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Tuesday, January 11, 2022

Not all that glitters is gold!

Back in the 1970s and 80s the pronouncement on a kit box that it contained chrome parts was a guaranteed selling point for many kits. The reality was and still is, is that the chrome is a plastic paint that at best is reasonable but usually it is poorly applied and can look simply terrible - just like me! The other thing is that you cannot sand it or abrade it to deal with the inevitable joints in parts which have to be joined. The result is that you either live with parts that have a clear and unrealistic join in them or you do away with the chrome. You can get special chrome paints that you can spray and these can look good but you both need an airbrush and know what you are doing.

For some reason three sprues in the Heller Scania 141 LB kit are chromed. I can understand doing the chrome for the fuel tanks and wheels but the sprues include such things as the seat cushion bases for inside the cab - comfy! This glittering array of kit parts is not gold to me! I am going to be dechroming the parts as it was rare for a 1980s truck to have any such items unless they were a custom truck and back then they were not many of those. Believe it or not i will be using oven cleaner to do the dechroming - but don't tell Mrs. W as she may hope that the oven gets cleaned too! 

Heller Scania 141 LB

In order to cement the chrome parts together you have to remove the chrome from the surfaces to be cemented.

Heller Scania 141 LB

The kit is that old that the parts are warped. This is an end view of one of the fuel tanks.

Heller Scania 141 LB

To try to straighten it up I have tempoarily put the ends in.

Heller Scania 141 LB

The progress for today!

Heller Scania 141 LB

In the morning it was back to the Museum and more track leveling and straightening! Its less than 3 months to opoening so its got to be done!

Rocks by Rail,

Rocks by Rail,

We must be getting somewhere as the photos are taken from the same point but it looks so much further than a few weeks ago!

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