Caboose Renumbering Advice

[Jguess733]

Well I just won two Atlas Extended Vision caboose's painted and lettered for the BN and sub lettered for the Fort Worth & Denver off of Ebay.  Unfortunately they both carry the road number for #277.  So one will have to be renumbered.  I'm going to try the eraser method to remove the numbers.  My real question is does anyone have have any advice for decaling the forward and aft side of the cupola?  I have found a tutorial on youtube that shows how to disassemble it.  The problem is that it's a tiny little space and my fingers are pretty big.  Thanks for the help.

J

[GaryHinshaw]

I have no experience with this model, so no specific advice, but are you asking about how to re-apply new numbers or how to remove the cupola?  For the latter, I'm guessing you need to release some tabs by squeezing it somewhere.  Can you use some tweezers or skewers (which are softer) to "extend" your fingers into hard-to-reach spots?

[Jguess733]

I'm trying to figure out how to support the cupola while I'm decaling it. I'm worried that simply setting it on the table to work on will not provide it with enough stability to support me working on it, as well as creating an awkward angle to work with.  Is there some kind of contraption I can fabricate?  For weathering I've been thinking of using  a wire coat hanger that has been bent so that the two ends spread apart and placed pressure (kind of like reverse tweezers) on either side of the inside of a locomotive shell and then planting the whole thing in a block of foam.  Would something like this work?

[Philip H]

Your bent coat hangers could work - I'd recommend forming the top of the hangers into a couple of l shaped platforms, if you will, so the fill the volume of the interior roof line. 

Alternatively you could use a "stick" of one inch pink or blue foam insulation cut to size.  Or heck a scrap stick from your wood bin if you are a wood worker.

[PAL_Houston]

I'm trying to figure out how to support the cupola while I'm decaling it. I'm worried that simply setting it on the table to work on will not provide it with enough stability to support me working on it, as well as creating an awkward angle to work with.  Is there some kind of contraption I can fabricate?  For weathering I've been thinking of using  a wire coat hanger that has been bent so that the two ends spread apart and placed pressure (kind of like reverse tweezers) on either side of the inside of a locomotive shell and then planting the whole thing in a block of foam.  Would something like this work?

probably would work, but if you plan on doing much work like this in future it'd be worth it to by a table-mount vise that swivels.  The one I have came with rubber pads for the jaws that compress enough to hold plastic parts firmly without distorting them, and the swivel allows you to move the work surface to a good angle to work at.  Here's an example http://compare.ebay.com/like/190531593847?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

[wcfn100]

I cut random nests from dense foam packing material.  Sometimes an bigger base in needed for stability which can be made from cardboard.

Jason

[Jguess733]

Paul thanks for the link.  I went ahead and bought one.  I'll give it a whirl and see what happens. 

J

[central.vermont]

The best thing I have found is to buy foam brushes at Home Depot or Lowe's. You can also find them in any paint store. I've got about thirty of them in two sizes I use. 1 inch and 2 inch. They cost about 50 cents each. I also have a short piece of 2X4 that I drilled several half inch holes in it too stand what ever it is I'm painting to dry. You can also trim these brushes down to fit into a caboose cupola or diesel cab. The brushes fit perfectly into a geep shell or the sills. For cowl bodied units and box cars I have some small pieces of card board cut that take up the excess space for a snug fit.
Hope you find this useful.

Jon