One Last Shorty

Where users can chronicle their builds. Start one thread and continue to add on to it.

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ccvstmr
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

FIDDLING ON THE ROOF - Last Roof Entry

And so, when the paint dried, the roof was set on top of the car body that had been sitting off to the sides...

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When the above photos was taken, the round top windows were just set in the openings. Those still need to be installed (during the priming and painting process). And we'll get to that eventually.

But wait...there's A LOT more work to do including a lengthy list of details that will eventually be added to #7. For now, will give the creative juices a rest and check for comments and questions. You can be sure, we will continue! Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
Odyknuck
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Odyknuck »

Sure is a lot of work building one of these cars. Awesome job Carl.
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Steggy
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Steggy »

Odyknuck wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 5:12 pm Sure is a lot of work building one of these cars. Awesome job Carl.
Makes you wonder how much work went into building the originals. Not all of the fancy tools and materials we have now were around in those days.
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NP317
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by NP317 »

ccvstmr wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 1:34 pm
NP317 wrote: Sat Feb 04, 2023 12:50 pm All that work perhaps has you wishing you had made a mold for one-piece fiberglass roof from the first car you made.
Mix, mold, repeat. Hmmm...
Your results sure look good and could probably support passengers sitting on top! Beefy construction.
RussN
Hi Russ...[snip]
Roof Strength? You know, the roof probably could carry a person...at least a small person. I'd be more concerned about the car sides and windows getting kicked. For now, think I'll have the riders stick to a riding car. My opin...the cars are too nice to risk scuff marks. Thanx. Carl B.
Carl: I had similar thoughts that the walls might be the weaker parts. Makes sense.
And Thanks again f sharing your work and experiences.
RussN
ccvstmr
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

Odyknuck wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 5:12 pm Sure is a lot of work building one of these cars. Awesome job Carl.
Well Ody...helps keep me off the streets and out of the bars. AND...it's a whole lot healthier that some other nasty habits. Good things take time. Besides, locomotives of any flavor or wheel arrangement don't go together over a few weekends. Sometimes, the journey is as much fun as the destination. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
ccvstmr
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

Steggy wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 9:37 pm
Odyknuck wrote: Sun Feb 05, 2023 5:12 pm Sure is a lot of work building one of these cars. Awesome job Carl.
Makes you wonder how much work went into building the originals. Not all of the fancy tools and materials we have now were around in those days.
Hey Steggy...they probably had a good selection of lumber to use: straight grain, few knots, etc. Made use of templates where possible. Had wood shops to kill for (and without safeguards...sadly that probably happened more than we'd like to think about).

Consider this...the real Sierra #5 and #6 still exist. They're now over 100 years old! Not sure my models will last that long...but that's something to think about. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
ccvstmr
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

NP317 wrote: Mon Feb 06, 2023 12:32 am
Hi Russ...[snip]
Roof Strength? You know, the roof probably could carry a person...at least a small person. I'd be more concerned about the car sides and windows getting kicked. For now, think I'll have the riders stick to a riding car. My opin...the cars are too nice to risk scuff marks. Thanx. Carl B.
Carl: I had similar thoughts that the walls might be the weaker parts. Makes sense.
And Thanks again f sharing your work and experiences.
RussN


Russ, actually I think the car body could take a lot more load than the roof. The car body has 1/2" thick wall frame members covered over with another 1/2" of plywood and wood planks. While the wall frames are true truss members, the way the stack of material is glued together is very strong. However, not sure I'd want to try a load test and take the car body to the breaking point.

Sharing the work and experience...glad to do it. All part of the fun in this hobby. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
ccvstmr
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

A SPLASH OF COLOR - Part 1

Well guys, break time is over. Was going to go off in a different direction, but decided to complete the description of the car body work...namely the priming and painting. Similar to the work on cars #5 and #6, the priming/painting for car #7 was a 3-step application process.

Before any work is started, the car is cleaned and wiped down. A shop vac does a great job of sucking the dust out of the plank grooves. Next, masking...if you don't want any particular surfaces primed or painted...best to cover those up. Masking tape is cheap compared to the time to go back for do-overs and touch ups. As such, door and window openings are covered on the inside. Placed some cardboard over the top of the car too.

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First application is done with Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer. You might be thinking...what? Where's the metal? There is no metal involved here. The Rusty Metal Primer is an oil based primer used to seal the wood and raise any surface wood fibers. When painting the planked walls, would use the brush bristles to "push" the primer into the plank grooves.

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Car #7 was now "primed". Most of that primer would be sanded off the surface. Used a fine angled sanding sponge for this. After the sides were sanded, used the angled edge to go up/down each of the plank grooves to clean those out. Yes...takes a lot of time and makes for a lot of primer dust. This is all in the name of getting a nice surface finish.

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After a couple of days to allow the 1st primer application to sufficiently dry, the next step was to spray Rustoleum Flat Black primer on the car...right over the Rusty Metal Primer. Not to worry, the car won't stay like this for long. Wasn't about to build a model of a funeral train.

Was careful to get the spray primer on all surfaces including in the plank grooves. Mind you, while do this much spraying...had a 10" computer rack fan in the basement window blowing out and a 24" box fan by the shop door blowing air towards the window to sweep the fumes and mist out of the room. At the urging of my wife, started wearing a face mask while painting. Only problem, paint mist sneaks around the mask and colors the beard.

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A couple more days passed. Then it was time to install the windows. Set the window frames in the openings and traced the perimeter of the window on the black primer surface. Why? Would be using a small artist brush to apply contact cement between those lines and the window opening. Would also apply contact cement on the back side of the window frame that contacts the car sides. Even traced the window frame as it sat on the sill. Applied cement carefully to those mating surfaces too.

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Repeated the window tracing and contact cement application for the (2) round observation deck windows and the (2) windows at the back of the car.

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What comes next? Step #3...paint! Will be right back. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
ccvstmr
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by ccvstmr »

SPLASH OF COLOR - Part 2

Okay, car #7 was primed and ready for some color. Once again like cars #5 and #6, used Rustoleum gloss Hunter Green for the car body color. Mind you, shop lighting will play tricks on the true color.

And so, the spray painting began. Would sweep the sides and end...and take a break for an hour. Would change the spray angle and go around the car again...trying not to miss edge undersides and making sure the grooves were sufficiently covered. Believe I covered the floor with plastic tarps...which would get tacky after a few paint applications (and yes, the beard turned green around the face mask).

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Yes, the car was looking good. Just as imagined and then...And Then...AND THEN...OH CARP! The paint on the one side wrinkled! Hate that when that happens. Went thru the same thing with one of the other cars. Why? Any one of a number of reasons: not allowing previous paint applications to dry long enough, or paint was applied too thick or something else. Did it matter? NO...it had to be corrected.

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Today the pits AND the wrinkles! Had the heat turned up in the shop...even for a July. After a few days to allow the applied paint to dry (and get my blood pressure back down), pulled out sanding blocks and started to sand down the wrinkles. Sanding the primer in Step #1 was bad enough, this sanding probably took as long. In particular, sanding the inside shoulders on the window frames. On occasion, the paint would roll up in little fibers (paint was still wet?)...but made it easier to remove the wrinkling with minimal dust. Having a work light off to the side allowed me to see the sanding progress.

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Here's a close up photo of the 4.5 planks located between the 2 pairs of round top windows while the sanding was in progress. Will come back to this view in a bit.

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When the sanding was done (or as done as I was going to do), the exposed car body was cleaned. Unaffected areas of the car body were masked off and the car side sprayed with the flat black primer again. Was being careful not to overdue the spray application.

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Here's how those 4.5 planks between the 2 pairs of round top windows looked after the black primer was applied.

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Next entry...will finish up the car painting...and more. Carl B.
Life is like a sewer...what you get out of it depends on what you put into it!
I don't walk on water...I just learned where some of the stepping stones are!
I love mankind...it's some of the people I can't stand!
Odyknuck
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Odyknuck »

Ah Man, that sucks. Get to one of the last stages and then it does this! Same thing happened on my Mikado frame 2 weeks ago. I did not wait long enough for the paint to dry before touching up some areas I missed.
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Harold_V
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by Harold_V »

When I rebuilt an old bedroom set (circa 1850'ish) I had the same experience, although with lacquer, not an oil base. I concluded that the paint didn't dry, but that the wood absorbed much of the solvent instead, then slowly released it. It was exceedingly slow to fully dry. In the end, I waited about three weeks before the problems ended. Metal is much easier.

H
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rrnut-2
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Re: One Last Shorty

Post by rrnut-2 »

I had the same issue with a machine that I painted with Rustoleum. I followed the directions to the letter and it still happened. I went to the ACE brand of paint, and everything went perfectly. Since Rustoleum changed their formula, I have had nothing but problems with it. My use of that brand has ended.

Jim B
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