The Good, The Bad, and the not so Ugly
eBay.
To some, it is a wonderland of opportunity. A place where one can find anything they want to buy, usually at prices that are lower than what you'd pay at a store. And when I say you can find anything, I mean anything. Someone sold a Ghost in a Jar...
Others see eBay as a wasteland. Someone getting rid of their useless crap so that someone else can have it.
Anyway, way back in 1997, I made my first purchase on eBay. It seemed like a great purchase at first, because it didn't cost me that much. Yeah, right. With shipping, postage, and the mail order I bought, it ended up being way too expensive. But, lesson learned (or so I thought)...
Here's what my money got me...
Yep...an old coil coach. The original cars came with clamshell covers, and this one did too, but like the prototypes I ditched the covers. I do plan on turning this old model into a decent looking car, but it will take some work.
For example, in the above picture, the grating has to go. It looks terrible. We're talking 1970s era tooling. Some nice etched pieces from Plano will do. The two holes in the end will have to be covered up...need to find those pictures of Bethlehem Steel gondolas that underwent the clamshell removal treatment...
The bad...well, it's not TOO bad.
I had an old Walthers steel coil car that I had painted rather badly. I decided to strip the car and paint it for CN...and of course, I went on the internet to find out what kind of paint stripper to use. A lot of people suggested PineSol. Some suggested Brake Fluid. Some suggested 91% Isopropyl Alcohol.
I couldn't find the brake fluid in a reasonable amount, and the only alcohol I could find at the time was 70%, which will make your car shiny and nice smelling, but it won't budge the paint. So, I went with PineSol...HUGE MISTAKE!!!
You see, most companies make their train cars out of polystyrene. Walthers, or their subcontractor, didn't. And PineSol doesn't play nice with their plastic. I ended up with a train car that could go around curves, which is usually good, except that this car could bend in the middle. I almost trashed it...but, being notoriously cheap and/or handy, I decided to salvage it. I added styrene to the sides and then...I put some styrene I beams on the bottom. After seeing some beautiful Rail Yard Models coil cars, I started to try my hand at making one of my own. And now with RYM going out of business (which is sad), this will probably be my one shot at having one of these cars.
Again, some nice Plano walkways and this will look very nice. Can't figure out if I'm going to go NSC or Conrail for the paint and decals...
As far as the ugly...well, there is none.
Today's lesson for the kids: AVOID THE PINESOL...
To some, it is a wonderland of opportunity. A place where one can find anything they want to buy, usually at prices that are lower than what you'd pay at a store. And when I say you can find anything, I mean anything. Someone sold a Ghost in a Jar...
Others see eBay as a wasteland. Someone getting rid of their useless crap so that someone else can have it.
Anyway, way back in 1997, I made my first purchase on eBay. It seemed like a great purchase at first, because it didn't cost me that much. Yeah, right. With shipping, postage, and the mail order I bought, it ended up being way too expensive. But, lesson learned (or so I thought)...
Here's what my money got me...
Yep...an old coil coach. The original cars came with clamshell covers, and this one did too, but like the prototypes I ditched the covers. I do plan on turning this old model into a decent looking car, but it will take some work.
For example, in the above picture, the grating has to go. It looks terrible. We're talking 1970s era tooling. Some nice etched pieces from Plano will do. The two holes in the end will have to be covered up...need to find those pictures of Bethlehem Steel gondolas that underwent the clamshell removal treatment...
The bad...well, it's not TOO bad.
I had an old Walthers steel coil car that I had painted rather badly. I decided to strip the car and paint it for CN...and of course, I went on the internet to find out what kind of paint stripper to use. A lot of people suggested PineSol. Some suggested Brake Fluid. Some suggested 91% Isopropyl Alcohol.
I couldn't find the brake fluid in a reasonable amount, and the only alcohol I could find at the time was 70%, which will make your car shiny and nice smelling, but it won't budge the paint. So, I went with PineSol...HUGE MISTAKE!!!
You see, most companies make their train cars out of polystyrene. Walthers, or their subcontractor, didn't. And PineSol doesn't play nice with their plastic. I ended up with a train car that could go around curves, which is usually good, except that this car could bend in the middle. I almost trashed it...but, being notoriously cheap and/or handy, I decided to salvage it. I added styrene to the sides and then...I put some styrene I beams on the bottom. After seeing some beautiful Rail Yard Models coil cars, I started to try my hand at making one of my own. And now with RYM going out of business (which is sad), this will probably be my one shot at having one of these cars.
Again, some nice Plano walkways and this will look very nice. Can't figure out if I'm going to go NSC or Conrail for the paint and decals...
As far as the ugly...well, there is none.
Today's lesson for the kids: AVOID THE PINESOL...
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