# Melted train car



## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

Ok I got a train car that is not exactly "melted" but "slightly" deformed, and I want to know if its possible to reshape it back to its original shape (via heat source or oven or something) or is it 100% dead/ruined not salvageable.


so yea the questions I would like to try and answer are the following:

Can it be salvaged?

Can I use some sort of heat source (oven, hair dryer, ect) to shape it back to what it was?

Is it Ruined with no hopes of saving it?

Can it be re-purposed for something else or should it just go and be deep sixed?


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

I would say leave it as it is and have it as salvage from a derailment. I highly doubt it would ever be able to be repaired.

Massey


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

ok, suggestions on making it "salvage" in that case? and Massey....HOLY COW I just posted and your already posting....you stalking me or somethin?


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

I cannot confirm nor deny the allegations of stalking!

LOL 

Massey


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

well can you at least confirm the suggestions for the above question of using it as a derailed/salvaged car/load?


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Have a crash scene off to the side of the track and have the part where it's really bend in hitting an abutment/pole (something large enough to damage the car that much)


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

sstlaure said:


> Have a crash scene off to the side of the track and have the part where it's really bend in hitting an abutment/pole (something large enough to damage the car that much)


Sounds kinda fun! What type of pole or abutment would you suggest?


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

I can confirm that using the car as a salvage from a derailment would be a great idea. I have this morbid love of shipwrecks and train wrecks and have seen many hoppers looking very similar to what you have there. That kind of damage could happen if the car turned sideways and was then hit by another car that came from behind. Very believable.

Massey


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

im liking the idea of train wrek more and more!! Massey would the other car have any type of damage on it? if so what or any pics? or suggestions to make it happen?


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## Massey (Apr 16, 2011)

scratches and torn metal. Just yahoo/google train wrecks and you will be rewarded with pages and pages of good photos. Weathering the inside of the hopper to show use would be a good idea as well.

Massey


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## brylerjunction (Aug 8, 2011)

was that the result of using the testors paint on it???


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

Massey said:


> I would say leave it as it is and have it as salvage from a derailment. I highly doubt it would ever be able to be repaired.
> 
> Massey


yeah +1 to this. would make a mad salvage prop.


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## manchesterjim (Dec 30, 2011)

broox said:


> yeah +1 to this. would make a mad salvage prop.


Make that +2 for the salvaged car......or perhaps a planter?!?! :laugh:

Jim


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

This has to be a joke, right?


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

Here are some damaged hoppers - note the scattered bogeys, wheels, railings, etc that break off in the wreck. I remember on one Amtrak trip I took to Colorado we passed by a work crew performing clean-up from a recent derailment. They basically get everything off the side of the tracks and get the mainline back up first, then they schedule time to pick up the pieces and do the real clean-up work. If you google or yahoo search the recent CSX coal train wreck, there are certain to be some good bent up open top hopper pictures.


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## manchesterjim (Dec 30, 2011)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> This has to be a joke, right?


Riiiiigggghhhhhhtttt!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

sstlaure said:


> Here are some damaged hoppers - note the scattered bogeys, wheels, railings, etc that break off in the wreck. I remember on one Amtrak trip I took to Colorado we passed by a work crew performing clean-up from a recent derailment. They basically get everything off the side of the tracks and get the mainline back up first, then they schedule time to pick up the pieces and do the real clean-up work. If you google or yahoo search the recent CSX coal train wreck, there are certain to be some good bent up open top hopper pictures.


If that one was the lead engine, that engineer has a couple of scrapes and bruises!  :laugh:


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

That was the tailing engine, the train crashed forward into it.


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

brylerjunction said:


> was that the result of using the testors paint on it???


No its not Joe, thats the result of it falling out of the bin I had and getting left in the truck (on the bench) and I not noticeing it untill that happened, but I have decided salvage prop it becomes 



gunrunnerjohn said:


> This has to be a joke, right?


Nope...the sunlight really kills!!




sstlaure said:


> That was the tailing engine, the train crashed forward into it.


well its only a minor fender bender....for a train that is....


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## sstlaure (Oct 12, 2010)

It'll buff out.


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

or rust


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I think it's safe to say that car is very unlikely to be riding the rails anytime in the future.


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

suprisingly (or maybe not) it still kinda can ride the rails a bit, not perfect but it still rides!


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## Nuttin But Flyer (Dec 19, 2011)

Better widen your tunnels portals if you do put that back on track.....LOL


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

Hey at least it shows use...as Saw said it will buff right out....LOL, its gone to the scrap yard/salvage scene


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I still kinda' liked the first post, the car is "slightly" deformed. :laugh: You truly are a master of the understatement!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

A little heat from a torch and you can make that car look like new again.


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> I still kinda' liked the first post, the car is "slightly" deformed. :laugh: You truly are a master of the understatement!


Thanks! I think...




big ed said:


> A little heat from a torch and you can make that car look like new again.


Ill give it a go, but I think its good as is


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## jjb727 (Apr 13, 2012)

i think its more trouble than its worth. You would have to open up the inside of the car and somehow apply heat to the bent side and that itself already looks hard to do. Just use the car for a crash scene.


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## Mr.Buchholz (Dec 30, 2011)

Why bother trying to fix it? Take the axles, trucks, and couplers off and be done with it.

-J.


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## manchesterjim (Dec 30, 2011)

*Weather it up!*

Knock off those trucks, apply "rust" liberally on the car, trucks and wheels, and make it part of the scenery!!



Jim


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

manchesterjim said:


> Knock off those trucks, apply "rust" liberally on the car, trucks and wheels, and make it part of the scenery!!
> 
> 
> 
> Jim


well here is a start to that Jim  hope you all like!!


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Take the wheels off it and put it in a junk yard or metal salvage yard. It would hold the scrap metal until it's time for a shipment. Have it next to a siding where a crane can lift the scrap out of the hopper and into a gondola for shipping. Put junk wheel sets and old couplers in it for junk. 
You could heat it to kinda strighten it out a bit but plastic tends to shrink when it gets hot so just heat it enough to bend it back a bit. use a hair dryer but don't get it too close. How did that happen anyway? Pete


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

norgale said:


> Take the wheels off it and put it in a junk yard or metal salvage yard. It would hold the scrap metal until it's time for a shipment. Have it next to a siding where a crane can lift the scrap out of the hopper and into a gondola for shipping. Put junk wheel sets and old couplers in it for junk.
> You could heat it to kinda strighten it out a bit but plastic tends to shrink when it gets hot so just heat it enough to bend it back a bit. use a hair dryer but don't get it too close. How did that happen anyway? Pete


it was near a heat source that I had no idea was on at the time and it just got hot and that happened, anyways thinking about it I kinda am glad the accident happened as now my salvage train has some salvage to pick up. so in reality im happy with it!


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

You really need to thin your paint for the rust, it should be more of a wash or dye than a paint.


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

Looking good :thumbsup:
I haven't weathered any equipment yet, but I want too some day.
I'll probably start with a light 'haven't been washed in a month' type of weathering, and go from there.

Couple of things I thought about for your hopper:
Anywhere where the paint was damaged in the brutal accident would get a dose of rust fairly quickly from fresh steel being directly exposed to the weather.
Actually the whole inside of the hopper would likely oxidise pretty quickly in the real world, the inside of the hopper (Especially the chutes!) wouldn't have any paint left because of the loads it carries. Realistically if it had been sitting for even a little while it would all be rusty with patches being worse than others due to certain aspects of the weather. 
When it rains the water will sit on or run off the fins/ribs (for want of a better word) so those parts would likely attract rust first. Then anywhere water would sit or flow would leave a darker shade of rust.
Parts of the underside of the carriage would likely be a really grey/brown tint of green (because of original paint colour + grime) or maybe almost black depending on how thoroughly it would have been cleaned in its 'real' life. 

Maybe get some scale graffiti happening? It would happen in the real world.
I personally don't have the skills to make that happen though.

But it looks awesome, I secretly hope some of my shitty cars cop a melting now. haha


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

broox said:


> Looking good :thumbsup:
> I haven't weathered any equipment yet, but I want too some day.
> I'll probably start with a light 'haven't been washed in a month' type of weathering, and go from there.
> 
> ...


ok so do you think I should paint a heavier level of rust inside then lighter on the top/outside? or should I do heavy on the bottom and then go lighter as I go up and where the bend/damage is I just lay on rust like it got bad?





NIMT said:


> You really need to thin your paint for the rust, it should be more of a wash or dye than a paint.



Ill look into a low cost airbrush for this if you think I should, this is my first car work wise, very (and only) accident unit I have done so im just learning as I go.


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

I'm not sure. I'll wait for others to chime in, but I feel atleast a light rust on the inside is called for. a bit darker near the ribs and a bit darker on whatever surface is the new 'floor' where water is likely to pool. but thats only an obsrevation from someone with no weathered models. :thumbsup:


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Take something that will take your "rust" off, a solvent and thin it out like NIMT said. 

You need to thin the paint job you did the paint is put on too heavy. When you apply it thin it out first, yours is too heavy.

You have the perfect piece to experiment on as your not going to wreck it.

See if a little solvent will wash what you have on it off, NOT ALL OF IT, just thin it out some.


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

big ed said:


> Take something that will take your "rust" off, a solvent and thin it out like NIMT said.
> 
> You need to thin the paint job you did the paint is put on too heavy. When you apply it thin it out first, yours is too heavy.
> 
> ...


Would paint thinner work, or would denatured alcohol be better, like what home depo or lowes would carry?


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Try the denatured alcohol, but denatured alcohol is denatured with a lot of different chemicals. 

Try some thing you have on hand, Minerals spirits?
Do you have any Isopropanol in the medicine cabinet? (Rubbing alcohol.)
Try what you have on hand, your not going to wreck anything it already is wrecked.

Just take a soft cloth and gently wipe it down.
You just want to thin it down/ tone it down. If you try it again thin your paint so it doesn't go on too heavy.

What kind of paint was it?

Got to go,,,,ZZZZZzzzzz.
Later.....experiment on it.


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Paint thinner thins paint. Isn't that what your trying to do? Alcohol is not a paint thinner. Pete


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

big ed said:


> Try the denatured alcohol, but denatured alcohol is denatured with a lot of different chemicals.
> 
> Try some thing you have on hand, Minerals spirits?
> Do you have any Isopropanol in the medicine cabinet? (Rubbing alcohol.)
> ...


ok cool, ill give it a go, im using that Testors enamle paint.


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Depends on the kind of paint. Alchohol will thin water-based acrylics just fine. Enamels need paint thinner designed for enamel paints (which probably won't do anything good if you try to use enamel paint thinner to thin acrylics.) Be careful though because paint thinner could also destroy the plastic, but this car is already a write-off so it's no big loss as a test subject.

Isopropyl alchohol (rubbing alcohol) can also sometimes be used as a paint stripper. Soak the car in 99% alcohol for a day or two and do some scrubbing with an old toothbrush. I turned a bunch of decorated Proto2000 cars into bare plastic using this method. Use as pure as you can get, 70% isopropyl alchohol may not have any effect. It also won't affect all paints, and probably won't touch enamel.

The other option is a commercial paint stripper like Chameleon or Easy-Lift Off.

An other technique that people have used with great success (I haven't tried this myself) is oven cleaner. Put the model in a plastic bag, spray in some oven cleaner and seal it up for a day or so. Be careful because those fumes are nasty.


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

broox said:


> Actually the whole inside of the hopper would likely oxidise pretty quickly in the real world, the inside of the hopper (Especially the chutes!) wouldn't have any paint left because of the loads it carries.


Actually the interior would not have been painted at all, since the paint would just wear off anyway. The entire inside of a hopper should be a nice even tone of lightly oxidized steel. The bays and lower parts of the interior might be a little less rusted because of the movement of the load polishing it, and there could be a dusty film from the load.

This is a drop-bottom ore gondola, not a hopper, but it illustrates the point quite well. The inside is an evenly weathered bare steel. It's not painted in the body colour:
http://canadianfreightcargallery.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=cp375551&o=cprail

This car's at a museum and hasn't been actually used for a load in quite a few years so the rust is a little darker/heavier than it would probably be in service, but it also illustrates the point very well:
http://canadianfreightcargallery.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=cp376589detail8&o=cprail


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## New Berlin RR (Feb 11, 2012)

cv_acr said:


> Depends on the kind of paint. Alchohol will thin water-based acrylics just fine. Enamels need paint thinner designed for enamel paints (which probably won't do anything good if you try to use enamel paint thinner to thin acrylics.) Be careful though because paint thinner could also destroy the plastic, but this car is already a write-off so it's no big loss as a test subject.
> 
> Isopropyl alchohol (rubbing alcohol) can also sometimes be used as a paint stripper. Soak the car in 99% alcohol for a day or two and do some scrubbing with an old toothbrush. I turned a bunch of decorated Proto2000 cars into bare plastic using this method. Use as pure as you can get, 70% isopropyl alchohol may not have any effect. It also won't affect all paints, and probably won't touch enamel.
> 
> ...



ok im just looking to thin out the green "blobs" on the car a bit, or should I remove some other body paint as well and just let some bare plastic show here and there?


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Stripping paint is kind of an all or nothing proposition. It's not really possible to be selective. You'd have to pretty much respray the whole thing once you strip it, unless you just weather the bare plastic, which wouldn't be realistic, but neither is the car as it stands.


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

cv_acr said:


> and there could be a dusty film from the load.


Good points, especially this one. It could quite easily form a film over the steel to considerably slow down the oxidisation process.

The second image you linked is more what I was thinking of, especially if its got history of it sitting for a long time. depends if its a new crash scene or a scrap yard I guess.
But the inside should be atleast be a grey (polished steel) colour instead of the green plastic. Perhaps with some highlights around the ribs where oxidisation might start to occur to add something different.


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