Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

This is the base and after wet sanding / buffing she'll go through some more coats tomorrow night.  This time I'll pull the cars out of the garage and maybe even get a big cardboard box for a "booth".  There are a number of large imperfections; caused by wind, my hanger, and tape on the wheel posts.  I likely should just strip it down again and start over.  I "think" two more coats will even it out, if I get the painting environment just right.  I just want see what I can/cannot do with the paint at this point. One could argue it looks better than how it started out ;-) 

Heck, this base may not even work properly with what Wayne is sending me.  If I do have to use that one, then this was a good learning experience.

Thanks Paula! 

I keep missing the postman, if I miss him again today I'll just have to drop off the fittings to you at the Post Office.

Got some parts from @komet163b today - though I had to reach out via PM more the rest of them from his photos.  The Piston/Block is different, where the donor I have has the fold over cover, which isn't on the strap tank model.  Also, the donor wheel shaft diameter is to small.  The stand offs between the two bases are nearly the same, the strapped model doesn't have brass inserts and it also has a different divider between them.  The donor tank is nearly the same but the front cover is raised where the pipe goes and the treads are an insert (like the top fittings of the tanks).  Of course the lower pipe was broken inside and just like the rounded fitting I sent to @Paula, I can't get it out!

Another difference in the tank is that it has no screws coming out the bottom.  There are actually two straps on this engine model.  One inner strap to hold the heater together, then a outer strap to hold the tank to the base house!  I have the main base and the base house soaking in pain stripper - not that there was a lot of pain left but using the stripper is easier than all the extra sanding that would be needed.

Still have hopes to getting this together but its fighting me for sure.

Hi Rich,

No problem fixing the elbow thread. Just need to know if you want me to Loctite the new nipple into the elbow, or let you handle it at assembly.

Also, I assume you want me to hang onto the parts until you send the boiler(?).

Paula

@Paula - tank wrapped up, boxed and USPS labeled - just need to catch the Postman!

Here are the three base items painted - just need to wait another day or two before final sanding / polishing on the larger items.  I think this time it came out as well I as I could ever get it with a rattle/spray can.  I don't even want to try and remove the tape from the wheel stand offs until I am ready for sanding/polishing.

Things are moving... but still dealing with paint!  I have decided I hate painting :-<

1. My new Cherry Red spray is slight darker than my last can - ugh.
2. When the can says wait 48 hours, don't wait just 24 and try to put on clear coat.  Made a freaking mess it did and had to start over on the main base.

More parts are on their way from @komet163b (Wayne).  USPS is saying Saturday but I think it is lying as they still haven't left Queens!  Paula got my tank today, so at least that is on time.  Her initial response is that the tank's lower threads should be easy to fix (YAY!).  @Paula if you look at the photo in post #4 for the tank; after your nice comment on how the tank looks when it arrived to you - that is how the tank started off before I cleaned/polished it!  So I think it cleaned up well.

I did some research and spray paint does expire.  Best that I can tell Krylon has 5 years and there is a date code under the cans, though they don't make it so easy to read.  Luckily someone asked years ago on the Krylon side and a staff member decoded stamped number on the bottom.

"To determine how old a particular can is, the batch number should be stamped on the bottom of our aerosol cans/containers. It will start with 1 or 2 letters, followed by 4 numbers. There are additional letters and numbers, but they have no bearing on the shelf-life. In fact, specifically, only the 4 digits matter; in terms of how old our product is.

Example:

EM2352

We manufacture by the Julian calendar.

The letters at the beginning of our code are the plant code and have no bearing on the manufacture date.
The 4 digits is all that is relevant to determine how old that particular can and contents are.
The first 3 digits are the day of the year our can was manufactured on.
The 4th number is the year of manufacture (always a 1 digit number).

So for this particular can, the batch date is the 235th day of 2012, or August 22nd, 2012."

• The can I pulled from my garage trash can has a code of: "HL2249CB" = 229 day of 2019 or August 17th of 2019.  At least a year left before "official" expiration date.
• The can that is discolored and not curing right: "HL0764EP" = 229 day of 2014 or March 17th of 2014.  Over 4 years past its "official" expiration date.

That is way more than I really wanted to know about the weird stampings on the bottom of a spray can.  I hope I can get a can or two that is under 5 years old!  Ugh!