A shelf layout emerging from a turnout

[svedblen]

The coupler boxes I ordered from Shapeways (see https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=41240.msg517370#msg517370) arrived a few days ago. They look like this:



Nice, don't you think? 

The boxes are easily attached to the cars, using the original mounting screws and holes. They only need to be countersunk for the screws to not later interfere with the coupler shank. Here is one of the boxes test fitted on one of the cars.





So now I need to figure out how to install my Protocraft Clouser couplers in the pockets.

[ednadolski]

Woah those look really nice!   Have you soaked them in Bestine to remove the wax coating (so they can be painted)?

Ed

[svedblen]

Have you soaked them in Bestine to remove the wax coating (so they can be painted)?

No, not yet. Actually, I was just trying to figure out what to use. Bestine is not a brand that is locally available, so I need to find something similar. Do you happen to now what Bestine is exactly (chemically)? Wikipedia says 'heptane', whatever that is 

EDIT: Come to think of it, Patrick, the guy who designed the boxes said this in an earlier e-mail: "I clean my models with hot soap and water, dish washing soap works well.  Let air dry and prime and paint". Sounds easy enough.

[strummer]

I just discovered this thread; it ranks right up there along with the very best of the best.

As one who also dabbles in 0 scale, I find it interesting that you opted to do North American trains; I have gone the other route, and am focusing on German railroads. One "lok" and 6 cars...

Your work is both inspiring and intimidating...

Mark in Oregon

[Missaberoad]

I use simple green (available at any big box store for 3-4$ a bottle) at 100% concentration to clean the wax off shapeways prints... let it soak for 30 minutes to an hour and scrub with a soft toothbrush, repeat if necessary.

[svedblen]

Your work is ... intimidating...

Ha ha, that was not my intention.  Sorry

I use simple green ... let it soak for 30 minutes to an hour and scrub with a soft toothbrush, repeat if necessary.

Here in Sweden Simple Green seems to be targeted towards cleaning businesses only, and need to be ordered online if I want any    So I think I will start with something even simpler, hot water and ordinary dishing soap. There is not much wax to begin with, and most of it is inside the box which I will probably not paint anyway. Thanks for the tip though  Much appreciated.

[ednadolski]

So I think I will start with something even simpler, hot water and ordinary dishing soap. There is not much wax to begin with

Doesn't take much wax to ruin a paint job.   Anyways if you can find it the bestine/heptane [1] is pretty simple to use: I just put some in a jar w/lid and let the parts soak for 24 hours and then air dry. (I have left them soaking for up to two weeks and it doesn't seem to bother the FUD material.  The 'no rinse, no scrub' part is great when you have intricate and/or delicate parts.)

Ed

[1] might be available in hardware or art stores, sometimes is sold as a rubber cement solvent.

[davefoxx]

Lennart,

I used this stuff on my FXD, and it worked great.



There was no wax left over.  I merely dropped it in for a couple of days (I forgot about it, really), and there was no scrubbing necessary.  I washed the model with dishwashing soap and water to clean any remaining crayon/wax remover off, and it's done.  It's funny, because it comes out still looking translucent but turns the desired opaque white in a day or two after it dries.

If you can't find this product, you probably could use any crayon/wax remover.  Oh, and it smells like Goo Gone, so, since others have reported success with that product, you could try that, too.  These products ought to be much safer than Bestine or heptane.

Hope this helps,
DFF

[svedblen]

Anyways if you can find it the bestine/heptane [1] is pretty simple to use

I used this stuff (crayon/wax remover) on my FXD, and it worked great.

OK, I decided to not yet give up the "chemical way" for the "soapy way".

Here goes.

After some intense googling I finally understood that what is called heptane in this country is what normally sells under a name that literally translates to "chemical gasoline". So if I go out and ask for heptane the latter is what I would get. Problem is that "chemical gasoline" is something with Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) number 64742-49-0. This while Bestine includes something else that is also called heptane but with CAS number 142-82-5. Turns out the stuff with that number is what is what "we" call n-Heptane (as in normal Heptane). But that stuff does not seem to be available in this country anymore. Found on some list of banned substances.

I guess I could get some of that chemical gasoline stuff, easy enough, but I got somewhat disenchanted, and did not feel like following through on the heptane track.

Instead I decided to see what I already had at home that might do the trick. First out was something we call "T red" which is mainly denatuared etanol. This stuff is good for a lot of things, except drinking  , and as it turned out, removing wax from FUD prints. Nothing happened when I soaked my coupler boxes in "T red".

Next I tried another alcohol, namely isopropyl alcohol, also called isopropanol or dimethyl carbinol. This stuff at least started to solve the wax, but after an hour or so the surface of the FUD started to take on a rather "too frosty" look so I did not dare continue.

Last in my little test was white spirit, also know as mineral spirits or mineral turpentine, or generically, "paint thinner". And Bingo!  So far this looks good. The wax seems to solve and disappear. And the frosty look caused by the isopropanol seems to go away as well. I can see that now when I dared throw the whole batch of boxes into the white spirit.

Thanks everybody for all the great tips, but for now I think white sprits is doing the trick for me.

[mu26aeh]

If you can get your hands on an ultrasonic cleaner, get one.  I have had success putting my parts in one and running it a couple of cycles using hot water and dish soap.  Once the water stays clear thru a cycle, all wax is dissolved.  I do give it a hand by soaking parts in Naptha for a couple hours before doing the ultrasonic route, but have done just the UC route and get good results.

[svedblen]

If you can get your hands on an ultrasonic cleaner, get one.

I don't think I can. Not easily anyway. But I remember my father having access to one before he retired. He used it for private suff on ocassions, such an old and dirty wristwatch he inherited from his father. Can't remember if that one worked out well or not though

P.S. My coupler boxes looks clean enough after the white spirit, then a rinse in "T red" and followed by last rinse in water.

[chicken45]

I don't think I can. Not easily anyway. But I remember my father having access to one before he retired. He used it for private suff on ocassions, such an old and dirty wristwatch he inherited from his father. Can't remember if that one worked out well or not though

P.S. My coupler boxes looks clean enough after the white spirit, then a rinse in "T red" and followed by last rinse in water.

Aren't they like, $30 on Amazon? I think @Lemosteam got one there.

[svedblen]

Aren't they like, $30 on Amazon?

OK, I did not know that. But right now I don't need any 

[svedblen]

After having test fitted one of the coupler boxes on a car it was time to figure out how the couplers should be installed in the boxes.

For starters, I inserted a shim at the top inside of the box. This would not only lower the coupler to the correct height but would also make the coupler shank clear the upper "lip" at the box opening, As a bonus the shim, which was made out of .75 mm styrene, also added to the thickness of the top part of the box. Which would be good for the screw threads to come. Here are two of the boxes and the styrene shims to be glued in place inside the boxes. The shims could be no longer than that, or they would foul one of the box mounting screws. In the picture below the boxes are upside down, so the shim would go at the "bottom" in the picture.



Next I drilled and tapped a hole in the box for the coupler mounting screw (the smaller hole in the picture below). I also drilled a matching hole in the coupler shank, and shortened the shank. The latter so that I would get sufficient coupler swing inside the box, although the mounting screw is offset towards one end of the shank.



And here the coupler is in place in the box (and still everything is upside down in the picture).



As can be seen the coupler is no longer in its pristine brass state. This since it has been "blackened" in vinegar. I searched the net for ways of blackening brass, and found acetic acid, better known as vinegar. Since vinegar is easy enough to obtain I decided to try it. It did the job, but it was not a fast process. I think the coupler sat in the vinegar for 10 days or a fortnight, but eventually it changed color.

Here the complete assembly has been test fitted on one of the cars.



And last, the compulsory comparison to the stock coupler.



Next is painting and weathering.

[ednadolski]

Do you have a link to any larger images?  I'm only getting 480x321 which is hard to see the details.

Did the vinegar etching have any noticeable effect on the operating surfaces of the coupler, and do the pin & knuckle still operate smoothly?  I recall once trying to darken one of those brass couplers with some kind of chemical blackener, but it was a disaster.  It came out so nasty looking I didn't even want to handle it - like something that leaked out of an old battery.  But from what I can see so far, yours is looking pretty good.

Ed