Filler for DL109 Pilot

I doubt very much that you will ever find a commercial part for that. Depending on the prototype you can make a cover which would be just about the size of the current space or fill in to make a normal coupler opening. You would have to check pictures of your prototype. Either way, it probably won't be much more work than it would be to install commercial parts if they were available.

J. Bright

You know...now that I think about it, since the huge opening has been bothering me too...rather than trying to fill it with putty, sand it to shape and repaint the whole pilot, I'm thinking it may be easier to make a filler piece out of plastic and then use it as a master to cast a few more in resin. The downside is that you would still be able to see that it's a separate piece set in the opening, but on the other hand, you wouldn't risk ruining the original paint and the new piece could be painted before installation. Maybe I'll give it a try one of these days.

Jim

Taper the edges of the hole and the plug. With some careful filing of the tapered overlap you should be able to get a near invisible join.

"Ctyclsscs" wrote

I don't understand why you wouldn't want it to look like a separate piece?

No.

But you can glue a strip of plastic to the inside that spans the entire distance across the hole and extends completely from one edge to the other. Fill the cavity with epoxy or JB Weld. Forget body putty. That's nothing but a waste of time and money. When the epoxy has cured (48 hours in most cases, in spite of what the instructions say) you can drill, cut, file, sand, and paint to match.

Captain Handbrake

Because the large opening in the model's pilot doesn't match the opening found on the prototype, which is smaller. While anything would look better than a huge opening, I'm sure some folks would prefer not to have a line or seam between the filler piece and the pilot.

Jim

I go out of my way to make it look like a separate piece, either hinged or bolted in place. I paint it nearly the same color but again, that doesn't matter, because its a separate piece.

Actually, the large pilot hole is correct for ATSF and one or two other roads. These had a drop coupler (IIRC) and doors to cover it, but as time went on, the doors were removed leaving a huge hole. Other roads, like the NH, did not.

Paul A. Cutler III

Why do you say that?

Because Squadron green putty and red putty and Testors' and some others that I have used simply do not have the robustness that is necessary to survive in the operating world of model railways. The stuff works fine for small areas and on static models. It's great for model airplanes, which is what it was engineered for. To close a hole the size of the DL-109 pilot opening requires more strength than model body putty can afford. A metal-filled epoxy, such as JB Weld, will cure hard and stick fast to almost any substrate found in model railway applications. It will most certainly stick to the Life-Like plastic like peanut butter sticks to a wool blanket.

Body putty is very brittle and fragile when cured. You must handle it very carefully when it is used to span large gaps like those in the DL-109 pilot. Putty shrinks as it cures. The larger the mass, the greater the effect of the shrinkage. Sags and droops are common and frequently require several applications of the putty to get a complete fill of an area. On the other hand, I have had extremely good results using epoxies to bridge these large openings. The cured epoxy is rock hard, does not shrink, is not fragile and, in fact, can even be drilled and tapped if need be.

Captain Handbrake