My version of the Jimbo tie crane

Heay Equipment Designer Feb 24, 2020

  1. husafreak

    husafreak TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks for the heads up, my order is in for the set with used ties. That will make for a cool scene. Let us know when you find the perfect yellow. I'll be looking to see how these are painted in the wild.
     
  2. SJ Z-man

    SJ Z-man TrainBoard Member

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    OK, ordered 2 kits so that I can have a back-to-back scenario. Once facing forward, picking up the crap and one behind dropping the bundles.

    What kind of touch-up do I need? Some light sanding here and there? Normal warm soap-water to prep? I have some older ScaleCoat rattle-can yellow but think I'll wait until I get my workbench and airbrush up in the 3rd garage (that's why I bought the house ;)
     
  3. Heay Equipment Designer

    Heay Equipment Designer TrainBoard Member

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    Hi Jeff, Love the idea of two in one and thanks for buying the models! There's also a magnet attachment but you need to add chains to use it. They use the magnet to pick up tie plates and what not.

    There are many remedies out there for cleaning FUD. Personally I use 90% isopropyl alcohol (little hard to come by these days) in a ultrasonic cleaner for no more than 10 minutes and then rinse thoroughly in cold water. That really seems to work the best for me. You can get an ultrasonic cleaner for about $20 on ebay.

    But some folks soak the parts in Bestine for about an hour or so. Its expensive, really bad for you and hard to get. So I dont recommend it unless you already have it and use it with a lot of care. Simplegreen is also another detergent/cleaner some folks use. If you use soap and hot water to soak the parts, make sure its a degreaser like dish soap but with no hand softener or frequents added (Dawn dish soap is pretty clean). No matter your method, I would recommend rinsing in cold water as the last process and let dry for a couple of hours before priming.

    DSC01126.JPG

    After parts are clean and dry I like to scrape way some of the support material (fuzzy like surface area where support martial touches part during printing) in areas of the model that I know are going to be visible. Definitely do need to use filler primer. Everyone has their favorite. I use Duplicolor Filler Primer (FP101). It has a super fine filler so it fills in the bad stuff but leaves the details nice and crisp. Really easy to sand smooth. 320 or 400 grit in areas to knock down print build lines. 3 coats usually does the trick. Dries really fast. Do make sure to shake for at least 2 minutes before using. Its lacquer based so definitely do not spray in the house unless you want to piss off everyone that's in the house....

    DSC01123.JPG

    If you dont use primer, I would stick to acrylic paints. For some reason enamel base paints can take forever to dry on FUD material. I have had the same problem airbrushing on Scalecoat II paints without primer. Testors enamel can take weeks to dry without primer first.

    last suggestion is that when you receive your kit, take the parts tree out of the bubble warp as carefully as you can. I've had good luck so far with not many parts falling off the parts tree during travel. But do look carefully inside the bubble warp to make sure some of the smaller parts are not still inside. Completed parts tree should look like this. Keep an eye out for the black colored parts, silver colored parts and the white air conditioner shown on parts tree.

    Tie crane 01.2537.jpg

    Hope you enjoy building the tie crane models Jeff!

    -Jon
     
  4. rray

    rray Staff Member

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    Hi Jon, I really like the way you lay your parts flat close to the build platform, as it serves 2 important purposes, first it keeps the costs down due to less build layers, and second, the parts are much more likely to survive shipping. They might break easier at Shapeways while removing from the platen, but that's on them not you. :D
     
  5. SJ Z-man

    SJ Z-man TrainBoard Member

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    OK, FUD rules haven't changed. I have all of the supplies (and 100% IPA too). I always rinse with Distilled water so there is no possibility of mineral deposits. Or, Purified (not Spring) water.

    Thanks for the Primer tip, I found it at AutoZone and O'Reilly plus HomeDepot has a Rust-oleum version.

    I pile of tie plates is in the workings.
     
  6. husafreak

    husafreak TrainBoard Member

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    I got the primer too and I have an ultrasonic cleaner. I don’t have 90 percent isopropyl but I have denatured alcohol (also sold as fuel) which is a great cleaner but may be hard on plastic. It’s fine for fiberglass though. I wonder if I can use that...
     
  7. Heay Equipment Designer

    Heay Equipment Designer TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks Robert. I also try to arrange the smaller parts by color so you can keep them on the spurs to paint them. So I'll just cut off the spur that has all the small black parts on it and crazy glue it to a tooth pic to air brush paint. Same goes for the exhaust and transformer that will both be painted silver.

    I also try to arrange the parts to get the best print since I can save the print orientation. This insures the parts printed in the orientation the way I designed them to be every time they are ordered. Surfaces and details print best in FUD when facing up with exception to curved surfaces. I also try to limit the amount of support material that touches the parts because it leaves a rough surface behind. This screen dump from Shapeways shows where the support material touches the parts. You have to pick your battles with it. For example the engine side facing up is the side you will see the most on the completed model. The other side is up against the rear counterweight, so it hides the rougher surfaces.



    Untitled-2.jpg
     
    bostonjim likes this.
  8. Heay Equipment Designer

    Heay Equipment Designer TrainBoard Member

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    Hi Eric, it might work. I have heard of folks using actone and rinsing it with water right after. But I dont know if they did it with big models or on smaller parts like that are on this kit.

    What you could try is cut a piece of the scrap parts tree off. Try that along with a small cut off sliver (to represent some of the smaller parts) in the ultrasonic cleaner for 10 minutes and wash with cold water right after. Let it completely dry and then check to see if the test parts are still nice and rigid with un-sticky/melted surfaces. Only thing I would worry about is thin areas distorting, like the A-pillars on the cab or the hydraulics or some of the smaller pieces if the volatile organic material attacks it.
     
    bostonjim likes this.
  9. husafreak

    husafreak TrainBoard Member

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    I'll try it and let you know, using a piece of sprue is good but the idea of a little sliver too is great.
     
  10. grymg

    grymg TrainBoard Member

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    Assembled mine pretty quickly yesterday, turned out great. Saved me from spending the extra money on the Marklin or MTL one.
    thumbnail_Image.jpg thumbnail_Image1.jpg
     
  11. husafreak

    husafreak TrainBoard Member

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    Looks great!
     
  12. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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  13. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    That turned out really nice. (y)(y)(y) May need you an extra gon for those poles though. :D
     
  14. JoeS

    JoeS TrainBoard Member

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    It really does look fantastic! The way it can be manipulated is pretty cool.
     
  15. Heay Equipment Designer

    Heay Equipment Designer TrainBoard Member

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    Looks fantastic! I love the decals. Glad it went together quickly and I hope it was a fun build for you.
     
  16. husafreak

    husafreak TrainBoard Member

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    I have looked at images for these and they range from glossy lemon yellow to something darker, matt and with a bit of orange, like the color of my AZL Union Pacific loco's. So the photographic color accuracy is suspect. Does anyone know what they look like in real life? Gloss or matt? Without knowing for sure I want to match that Union Pacific yellow, does anyone know a match for that? I will weather mine too.
     
  17. Heay Equipment Designer

    Heay Equipment Designer TrainBoard Member

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    In real life, freshly painted, they would have a "gloss" paint finish but not like on your car. Lots of painted fabricated steel with a lot of rough surfaces. So like all newly painted heavy equipment, its more like a semi gloss. I always go matt. I personally find gloss coat does not look scale correct in Z scale. But some folks like it.
     
    bostonjim likes this.
  18. husafreak

    husafreak TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks! Yes I’m looking for a matt finish then.
     
  19. bostonjim

    bostonjim TrainBoard Member

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    Hi, Eric
    I use Krylon "Bright Idea-yellow" gloss paint from the can. When I am done painting and detailing I use Testor's dullcote to finish it off. The gloss is reduced to a low-key yellow. It actually comes out looking faded in the sun. Jim
     
  20. mrrextreme

    mrrextreme New Member

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