Cleaning up old solder burn

[up148]

Sorry for the poor clarity of the photo, but I increase the pixels and should have just taken a new photo......you can see the area I'm asking about. Came to me this way, but looks to be burned or ?????. Since the black coloration is in a very tight area is there a product I can apply with a paint brush to remove this and return it to natural brass?

[sarge]

If indeed that's bare brass, the best way I know abrasively is a thumb-full of 000 wire wool and a matchstick or Simichrome on a cotton bud. Simichrome and a toothbrush is worth a go. Wash it well before painting.

If you happen to have an ultrasonic cleaner, then some of the commercial cleaning solutions might do it best. My go-to is a 50/50 cut of white vinegar and water for 20 minutes or so at something like 120 degrees F, rinse, repeat as needed, then water and one pinch of baking soda per litre for 10-15 minutes to neutralise the vinegar, rinse again.

[up148]

Got the same vinegar tip from Bob and Sarge. Today I had a chance to try it. Worked like a charm.

Wife had some 45% vinegar for cleaning that was too strong and gave it to me for the garage some time back. I decided to use it straight and it only took a few minutes. Instead of soaking (due to strength) I just used and old toothbrush and scrubbed it with the vinegar.

This needs to be done in a well ventilated area and take precautions as it will burn your skin. And you have to wash and neutralize the vinegar.

This is only 90% done as I need to find a smaller brush to get in the minute corners...........but well worth the effort.

[sarge]

Looks good, Butch!

General brass-cleaning: Lots of folks, our Bob included, recommend a cleanup using Barkeepers Friend. I likewise use Simichrome sometimes, but rarely.

I use a different approach as I believe polishes really are a detriment if painting is in the cards, preferring a clean but slightly textured surface. To that end I leave tarnish as long as its a clean and even coating or will run a piece through the blaster for a light dressing up of the surfaces.

The word "clean" is the real concern, especially with modern acrylic-base paints and the likes of Trucolor, all of which are more sensitive to oils, leftover flux, and such than the lacquers and enamels of yore. For a moment, that gets us back to those polishes such as Barkeep's and the like, for they often leave a protective coating and most certainly a residue. If you don't wash it, you're leaving something behind whether abrasive, the carrier, or the detritus you just polished loose.

Over the years I clean up (as I go or last thing after an evenings soldering) in one of those stainless pans from a restaurant steam-table, scrubbing with a brush and water with a couple tablespoons of baking soda, rinse with water, then set out on one of those plastic cafeteria trays (a stack of which I bought years ago but can be had off Amazon) to air before the next session at the bench. When its all soldered up and ready to paint, then a more thorough clean in the same serves well as a degreaser and cleaner/neutraliser of TIX (my flux of choice), followed by a rinse and a good drying.

Although I have used a smaller ultrasonic cleaner for subassemblies for years, I only just now got one with a large enough tank to do complete models (up to a 60' scale length or so). That current transfer caboose project is the first thing I've prep'd in this thing, again using the same water and baking soda, and it came out quite satisfactorily cleaned and degreased. After using a hairdryer on it to coax any water from the seams and a few days air-drying to allow a little oxidation (the sheen starting to tone down), I primed it yesterday and the results are easily as good as my scrubbing down by hand, and with a lot less effort.

I could see myself liking this thing.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.........as a degreaser ........

I do miss the days when I could take a car into the office and dunk it in methylene chloride to degrease and clean, rinse in acetone, and blast it dry before bagging it for the trip home and painting.

[up148]

Yeah, the old days and old products are sorely missed sometimes.

[sarge]

Maybe so, but I really don't like dwelling in the past, so I make the new stuff my own.

I resent all the hi-rail product we got "stuck" with in the 21st century instead of decent scale stock, but quite a lot of it is good material if you look at it not as even remotely ready-to-run but a good starting point from which to make something.

I gotta say the new ranges of decals are far superior to the old Champ and Walthers stuff, both for fidelity and to work with. Nice opaque graphics, thin films, a vast improvement and the inventory is growing. One thing I do miss is Champ decal setting solution, but there are lots of good ones out there especially on the plastic-modeller side of the hobby shop. You just have to remember to look at what they are working with.

As far as paints, I really don't miss Scalecoat and Floquil that much anymore, now that I'm at ease with Trucolor. The colours are more accurate and as consistent, it sprays thin and evenly, and mixing the stuff for colours is easier for some reason. Still blows with my old Binks single-actions and I can thin it down to behave better than inks in my antique T&C double-action brushes. I'm good with it.

And just look at the scenery materials out there! I sure'n hell don't miss soaking lichen in glycerin!

That ultra-sonic and water/baking soda is just so much nicer than having to store and handle volatiles and dispose of waste solvents, especially in O Scale quantities.

We have good paint ranges, great decals and some talented graphic artists for when custom decals need be made, lots of details coming out as 3d prints, and O scale for building things is recovering from the Chinese RTR bubble pretty well.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Maybe so, but I really don't like dwelling in the past, so I make the new stuff my own.

It's not so much as dwelling anywhere; the materials that were in play 5-6 years ago were superior to their replacements. I'm not finding any of the replacement solvents or agents in the paint aisles to be much more than grossly overpriced rubbish that end up throwing away. I scour estate sale garages and basements for old cans of solvents that are no longer available.

I resent all the hi-rail product we got "stuck" with in the 21st century instead of decent scale stock, but quite a lot of it is good material if you look at it not as even remotely ready-to-run but a good starting point from which to make something.

I can appreciate that and it's great for those that can make good use of it. I think I bought 3-4 hi-rail products that I converted to 2 rail and/or converted/bashed into traction freight cars. Some of those less than scale are actually proper width for traction cars.

I gotta say the new ranges of decals are far superior to the old Champ and Walthers stuff, both for fidelity and to work with. Nice opaque graphics, thin films, a vast improvement and the inventory is growing. One thing I do miss is Champ decal setting solution, but there are lots of good ones out there especially on the plastic-modeller side of the hobby shop. You just have to remember to look at what they are working with.

I work with whatever can get that fits my needs and then if I need something otherwise I get it made and accept the costs. Who has this growing inventory though? And, I sorely miss Clover House dry transfers. They had a lovely selection of reefers and other very fun cars in that catalog.

As far as paints, I really don't miss Scalecoat and Floquil that much anymore, now that I'm at ease with Trucolor. The colours are more accurate and as consistent, it sprays thin and evenly, and mixing the stuff for colours is easier for some reason. Still blows with my old Binks single-actions and I can thin it down to behave better than inks in my antique T&C double-action brushes. I'm good with it.

TruColor - I read and am told both sides of the coin. Folks seem either in love with it or hate - not much middle ground, I'm afraid. My interactions with them have been 100% 1-sided to the point that I just gave up trying. I dumped my Scalecoat and ModelMaster stuff. I get good enough results with rattle cans out in the driveway than much else.

And just look at the scenery materials out there! I sure'n hell don't miss soaking lichen in glycerin!

True! I wish we could see more of those scenery materials in use and examples of their use on other's layouts, etc. Seems a much neglected topic for some odd reason...

That ultra-sonic and water/baking soda is just so much nicer than having to store and handle volatiles and dispose of waste solvents, especially in O Scale quantities.

And that's probably true from that angle; I can still get rid of volatiles, but I can't lay my hands on methylene chloride -- regulated now into oblivion.

We have good paint ranges, great decals and some talented graphic artists for when custom decals need be made, lots of details coming out as 3d prints, and O scale for building things is recovering from the Chinese RTR bubble pretty well.

I'm not finding the details horizon to be so rosy; freight car details that are 3D printed all too frequently are kludgy over-sized over-thick globs. Sadly it seems that PSC and others (is Scale City even in business now?) are fading away. Due to that challenge I've gotten to the point where I'm not quite sure that I can complete the projects and kits on the shelving. I've been selling off kits that I know I won't be able to find the details that they require for finishing decently.

[sarge]

We are indeed looking in different places from different places. Grin!

Perhaps it is because I was indoctrinated with the notion a grit-blasting cabinet and a paint booth were basic requirements when Roy Schnoor taught me to paint (so always shoehorned them into my shop space somehow) that had me never reliant on chemicals for stripping and anything but airbrushes for painting. I would guess that painting is not really any more mainstream now than it was, but the vast majority who do in the hobby (then and now) are still airbrushing.

If by "the paint aisle" you mean at the hardware store, I never found a need for the stuff sold there then or now, so I'm not really affected. If you mean the paint aisle at the hobby shop, though, I can't agree with you that it is overpriced rubbish and the old tins of enamels were "better". Its just different, needs be learnt to get good result, and as far as overpriced, well, I can cover three times the area using one of those little bottles through an airbrush than I can with a rattle-can of Krylon even if the nozzle tube doesn't permanently clog long before I can get half the can sprayed.

I'll not use rattle-cans for anything but for what they were intended, garden furniture and toolboxes. Too many ruined models from spatter, clogs, and uncontrollable discharge (I won't even call it "spray") in my youth ever to use one again. If you are reliant on rattle cans and aircraft stripper for the kind of lovely result you show here, though, I can very well see your point and your frustration.

On to decals; K4 decals has probably a larger range now than Champ had and he is open to new projects. Highball Graphics has a decent range and the owner is an excellent custom-designer. Knowing your interests, thought, none today really include your era of interest in their stock ranges, so the custom/graphic design aspect these people offer should be the interesting part for your needs. John Frantz at Mt. Vernon Shops is also a very skilled decal designer.

As far as the detail selection, I've found quite a bit of 3d printed stuff to be of excellent fidelity. That LV caboose in the concurrent caboose thread is an example; quite a bit of the detailing are 3d prints, such as the stepboxes. The hiccup with Shapeways hasn't helped on the one hand and the traditional sources such as PSC haven't evolved to include them any more than they've invested in their old inventory (likewise Microscale and their decal inventory, BTW) so they will probably die slow deaths at their own hand. Meanwhile, there is a growing community working on this technology and doing nice things, so the future of detail parts might very well belong to them. It's a technology very well suited to such small-batch manufacture.

Right now, the marketing hasn't kept up with the tech, though. The stuff needs ferreted out on internet-based groups scattered about, though I think folks like Dawdy, the OSC, that mentoring thing of Kellow's, are trying to gather those sources into some sort of coherence. 3-d printed details as the mainstream is on the horizon, I truly believe.

[bob turner]

I too prefer a good bead blast prior to finishing. I use glass beads at a pressure between 35 - 45 psi, and always aim for about a 45 degree angle.
Then clean air to blow the beads out of crevasses, and prime right away.

I too prefer airbrushes, and am reasonably skilled at it. But with the demise of Scale Coat, I have resorted primarily to rattle cans. To avoid the nozzle clog famous in Krylon and Rustoleum rattle cans, I use the (twice as expensive) DupliColor line. I get excellent spray patterns, and a container can be re-used a decade or two after first use. I have had only one failure, and that was a nozzle that could not be shut off. Wasted a no-longer available color of Schoolbus Yellow.

My Paasche anxiously awaits the resurgence of Scale Coat. My GM&O E7s were painted with DupliColor rattle cans, as are my latest Lobaugh Mobilgas tanks. I am using aircraft grade semi-gloss black on my steam, it seems to have a brand name of Semtek or something. It is currently at the airport, so I cannot check.

I know it is borderline product disparagement, but it is true - I have lousy luck with Krylon and Rustoleum. Very wasteful to only have one shot at using a can, and spray patterns, like Sarge says, are designed for lawn chairs.

[sarge]

Lots of different approaches to success in this discussion. Like many things in this hobby, stick with what works for you.

I certainly will try new stuff when the old passes in the night though. Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

We are indeed looking in different places from different places. Grin!

I'm sure that we are at least in part.

....a grit-blasting cabinet and a paint booth were basic requirements ......

Basic perhaps but for many a luxury. Rarely have I been visiting a layout//shop that has both.

chemicals for stripping and anything but airbrushes for painting.

Well, my profession gave me a little advantage on chemistry. I will use an airbrush and have a few but also more than my share of frustration with the set up and tear down of their use.

painting is not really any more mainstream now than it was.....

I suspect you are correct.

If by "the paint aisle" you mean at the hardware store, I never found a need for the stuff sold there

If you are reliant on rattle cans and aircraft stripper for the kind of lovely result you show here, though, I can very well see your point and your frustration.

Yes, again though being a chemist by training and experience I use what's handy for me.

Not used Krylon in a very long time and not sure where it's even sold now. There are a half dozen colors and clears that I use from Rustoleum that are quite reliable. I don't find them to clog. Black in all it's various incarnations however is much the same as with Floquil and Polly Scale - those all seem to prone to being problematic in reliable behavior and life time be it in a jar, bottle or can. Now I've found that if I'm outside working above the blacktop in the sun that a rattle can source gets baked on in a matter of minutes and it's so hot that I'm putting on gloves to handle cars made of metal. Even a spray can of Scalecoat is nearly dry to the touch on brass in 20 min. I let it sit a day or 3 prior to decaling out of habit.

But I'm not reliant on any one method or paint source - I use what works for the project in front of me. I don't know what's in aircraft stripper but I very much doubt it contains anything useful today. 5 years ago, probably yes. My access to those chemicals that I would use now is pretty much limited to lacquer thinner. I know what's in it and the limitations therein.

On to decals; K4 decals has probably a larger range now than Champ had and he is open to new projects.

Actually, I do use K4 decals and you've seen a few cars already sporting that product. He actually has a set for CVRR locos that's primarily incorrect, but still fun to play with along with many others of my era.

I've had a CVRR sheet done my another shop that's proven useful.

As far as the detail selection, I've found quite a bit of 3d printed stuff to be of excellent fidelity. That LV caboose in the concurrent caboose thread is an example; quite a bit of the detailing are 3d prints, such as the stepboxes. The hiccup with Shapeways hasn't helped on the one hand and the traditional sources such as PSC haven't evolved to include them any more than they've invested in their old inventory (likewise Microscale and their decal inventory, BTW) so they will probably die slow deaths at their own hand. Meanwhile, there is a growing community working on this technology and doing nice things, so the future of detail parts might very well belong to them. It's a technology very well suited to such small-batch manufacture.

Right now, the marketing hasn't kept up with the tech, though. The stuff needs ferreted out on internet-based groups scattered about, though I think folks like Dawdy, the OSC, that mentoring thing of Kellow's, are trying to gather those sources into some sort of coherence. 3-d printed details as the mainstream is on the horizon, I truly believe.

I do look forward to seeing more 3d printed stuff and largely agree that this may well be the future. But your point about marketing is key. Finding folks and collating them in some semblance of order is a challenge. Communications on sources is not the best that it could be....

BTW, I've found that some of the best 3D printed stuff is on Etsy. I've also found that looking for stuff on Etsy can be trip down a rabbit hole of galactic proportions,

[sarge]

Another factor that affects me, perhaps, is this:

I paint all the time, so "set-up and tear down" of airbrushes never is even in my vocabulary. The booth is in conditioned space in my workshop fan-vented through a dryer vent to the out-of-doors. That means the brushes are never unhooked from the airline to the compressor; blow it out with thinner after I'm done and hang it up on the rack on the side of the booth. I might tear down a Wren twice a year, otherwise they are stored with the pickup tube in a jar of thinner. I'd no sooner set-up and tear down a booth and compressor than I would assemble and disassemble a table-saw or a lathe each time I wanted to use it.

I'm not married to Scalecoat or any other obsolete product. It and Floquil are gone. If for some reason something I use falls victim to some corporate sell-by date, I am more than willing to learn a new product or technology as long as it works, in this case Trucolor. After several years and many many models built of pretty much any material, I really don't understand the resistance to it, other than the fact it needs shot from an airbrush as it comes. Still, leave a jar open for 24-hours and enough carrier evaporates such that it's perfectly useable with a brush.

I'll venture the opinion that you'll never see Scalecoat again for the same reasons it went away in the first place. Fewer railroad modellers for more model railroaders means a shrinking demand for railroad-model paint (though that might change with the ongoing demise of the imported RTR industry) and "health-and-safety-gone-mad" means stricter regulations of chemicals you can sell to a voluntarily ignorant public and prices rising accordingly.

Sooner or later I might have to learn to shoot water-based acrylics, something I've not had any luck with, and I'll do it if the powers over which I have no control force me to do it. Until then, there is nothing wrong with Trucolor that isn't easily overcome by a little experience with it. The rest seems to be anger at the old ranges (at 19p a bottle) shuffling off this mortal coil and pure repeated-on-the-internet bollocks if experience is any indication.

Again, that's my modelling world, not meant that it should be anyone else's.

[up148]

Yes, having a well arranged work space is critical for maximum enjoyment of the hobby in my opinion. I'm getting there once again.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Another factor that affects me, perhaps, is this:

I paint all the time, so "set-up and tear down" of airbrushes never is even in my vocabulary. The booth is in conditioned space in my workshop fan-vented through a dryer vent to the out-of-doors.

I'm aware of your set up - quite envious of that luxury that I have never really could invest in here.

I'll venture the opinion that you'll never see Scalecoat again...

Agree and since I never really became a fan of it other than to use what fell into my lap, I've jettisoned my entire stock

....."health-and-safety-gone-mad" means stricter regulations of chemicals you can sell to a voluntarily ignorant public....

There are some very real health hazards associated with solvents and paints in hobbies. But the reactions and regulations are mainly the results of amazingly stupid people doing even more amazing stupid things....combined with embracing the cult of ignorance...

What does aggravate me is that the hobby paints containers and seals on lids are just the bare minimum required to be able to sell to us. A few pennies more would get us bottle and containers that actually seal and preserve the contents. Sadly, I'm beginning to run low on the good polypropylene compression seal caps for the vials (and the vials!) I use to hold volatiles for many years at a time. Hate to think what that stuff might cost today!

Sooner or later I might have to learn to shoot water-based acrylics, something I've not had any luck with,

I know guys that love air brushing water-based acrylics and do great stuff, but then same as yourself, no good experiences here.......yet. The day will probably arrive where I'll just have to spend time sussing it all out.