I know we had a thread going a few weeks ago. Did we ever come to a conclusive "brew" that will work on these? I'm writing up a little how to for my yet to be born Website and would like to show how to do this and what to use. I know with our plastic, an hour in Brake Fluid and you're good to go, but I guess these are a bit more finiky. Thanks in Advance Joe MTL
joe, the pinesol worked fine and did not affect the plastic (as the ELO did). so that's my recommendation. don't know about brake fluid, but if you have any pinesol then you're home free. have fun, dave f.
You might want to clarify that you are trying to strip injection molded plastic AZLs. I think only two AZL brass pieces have ever been successfully stripped. One of them by Harold Grady (I think) who forgot what he used to strip it and the other by Tim Buehring who took many multiple soaking and brushings with a tooth brush over something like 18 months to get it stripped. Randy
I have 3 NS SD70's I want to strip. I have always used ELO to strip locos before, but with Dave's experience I want to try something else. If I could just get the white pony lettering off with a little ELO Q-tip action, it would be fine, cause I am doing BN, so everywhere there is white pony to be removed gets coated in BN green later.
ok ... i confess ... i used a little ELO on a Q-tip to get the ponies off the shell i converted. i made that SD70 into an SD50. had to fabricate the "laundry shoot" and cut up the railings, but it came out ok, i think. BUT FOR STRIPPING THE PLASTIC SHELL -- I DID NOT USE ELO -- BUT PINESOL. here's the engine. still needs wipers, bell, and some grab irons on the nose. dave f.
Wow Davis, more pictures, do you have done some from the how-to? The lettering gets off with some brake fluid, not sure about the paint. I wonder if a different brake fluid makes also a difference in performance???
Nice work Dave, Can you get a closeup of the laundry chute? I have to do the same thing for my SD60's. Same with the rails.
i don't know if this helps much, but here it is. i used thin pieces of styrene to make the sides and fit thin styrene on top for the shoot. the step and braces were very tiny pieces of thin clear styrene. the really hard part was cutting up the railing! on the SD70 (left side) this is the solid box feature where the railing goes up to meet the cab. i cut pieces away and then snipped the railings out and tried to file them even (without bending or breaking the whole thing). it's not right (prototypically) but gets me the hump over the step on the chute until i can learn to draw something better. don't look too close, there are all kinds of splices and imperfect joints, but it was the best i could do at the time. we should make this another thread, so we don't frustrate joe's question regarding shell stripping. sorry joe. dave f. dave f.
That's ok Dave, just enjoying the show here. Nice work, really nice work...and having been blessed to actually hold some of your work, I know what kind of effort these things take. My only quip is with the paint scheme...I think a bloody nose would have looked much, much better! ) Cheers Joe MTL
thanks joe, as it turned out, 5507 was given a bloody nose scheme. that may be how it exists today, or UP may have painted it by now. ?? i was glad to have the shell to do this. now i need some Sd40-2s (modified into tunnel motors) to run with her. dave f.
David, Don't pay no mind to Joe over there... That thar engen iz downrawht 'Grande!!! :thumbs_up::thumbs_up:
The trucks the trucks David you are modelrailroading's most adored son at this moment. To me you can walk across the red sea on top of the water, fart and be on the other side of the planet in time for tea at Robert Ray's house. Seriously this is a jaw dropping drop dead gorgeous piece of work. You are to be highly commended son for this inspiration. Are the trucks brass AZL stock or are they styrene fabricated.?
i guess harold has started a fan club for me. thanks for the kind comments, but really, this wasn't that hard. when AZL comes out with a standard cab SD70 there won't be much left to fix to make it make an SD60 or SD50. the "laundry shoot" vent and the railings will do the trick. if someone were to draw up the railings today, this would solve 90% of the modification. i'm glad you like it, i really am. i like it too, but i'm not doing anything you all couldn't do. there a MUCH better modelers here, and i know it very well. dave f.
David, you are way too modest. I am sure I could do what you did, except my railings would not look straight, and my laundry shute would go to trash bin. Still, I would love to do a SD60. I am thinking of doing a YN3 SD60, so that its not a duplicate of the AZL realease for next year.
Hey Dave, Some how i missed these pictures in the past few days.... Way to go!!!!! Another nice addtion to your Grande collection.... The last of the big iron!!!!! Tony B... Wasatch Z Club:tb-wink:
