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Post by riogrande on Sept 6, 2012 19:42:02 GMT -8
I picked up several Walthers 89' flat cars for blow out prices recently including two of the TTWX yellow TT flat cars.
Several of the stirrups are broken off but loose in the tray that holds the flat car. What would y'all suggest as the best kind of glue to re-attach these tiny parts to the bottom of the flat car?
Super Glue? Testors liquid cement? Something else?
I want to minimize the chance that these will come off later.
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Post by mlehman on Sept 7, 2012 5:24:02 GMT -8
Jim,
If the stirrups are the typical cast-on ones, then the Testors liquid is your best bet to bond the stirrups back to the rest of the body.
CA will work, but may not hold as well if they're bumped again.
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Post by onequiknova on Sept 7, 2012 5:28:49 GMT -8
On the flip side, if they're the typical Delrin add on parts, liquid cement wont work. You'll have to use CA.
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Post by TREBOR on Sept 7, 2012 5:29:30 GMT -8
I push back cracked or broken parts and use fast flash Plastruct liquid glue. It won't melt the part usually will hold plastics and will often cause the paint to refill the break.
trebor
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Post by dti406 on Sept 7, 2012 5:54:00 GMT -8
I would junk the cast plastic sill steps and replace them with metal A-line sill steps, no further breaking. That is what I do with all the cars I build.
Rick J
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Post by riogrande on Sept 7, 2012 6:57:46 GMT -8
I am not sure if the Walthers 89' flat cars have styrene or delrin strirrups. The seem to break too easily for Delrin, which usually bends alot before it breaks. Delrin doesn't hold paint all that well either so since these are yellow to match the TT flat car body, they might be Delrin molded in yellow?
The stirrups are not cast onto the body like Accurails kits or Athearns old bb 85' flat cars . I'm not sure about Atlas's, but Walthers look like a separate part that is glued on. Of two flat cars I just bought, 3 styrups broken in some way - two are completely off and one is missing a side - all the pieces are floating in the tray/box it came in so I can try to re-attach.
Re: super glue, I used to like to use it alot, but over the years I've noticed parts do break free. I used it on my Walthers gunderson 5-car well cars and the little guides you glue to on the edges of the rim of the well, wedge shaped, come off very easily if superglued, so I'm leary of using it for the stirrups. Of course liquid cement seems to take a long time to cure so I could try turning the flats upsidedown and resting the part with glue so gravity holds it on while curing.
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Post by fr8kar on Sept 7, 2012 8:07:18 GMT -8
Jim,
The Walthers cars use a single plastic piece to act as a cover plate for the swinging draft gear extending outward to the edge of the car where the stirrups are cast on. Unfortunately, these parts are a slippery, flexible plastic that will not take traditional cement such as liquid plastic cement or super glue. I would take Rick's advice and install either modified A-line metal stirrups (you'll have to relocate the bends in them to make them the broader style) or Details West plastic stirrups. In both cases you'll have to drill holes in the metal body to install the stirrups.
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Post by mlehman on Sept 7, 2012 10:56:52 GMT -8
SNIP Of course liquid cement seems to take a long time to cure so I could try turning the flats upsidedown and resting the part with glue so gravity holds it on while curing. Jim, If they are styrene, that's the way to do it. If it's the slippery stuff, then yeah, going with an aftermarket part is the way to go, as rch noted. They will hold in a drilled hole with CA working much better for that sort of bond (post in drilled hole). |
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Post by buffalobill on Sept 8, 2012 15:59:59 GMT -8
Jim: As Rick pointed out, the A-Line product is the way to go. I have a number of the new look Bi-Level Auto racks, and the 89' Flats with the Walther's steps that are separate castings with the Damaged step issues. I have successfully replaced them with the A Lines- Held in place with CA. I have used Polly S TTX Railbox Yellow, and while not a perfect match color wise, with a little weathering they are fine. Takes a little time, but its worth the effort.
Bill
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Post by riogrande on Sept 9, 2012 14:10:46 GMT -8
Bill et al,
Thanks for the advise. Of course matching paint is always fun but I'll put the A-line stirrups next time I visit Timonium. I was going to try to ship'em back to exchange but if that doesn't work out, I'll do the replacements. I don't really want to have to drill metal - surely there must be holes for the walthers plastic stirrups. They appear to mount into holes.
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