It's our HOW-TO-DO-IT
Brass Model Train e-Newsletter
for May 1, 2020
Things to do BEFORE you start painting!
Hi Everyone — Welcome to another edition of our continuing series of How-To-Do-It Brass Model Train e-Newsletters. When it comes to painting brass model trains—often—it's tempting to dive into the painting part right away. Leaving those simple things like mounting couplers and adding lift pin levers for the end of the project. In my professional opinion—that's rather a bad idea. Let me explain my point of view about the real value of doing these things first; not last.

From the factory, many brass models came with separate coupler lift bars. That's because those typically MUST be the last parts installed after the coupler boxes are attached. Those might be last steps, but test-fitting them SHOULD BE among the first things you do before taking apart a model to paint it. Waiting until the end of the project to do these sorts of things can have you finding out the hard way—that last minute adjustments with sharp hand tools and parts laying around—can negatively impact the finished paint work.

In this example, the standard plastic Kadee coupler boxes will not mount to the underframe because of the big side ears on the stock coupler boxes. They are too wide for these particular models. The ears hit the air and signal hose castings preventing the boxes from being mounted. And if we try bending the casting to clear the box, the casting will break off from the frame. So those ears need to be trimmed flush. Satisfied with that little modification on all 6 boxes the couplers can then be test fit. Doing so reveals that the box itself is still too wide by a scale 2-3 inches. Just wide enough it still will not mount to the frame. Each side of all 6 boxes must now be narrowed with a large file so that the boxes will mate properly with both the underframe and body.
With that work completed we should be in good shape, right? Sorry... Big NOPE. Mounting the modified coupler boxes reveals that the coupler box mounting screws that came with the model are 2mm TOO LONG. With brass model trains, that extra 2mm in length equals a mile, so to speak. When screwed into the underframe to hold tight the coupler boxes, those long screws bottom out on the brass car body and push the body up. Try turning the screws with too much force and you'll break off the mounting tabs where the brass body connects to the brass frame. ALWAYS assume the coupler box mounting screws included with your model are TOO LONG. Be careful when installing them or parts can be easily broken off on account of screws being too long. This is especially true of caboose models where long screws can break off the entire end platform, or the brass coupler mounting pad that is soldered to the bottom of the end platform.

So, in this case I discarded the stock screws and installed some 2mm x 4mm pan head screws (NWSL 11204-5) that will work perfectly in this situation. 4mm is usually as long a screw as you need in this application but note that just the first couple of threads will grip a tapped hole. While 4.5mm would be perfect for this application, that's not a common screw length. Sometimes 5mm lengths will work OK too. But be careful. Using longer screws risks damaging the model. Sometimes it's necessary to add a washer on top of the coupler box just under the head of the screw(s) to keep the 5mm screw from penetrating the tapped hole too deeply. With proper length screws the boxes can be safely mounted to the model frame and the model frame safely mounted to the body of the model. This takes considerable time to do properly, but it is time very-well-invested in my humble opinion.

FACT: There is NO SINGLE metric thread size screw that works to mount couplers with all brass models. Always have a variety of metric screw thread sizes on hand in many different lengths. Some of the most useful thread sizes are 1.0mm, 1.2mm, 1.4mm, 1.6mm, 1.7mm and 2.0mm. We have thousands of each size and length in stock at all times because there are ALWAYS screws on a brass model that will need to be replaced. And very often, the coupler box mounting screws are missing from the model—even direct from the factory. If we're working on your model it will always have proper screws installed, even when some might have been missing at the outset.

Next, it's a good idea to test-mount the trucks with the stock screws and springs. We want to make certain that once the trucks are attached and the car is placed on track that the couplers actually line up with a coupler height gauge. Guys ask me, "Don't they always do that at the factory?" My answer is— probably not . These three brass models (that I actually designed for the importer and builder) all have couplers that mount way too low, thanks to a misinterpretation of the design spec at the factory. It's a very common problem with models made in Korea. The entire underframe sits too low on the trucks.

So, I took off all of the trucks again while trying my best to NOT lose any screws or springs in the process. I always work on a soft surface on top of my desk. That way as I handle the model again and again it's not being damaged on top of my desk with one of those silly green cutting mats. Those are for cutting; not working on brass models with parts that can bend or break off as you roll the model from one side to another. Green cutting mats are simply WAY TOO HARD.

Under my chair I use a hard chair mat. Now this is a place that I want a hard surface. If a screw goes flying and hits the floor, I can hear it bounce, and can usually see it on the rebound before it disappears anyplace else under my desk. I advise against carpeting under the work area as it will suck up every small part and screw that lands there. Wearing a chef's apron works well too. I wear one and fasten the bottom edge of the apron to the edge of my work space with a couple of large binder clips. If a spring or screw goes flying, it usually hits me in the chest and lands in my chef's apron. Then I simply pick up the screw or spring and start over again. Try it. You'll like it.
Next, comes increasing the space between the top of the truck frame and the bolster. I like to use brass parts here so I grabbed a bag of Walther's #2-56 Brass Washers. This adjustment took two brass washers per truck. I carefully lined up the 12 new brass washers with the bolster holes and remounted the trucks. After checking the coupler height one more time, finally, everything lines up. With the trucks and couplers remounted in the proper positions I could then test the coupler trip pin height and adjust those curves with Kadee's special trip pin pliers. Best to do this with unpainted couplers as making those adjustments after painting will chip off the paint from the trip pins and they won't look so good anymore.

The final thing to do (before beginning disassembly of the model to actually start prepping it for paint) is to test fit the coupler pin lift rods. And of course, they don't fit correctly either because the builder used rods from another model that they had left over; not the parts I asked for. Here, each lift bar needed to be trimmed about 8mm in length and then re-bent (times 6 levers) and then test fit onto each car. Eventually all of these coupler boxes and lift rods will be airbrush painted, but they are shown unpainted here in the exploded views above.
As you can probably better understand now, the two images showing all of the work that needed to be done BEFORE I started painted these models, are pretty important to NOT RUINING the paint work during final reassembly. When I get a model to the final assembly stage it sure is tempting to rush that part of the project to get a model done and out of the shop. But I never rush any model to get to the next one.

My process is what guides me. Process rules the day. Every day. More importantly, I always want EVERYTHING that I've painted or modified to fall together easily at the end of the project so that I never have to worry about ever risking the paint job. I say "risking" because that's what happens when you handle a painted model too much. Or if parts fit together too tightly. If the parts are difficult to get apart, then MODIFY THEM before you paint them. Adding a few layers of paint does not make the refit go better. You'll have paint chips everywhere when you press tight parts back together.

Likewise, it's super-easy to ruin a perfect paint job at the very last moment when the final screws are going back into the model. Doing any extra handling with sharp-edged parts, screws, and tools lying on the same work surface is just plain dangerous to the paint job. My process includes risk management. It's a part of my painting process. Plan to handle models as little as possible to get the job done. Or pay the consequences with crummy looking final results that need all kinds of last-minute brush touch-ups.

Installing lights, sound, and DCC components is always something to test fit and test install at the beginning of a project too. The last thing you want to do at the end is try installing all of that stuff into a beautifully painted model. Unless you are a pro at that, I recommend that you find a pro who knows how to do it without damaging the model or the paint job. There are lots of resources that show how to do the DCC install. But few that explain the pitfalls of trying it on expensive custom or factory painted models. There is a trick to it. But we'll save that for another edition of our e-Newsletter.

Time lost to these kinds of model adjustments is an inherent part of the process of doing a professional paint job. It's a very real part of what I bill to my clients. They come to expect great results—and much of the work I do—has nothing to do with the actual painting. It's the cautious prep work that eats up so much time. But it can't be avoided. I know that when my clients gets these models back from me, they won't need to make these kinds of adjustments. Which is a good thing because I'm the only person who saw how they all came apart. I know where the hang-ups will be and what to watch out for when I reassemble each model too.

If the client has to figure that out after the model is painted, he'll certainly chip up the paint and bend or break off a part, because he doesn't know what I know about the insides of that model that I just finished painting. I've been there. I've seen the insides. He hasn't. Situational knowledge is paramount to getting everything back together, safe and sound. It is how tough problems are solved in any line of work. The experts get called in to advise. Their experience and situational knowledge is what prevents a situation from getting worse before it gets better. That's always a key component of truly professional results in this field of endeavor and model train artistry.

In conclusion, if you're going to try doing this stuff yourself, then please make these test fits and adjustments at the beginning of the project; not the end. You'll certainly get better results. Rely on a process that takes these things into consideration. Don't rush. Let your process dictate to you what to do first, then next, etc., etc. Write it down and follow the same steps next time. That's my 2 cents on the topic. I certainly do hope that it helps you too.

Thanks for looking today, and as always... Cheers!
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