Hi Again;
I decided to cut the other post short to tell you how I have overcome some of the problems mentioned in the last missive. I was gifted a REVELL ship model. Now, it ain't bad given that it goes together like the "Hawaiian Pilot" Kit! Yep, we're talking about the U.S.S.Randall. When you cut All the molded on rails off it looks weird! Especially when you putty all thos horrendous horizintal seams on the deckhouses!
Not to worry. There is a solution to Both the Aztec stairs and the Rails. It's called Tichy Train Group! They manufacture all kinds of stuff you can use. Vertical ladders, Stairs and lastly Rails. They didn't know about the rails till I told them about what of their products I used!
Tichy makes Gorgeous Early forties and fifties Box car Roof Walkways in finely molded plastic. So finely molded you can see the cross supports as well as the longitudal runners on them. Now here's the trick.You can, right out of the package see through them. This is both in" N" scale>(1/160) and "H.O.">(1/87.) These walkways are just perfect for rails. I would imagine that maybe they have something in " Z" scale( That's half of "N " scale I believe.)
You cut them from the sprue and then lay the units out flat on a piece of 400 grit sandpaper taped down cutting side up of course. Then gently rub them back and forth till the Cross supports become very thin! Stop!! You don't want them to disappear! Now flip them over and gently do this to the longitudal side, till it is equally thin. Stop!! Now look at what you have. You have a roofwalk that looks more like P.E.Rails. You can get a whole set for the Randall out of three walkways!
Now, I say that because most rails in this size are three rails horizontally right? You will have enough to get two lengths of rail out of each walkway. Bending? Easy-Peasy! take a cup of water and microwave it till it boils. Dip in the plastic then immediately place it over a brass or aluminum tube or paint-brush handle the right size. Then cut to length!
No breaks and or cracks. Glue in location after cutting to fit lengthwise then paint! The nice part.You can just use the teensiest amount of plastic glue to mount it or C.A. or white glue Just like P.E.! The stairs available can be modified for ships as well as the rails. So there! An alternate, somewhat more time consuming but do-able replacement for rails and stairs in Box-scales! And they paint up beautifully!
I don't use plastic glue that often as I have discovered an inconsistancy in the strength of the glues from bottle to bottle. It does happen. Sometimes I think it is a result of how long it has been warehoused before being retailed out to us. I am not sure. I did a long range test of two bottles of Testors Liquid and Tamiya's two types.
The fact is, if fresh it is to hot for the modified Tichy Product! Older bottles seemed to have mellowed some. I still would use the other two, White Glue and C.A. even that Glue you have to use the light on works. and C.A. Gel!