[Millstonemike]

Been working on this Lionel 1920's tinplate train. I have the Lionel 248 electric loco pictured and eight 529/629 passenger cars - six coaches and 2 observation cars - all mostly painted. I plan on running four passenger cars behind and four in front with the 248 in the middle. An observation car will trail and lead the train.

Here's my dilemma, the white, light blue and dark blue scheme doesn't mesh well with brass. I'd really like all the "metal" to be nickel. I can buy the whistle and handrails (both missing in the pic) in nickel as well as the pantograph. But the ladders and doors are not available. I thinking painting them white.

Opinions?

BTW: all these trains were purchased rusted and/or previously repainted, not worth saving the original paint.

 

[Millstonemike]

...
Millstonemike, the trains look great. Quite a restoration job and well done. It it possible to powder coat the ladders with silver? I recall seeing home chrome plating kits somewhere. Perfect for small projects.

Tom

Thanks, and two good suggestions.

I looked at powder coating and it's somewhat of an investment for my "one-off" need. And I wouldn't mind the extra shine from chrome plating and will research that. But I have reservations that chrome will show every imperfection. Maybe that's not an issue "in person". But the high-res pics show everything. How can I post that

I had tried DIY nickel plating at home, several times. And the results were mediocre - clumpy plating - despite my best efforts. I'd love a local shop that would plate small parts at a reasonable price but that's not available; c'est la vie.

 

[Millstonemike]

To be honest I hadn't thought that far ahead. There is a board in the engine that may do that but if not I could easily build an add on board to perform that function if required. Just a matter of detecting the direction of motor voltage.
I am still dealing with the cosmetics at this point.

Pete

Perhaps, there's already an output for a backup light (for the tender?) that could also drive the MARS light.

 

[Millstonemike]

FEF project continues. Got it in color. Lots of masking on the piping and appliances. Should have decals next week, then a final clear coat.

View attachment 515624

Pete

Nice. Paint process?

 

[Millstonemike]

Shells were stripped in aircraft stripper. The silver is a witches brew of Floquil and Tru Color paints including silver, brass, black, graphite, and aluminum. The black is PJ1 special satin removed from the rattle can and shot through my airbrush. Piping was masked off with liquid masker from Micro Mark.
Pete

Great results ... but way beyond my painting endeavors I'm just trying to master Rustoleum rattle can. Fortunately I painting prewar tinplate, a couple of basic colors, no scale detail. I do sandblast down to the bare metal and that gives me a bit of a head start for a nice coat.

 

[Millstonemike]

Experimenting with silhouettes for the prewar tinplate.

Just plain paper in the laser printer to start. I spent a few hours putting "registration marks" on the image that line up with the protruding tabs inside the car - a trial an error process. I use an E-acto knife to create slits in the paper on those marks. This approach aligns the image with the car windows for easy installation (but I need a bit more tweaking as can be seen in the pic). I also plan to add LED lighting in the car to illuminate the silhouettes.

Been working on this Lionel 1920's tinplate train. I have the Lionel 248 electric loco pictured and eight 529/629 passenger cars - six coaches and 2 observation cars - all mostly painted. I plan on running four passenger cars behind and four in front with the 248 in the middle. An observation car will trail and lead the train.

 

[Millstonemike]

I'd have to order all the parts to make one, so it's probably best for me to just buy a completed one. I'm only going to need one, so no sense to have extra parts around. That ngineering power source 8101 I linked to should work fine to power their MARS light simulator from the PS2/PS3 headlamp output though correct?

You can get some on eBay, cheap but you have to wait for the "slow boat from China" to get them 3+ weeks.

Dimension:43*20*14mm(L*W*H), Link to pictured offer.

 

[Millstonemike]

That module is huge Mike! You really don't want to try to stuff something like that into most steam boilers. That's way overkill for the job!

That's why I included the dimensions. There are much smaller ones (~3/4" square). You would need to add a cap for those to holdover voltage from the PWM input.


What about your LED regulator for passenger cars. Isn't that sold commercially at Hennings? Not sure of its size but it looked pretty small last time you posted a pic.

 

[Millstonemike]

This One?. Likely need to add a capacitor to holdover voltage from the PWM feed. But that can be wired and placed anywhere.

 

[Millstonemike]

The LM2596 chip on that buck regulator is good up to 45 V DC (~32 V AC rms). I believe the regulator's stated voltage limitation is a function of the SMT caps on the input. If you replace those with 35 V caps for the PWM holdover, I think your good for most any model train voltage. There may be an issue with the inductor saturating but I suspect that would not happen unless your using it's full 3 A output current capability at the highest voltages.

I ordered a couple. I'll be putting them through some stress tests once received (3+ weeks from China).

 

[Millstonemike]

80 Cents/ea including shipping at Amazon. Should have them Sunday.

https://www.amazon.com/10PCS-DC-DC-...2307+Chip&qid=1575047014&s=electronics&sr=1-3

Pete

I don't have Prime so it would have been ~$15 for 10 from Amazon. I paid $3.33 for 5 and will have to wait.

 

[Millstonemike]

Truthfully, those aren't good for anything close to 3 amps, or even one amp. While that's the rating of the switching IC, they don't get even close to that capability.

Yep, not with a PWM as the input, or AC. I plan on adding the bridge and the filtering caps on the existing module. The bridge will extend past the PCB. I'll remove the input cap, epoxy the bridge to the PCB and solder the + - bridge outputs in place of the cap. Then I'll add a thru-hole axial cap across the outboard holes.

What I'm finding is a 35 V axial cap in the 220uf range is approximately as long as the PCB is wide and much fatter than it is high. 100 uf fits better. It may look ugly but it will retain most of the original size of the PCB with some added height (like 4 mm goes to 10 mm). Since I'll use this for powering LEDs, the amount of filtering may not be an issue. If it is, I'll add a larger cap off board.

 

[Millstonemike]

Seems like a real life photo ...

 

[Millstonemike]

Wow. Very intricate work.

 

[Millstonemike]

....
For the next UP project, I'll be printing my own.

I'd be interested in your technique & product choices for home grown decals.

On the web, there's a bazillion recommendations for making decals. So it's hard to sort out a good, yet reasonable process and corresponding results.

Perhaps start a new thread when you get to it.

 

[Millstonemike]

Let us know what process you use. I'm having someone make cut vinyl decals for my ATSF Hudson project, so that'll be a new one for me.

I've used the cut vinyl on a more toy like train, a Marx Tender. Easy to apply and it's help up for more than a year. But it does have more depth than a standard decal. I was pleased for this application.

Only the words "Red Rocket Rail Road" are vinyl. The rest of the silver is auto pin striping.

Sorry for the poor pic, it's screen grab from a video.

 

[Millstonemike]

I made some coal loads for an MTH gondola, and a Lionel mill gondola. These are for a friend in Sunbury Pa. He's a member of an O gauge club in Lewisburg.

They look great. Technique? Products?

 

[Millstonemike]

... I hope I have something to show very soon!

Tom

You've already treated us with a magnificent thread!

 

[Millstonemike]

whats the link?!?!?!?!?!

This will get you close (post #107).

 

[Millstonemike]

Enon, With a color inkjet printer and heavy card stock, you could print brick or stone walls. Maybe even some (weathered) signs on the walls - if you're somewhat adept at Photoshop like apps.

Or you can paste the printouts to 1/4" thick foam board like These products.