QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
How to remove molded-on details?
Q.
I have a couple of Roundhouse box cab shells that I plan to
put on Bachmann 44-tonner frames. How do I go about neatly
removing the molded-on ladders to replace them with indi-
vidual 18” Tichy drop grab irons? I have some ancient freight
cars to practice on.
– Irish Rover
A.
Deemiorgos and Dave Branum rely on X-Acto knife blades to
carve away unwanted details.
“I only have experience with carving off molded-on details on
Accurail cars,” Deemiorgos explained. “The plastic they use
carves off easily and nicely. I use an X-Acto blade, but avoid
using one with an angled point.”
“Get a narrow chisel blade for those areas where a regular
blade won’t fit. Be sure to not cut too deep and make a gouge
in the car body,” said Dave. “Once I’ve cut most of the detail off,
I switch to a single-edged razor blade and scrape the rest off
flush. Practice scraping with the razor blade held almost per-
pendicular to the car body.”
Rob Spangler favors curved blades: “They lack hard edges
adjacent to the part of the blade that touches the surface, so
you’re less likely to gouge it. X-Acto #10, 12, 22 and 25 are
examples. I prefer the 10 and 22. Medical scalpels are great
for this kind of work. Some have very small blades that can
reach into tight areas.”
Ajkochev added: “One thing I’ve done in the past is wrap mask-
ing tape around the various blades, leaving only a small part of
the blade exposed, to help me not nick anything I don’t want to
come off.”
Questions, Answers & Tips - 1
MRH-Aug 2014
