Suggestions as to cause of discolouring

[SteveyDee68]

Asking the collective wisdom of RMWeb, might anyone be able to suggest what caused the following damage to a Hornby “Britannia” model loco?

 

 

For sale on eBay, but wondering if I should avoid like the plague!!

 

Steve S

[Moxy]

That looks like somebody has tried to repair that loco using an unsuitable glue that has reacted with the paint.  They have then made it worse by trying to scrape off the glue, and scratched the plastic underneath.

 

If it runs, it's probably salvageable, but if that were me doing the repair, I would be looking at a full repaint of the boiler.

[GWR-fan]

Pictured is an image  of a loco I am anticipating arriving tomorrow showing the area in question.  As stated a botched repair carried out.

 

Edit: I also have a repair job to carry out.

 

 

Edited May 29, 2023 by GWR-fan

[SteveyDee68]

Hi @GWR-fan - being a bit dim, but I can’t make out the damage in your photo?

 

Can anyone say which glues are suitable for Hornby plastics?

 

Steve S

[PMP]

22 minutes ago, SteveyDee68 said:

Hi @GWR-fan - being a bit dim, but I can’t make out the damage in your photo?

 

Can anyone say which glues are suitable for Hornby plastics?

 

Steve S

Most normal glues work, UHU, superglues, polystyrene cement, and liquid solvents. Choose whatever is suitable for the task.

[smokebox]

[RodneyS]

I would agree with Moxy but comparing the two photos it would seem that the eBay example has the front part of the regulator rod missing together with the crank.

Perhaps the crank came loose and the damage was due to excessive glue being used to try and fix it back on.

 

I have repaired Hornby locos with ordinary superglue.  I squeeze a drop onto a piece of scrap plastic and apply small amounts with the point of a pin.

 

With any glue it is important to let it dry and all the fumes escape before putting the model away.  I would leave it out for at least a day.

 

I remember a friend sticking some foam inside the case of a very expensive camera with Evostik.  The camera was put in and by the next day the fumes had taken all the leathercloth off the camera.

Rodney

 

 

 

[SteveyDee68]

2 hours ago, RodneyS said:

I would agree with Moxy but comparing the two photos it would seem that the eBay example has the front part of the regulator rod missing together with the crank.

Perhaps the crank came loose and the damage was due to excessive glue being used to try and fix it back on.

And that I believe is the true power of RMWeb!

 

With thanks to @RodneyS I now know that there is damage to the eBay loco other than some missing paintwork, knowledge I was hitherto so unaware of that I could not even ask the question!

 

There was I thinking to myself that the body shell looked “burnt” perhaps from overheating of the motor inside, and wondering it that was the cause and therefore a model best avoided. 
 

Now I know there is some cosmetic damage and a botched repair job, meaning that the item may well be something I could have a go at sorting out should I buy it.

 

I mean, if all else fails, there’s always the spare bodies available (albeit at extortionate prices) from eBay off various cannibalisers!

 

Thank you for all the help!

 

Steve S

[TinTracks]

50 minutes ago, SteveyDee68 said:

I mean, if all else fails, there’s always the spare bodies available (albeit at extortionate prices) from eBay off various cannibalisers!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185799055825?hash=item2b427c99d1:g:NkAAAOSwt3tep~1F&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8PpT1PaRIPnLk3e9OGYfpo1cRUiPBdA

 Hi Steve. There's always the good old GBL option for a body. 

 Cheers Rich

[cypherman]

Hi all,

As Tintracks has said depending on how much the engine is for sale at. Would getting a donor body be a possible solution. Just scrap the old body. The use of the GBL Britannia body would be possible. But it would involve a huge amount of hacking away of plastic. And then the body would be no better than one from the 1980s.

Edited May 29, 2023 by cypherman

[DCB]

It just needs a new regulator crank and a nice coat of BR Grime to hide the dodgy paint for 1965/7 condition.
For pristine forget it   Too much hassle.   Even the body swap is fraught as Hornby green varies between batches of locos from nothing like BR green to something like WD Khaki in the case of ex GWR King locos. so you need a matched loco and tender combination. I would walk away unless I wanted a 1965 on condition or needed a spare chassis or it was very very cheap! 

[Flying Pig]

10 hours ago, SteveyDee68 said:

I mean, if all else fails, there’s always the spare bodies available (albeit at extortionate prices) from eBay off various cannibalisers!

 

That seems like a very long way round to get a Britannia, given there seem to be quite a few on bay at the moment.

[Enterprisingwestern]

8 hours ago, Flying Pig said:

 

That seems like a very long way round to get a Britannia, given there seem to be quite a few on bay at the moment.

 

I would imagine that's why Steve was asking the question?

Identifying options etc.

 

MIke.

[SteveyDee68]

2 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

I would imagine that's why Steve was asking the question?

Identifying options etc.

 

MIke.

A Britannia doesn’t really fit into my list of required locos for my planned SR BR based layout, expect that William Shakespeare was used on the Golden Arrow, and I have plans to run my own “prestige” named trains*. As such, a Britannia would be nice but if I can source one for approx half of what I normally pay for Merchant Navy and West Country locos then, as only an ‘occasional’ runner, I would be very happy.

 

At the same time, I am avoiding tender driven models so a “fixer upper” of a more modern loco powered example is tempting, once I’ve ascertained** what might be involved in doing suchlike.

 

Steve S

 

* totally freelance names, to upset the purists!!

** good word, that!

[Enterprisingwestern]

22 minutes ago, SteveyDee68 said:

ascertained**

22 minutes ago, SteveyDee68 said:

** good word, that!

 

Word of the day so far!

 

Mike.

[SteveyDee68]

Looking at the item again, I’ve just spotted that there doesn’t appear to be a drawbar between the loco and the tender…

 

There are wires (and a mini plug) so guessing it does not require the fancy pants electric signal conducting drawbar, but even so - is this something available as a spare, or will I be fabricating from scratch?

 

 

Hmmmm 🤔

[SteveyDee68]

Thanks to all for the advice regarding the nature of the damage and how to go about repairing this item. After due consideration (especially that I really required a pristine finish loco to haul premier named trains) I decided not to bid on the item.

 

It sold earlier for £62.03 (+£6.99 p&p) which is about half the price of other examples, albeit those are usually the second most recent versions (this one was the most recent). The new tooling version seems to sell on eBay for £150+ (unless your name is Gostude, in which case all bets are off as to price, no matter what condition the model is in!)

 

Some very helpful information gleaned and stored away for future use.

 

Once again, many thanks for all contributions to this thread.

 

Steve S

 

PS

Messaged the seller, and the drawbar is included but not fixed because the loco doesn’t fit in the box when it is attached!

Edited May 30, 2023 by SteveyDee68
Added PS re: drawbar