Thanks for the offer John, but I pretty well have it covered.
Was wondering will MEK solvents work on this material as it does on Styrene etc.?
Since its a resin, and not a styrene / pvc / abs material, I don’t think so…
A few minutes later… OK, I tried with Plastruct cement (solvent based on MEK) and it didn’t want to dissolve the material (hence the term solvent); parts didn’t want to stick together very much.
I’ve been using JB Weld for plastics, but I’ll guess that many 2-part epoxies will work.
CA also seems to work quite well, just confirmed. And because of the sloppy test I just did, I won’t be able to wake my phone up with a finger swipe for the next 3 days…
If CA and 2 part epoxy will work, you might like Loctite HY-4070. It comes in a syringe applicator with a small diameter mixing tip (3 per package and available in 5 packs). It is a structural adhesive hybrid of CA and Epoxy that use it for all kinds of stuff. Works great metal to metal and on plastics (pvc, styrene etc.) A little pricey at about $18 for a small tube, but a little goes a long way.
https://www.henkel-adhesives.com/us/en/product/structural-adhesives/loctite_hy_4070.html
I’ve used both thick CA and 5 minute epoxy on my printed resin parts and they both worked very well.
I’ve been using CA on Mike’s kits for a couple years now, and it is ideal for me. You will easily break the resin parts if you make a mistake and try to pull it apart.
Walthers Goop contact cement also works for larger pieces, but takes longer to set.
As far as two part epoxies and such, I don’t have the patience to mix. I just want to grab and glue, with the same results.
What is the prediction for how well this will hold up outside? Is this a “bring it out for visitors” kind of model? Will it be able to withstand rain and (shudder) snow? CA won’t, right? But goop will?
Mike has left some of his kits outside for the whole running season and told me nothing brittled up or fell apart. But it is painted very well. As to my kits, I think they will be just shelf queens or show and tell.
As John has said I have been real busy at work. Add ons will be available once I have some time to settle down and get back to design work.
To address a few of the things mentioned. CA is what I use and it works great. MEK does nothing.
the resin for 3D printed parts is brittle. Mike uses about as tough and flexible material that is around that I have seen but small parts are still fragile. I would not use these as take and show pieces unless you are careful with them. And since the resin is a UV cure resin any unpainted parts will only further cure and become more brittle. These kits have some pretty delicate details. The larger thicker pieces would hold up fine but I worry that a lot of handling will cause little details to get broken.
So with that haul them around at your own discretion.
All good information on the adhesives, thanks guys.
I have finished the Dolbeer and will post a couple of pictures but first wanted to comment on the service provided by Mike, the kit supplier.
When I started assembly I found a badly warped part that I didn’t feel was salvageable. I contacted Mike, sent him a picture and 3 days later I had the new part and a little bonus in my hands. No charges at all. Now that is service that is not found much these days.
The pictures of doing it my way, several changes and deviations from the original kit.
2 Likes
She came out great, Rick!
There is one other 1:20.3 Dolbeer up in my neck of the woods that I have seen. I’ll try to remember to get a shot of it next time I’m there.
As to a flat car load, they look good. But check your clearances. I made my 7/8 with a removable stack so I could haul it, but I still need to make a depressed center flat car. I need 1/2" less for one of my bridges.
I also made the afore mentioned 1:20.3 model a removable stack after the owner knocked the boiler right off of the skid once.
Very nice Rick. It’s hard to think you could top your last 20 or 30 models, but you always do!
Thanks guys.
John, no flat car load for this one. It will be sitting out in the woods unused and forgotten. My RR cutoff date is 1939 so a Dolbeer is pretty much an old Model “T” when it comes to log skidding or loading 
Rick, I wish I had half of your painting / weathering skills. I still need to paint my donkey…
Looks like you stained your skid’s transverse members darker?
And what did you use for haziness over the black, and rust ?
Thanks Cliff, I too wish I had some painting and weathering skills, but till then I just keep trying.
To answer your questions.
The sled was built from cedar and stained with my typical alcohol/black leather dye mixture as a base.
The basic coloration I used on the “metal” is explained here.
After everything was finished and dry I followed up with oil paints and oderless paint thinner washes. The colors were;
Lamp black and Payne’s gray for grease and oil, Raw Umber for dirt and stain, and Titanium white for old water stain and haze.
The raw umber is what gives the wood sled the variation in color
That’s pretty much it.
Weathering. One of my lesser skills. I can stress wood and ink wash, but that’s about it. I wish I knew how to do it as good as the experts on this site.
I use the “ten foot rule” on all my model building. They are definitely not museum pieces by far. 
Half the fun is deciding what ‘weathering’ means for this particular model. Where would a steam donkey have oil and grease? Where would it collect dirt? (These are rhetorical questions!)
I find a good set of color photos of prototypes are needed so you can decide where the oil goes, what’s dirty, etc.
Exactly.
First step is deciding where the wear, drips, runs and puddles would happen. Then just play around with colors that approximate what nature and use would leave behind. When I was weathering my shack for this year’s Mik, I just kept playing around until it looked worn to me. There was no plan in advance, just wing it!
Colored pictures would be a great resource but pretty hard to come by of pre 1940 equipment.
A lot of weathering is just “think about it” On a Donkey where would grease and oil be? on and around gears, bearings, shafts and other moving parts.
On a structure where does it weather the most? Along the bottom 2-4 feet where the weather always hits the siding, below windows where the water sheets down, etc.
I think what good painting/weathering boils down to is observation of the real world and a good/great sense of color.
Now if you want to see real model painting and weathering take a look at this link and scroll down to post #123, click to enlarge picture.
Great discussion.
FWIW, here’s a short vid I took a month ago. Pretty clean donkey here, but you might predict where the stains would occur after years of usage out in the woods.
