out of the box to inspect it, I felt something sticky, and noticed that the green paint and lettering were coming off! As if it had not dried when put in the box!

I like to know, has anyone else had this problem with this car or a similar car? If so, what can be done to rectify this problem?


Thanks in advance!


Diesel-Electric.
 


Hello there,

CMMR said:
Are the couplers mangled like the one in the picture too?
Click to expand...

No, everything was in order except the paint. Apart from that, it's really a nice car, metal wheels and nice details, it's really unfortunate that the paint was defective.

I would send it back and demand a replacement.
Click to expand...

Well, it was the only one in stock, and was the only one in stock for 2 or 3 months and was always eying it as I really liked it and when I had the chance to buy it, I jumped at it!

I did leave it out of the box for a night and it seemed to "cure" the problem, although still somewhat sticky to touch.


Thanks again people!


Diesel-Electric
 
This kind of problem can occur if the model was painted on a day that had very high humidity, or even raining. I have had this problem occasionally when painting some of my own models on days like this. Even though I have a moisture trap as the air comes out of the compressor, and another moisture trap at the connection to the airbrush.

I solved my problem by doing this. Let it "air dry" out of the box for several days. Then if it is still just slightly tacky, spray the model with Testor's Glosscoat or Dullcoat. Let it dry again for several days out of the box. These are lacquer based finishes and the solvents in them will cause the solvents in the paint to evaporate faster as well, eliminating the "tackiness".

I've ran across this problem in years past with just a few models. All were plastic or resin. But the air drying and the Glosscoat/Dullcoat took care of it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
flyboy2610 said:
:eek::eek:
Athearn just slipped a couple of notches on MY confidence scale!!
Click to expand...
My confidence in Athearn slipped into a landslide last year. I bought only one of their locos (GP38-2) this year and ended up using it for parts. It had a bum motor and bad trucks and the replacement parts I got weren't any better.
 
Ah! Cjcrescent, the expert on Athearns, thanks for the tips sir! Yes "air drying" did help, but as a precaution I'm leaving it out for a little longer.

Like I say, it's really unfortunate for this to happen as the car is a really nice one (really smooth rolling).

Anyway, I'm over this problem now!

I should mention that the other Athearn 50' box car I got, was all good, no problem with the paint and all, was very happy with it!

I'll still purchase Athearn, I can live with a few problems here and there:).
Not to mention, I'm receiving an Athearn GP38-2 in January (yes I was going to get it 2 months back, but ran into financial problems). These two box cars were my very first Athearn products I've got, I'm willing to give a second chance!

Heck, it can't be worse than the 4-wheel pick up (rear truck) and 4-wheel drive (front truck) with traction tires and pan-cake motor GP38-2 I currently have:cool:!


Thanks again people!
 


Prices seem to keep going up too. 42 bucks for 3 containers which is probably about 3 dollars worth of paint and plastic is just robbery IMO.
 
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