Today I started a rebuild on a USA F-3 “B” unit that has been collecting dust in my workshop. I have grand plans for this unit . First I want to repaint it to look like a real worn-out but still used locomotive. I have been reading up on the salt and hairspray weathering techniques so i’m gonna give it a go on this unit. Next i’m going to install a “Harbor Models” 12 volt smoke unit inside with a 12 volt battery and a remote wireless on/off switch I found online. Also Kadee couplers will be installed along with any other body mod’s I might do like eliminating the 3 portholes on the side and moving and / or replacing some roof details. The first thing I did was remove the old factory paint by soaking the shell and other parts in 90% alcohol overnight . Then I had to fix the truck side frames. All my USA four axle side frames eventually develop small cracks around the axle bushings and screws that hold the journal box to the side frame. To hopefully extend the life of these pieces I glue on Evergreen # 293 “L” angle on the two sides and bottom of the journal backing plate. We’ll see how they hold up over time. I still have to order the parts but am doing what I can till the stuff get here. I’m trying to upload some pictures from my Freight Shed but can’t seem to get it to work . I figured out a link to one of the pictures by accident. I’ll keep trying. The picture shows the backer plate with the reinforcement angle glued on with MEK before it was trimmed.
Joe , can you walk me through the picture posting procedure ? I can’t get the picture from my freight shed to here.
from the freight shed, I right click the image I want then go to the reply page, and click on the icon right smack in the middle above the fonts part of the top, a little "mountain and sun in a box, click on that , then click on the source box, right click to insert the image, I always make sure its 800 pixels in the dimensions, then enter. After that I add my wording to describe what I am showing
I helps me when I add more than 1 picture to after the picture has been added to click enter to start a new line where the picture will go I dont know if that is right or not but seems to do fine for me… Went thru these steps to add this picture
I have a market?
I mean, you have my market?
You have…
oh, skip it. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
Okay now were gettin somewhere ! Thanks for your help guys.
Mike, FYI. The USA F3 sideframes have the brake cylinders mounted outside the center of the axles. They should be just inside the center of the axles like their GP’s. I think they did this for clearance. It is a different casting on the F3’s. I ordered the GP castings for all my F units and set them in the correct location but tighter to the sideframes. That solved the clearance problem. Take a look at some F3 and GP photos and you will see what i mean about the location.
F3
http://www.usatrains.com/r22250trucks.html
GP
Looking forward to this thread!
Haven’t done the salt but I have been using hairspray over all my chalk weathering for a long time…works great.
I rebuilt the side frame journal boxes so it is on to the next step . I have wanted to try the salt / hairspray weathering technique for a while now so here was my chance. I took the four side frames , the fuel tank , and side frame stirrups and painted them with 6 different shades of rusty looking paint . I tried to make the colors blotchy , with some parts darker and some other parts lighter shades of rust. I also used two different shades of black (gloss black and grimy black) . After I was pleased with this step I over sprayed the parts with Krylon Matt finish to seal in the rust paint. After the Krylon dried I whetted the parts with a spray bottle and sprinkled sea salt and table salt over the parts. That where i’m at right now. I’m going to let the parts dry and then over spray the parts with hair spray. After that dries i’ll paint the parts with the grey final color and then the fun will begin. If I don’t like the effect at least it will be on these small parts and I can re-strip the paint and re do it .
Have you looked into Camo colors ?
I didn’t see those but the hobby shop had some acrylic rust washes that I airbrushed on.
Man, I cringe when I think about doing any modifications to my USAT Western Pacific F-3 A/B units.
With exception to Airwire battery conversion of course…
I didn’t apply hairspray to these parts only the salt treatment . I just wanted the chipping effect not the fading . So after the water that I sprinkled the salt on dried I airbrushed the topcoat of grey . After the paint dried I removed the salt . I had to use a small wire brush on some spots . I’m happy with the results for my first try at it . I did learn that next time I need to put on more salt , much more. Anyhow here’ what it looks like. 
Mike,
That effect looks great. Your first time is a huge success! (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
Thanks Joe . I will be adding some weathering powders and chalks to the parts too. I’m having a lot of fun with this technique .
This looks awesome! I have heard of this technique on an On30 page, but never tried it, now I gotta have a go at it, maybe on my Pennsy S4 set. watching with anticipation to see the end result!
very nice!!!
With the hairspray method, I’ve found that buying liquid hairspray and than shooting that through my airbrush works better than aerosol hairspray. Both methods have a plus and minus to them, but personally I like the hairspray method better as you can control the chipping a little bit more.
Thank for the tip Craig on the liquid hairspray. I didn’t know hairspray came in liquid form . I never used hairspray so …anyway , i’m going to do a combination of hairspray and salt on the body. Your right that you don’t have control over the rust once you paint over it with the top color with just the salt method . Looking forward to doing the shell but thats a ways off.
Word of the wise, don’t try salt and hairspray at the same time. It won’t work. I tried. I would say do, one first, seal and than the next layer. Experiment first.
I asked my wife to get me liquid hairspray. It was a little more pricey than the dollar store hairspray, but it worked a lot better.