Loose coal in the tender.

have you tried the wet water sprayed on followed by 50-50 white glue and water mix, same as for track ballast?

I use a couple small drops of full strength white glue (elmers) in the areas where the coal is missing. Then I replace the coal pieces.

Let that dry overnight. Then put a few small drops of the glue /water ballast mixture wb47 mentioned above, on the areas where the coal was replaced.

Let dry overnight again and your tender will look like it never happened.

An eye dropper or even an empty elmers glue bottle will work when applying the ballast mixture. 

I would avoid using a sprayer as you risk getting over spray of glue on the tender paint

I don't think the suggestion was to spray with a glue/water mixture, but rather to spray with "wet water" first in order to reduce the surface tension, and then to apply diluted Elmer's white glue to bond the loose coal, as one would do with with ballast.

just curious, but is this coal real coal or some sort of faux-coal?

thanks...gary

I use Hob-E- Tac glue from Woodland Scenics. 

Make my coal loads using this glue and you cannot see any glue when it dries.

Just an idea if you didn't want to mess with mixing glue and water.

Wow!! I like the idea of using Hob E Tac - no muss, no fuss.  I will check Walmart crafts section as I saw it as available on the Walmart web site; otherwise it is available on E-Bay for about 8 bucks including shipping. 

Mark, any pointers on application?  I have about 100+ loose kernals of coal and some valley's in the tender.

overlandflyer posted:

just curious, but is this coal real coal or some sort of faux-coal?

thanks...gary

Hi Gary - don't know if it is real coal - sure looks like it; my Dad was a coal miner in W.VA and Pa. and we had a coal furnace in our house and this stuff looks real but in miniature.

Hello Rick, the Hob-E-Tac has an brush applicator in the lid.

Not sure where you need to reapply the coal  in the tender.

You may want to use a small  artist paint brush and just dab the glue onto the tender surface.

It will most likely be a time consuming process putting the pieces back in place.

It's a shame that you have this kind of a problem with an expensive engine like this.

Good luck, and Happy Thanksgiving !!!!

Thanks Mark.  There is a base layer of coal on the tender entirely covering its top.  I have about 100+ individual kernels to glue back in place so I am thinking about putting down a layer of glue on the existing layer and then placing the loose ones on that.  My tender currently has coal like the photo of your tender.  Hopefully the glue will dry clear.

Regarding the AC-9, when Scrapion (Elliot) said Lionel got it right with this loco, he wasn't kidding; it is right up there with Lionel's Big Boy, Pere Marquette, FEF 3, Pocahontas; I don't mind a little bit of work like this.

MarkStrittmatter posted:

I use Hob-E- Tac glue from Woodland Scenics. 

Make my coal loads using this glue and you cannot see any glue when it dries.

Just an idea if you didn't want to mess with mixing glue and water.

That's cool Mark, I would like to see how you make your coal loads.

Don't understand how come the coal came loose from the tender though, has that happened with other models?

D500, you set fire to some and it burns - darn, you just gave me a crackpot idea.

D500 posted:

...

I set fire to a few stray pieces one - yep, it's coal.

interestingly, i was going to add that a good test might be that faux coal, especially plastics, will probably burn a lot easier than actual coal.  i can hold up a lighter to a piece of hard or soft coal for minutes without having it light.  it takes a fairly hot bed of coals (i typically start with a wood fire) to sustain a coal fire.  of course the physics of a minute O scale piece vs the nut size i use might play a factor in that.

Good morning, I don't want to get away from the primary topic here with the problem of the coal falling out of the tender.

Rick if it is alright with you I can go into detail over the question asked by Dave about the coal loads.

Happy Thanksgiving !!!!!

MarkStrittmatter posted:

Good morning, I don't want to get away from the primary topic here with the problem of the coal falling out of the tender.

Rick if it is alright with you I can go into detail over the question asked by Dave about the coal loads.

Happy Thanksgiving !!!!!

Hi Mark, sure, go ahead, and give details to Dave.  As it turns out, every time I pick up the tender, more coal flakes loose ( I am testing some new Fastrack switch tracks with issues but that's another story).  Maybe your coal details will help.

Merry Christmas

Good morning Rick, that is a shame that the coal continues to fall out of the tender.

Good morning Dave, the photo of the coal hopper I posted its a MTH hopper.

I use the same method that Rich Battista uses.

Using the MTH coal load remove the coal load from the hooper.

Using a pliers break the end of the coal load off by just flexing it back and forth.

Trim the corners off on an angle that is close to the angle of the end of the coal hopper.

Doing this will let the coal load sit down on the hopper and when you add the coal it won't look like the hopper car is overloaded.

Once you get the coal load to fit properly in the hopper wash the load with Dawn Dish Washing soap and hot water just to remove any oils.

Once the coal load is dry place the load on a piece of cardboard or newspaper. Reason for this is so you can gather up the extra coal that will fall off the load and the loose coal can be reuse again.

Cover the entire coal load with a heavy coating of Hob-B-Tac glue and then sprinkle the coal or what ever you want to use. Let it dry over night.

Once the load is dry turn the load upside down and shake off any loose material.

If you want to add more coal just reapply more Hob-B-Tac in the areas you want to add more coal.

For coal I am fortunate that I visit the Anthracite coal region in eastern PA frequently.

Along the haul roads there will be lumps of coal  that has fallen off the haul trucks.

I gather up a few lumps and bring them home. Using a old beach towel I wrap the lump in the towel and using a hammer smash the lumps into small pieces.

You can purchase coal in bags so you won't have to go thru all of this.

Sometimes at night after one of those days smashing coal lumps into smaller pieces is a good way to vent !!!!!!!!

Just like in the real world I size the coal using different colanders. In the photo I sent the coal lumps are a bit to big. The next loads I did I added more fines and then added a lump of coal here and there just to change it up a bit.

I also sprayed the loads with Dull-coat just to bring down the shine of the Anthracite Coal as D500 mentioned earlier.

I have several different coal hoppers with different looking loads. My thought is the this train was made up from different mines and each mine has different grades and quality of coal so if the look different this is why.

The era in which I am modeling 1946 to 1957, there were not 100 to 150 car unit trains like today. Loaded cars where picked up in several  mine locations and then hauled off to the end user.

Have fun doing this project !!!!!!

Saw Hob E Tac on Amazon and ordered a bottle due this Sunday; will give that a shot.

My preference has always been Matt Medium. I moisten the coal pile with a bit of VERY cheap alcohol, then drip diluted (diluted to the consistency of whole milk) Matt Medium into the coal. Next day it is hard, and the Matt Medium dries to a "Matt" finish, so it doesn't show.

This material is properly known as "Matte" medium, precisely because it dries with a "matte" surface (no sheen).

B Smith posted:

This material is properly known as "Matte" medium, precisely because it dries with a "matte" surface (no sheen).

Thanks. Don't know why my spell check didn't catch that error. The scenery and ballast on our whole layout is done with Matte Medium, as I used to purchase it by the gallon from Scenic Express.

Always good to learn something new.

Yes, matte medium is good stuff.  Use an eyedropper in your situation.  Dilute it with cheap alcohol?  I always use the drop of dish detergent in water technique as the first step. I put my Jim Beam in a glass with ice.  That's as cheap an alcohol as I am inclined to buy, and I'm certainly not applying it with an eyedropper.  Cheers.

Good evening Rick, how did you make out glueing the coal load back into your tender ????

MarkStrittmatter posted:

Good evening Rick, how did you make out glueing the coal load back into your tender ????

Hi Mark,

I am glad I used Hob E Tac to glue the coal in place!  Very easy to work with.  I used a fine artists paint brush to dab the glue onto the pile and then dropped the coal on top of that. Dabbing the glue on with the brush got easier by twisting the brush in a circular motion.  It dries clear.  Then, over a completed area, I would follow up with a coat of Hob E Tac to further reinforce the area.  Now, the surface in that area does remain tacky but the coal is held firmly in place.  I have noticed that over time the surface is becoming less tacky - probably due to dust.  Found Hob E Tac on E-Bay for a good price.  Thanks for the info Mark!  Happy Camper.