Practice makes Perfect
Pressure is just practice. This took less Than a minute to do ,but it got HOT to the touch. Weird lines can come from using coarse wire. The cup I used was very fine. The picture doesn't show it but there are small pits from the original casting or removal of rust.
Tha'ts the advantage of having Runner's.Anything I try to do only improves them. Serious Collectors just swap them out with better quality.Then ,you step into the realm of original,reproduction,foreign imitation, and the dreaded NOS new old stock. After the demise of Madison Hardware there must be more Mint Lionel Trains than ever before.
Those little wires are nasty, wear eye protection, earplugs wouldn't hurt either.