Brass Repairs and Painting, Part 2 for MASSIVERALPH !

[ACL1504]

Tom.......

Sounds like this loco has been bouncing around without a box for a long time.

Good eye on the poor repairs.

My favorite pilot truck spring is the conical spring that Mantua used on their General and other heavy steam of during the 50's and 60's . I keep a bunch of them.... I can send you one if you want to try it.

Regarding Diesels......... We have a local modeler that describes them well....... dismals.

See ya
Bob

Bob,

It came in the original box and foam but it sure bounced around somewhere. I have a few of the conical springs and they are very good for stuff like this but thanks for the offer. I also have the old Mantua General with three cars, still in the see through boxes!

I had a friend who referred to diesels as "Diseasels".

Tom

[bparrish]

Tom.......

I don't have anything still in the original boxes but I do have an extensive collection of Mantua post war locos and cars that my dad started me on when he started me in HO. Also have a pile of NOS parts from them.

Never got serious about converting any of them to DCC except one Mantua General frame with a Cary boiler conversion from the 60's. Actually runs pretty good.

see ya
Bob

[DarkTerritory]

FYI, plenty of interest in brass here too, just not much to talk about as I have few models I can use on my layout. I do have a few NYC Steamers I bouhgt years ago when I had planned for modeling the 1950's but they sit in boxes in the basement, unpainted (Except for one B-11 0-6-0 I painted and decaled for a friend to run on his layout..). I enjoy your Brass threads as much as your structure threads, Tom, keep up the good work.

[jlgrove]

Tom, I am loving this thread....while I don't have much patience for this type of repair anymore....this thread is making me itchy to get into one of my old brass projects that has been laying around for some time....

I guess with the other projects on my list right now, that thought will pass.....

I am watching your progress on this one with much interest.....working on brass is for the masters....(of which you are one....!!!)

Jeff

[jbvb]

I own a number of brass engines, mostly B&M steam. I've read all (well, all since about 1949) the old MR articles on repairing and tuning brass, and I've done some work on my own engines. I read along with interest - only two things in my to-do queue are likely to require anything more than paint, and they're way down the list, behind layout scenery and dozens of structures.

[ACL1504]

FYI, plenty of interest in brass here too, just not much to talk about as I have few models I can use on my layout. I do have a few NYC Steamers I bouhgt years ago when I had planned for modeling the 1950's but they sit in boxes in the basement, unpainted (Except for one B-11 0-6-0 I painted and decaled for a friend to run on his layout..). I enjoy your Brass threads as much as your structure threads, Tom, keep up the good work.

Craig,

Thanks for stopping by, much appreciated. I'll be posting more this evening.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Tom, I am loving this thread....while I don't have much patience for this type of repair anymore....this thread is making me itchy to get into one of my old brass projects that has been laying around for some time....

I guess with the other projects on my list right now, that thought will pass.....

I am watching your progress on this one with much interest.....working on brass is for the masters....(of which you are one....!!!)

Jeff

Jeff,

Thanks very much! I need to change my work every now and then as I loose interest after a few of the same type thread. This is a fun thread for me and I'm trying to be patient but I keep thinking of the end result. Can't wait! More this evening.

Tom

[ACL1504]

I own a number of brass engines, mostly B&M steam. I've read all (well, all since about 1949) the old MR articles on repairing and tuning brass, and I've done some work on my own engines. I read along with interest - only two things in my to-do queue are likely to require anything more than paint, and they're way down the list, behind layout scenery and dozens of structures.

James,

Thanks for stopping by and posting your thoughts. I appreciate your time to do so. Yes, there are plenty of things to do on a layout besides repairing brass. More of the thread in a few.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Today I spent a great deal of time on the repairs for the loco boiler. I unsoldered the front right step and then cleaned the area of all the old glob solder and the manufacturers solder.

Front step removed.

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The step and front running board were cleaned of old solder.

Old solder removed from step and running board.

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This was an easy task; however, what happened next was quite frustrating. The entire front running board broke off the smokebox. While it was off, I went ahead and soldered the step back to the underside of the running board.

Step resoldered to the underside of the running board.

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Okay, my theory as to why it broke is this. The previous owner made the same repair and in so doing bent the support straps so many times that they fell/broke off when I moved them for soldering. So, it is what it is.

This is something I never do on a repair. I got lazy and made the repair via a short cut since it is in a non-critical area but mostly since it is my own loco.

The proper repair would be to unsolder the broken strap pieces from the smokebox and the underside of the running boards, make two new ones and solder these to the bracket/support locations. Here is what I did in the short cut. I took the boliler and using a wire brush on the Dremel, cleaned the brass and polished the area of the repair. Polishing the brass will give you a better soldering base. Simply put, the solder with not adhere to the model with the clear coat and brass colored paint on the brass.

Area prepared for the new solder.

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Continued in a few

[ACL1504]

I then applied a little solder rosin to the ends of the broken pieces. This lets the solder flow easier to the cleaned pieces.

Rosen applied to the end pieces.

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I then soldered just a little bit of solder to the ends of the broken pieces of strap.

Ends of broken strap supoorts tipped with solder.

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With the ends tipped with solder it was easy to solder the strap pieces together.

I used the tip of the pencil soldering iron the Judge bought me. The soldering iron came from Micro-Mart. You can see in the next photo the repair. It appears much worse than it actually is. What you see is the solder which covers both pieces of broken strap. The solder is the bridge that holds the parts together. That is the reason for tipping each end with solder. When the iron is applied to the solder it all flows together making for a very strong joint.

Step now repaired.

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When the loco is painted this repair won't be noticable. You can see the running board is now straight and level. Also, note the step is flush with the front pilot deck.

Step repair is now complete.

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The new repair is much neater and cleaner than the one shown in the beginning of the thread.

Continued in a few