repainting an f9

[sedfred]

like i said before i have an f9 from the red rock express and it has a simplified warbonnet scheme, i want to repaint it to the full warbonnet scheme, how would i do this?

[rogertra]

like i said before i have an f9 from the red rock express and it has a simplified warbonnet scheme, i want to repaint it to the full warbonnet scheme, how would i do this?

Simple answer is and I apologise first for the bluntness, if you have to ask, don't try.

It's not a beginner project.

Cheers

Roger T.

[ACY]

You will have to strip down all the existing paint (using brake fluid or the like) and then mask it for the desired design (use an airbrush for best results and you will need to do a color match for a few different colors), and lastly buy a set of decals for a Santa Fe Warbonnet and apply them correctly. Keep in mind that my suggestion is to just be content with it as is and not to attempt the above because it is a difficult task.

[jbrock27]

I don't recommend brake fluid bc you don't need to use something that caustic.  I suggest you use 91% Isopropyl alcohol which you can get at the drug store or discount store like Wal Mart (yes, I know you are in Canada).  Take the clear plastic out of the shell, like the windshield, the detail parts etc., basically all things that can be removed so you are left with just the shell.
Then put the shell in a zip lock style bag that is big enough to hold the loco lengthwise.  Put the bag with the loco in it on a flat surface.  Then pour some alcohol in; you don't need to fill the whole bag up, just enough, so when you roll the open end to get as much air out of the bag as possible, the alcohol is making contact with the shell.  Think of marinating a piece of meat in a zip lock bag.

Let it sit for a day or 2, you will start to see the paint coming off, you can shake the bag a little too just not so hard as you puncture the bag.  When you are ready and you think the alcohol has done its job, bring the bag to the kitchen sink and have an old but clean toothbrush ready.  You may want to wear rubber or latex gloves bc the alcohol will dry your hands out and while the shell is in the bag, scrub with the toothbrush gently (watch out for parts you can bend or break with the brush).  If you have to remove the shell from the bag to do the job, then do so.  I like to leave it in to use the alcohol on the toothbrush to get stubborn paint off.  When you have removed as much paint as possible from the outside, wash the shell in soap and water and then let it dry so you can paint.

I recommend spray paint, Krylon or Rustoleum and masking off with painters tape or masking tape to sections you don't want to paint the same color.  Do light coats, the lighter the better than try to paint it all at once.

BTW, did you ever get that loco to run properly?

[sedfred]

it still does not run properly, but the maximum speed is the speed i run most of my other locomotives anyway, i still want to figure out what's going on with the darn thing

[Trainman203]

If t is a train set engine the best thing is probably to just buy a better engine that runs better, is better detailed, and is already correctly painted.  This one might be a good practice run for a simpler paint scheme in one color, like the solid blue the MP had it its last years.

[jbrock27]

Agree, with one exception.  From what sf described previously, I don't believe this F unit is a "toy train set" variety (ie: pancake motor, not all wheels capable of electrical pickup, etc. ) and instead, is similar to the kind of analog loco that is currently sold separately.

sf, what else have you done to look into the problem?

[sedfred]

i pretty much just got my dad to look it it, i really hope there is something i can do about it. do you think it matters that it doesn't run really fast? or do you think it is a minor issue?

[Trainman203]

In model railroading, in general, going fast is easy to do.  It's getting an engine to crawl realistically that is more difficult.  Train set engines usually go very fast but not easily very slowly and smoothly.

People go to great lengths to get better motors and decoders, and sometimes gearboxes, to get engines to crawl. Many people run their trains, and switch, at very unprototypically fast speeds.  Watch the prototype switch and see the slow, smooth, even acceleration and deceleration.

[electrical whiz kid]

Tainman;
What are your thoughts on brush-less motors?  Core-less motors?.

Rich C.

[Trainman203]

I don't know anything about motors except, whatever makes my engine crawl like an ant, I want it.  I'm all thumbs with mechanical stuff, I'm really a scenery and structures type.

Awhile back  I paid a guy to remotor two of my Decapods for better pulling power and smoother slow speed operation.  He put a "Faulhaber" can motor in each and I have to say,  it transformed those engines from beautiful paperweights to the best local freight engines / switchers I have.  They can pull upwards near 20 cars on level track now and with cv 209/210 set right, they can go so slowly you have to watch the cross ties to detect any movement at all.  One day I may have gearboxes installed if the belt drives fail.  They are too beautiful to scrap if the time comes, they are both decaled for MP and have MP switching pilots installed.

The decs really needed help to be of any use at all.  My other Bachmann engines, the motors are OK and with 209/210 set right they can crawl too.

Way back "in the day" 50 years ago I remotored some  engines I had at the time with Pittman DC -60 motors, remember those ?  They made the engines able to crawl,without all the pulse power and transistor throttles that were the rage back then.  I can't see well enough to do that kind of work any more.

[rogertra]

Trainman.

I can relate to the eyesight issues.  I lost my left eye going on ten years ago so fine detail work and soldering have become a real pain.

I now have to pay people to installed decoders and sound systems for me, something I could have done myself in the past.

Not sure if on my new GER I'll be able to achieve the same level of details I had with the old one.

Cheers

Roger T.